Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects": a lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda?
With an example from Rwanda, we ask how the State's policy strategy and attempts to construct "ideal agricultural subjects" resonate with the actual changes experienced by farmers themselves. We present three different empirical examples to show that a) when opportunities from agricul...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Arizona Libraries
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Political Ecology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/5012/ |
| _version_ | 1817987989386559488 |
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| author | Maya Pasgaard Neil Dawson Niels Fold Sung Kyu Kim |
| author_facet | Maya Pasgaard Neil Dawson Niels Fold Sung Kyu Kim |
| author_sort | Maya Pasgaard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With an example from Rwanda, we ask how the State's policy strategy and attempts to construct "ideal agricultural subjects" resonate with the actual changes experienced by farmers themselves. We present three different empirical examples to show that a) when opportunities from agricultural transformation initially arise, only the wealthiest can capture them, and even then the government is seen as the main beneficiary; b) some priority crop growers experience an increase in income and savings due to higher productivity and better prices, while those who do not grow priority crops face land scarcity and lack of employment opportunities; c) requirements to upscale livestock production do not align with the strategies or capacities of many smallholders. We show that only endowed farmers with sufficient land and ability to engage in priority crops or livestock production can take advantage of the opportunities presented by agricultural transformation, while smallholders with constraints to their adoption of promoted changes face vulnerability to dispossession and poverty. We relate these findings to our broader conceptual frame, and encourage further research to explore the integration, modification, resistance to and impacts of idealized policies in Rwanda and across sub-Saharan Africa. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:28:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6054f94f57fd45a5ae92e8f7f0449793 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1073-0451 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:28:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | University of Arizona Libraries |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Political Ecology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6054f94f57fd45a5ae92e8f7f04497932022-12-22T02:22:38ZengUniversity of Arizona LibrariesJournal of Political Ecology1073-04512022-03-0129110.2458/jpe.5012Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects": a lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda?Maya Pasgaard0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4536-9621Neil Dawson1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7312-9230Niels Fold2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1133-6525Sung Kyu Kim3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0948-792XUniversity of CopenhagenSchool of International Development, University of East AngliaUniversity of CopenhagenUniversity of Sussex Business School, University of SussexWith an example from Rwanda, we ask how the State's policy strategy and attempts to construct "ideal agricultural subjects" resonate with the actual changes experienced by farmers themselves. We present three different empirical examples to show that a) when opportunities from agricultural transformation initially arise, only the wealthiest can capture them, and even then the government is seen as the main beneficiary; b) some priority crop growers experience an increase in income and savings due to higher productivity and better prices, while those who do not grow priority crops face land scarcity and lack of employment opportunities; c) requirements to upscale livestock production do not align with the strategies or capacities of many smallholders. We show that only endowed farmers with sufficient land and ability to engage in priority crops or livestock production can take advantage of the opportunities presented by agricultural transformation, while smallholders with constraints to their adoption of promoted changes face vulnerability to dispossession and poverty. We relate these findings to our broader conceptual frame, and encourage further research to explore the integration, modification, resistance to and impacts of idealized policies in Rwanda and across sub-Saharan Africa.http://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/5012/ideal subjectsagricultural policyrural communitiesland tenurecrop specializationlivestock production |
| spellingShingle | Maya Pasgaard Neil Dawson Niels Fold Sung Kyu Kim Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects": a lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda? Journal of Political Ecology ideal subjects agricultural policy rural communities land tenure crop specialization livestock production |
| title | Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects": a lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda? |
| title_full | Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects": a lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda? |
| title_fullStr | Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects": a lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects": a lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda? |
| title_short | Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects": a lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda? |
| title_sort | agrarian modernization through ideal agricultural subjects a lost cause for smallholders in rwanda |
| topic | ideal subjects agricultural policy rural communities land tenure crop specialization livestock production |
| url | http://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/5012/ |
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