Contract farming in Swaziland: peasant differentiation and constraints of land tenure
Date
1987-08
Authors
Levin, Richard
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Abstract
Swaziland's Fourth National Development Plan advocates the
development of outgrower schemes based on the example of Vuvulane
Irrigated Farms as an alternative strategy for rural development
(Swaziland government 1985:309). If this recommendation were to be
adopted as agricultural policy, it would necessitate land reform in the
areas where these schemes are to be established. This is because of the
existing division in land ownership between Swazi Nation Land and
freehold Title Deed Land. Swazi Nation Land is held by the King "in
trust" for "the nation" and allocated through chiefs to Swazi subjects.
Private property in land in Swaziland dates to the concessionary era
when large scale concessions were made to European land speculators and
prospective farmers in the late nineteenth century by King Mbandzeni.
Contrary to what has been argued in much of the literature on
Swaziland, this land division has not entailed the development of
dualism in agriculture, with the "modern" agricultural sector based on
freehold title deed land and the "traditional" sector on Swazi Nation
Land (SNL). Rather, both the land division and dualism are products of
the development of capitalist relations which have generated an uneven
and differential development characterised by the evolution of
large-scale multinational and South African dominated enterprises on
freehold land, and the development of petty commodity production on SNL.
One question arising out of the advocation of the development of
outgrower schemes and various forms of contract farming in Swaziland
relating to land tenure, is whether or not such schemes can be
established on SNL. To put it more specifically: is private ownership
in land a pre-requisite for the establishment of viable contract farming
schemes? This study will show that while freehold land leased out to
petty commodity producers is undoubtedly advantageous for the owners of
capital, in terms of the extra control which can be exerted over petty
commodity producers, this is by no means a pre-requisite for the
development of outgrower schemes.
While it will be demonstrated that land tenure is not
indicative of the form of production which takes place in agriculture,
the chief concern of this paper is to examine the extent to which
outgrower schemes in Swaziland have succeeded in their stated objectives
of bringing "commercial farming" to the peasantry. The key question
which emerges is whether or not outgrower schemes facilitate peasant
accumulation and create the conditions for the reproduction of a rich
and/or middle peasantry. Answers to these questions will be sought
through an examination of three outgrower schemes. Two of these,
(Vuvulane Irrigated Farms and Mpetsheni Pineapple Settlement Scheme) are
on freehold Title Deed Land, while one (Casalee Tobacco Project) is on
both freehold and SNL where petty commodity producing participants are
based. The paper argues that contract farming and outgrower schemes are
best understood in the context of the social relations to which this
form of capitalist development in agriculture gives rise. Such schemes
have differentiating effects and create the conditions for the
reproduction of a middle peasantry, as well as the potential for more
systematic accumulation by peasant producers. In Swaziland land tenure
both on SNL and freehold title deed land, through restricting the size
of land holdings of scheme participants, may have constraining effects
on the extent to which accumulation becomes possible for petty commodity
producers on such schemes.
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented August 1987
Keywords
Land titles. Swaziland