Neither sustainable nor inclusive: a political economy of agricultural policy and livelihoods in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia

Abstract

The food crisis of 2007/8, alongside rapid population growth, and the uncertainties of climate change propelled African agricultural transformation back into the development mainstream. New narratives of 'climate-smart agriculture' and 'sustainable intensification' underlie this contemporary transformation. We present a political economy analysis of agricultural policy and livelihoods in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia, and use this to assess the challenge of achieving 'sustainable and inclusive intensification'. We find little evidence that agricultural institutions have the capacity to deliver sustainable intensification in agriculture, or that agricultural policy drives changes in agricultural livelihoods that will make them either more sustainable or inclusive.

Over the Heads? Agricultural Expansion, Production and Marketing Experiences among Rural Farmers in Zambia

“…Even where farmers are linked to agribusinesses as suppliers, benefits are not guaranteed in part due to power dynamics (Manda et al 2018a). Cooperatives have for a long time been relied upon across Africa, but this study finds no concrete evidence that this help to address smallholder challenges (except in rare cases of subsidies which remain politically productive) (Mdee et al 2020). In the case study area, cooperatives were narrow as opposed to being broad based, failing to provide necessary production and marketing information, storage facilities, and advocating for infrastructure development (of course a tall ask).…”

“…General political, donor and NGO narratives in Zambia promote smallholder value chain integration and participation in market linkages (Manda et al 2020). Interviews with extension officers explained that "these pronouncements might be true at policy level, but the reality on the ground is that our farmers face challenges to access marketing linkages and platforms" (Interview, Kitwe).…”

“…High production cost membership to cooperatives provided access to inputs, farmers expressed loss of trust that these structures could change to offer storage and other support services (78%) (see Mdee et al 2020 for the political economy of subsidies in sub-Saharan Africa).…”

Agricultural input subsidy and farmers outcomes in Tanzania

“…This is mainly due to mistargeting and implementation issues in the programme. According to Mdee et al (2020), based on input subsidy programmes Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania, agricultural institutions do not have the ability to sustain intensification in agriculture. Further, Gilbert (2020) showed that not all countries in sub-Saharan Africa have been able to increase uptake of improved seeds and the number of farmers using inorganic fertilizer, and that input subsidy programmes have not achieved their objectives.…”

“…The findings will help policy makers and development partners to understand the dynamics behind the outcome of this programme. Furthermore, the findings will inform any future efforts to implement agricultural subsidy programmes in Tanzania and similar contexts in sub-Saharan Africa (see Gilbert 2020;Mdee et al 2020).…”