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The Political Economy of West African Agriculture

Keith Hart author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:31st May '82

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The Political Economy of West African Agriculture cover

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