The next great Trek? South African commercial farmers move north

Abstract

This paper analyses the shifting role of South African farmers, agribusiness andcapital elsewhere in the Southern African region and the rest of the continent. Itexplores recent trends in this expansion, and investigates the interests and agendasshaping such deals, and the ideologies and discourses of legitimation employed infavour of them. While for the past two decades small numbers of South Africanfarmers have moved to Mozambique, Zambia and several other countries, thistrend seems to be undergoing both a quantitative and a qualitative shift. Whereasin the past their migration was largely individual or in small groups, now it isbeing more centrally organised and coordinated, is more frequently taking theform of large concessions for newly formed consortia and agribusinesses, and isincreasingly reliant on external financing through transnational partnerships. Byearly 2010, the commercial farmers’ association Agri South Africa (AgriSA) wasengaged in negotiations for land acquisitions with the governments of 22 Africancountries.