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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Persistence of the Family Farm and the Economy of Affection: The Cameroonian Case
Author:Ngwainmbi, Jilly M.ISNI
Year:2000
Periodical:Journal of Social Development in Africa (ISSN 1012-1080)
Volume:15
Issue:1
Pages:93-108
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:Cameroon
West Africa
Subjects:farmers
agricultural policy
family
small farms
Economics and Trade
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
Development and Technology
Abstract:This paper examines the persistence of 'the economy of affection', i.e. the African version of the family farm, in Cameroon in light of reasons given for the survival of the family farm in Western, advanced capitalist economies. It utilizes a case study based on farmers' responses to agricultural policies designed to promote commercial agriculture. The author presents the findings of the case study she conducted in 1990 on the impact of State agricultural policies on farming practices and beliefs. She discovered that despite the economic and monetary incentives provided by the State, most farmers had abandoned export agriculture and turned to the production of food crops. The economy of affection persists due to the subjective values that Cameroonian farmers attribute to their activities. The production of coffee and cocoa would involve a number of constraints and requirements directly or indirectly infringing upon the farmers' value orientations, rituals associated with land stewardship, and a view of farming as a way of life. The sacred component to agriculture, rituals providing for social bonding, and the process of self-definition associated with food production determine farmers' everyday life and social existence. Agricultural policies driven by economic models, which only assume farmers' responsiveness to economic incentives, are doomed to failure. Bibliogr., sum.
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