Working Paper 35: Agricultural Commercialisation in Northern Zimbabwe: Crises, Conjunctures and Contingencies, 1890-2020
This study observes tobacco and maize, in Mvurwi area in northern Mazowe district,
Abstract
This study observes the interconnecting influences, over 5 time periods from 1890-2020, that have affected pathways of commercialisation, mostly of tobacco and maize, in Mvurwi area in northern Mazowe district, Zimbabwe. Through these periods, this paper looks at the political economy of state-farmer alliances; changes in agricultural labour regimes; the dynamics of markets; rural-urban migration and the role of technology and environmental change, asking how each affects the emergence of different commercial agriculture. Based on a wide range of research methods conducted across communal areas, the paper reflects which pathways of commercialisation have emerged through crises, conjunctures and contingencies.
This work is part of the APRA (Agricultural Policy Research Policy in Africa) Programme
Citation
Scoones, I.; Shonhe, T.; Chitapi, T.; Maguranyanga, C. and Mutimbanyoka, S. (2020) Agricultural Commercialisation in Northern Zimbabwe: Crises, Conjuctures and Contingencies, 1890–2020, Working Paper 35, Brighton: Future Agricultures Consortium