Class dynamics in contract farming: the case of tobacco production in Mozambique

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Date

2016

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Abstract

This paper examines the class relations emerging in a contract farming scheme in Mozambique. Debates in the literature about contract farming characterise this market arrangement as leading to farmers losing control over production at the hands of capital. By discussing both the drivers and impacts of changes in the division of property and labour, this paper reveals a complex class structure in which the pressure of merchant capital on farmers is internalized within households and transferred onto workers and sharecroppers. This challenges the pertinence of conventional policy that prescribes empowering contract farmers without considering their varied class positions and interests.

Description

Keywords

Class analysis, Contract farming, Petty commodity production, Mozambique agrarian change, Global commodity chains

Citation

Niño, H.P. (2016). Class dynamics in contract farming: the case of tobacco production in Mozambique. Third World Quarterly, 37(10): 1787-1808.