Looking Behind the Screen: National development vs local survival in Rwanda, by An Ansoms

7/31/2019 Looking Behind the Screen: National development vs local survival in Rwanda, by An Ansoms

1/14

Looking behind the screen:

National development versus local survivalin rural Rwanda

An Ansoms14 June 2012


2/14

Overview

A new agricultural model for Sub-Saharan Africa

The Rwandan development model Rural development policies

Swampland reorganization

Two case studies

Large-scale land deals through foreign investment

Large-scale land deals through local elite capture Impact of large-scale land deals upon rural

livelihoods

Policy recommendations


3/14

2010 Report Rising Global Interest in Farmland

Acknowledges potential of large-scale land deals -> improved access totechnology / capital markets / infrastructures / institutions that allowincreased productivity and effectiveness in the utilization of land

But risks of large-scale deals -> Recommendations in terms of

promoting responsible corporate behaviour (side of the investors)

enhancing good land management (side of government)

The World Bank Discourse:

a seeming contradiction?

2008 World Development Report Agriculture for Development

A Green Revolution for Sub-Saharan Africa ~ a productivity revolutionin smallholder farming

Analysis of challenges for smallholders

Analysis of institutional innovations to improve smallholders

competitiveness


4/14

2008 World Development Report Agriculture for Development

Report does not support smallholder farming per se, but commercially-

oriented, entrepreneurial smallholder farming (Akram-Lodhi, 2008) ->only applicable to minority of small-scale entrepreneurs

3 pathways out of poverty

Through agricultural entrepreneurship for smallholders

Through the rural labor market and nonfarm economy By migrating to towns, cities or other countries

The World Bank Discourse:

a seeming contradiction? Not at all

Dominant view upon the new agriculture for Sub-Saharan Africa

Focus on maximal production and productivity

Either through involvement of investors operating at large scale

Either through transformation of innovative smallholders into agriculturalentrepreneurs

Ignoring impact of policies upon equity, distribution, local agency, identity

Requires focus on capacities and needs of different peasant groups Requires focus on political economy dimension and elite incentives


5/14

The Rwandan model:

accomplishmentsTechnocratic

governance: top 45 in

WB doing businessreport; among 30% leastcorrupt; among 50% bestin terms of government

effectiveness

Free and compulsoryprimary education -> net

enrolment 75% (2001) ->96% (2008); secondary:27%, tertiary 5%

Aid darling, budget aid:50% raise between

2007 - 2010

Economic growth:8% on average;

8,8% in 2011

Private investment: 12% ofGDP (6 times more than a

decade ago)

Health: infant mortality106 (2000) -> 59

(2010) + decrease inhealth mortality;

progress in malariaprevention, improvedhealth infrastructure

Improvedaccess to waterand electricity

Gender!! Over50% women in

parliament

Food self sufficient;improved agricultural

production

Enlightened leadership;friends with Blair, Gates


6/14

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

Transformation of agricultural sector in professionalizedmotor for economic growth

Creating economies-of-scale effects

Agriculture-dependent population from 85 -> 50% (2020)

Rural Development :

policy priorities

STRATEGIES

Agrobusiness and role of private capital in agriculture

Larger land holdings in individual or collective hands

Enforcing the adoption of modern productiontechniques + market-orientation

=> Re-engineering rural society


7/14

Swampland valorisation policies

Economies of scalein production

Economies of scalein market integration

From small-scale individual to(collective) large-scale user

rights => large-scaleproduction

Monocropping

Regional

specialisation

Market-orientedhigh value

crops

Cooperatives

Collective harvest

+ collective marketisation


8/14

Understanding peasants logics:

dealing with risk and uncertainty

Concentrationon 1 crop in

monocropping

Gatheringharvest bycooperative

Selling cropcollectively on

the market

Return ofmoney to

peasant

Buying what is

needed onmarket

New seeds,fertilisers?

RISK 1: Cropdisease, climate

RISK 2: Cropmanagement by

cooperative

RISK 3: Prizesof crop on

market

RISK 4: Moneymanagement by

cooperative

RISK 5: Prizesof other needs

on market

RISK 6:Conditions

imposed bycooperative

RISK 7: Timing

Potential profitlarger than

before???

Potential riskis also muchlarger than

before!!!


9/14

Moreover: elite capture of opportunities

provided by cooperatives

Phase 0: Revalorisation of

marshland allows broker toinstrumentalise adevelopment project WFP

Phase 1: collective action in

form of associations ->clientelism - used byinfluential broker to reinforcepower

Phase 2: collective action inform of cooperative ->extreme exploitation andopen corruption


10/14


11/14

B 1,8%

C 20,9%

D 53,6%

A 0,9%

E 20,4%

F 2,3%

Small-scale

Large /

medium-scale

Farmer

Non-Farmer?

RWANDAN CASE

A

B

C

D

E

F

Trickle-

downeffect?

Polarization


12/14

B 1,8%

C 20,9%

D 53,6%

A 0,9%

E 20,4%

F 2,3%

Small-scale

Large /

medium-scale

Farmer

Non-Farmer

RWANDAN CASE

Broad-basedagricultural +derived non-

agricultural growth

Increased demand

for off-farm labour

TRICKLE - DOWN

IN TERMS OFPOLICIES?

Understand risk-

cooping behaviour

Enhance agency


13/14

Need for inventive solution to go beyond current ecologicalbarrier BUT not through the rigid top-downreengineering

Facilitates new types of land grabs, and accelerates oldtypes of grabs (opportunities captured by elites)

Need for a voice of the rural poor in policies that concernthem: bringing the peasants back in at all levels, butHOW?

Real problem = Authoritarian governance structure - lack ofbottom-up accountability => invest in channels thatallow for bottom-up criticism to reach the surface

Policy recommendations


14/14

Murakoze cyane

Interested in the paper?

To appear with African Studies Review

Contact me at [email protected]

Documents

Looking Behind the Screen: National development vs local survival in Rwanda, by An Ansoms