Abstract

This book links contemporary debates on land reform with wider discourses on sustainable development within Africa. Featuring chapters and in-depth case studies on South Africa and Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Botswana and West Africa, it traces the development of ideas about sustainable development and addresses a new agenda based on social justice. The authors critically examine contemporary neoliberal market-led reforms and the legacy of colonialism on the land question. They argue that debates on sustainable development should be placed in the context of structural interests, access and equity, rather than technical management of land and resources. Additionally, they show that these structural factors cannot be transformed by institutional reform based on notions of elective democracy, community participation, and market-reform, but require a far more radical programme to redress the injustices of the colonial system that continue today. The book advocates a commitment to building sustainable livelihoods for farmers, calling for a redistribution of land and natural resources to challenge existing economic relations and frameworks for development.
Sam Moyo is the Executive Director of the African Institute for Agrarian Studies based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He has more than 25 years of research experience on rural development issues with a focus on land and natural resources management, civil society organizations, and capacity building and institutional development. He has been involved in several publications, including The Land Question in Zimbabwe, Land Reform Under Structural Adjustment in Zimbabwe, and African Land Questions, the State and Agrarian Transition. Kojo Amanor is an Associate Professor at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. His main research is on land, forestry, environmental management, and rural livelihoods. His publications include The New Frontier: Farmers responses to land degradation, Global restructuring and land rights in Ghana; Land labour and the Family in Southern Ghana. He is also co-editor of Cultivating Knowledge: Genetic diversity, farmer experimentation and crop research.