Africa's land rush: rural livelihoods and agrarian change

Abstract

This book is 'the most historically grounded, lucid and nuanced understanding to date of the complex political economy of the contemporary rush for land in Africa' according to Professor Adebayo Olukoshi, Director of of the United Nations Institute for Development.

Africa's Land Rush explores the processes through which land deals are being made; the implications for agrian structure, rural livelihoods and food security; and the historical context for changing land uses. The case studies reveal that these land grabs may resonate with, even resurrect, forms of production associated with the colonial and early independence eras. Based on interviews with the investors, goverment, authorities, workers, outgrowers and smallholder farmers in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and the Congo, the book depicts the striking diversity of such deals.