The Political Economy of West African Agriculture
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:31st May '82
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Examines why West Africa's agriculture has been heavily geared toward export, yet the region is one of the world's poorest.
West Africa's agriculture has, for 150 years, been heavily geared toward export, yet the region is one of the world's poorest. Keith Hart examines this question, focusing particularly on how this situation has affected the indigenous peoples of West Africa.West Africa's agriculture has, for 150 years, been heavily geared toward export, yet the region is one of the world's poorest. Keith Hart examines this question, focusing particularly on how this situation has affected the indigenous peoples of West Africa. Commerce has grown impressively, but productivity remains low and capital accumulation is retarded. The reasons exist primarily in internal conditions shaping social institutions. Before, during, and since colonialism, the particular problems of these preindustrial states have shaped agricultural development more than the pressure supposedly emanating from the 'world system' of international capitalism. This book, following the classical economists as well as Marx and Lenin, argues for the necessity of rapid capitalist penetration into West African agriculture. The book is also a readable introduction to the history and ethnography of the region as a whole.
ISBN: 9780521284233
Dimensions: 228mm x 152mm x 17mm
Weight: 330g
240 pages