Search results

Land and agrarian reforms were main promises of the ANC during its ascension to power: the objective was to redistribute 30% of the land within 5 years after the end of apartheid and, through this redistribution, restructure the agricultural sector. Nevertheless, presently, more than 10 years after the first democratic elections, only 3.1% of the land has been redistributed and the farming sector remains extremely dual. This paper argues that the implemented market‐oriented reforms, which are not complemented by regulation measures, do not represent the capacities of transformation of the racial configuration of South Africa's territory and agricultural sector.

In Zimbabwe, a curious set of events has occurred since early 2000. Land reform, usually taken to be in defence of rural democracy, is being employed by a government determined to remain in power and veering increasingly toward violent authoritarianism.

This chapter examines La Vía Campesina’s strategy of consolidating strategic alliances in its global struggle to build food sovereignty. After discussing some of La Vía Campesina’s initial challenges in working with nongovernmental organizations we focus on two case studies: first, La Vía Campesina’s work with Veterinarios Sin Fronteras, based in Spain, and second, the International Planning Committee on Food Sovereignty. In both cases we analyze some of the convergences and divergences experienced by the social actors in efforts to build strategic alliances.

The conceptual foundations, principles, and mechanisms of territorial branding concerning the prospects of rural development in the Third World countries are the subject of the study. The systematization and study of the problems and experiences of territorial branding as a technology of development and overcoming of poverty in the agrarian society of Ukraine is the purpose of the paper. The socioeconomic condition of the modern agrarian society of Ukraine is analyzed with explaining the nature and extent of poverty in rural areas. The basis of the research was the thesis on the expediency of social stratification, including explanation of the causes of poverty by the criterion of economic behavior of individual groups of agents. The data obtained are available in adjusting further agrarian reforms, especially regarding its social orientation, where it should be involved: sociological stratification of groups of agents of each community to identify and stimulate an economically active society, analysis of the causes of the spread and nature of poverty in this rural area, determination of domestic sources of economic growth for local economy, and the implementation of these factors in the process of modernizing of economic relations.

The main method of research was the study of the unique experience of individual rural communities. The methodology of the study foresaw the study of the prospects of rural development of the post-industrial type through the determining role of the factor of territorial branding. Monitoring the potential of territorial branding for rural areas of Ukraine using SWOT analysis has shown the uniqueness of risks, limitations, and prospects. It has been established that the conditions of neutralization of weaknesses and risks are in the combination of economic (primarily investment) and cultural and political initiatives, where a significant role belongs to the effects of community self-organization. At the same time, the prospects are due to the presence of unique institutional assets, natural, climatic and economic conditions, and possible perception of the idea of the rural population as such, which does not contradict the basic cultural values. The emphasis is placed on the fact that the realization of rural development in Ukraine as a national policy should take into account that Ukrainian rural communities remain “difficult,” mostly depressed economies, where the level of economic activity is traditionally low and unemployment is high. At the same time, studying the experience of the effectiveness of territorial branding allowed to generalize and classify the factors of brand-forming content for the rural areas of Ukraine, which became (1) a unique institutional history; (2) landscape and recreational potential; (3) special economic behavior of local inhabitants; (4) investment attractiveness of the territory; (5) unique economic specialization of the territory; (6) tourism activity; and (7) the role of local government. Significant socioeconomic effect of these examples is fixed. The area of application of these results is, first of all, the activity of local authorities of rural communities, nongovernmental organizations, and universities, as well as regulatory policy in terms of decentralization.

Placing expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia in the context of the global land grab, this paper analyzes the contemporary extent and early historical periods of plantation expansion via the theory of accumulation by dispossession (ABD).

After reviewing the empirical debate about the land grab, this paper examines the importance of ABD to understand the land grabs in general and for oil palm plantations in Indonesia in particular. Rather than a new phenomenon of the last four decades of neoliberalism, ABD has a history of several centuries.

Accumulation by dispossession (ABD) is a powerful and appropriate lens by which to understand the land conversion and social displacement occurring in Indonesia. Building on historical understanding of ABD, this paper applies the theory to the Indonesian oil palm case, making the case that the multiple and uncertain sequences of engagement with oil palm expansion are reflective of a broader struggle against dispossession.

ABD is not just a global financial process of corporate-led neoliberalization but also shaped importantly by domestic state and local elites. These elites have shaped ABD differently in colonial, authoritarian, and neoliberal periods.

In the spring of 1990 the whole world was watching what was happening in Nicaragua. Free elections brought to a communist country a change of the political regime without violence. Dona Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was elected President and formed a new democratic government. Old and new expectations were revived overnight. After enduring so many privations and tribulations under a communist regime, the Nicaraguan people thought that a new era of prosperity and freedom was at their door. Two years later, in the spring of 1992, the economic and financial situation of Nicaragua had not improved nearly enough to satisfy the needs and the dreams of the Nicaraguan people. This Stabilization Plan was sent on 6 April 1990 to Madame President Barrios de Chamorro but she ignored it. Asks how long people can endure politicians who promise liberation and prosperity and after they get into power they forget it. How right was the British historian Lord Acton, who said: “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

We are experiencing a period of adaptation of our agri-food systems to the context of climate change, thus witnessing the incorporation of several more ecological and socially inclusive practices. In this sense, this chapter seeks to understand the role of civil society in promoting sustainable food systems based on Brazilian experiences over the last three decades. First, the role of civil society in the construction of new agroecological markets is discussed, bringing the experience of the consumer cooperative COOLMEIA, which started the construction of the first agroecological fair in Brazil, the Ecological Farmers Fair in Porto Alegre. Then the civil society activism engaged on establishment of the Human Right to Healthy and Adequate Food is discussed, highlighting the importance of social movements and civil society organisations in the construction of a democratic political system. At last, the trajectory of the civil society as actors participating in the formal instance of State governance through their performance in the National Council for Food Security and Nutrition – CONSEA, presenting the historical context, achievements and struggles. Finally, the chapter concludes with a section reviewing lessons learned and possible challenges for civil society participation in the debate on agri-food systems in the future.

Indonesia is one of the world’s “megadiverse” countries, providing ecosystem services that accrue at the global scale. However, control over access to and use of natural resources has historically been a source of tension between the central government and local communities, with the latter usually being marginalized by the former. Since the fall of the authoritarian Suharto regime in 1998, however, a grassroots movement supports the revitalization of customary communities and their traditional systems of social organization (adat). A major part of this quest for legitimacy is the portrayal of indigenous people as environmentally benign. This chapter describes how indigenous systems have been influenced by political processes over time. We then describe how the changing political–administrative landscape has given rise to a national indigenous rights movement. We also analyze international factors that have contributed to the emergence of the indigenous movement before discussing potential challenges facing the movement in the future. This chapter seeks to get beyond the simplistic conflation of indigenous peoples and environmentalism by understanding the strategic articulation of indigeneity and environmentalism.

In this paper I explore how members of rural Maya households in central Quintana Roo (Mexico) interact with the wider social system and cope with long-term transformations in productive relations since c. 1840. Maya householders integrate elements of capitalist and non-capitalist modes of production. Through particular cultural forms they regulate internal uses of wealth and their relationships with the larger capitalist world. Social and economic stratification is a fundamental feature of life among Maya householders today as it was in the past. While disparities between wealth strata within the local context have increased, the community is far from disintegrating into antagonistic groups.

This paper aims to show that the meaning of development influencing the design of ICT for development (ICT4D) projects is important in deciding what purpose they will eventually serve.

Through a review of the literature on development and technology studies, the paper shows how different meanings of development guide technology usage and policy choice for land reforms. A case study of a land records computerization project in India is used to reinforce this claim.

By explaining alternative manifestations of interlinkages between development and technology, the paper demonstrates that the design choice, especially the content and service delivery model, for an ICT4D project gets influenced by the development context within which it is set.

The focus of the paper has been restricted to a limited context of information and communication technology usage – to land reforms as a development objective, in a relatively better‐off province of India. Future research will include ICT4D projects in other domains and in different socio‐economic settings.

The findings will encourage ICT4D policy makers and project designers to broaden their perspectives of what constitutes development and explicitly acknowledge the importance of development contexts in influencing the outcomes of ICT4D projects.

Prior research in ICT4D has not looked explicitly at the influence of development contexts in informing technology design. The paper attempts to fill this gap by tracing design choices to the contexts of technology use created through alternative understanding of the objectives of development. This can be of help to researchers looking at issues of technology use for societal development and for policy makers and project designers entrusted with the choice of technology.