Narratives of scarcity: Framing the global land rush
Date
2019Author
Scoones, Ian
Smalley, Rebecca
Hall, Ruth
Tsikata, Dzodzi
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Global resource scarcity has become a central policy concern, with predictions of rising populations, natural
resource depletion and hunger. The narratives of scarcity that arise as a result justify actions to harness resources
considered ‘underutilised’, leading to contestations over rights and entitlements and producing new scarcities.
Yet scarcity is contingent, contextual, relational and above all political. We present an analysis of three framings
– absolute, relative and political scarcity – associated with the intellectual traditions of Malthus, Ricardo and
Marx, respectively. A review of 134 global and Africa-specific policy and related sources demonstrates how
diverse framings of scarcity – what it is, its causes and what is to be done – are evident in competing narratives
that animate debates about the future of food and farming in Africa and globally. We argue that current
mainstream narratives emphasise absolute and relative scarcity, while ignoring political scarcity. Opening up
this debate, with a more explicit focus on political scarcities is, we argue, important; emphasising how resources
are distributed between different needs and uses, and so different people and social classes. For African settings,
seen as both a source of abundant resources and a site where global scarcities may be resolved, as well as where
local scarcities are being experienced most acutely, a political scarcity framing on the global land rush, and
resource questions more broadly, is, we suggest, essential.