The Land and Agricultural Commercialisation in Africa (LACA) project met in Ghana from 1 – 4 October to discuss interim findings from 9 case study sites in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia.
The LACA project explores the implications of three models of commercialisation in three case study sites in each country. The first year of the project has involved qualitative research in all 9 study sites.
The project group also discussed research instruments for the second year of the project, which will involve quantitative household surveys to determine impacts on local people, including households now getting jobs and those becoming commercial outgrowers.
- Blog: Across Africa: how Future Agricultures works together on Land and CAADP by Ruth Hall, 4 October 2013
The meeting also included a field trip to visit small-scale mango farmers selling on contract to Blue Skies, a company selling organic mangoes in the European Union.
About the project
The Land and Agricultural Commercialisation in Africa (LACA) project of Future Agricultures asks:
- What kinds of agricultural commercialisation benefit local small-scale farmers in Africa?
- Which displace and exclude them?
- Which create jobs, livelihoods and pathways into markets?
The project aims to answer these and other questions by focusing on three different models of agricultural commercialisation: large plantations and estates; areas dominated by medium-scale commercial farmers; and outgrower schemes where small-scale farmers sell on contract to commercial processors.
While these models have long been used in African agriculture and much is known about them, as Rebecca Smalley’s recent blog explains, the recent spate of large-scale land deals for commercial farming have underscored the urgency of provide evidence on their different impacts on rural livelihoods, gender relations, employment, and agrarian change.