Economic and Political Reform in Africa: Anthropological Perspectives

Notes

notes introduction 1. The book uses the geographic terms “sub-saharan africa” and “africa” interchangeably, but the places and discussions are centered on sub-saharan africa and little reference is made to north africa. 2. The current economic downturn in the West and the startling specter of imf loans to Greece and its monitoring of national budgets in italy and spain have not gone unnoticed in africa , especially among intellectuals and activists. an Ethiopian academic recently joked to me that when Greece agrees to reform conditions imposed by the imf it is bailed out with $100+ billion in loans. However, when an african country does the same it receives only a small fraction of this amount, usually less than $1–2 billion. my colleague is sadly correct! 3. This relies on a measurement of poverty based on the United nations (Un) human development index (UndP 2011). 4. counter to most popular critiques of saPs, most african governments approached the imf and World Bank for financial assistance prior to agreeing to a set of loan conditions. 5. Whether they acknowledge his contribution or not, many authors who write about the use of labels and categories to classify populations and simplify complex realties in development owe a large intellectual debt to James scott (1998), particularly his concept of legibility. as scott demonstrates so well, states make complex local realities and practices legible to them, so that they can control, govern, and tax them. 1. “They Think We can manufacture crops” 1. a recent World Bank report also cautions against too optimistic a future for ntcs in africa: “an expansion of developing-country nontraditional exports could create an adding up problem if several countries rapidly expand production, perhaps so much that export revenues decline. . . . The food and agriculture organization of the United nations estimates that an increase in china’s exports of green beans is likely to reduce world market prices, with adverse effects on the export revenues of other developing countries” (World Bank 2007a:133). 2. Parts of this section are based on little and dolan (2000). 3. The terms “large farms” and “firms” are used interchangeably in the chapter, since most export firms considered here also operate their own large farms. 4. in most cf ventures in sub-saharan africa informal verbal agreements, rather than written contracts, are the norm (little and dolan 2000; little 1994). in these cases, the buyer can enforce informal contracts by cutting off inputs, refusing to buy in subsequent seasons, and/ or seeking assistance from local chiefs and government officials. 5. similar preferences for large-scale farms and firms were demonstrated in a Usaidfinanced horticultural export program in Kenya that attempted to attract foreign investment by arguing that agricultural labor in the horticultural zones was cheap, unorganized (i.e., no worker organizations or unions), and mainly made up of women (i.e., a docile labor force) (mannon 2005:19). 197 198 | Notes to Pages 38–82 6. in the Gambia a large horticultural export farm is 10 or more hectares, but in Ghana it is 50+ hectares (agro-ind 2002; little and dolan 2000; trienekens et al. 2004). land is cheaper and more abundant in Ghana’s pineapple belt where, unlike in The Gambia, irrigation is not normally used. 7. European consumers have come to prefer the variety of pineapples that is produced in costa Rica. attempts by Ghanaian farmers to produce this same variety of fruit generally have failed, which is why some market analysts question the future sustainability of the country’s pineapple export business to Europe (Wageningen University/michigan state University 2007). 8. This practice also is very common in Kenya, where export firms ofen dump their produce on local markets for tourist hotels. in Kenya the establishment of roadside “pineapple stands” by the U.s. transnational firm dole fruit inc. is evidence of the value of the domestic market to large export enterprises. 2. “Everybody is a Petty trader” 1. most wholesalers and transporters in the study were male. 3. “We now milk Elephants” 1. Group ranches were started in the 1970s under a World Bank–funded development program for commercializing pastoral production in the communal areas of Kenya. The program promoted group land titles and the organization of communities into group landholding entities as a compromise between strictly private and communal land tenure systems. With group land titles, it was anticipated that more members could qualify for credit and begin to produce for the beef market than was the case in...