Contests and struggle: Cotton farmers and COTTCO in Rushinga district,Zimbabwe, 1999–2006 |
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| Authors: | Godwin Masuka |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Bromatology and Food Technology, University of Cordoba, Campus of Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain;2. Department of Animal Production, University of Cordoba, Campus of Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain;1. EconomiX, UMR 7235 University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France;2. LEAD, UFR Sciences Economiques et Gestion, University of Sud Toulon-Var, France |
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| Abstract: | The paper examines the relations between farmers and The Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (COTTCO) in Rushinga district of Zimbabwe. Based on interviews with farmers and secondary data, it examines the practice of side marketing of contracted seed cotton. While a large body of literature has discussed the social and economic effects of contract farming on farmers, there are less critical studies on side marketing of crops by farmers in unstable economic and political environment such as Zimbabwe. The paper demonstrates that farmers taking advantage of the macroeconomic environment in Zimbabwe violated contracts by selling seed cotton to other buyers. In the process, farmers renegotiated the meaning of the contract and appealed to market rationality embedded in the neo-liberal ideology. For these farmers, side marketing was part of a survival strategy, albeit in imperfect markets and a difficult economic environment. Nonetheless, side marketing of seed cotton strained relations between farmers and COTTCO. The paper shows the tensions in contracts that require regulation by the state and the neo-liberal ideology that promote free markets and argue against strong regulation. |
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