The Dynamics of Commoditization in a Vietnamese Uplands Village, 1980–2000

Commodity markets have become key forces transforming upland livelihoods, social relations and landscapes in Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia. This paper examines the processes of market formation and their effects on local livelihoods and social relations in a village of Vietnam's north-western uplands. The results indicate that villagers' reactions to new opportunities arising from decollectivization and market liberalization wove them into an increasingly intricate 'commodity web'. Differences among households widened as households with an initial advantage accumulated further advantages. Yet the relations governing access to land and product markets also provided a floor of subsistence for the disadvantaged. The findings demonstrate the need to interrogate commodity markets, investigate the practices and relations constituting them, and analyse how they distribute income and risks among the actors involved. The nature of commodity markets, together with the relations governing access to productive resources, influences processes of social differentiation in the uplands.     

The Ties Made in the Harvest: Nicaraguan Farm‐worker Networks in Costa Rica's Agricultural Exports

Traditional and nontraditional export agriculture expansion dramatically changed the social and economic landscapes in the global south. An examination of one aspect of south–south international migration, Nicaraguan migrant economic integration into Costa Rica's export agriculture sector, reveals how production systems in the traditional and nontraditional agricultural sectors shape migrant social networks in distinct ways in the global south and its significance for both migrant workers and the agricultural sectors they work in. The rapid expansion of nontraditional export agriculture – the essence of agricultural development in Costa Rica – depends on the traditional crop production structure of coffee farms. The experiences of Nicaraguan migrant workers and their social ties to each other in nontraditional export agriculture and the coffee farms in Costa Rica demonstrate how different production structures call for distinct fragile and conflicted social networks ties between migrants. The economic integration of migrant workers relies on opportunistic and weak ties that are both gendered and contradictory.     

全球农产品贸易网络演化与中国对策

目的 面对日益严峻复杂的国际经济政治环境,理清全球农产品贸易格局演变的特征及趋势,对于及时应对国际农产品市场风险、提高国际循环利用能力具有重要意义。方法 基于社会网络分析法,利用1996—2021年世界农产品贸易数据,文章从总体—行业—加工程度3个维度分别构建了全球农产品贸易网络,定量分析了全球农产品贸易网络的格局演化及重要节点特征。结果 （1）各国间农产品贸易关联日益加深,处于核心地位的国家数量显著增加,以美国为代表的单中心主导地位被削弱,但由少数国家主导全球农产品贸易的情形并未改变。（2）中国在全球农产品贸易网络中地位显著提升,点度中心度和接近中心度均位于前列,但中介中心度处于较低水平,说明中国对全球农业资源和市场的掌控能力依然不足。（3）各国在不同细分行业中的地位呈现明显的异质性,大多数国家的进口集中于少数贸易伙伴的少数产品,加工贸易逐渐成为全球农产品贸易的主流,发展高附加值农产品贸易成为各国农业贸易长远发展的战略选择。结论 为此,应持续优化农产品贸易布局,拓展与亚洲、拉美、非洲等新兴市场的贸易,不断提升农业全球价值链地位。     

A methodology for class analysis: Agricultural investments and agrarian change in South Africa

This paper presents a class-analytic approach, which combines a “labour exploitation criterion” with class typologies developed for the South African context and the author's additions. The labour exploitation criterion distinguishes between rural classes based on the degree to which one employs others, works for others, or works for oneself. I combine the principal indicator of “labour exploitation” with the income contributions of social grants, ownership of farming assets and livestock, and the contribution of agricultural production to simple or expanded reproduction. Debates around class formation are explored in the context of a comparative analysis of two joint venture (JV) dairy farms, located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, which involve residents as both landowners and workers. A class-analytic approach illuminates the emerging agrarian class structure that a JV-type intervention both reflects and in turn conditions, in dialectical fashion, with important implications for debates around agrarian change in South Africa.     

Well‐off small‐scale tobacco growers and farm workers in the Mexican agrarian reform (1972–1990)

In this article, I study small‐scale growers of blonde tobacco varieties from the state of Nayarit in Mexico who had contract farming arrangements with the state‐owned company Tabamex (1972–1990). I refer to them as “well‐off small‐scale tobacco growers” given that in the 1960s, 1970s, and the 1980s, they became one of the subaltern social groups that benefited the most from the Mexican Agrarian Reform. I want to set this research apart from the ones carried out on tobacco growers in Nayarit, which have almost exclusively understood this group as agricultural producers and have perceived as secondary, and even as anecdotal, the impact of the high levels of wage labour hired in the region. I argue that in order to have a better understanding of the social relations at play, it is important to take into account that Nayarit tobacco growers have also been employers of farm workers. Hence in my analysis, I have also included the seasonal farm workers hired by these small‐scale tobacco growers because of their importance in the labour force. More specifically, I have looked into the vulnerability and invisibility of these workers both within this branch of agricultural activity and state institutions.     

The Institutionalisation of “Noise” and “Silence” in Urban Politics: Riots and Compliance in Uganda and Rwanda

Amid ongoing debates about institutions and development, the importance of informal institutions (or norms) is widely recognised. Relatively little, however, is known about how informal institutions form and persist over time in particular contexts. This paper combines a concern with the process of informal institutionalisation and a focus on everyday politics in urban areas. Drawing on a comparative study of Kampala (Uganda) and Kigali (Rwanda), it argues that in the former the regular mobilisation of urban social groups into protests and riots has institutionalised what might be termed “noise” as the most meaningful form of political participation. In Kigali, by contrast, comparatively “silent” processes of collective mobilisation that involve structured activities and community “self-policing” have become institutionalised. The paper analyses these differential patterns, considering the tacit norms of negotiation in each case and the incentives for urban social and political actors to adhere to them.     

The social construction of “shared growth”: Zambia Sugar and the uneven terrain of social benefit

Recent years have witnessed a growing trend in agricultural investment and large‐scale farmland acquisition in the Global South and a rapid expansion of scholarship and public debate over the nature, consequences, and desirability of these trends. The polarization of this debate into “win/lose” narratives raises the question of whether, and under what conditions, the logic of capital accumulation driving farmland acquisition and investment can engender broad‐based social benefits akin to “shared growth.” This paper sheds light on this question through a detailed look at the recent expansion of Zambia Sugar's Nakambala Estate in Mazabuka, Zambia. We explore outcomes linked to two of the most prominent pathways through which social benefits are said to accrue: smallholder incorporation and employment. Findings demonstrate the unevenness of outcomes linked to both pathways, with the concrete benefits both claimed and observed through some measures quickly eroding under the weight of alternative performance metrics. The unevenness produced by the intensification of capitalist relations is manifested not just between those differentially positioned with respect to the incoming investment (“outgrower,” “employee,” and “land loser”) but within each of those conditions. This ambiguity opens spaces for competing representations of the promises and pitfalls of these processes, while highlighting the shaky ground on which shared growth and inclusive business agendas stand.     

Manufactured regional crises: The Middle East and North Africa under global food regimes

The current agrarian and food crisis in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been interpreted through a number of tropes. Within the dominant mainstream discourse, the MENA region is often depicted as a homogenous geographical area characterized by dryness, infertile lands and poor water resources. How did imperialism, colonialism and the Cold War influence the MENA food systems? What were the effects of trade liberalization and neoliberalism on the agricultural systems in the region? These are some questions that this paper will try to answer using a geographical and historical-comparative analysis, through a food regimes lens. Understanding contemporary social relations dynamics cannot be limited to the recent period. Agriculture and food in the MENA region are anchored in the history of power relations ruled by flows of capital and the shaping of ecological transformations during the longue durée of capitalism and its corresponding modes of control and regulation.     

Dehkans,Diversification and Dependencies: Rural Transformation in Post‐Soviet Uzbekistan

This paper describes how political and economic transition has affected the system of agricultural production in Khorezm, Uzbekistan in terms of economic practices and relationships. Based on recent fieldwork, the paper argues that the local agricultural economy is a hybrid economy, where production for market, quasi‐market and subsistence merge into and co‐constitute one another. In order to keep the system going, and to make up for the uncertainties in the formal context of production, the relation between new private fermer and the peasant (dehkan) households is of particular importance. This relation resembles neo‐patrimonial patron–client relations, which are both personal and informal while also being based on formal, contractual relations. The relations are asymmetric and based on the limited and unevenly distributed resources. The division of power is unequal but not fixed, due to the ongoing transition of the economic system.     

The Quest to Bring Land under Social and Political Control: Land Reform Struggles of the Past and Present in Ecuador

Land reform was one of the most important policies introduced in Latin America in the twentieth century and remains high on the political agenda due to sustained pressure from rural social movements. Improving our understanding of the issue therefore remains a pressing concern. This paper responds to this need by proposing a new theoretical framework to explore land reform and providing a fresh analysis of historical and contemporary land struggles in Ecuador. Drawing on the pioneering work of Karl Polanyi, the paper characterizes these struggles as the attempt to increase the social and political control of land in the face of mounting commodification. The movement started in the 1960s and remains evident in Ecuador today. Exploring land reform in Ecuador from this theoretical perspective provides new insight into land struggles in the country and contributes to debates over land reforms of the past and present elsewhere in the Global South.     

Who you know and when you plough? Social capital and agricultural mechanization under the new green revolution in Ghana

This paper examines the role of social capital in smallholder agriculture mechanization in Ghana under the ongoing agenda for transformation of African agriculture through the new green revolution. It contributes to the ongoing debate on the potential of social capital in explaining socioeconomic activity over time and space. Drawing on the experiences of smallholder farmers (n = 30) from Navrongo using qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, the paper explores how social capital networks shape mechanized service access and utilization among farmers and highlights the historical background to tractor-based mechanized farming in northern Ghana. Findings reveal how local farmers activate and operate in trustworthy social networks at the community level among themselves and externally with government agencies, traders and development partners to facilitate tractor access. The paper also finds that the withdrawal of government subsidies on agricultural services during structural adjustment in the 1980s created an avenue for private sector entry into the tractor service market. In recent times, the market is a blend of both public and private actors. Given the crucial role of social capital, this paper stresses that apart from economic factors, contemporary agricultural policy should build upon contextual sociocultural networks and the resources inherent in them.     

Agricultural Landscape Value and Irrigation Water Policy

Water is a limiting factor of agricultural production in an increasing number of regions. There is also ample empirical evidence to suggest that the economic value of agricultural landscape is substantial, which has been used to justify agricultural support programs in developed economies. We investigate the link between the environmental amenity of agricultural landscape and the value of water in crop production. We find that the environmental externality gives rise to a social derived demand for water which differs from the market‐based (private) derived demand for water. Policy implications regarding irrigation water allocation and pricing are drawn. An empirical example illustrates the methodology and main findings.     

Tracing the Pathways from Research to Innovation: Evidence from Case Studies

The complex process through which agricultural research stimulates innovation and achieves policy goals has commonly been treated as a ‘black box’ in the scientific literature. Statistical correlations between measured expenditure and impacts, where satisfactorily established, have mostly led to details of the research and innovation system being ignored. However, identifying and exploring causal chains of impact propagation can strengthen agricultural innovation. IMPRESA investigated impact mechanisms for research‐based innovations in six case studies using a Participatory Impact Pathway Assessment approach. Several suggestions result for improving performance and public support for agricultural research. Planning for impact is needed at the design phase of research so that expected advances in technology and their consequences can be explored. At that stage and throughout the research process, soft social skills are required to promote uptake. Greater impact can be achieved through the close involvement of key public and private sector stakeholders, using stakeholder mapping as a supporting tool. There is a strong argument for the close involvement of relevant social scientists and professional facilitators from the design phase of research through to its ultimate impacts. Funding frameworks and the specification of calls for tenders would function more effectively by giving more flexibility for stakeholder engagement.     

村集体作为、农户感知与农户农业社会化服务采纳——基于空间距离和社会距离的调节效应

目的 小农户对于农业社会化服务的采纳行为是农户与现代农业有机衔接的核心体现,村集体兼具政府代理人与农户当家人的双重身份,其作为可有效缓解采纳不足问题,助推农业现代化的发展。方法 文章基于S-O-R（Stimuli-Organism-Response）即刺激-有机体-反应理论分析框架,选取陕西省关中地区69份村级样本和1 602份农户样本数据,利用结构方程模型（Structural Equation Modeling,SEM）和分层线性回归模型（Hierarchical Regression Model,HLM）分析村集体作为对农户农业社会化服务采纳的影响,验证农户感知的中介效应,并利用多群组分析探究社会化服务供需双方的空间距离和社会距离的调节效应。结果 村集体参与农业社会化服务工作对农户农业社会化服务采纳具有显著的正向影响,农户感知的信任度和行为态度维度在村集体作为对农户农业社会化服务采纳影响中具有重要的中介作用,群组分析结果表明,社会化服务供需双方的空间距离和社会距离在村集体作为对农户农业社会化服务采纳的影响中具有调节作用。结论 应注重农户反馈,以差异化战略提升农户适应性,通过村集体积极作为搭建起供需双方的合作桥梁,优化社会化服务工作,推动农业高质量发展。     

'Urban Bias', Intersectoral Resource Flows and the Macroeconomic Implications of Agrarian Relations: The Historical Experience of Japan and Taiwan

It is argued that agrarian relations play a critical role in the pattern of intersectoral resource flows and the way in which the agricultural sector shapes the macroeconomy in developing countries. The notion of 'urban bias' used by GKI is defective in its abstracting from the pre-existing agrarian system and from the prevailing institutions and in focussing on one simple set of influences outside the agricultural sector itself, i.e. government policy bias. This is illustrated with reference to the historical experience of two countries regarded as exemplary by GKI: Japan and Taiwan. Their experience shows that high rates of taxation and surplus extraction from agriculture are not incompatible with maintaining profitability and production incentives in agriculture, as long as agrarian relations and other enabling conditions can ensure a fast enough rate of technological progress and productivity growth in the sector. The macroeconomic implications of different agrarian relations are much more complex than the urban bias story told by GKI would suggest.     

水权配置视角下新型农业节水机制和路径研究

加快实施最严格水资源管理制度的重要目标是形成以节水为目标的新的社会运行机制和社会治理模式。农民在农业灌溉中自发形成的用水组织是这一变革中的重要社会力量。通过对农民用水协会特征的分析,认为在"水权配置"的视角下,发展与规范农民用水组织,变原有农业用水过程中的行政管控为社会治理,是建立农业"节水型"社会并支持其良好运行的重要保障,并就如何健全农民用水组织的内部治理结构、克服农民用水组织自身的消极因素提出了建议。     

人类早期土地制度与社会关系变化浅析

土地作为人类最原始的自然物,见证了人类早期社会关系的变化。中国古代封建统治者,都把调整生产关系作为统治的核心,从内容上看,调整产品的分配形式主要改革赋税制度;调整生产资料所有制形式,主要是改革土地政策。整个人类社会初期,土地作为最活跃和最直接的财产,在人类社会发展中,特别是在人们的经济活动中,显示出了无与伦比的重要力量,它改变了人们的生产关系和社会关系,引发了一次又一次的社会变革和上层建筑的震动。适应生产力发展的要求调整土地制度,始终是一个国家政治经济体制改革的重要内容之一。     

Agricultural modernization and sustainable agriculture: contradictions and complementarities

This paper explores the relations between agricultural modernization and sustainable agriculture. The point of departure is the observable decrease in the sustainability and social–ecological resilience of agricultural and food systems. We ask where, precisely, the notions of agricultural modernization and agricultural sustainability contradict each other. In more concrete terms we ask what forms of modernization makes agriculture more (or less) sustainable. Our literature review shows that while the term ‘sustainable agriculture’, has been extensively debated, the term ‘agricultural modernization’, while carrying a positive and forward-looking connotation, remains poorly defined. To address this gap, we draw on evidence from real-life cases in fourteen countries in an attempt to interpret how the two concepts are perceived in very different contexts. These case studies show that different understandings of modern and sustainable agriculture coexist and that agricultural development follows diverse pathways. We conclude that the growing demands for an agricultural and food system that is more resilient, equitable and inclusive can be met by providing more support for the many divergent trajectories of agricultural modernization that practitioners are actually pursuing: trajectories that are often more attuned to the imperatives of ecology and to changing socio–economic preferences than the classical modernization trajectory.     

Bridging the Gap between Millennial Consumers,Social Media,and Agricultural Branding Programs: A Qualitative Assessment

With a growing trend for geographical branding efforts within the United States, particularly for individual states, the need to better understand how consumer groups respond to these efforts becomes prevalent, particularly for agricultural brands. The current study analyzes Millennial consumer response to agricultural branding programs within the United States and the effects of social media on this process. Using the Generational Cohort Theory (GCT) and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (HoN) as key foundations, a qualitative assessment was completed on Millennial consumers across various university campuses within one U.S. state. Results revealed that five key themes emerged relating to locally produced foods (definition, users, access, experiences and marketing/branding) while four themes emerged from the discussions on social media (applications, activity, advertising and information flow/communication). From these themes, a new conceptual ‘hierarchy’ is proposed that can be used to explain how Millennial consumers can become better connected with agricultural programs and branding messages moving forward. Implications and future research directions are provided.     

互联网使用对农户采纳绿色农业技术的影响研究——基于河北省436个设施蔬菜种植户的调研数据

目的 推广绿色农业技术、强化农业绿色发展的科技支撑是实现农业经济高质量发展的根本要求。方法 文章选择了4项设施蔬菜种植户常用的绿色农业技术（抗病虫抗逆性强的新品种、生物防治、生物农药、水肥一体化）,通过计算互联网使用综合得分,运用有序Probit模型实证分析了互联网使用对农户绿色农业技术采纳强度的影响。进一步,结合工具变量法和条件混合过程估计法（CMP）来克服互联网使用的内生性问题,同时检验了社会网络在互联网影响绿色农业技术采纳过程中的调节效应。结果 互联网使用能够显著提高农户的绿色农业技术采纳强度,互联网使用程度高的农户更倾向于采纳多项绿色农业技术;社会网络在互联网使用影响绿色农业技术采纳行为的过程中具有负向调节作用,在影响农户采纳绿色农业技术的过程中互联网使用能够对社会网络产生替代作用。结论 政府应加快推进农村地区互联网基础设施建设,增加农户使用互联网的可行性和便易性;积极开发公益性的绿色技术知识普及、培训、推广和教学软件,帮助农户认识、接受并采纳绿色农业技术;引导农户使用互联网促进产品销售,实现绿色农产品的优质优价。