In many ways, the interests of state actors, the customary elite, and farmland investors are neatly aligned, despite historic tensions. The state and the customary elite want investment, as the host communities often do, at least initially. While opportunities for extracting rents by chiefs and well-placed state actors undeniably underlie much of this, reality is a little more complex. A highly Westernized modernization discourse prevails across much of Africa. Typically without qualification, investments are good since they bring progress and civility through employment, the introduction of input- and capital-intensive production, and modern infrastructure. Poor and neglected rural communities understandably want the same and are easily lured into submission by these prospects. The state regularly employs discriminatory ideologies about customary land-use practices to justify its actions. This often includes maintaining that land without houses or permanent crops is unused and unproductive, that non-sedentary livelihoods are archaic and that land uses involving fire or shifting cultivation are environmentally destructive. Many Africans are clearly ready to abandon many of their cultural and economic practices in exchange for urban amenities.thebrokeronline.eu/.../Governing-the-land-rush...
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 12:18:28 +0000
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