Commercialisation, deagrarianisation and the accumulation/reproduction dynamic: Massive maize production schemes in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
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Date
2012-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape
Abstract
The post-apartheid era has seen the South African government trying to reverse ‘deagrarianisation’
in the former homelands by introducing ‘modern’ farming techniques and agribusiness
principles. This paper situates the massive maize schemes currently being implemented
in the context of increased national and international capitalisation of agriculture. The paper
focuses on the ‘communal area’ villages of Ongeluksnek Valley in the Eastern Cape, one of the
localities where the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA) maize
scheme was initiated. The scheme requires villagers to consolidate their arable fields into larger
blocks of land which can be ‘efficiently’ cultivated by private contractors using machinery and
agro-chemicals. Villagers are not involved in decision making, but receive 10% of gross income in
return, while ‘learning about’ commercial production. In practice, however, costs are high, and very
little surplus is available for redistribution to the beneficiaries. In this paper, we argue that the
process of capital accumulation, and associated trajectories of increased centralisation and
concentration, is critical to understanding the social reproduction and accumulation dynamics of
small scale farming in the countryside. The current corporate food regime constrains accumulation
from below.
Description
Keywords
De-agrarianisation, Livelihoods, Accumulation, Maize production, Agriculture
Citation
Mtero F (2012) ‘Commercialisation, de-agrarianisation & the accumulation/ reproduction dynamic: Massive maize production schemes in the Eastern Cape, South Africa,’ Working Paper 23. PLAAS, UWC: Bellville.