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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Master Farmers' Scheme in Nyasaland, 1950-1962 |
Author: | Kalinga, Owen J.M. |
Year: | 1993 |
Periodical: | African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society |
Volume: | 92 |
Issue: | 368 |
Period: | July |
Pages: | 367-387 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Malawi Great Britain |
Subjects: | class formation colonialism agricultural policy Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Politics and Government Development and Technology History and Exploration |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/723288 |
Abstract: | In almost all British colonies in East and Central Africa, the nurturing of 'progressive' farmers became official policy during the 1940s and 1950s. Although the agricultural schemes set up were undoubtedly directed at improving agriculture, they were also aimed at political stability since it was hoped that the new type of farmers could be relied upon to support the colonial governments, especially in the light of the rising tide of African nationalism. But this economic solution to a political problem achieved varied results which generally depended on local circumstances. This paper discusses the evolution in Nyasaland (Malawi) of such an agricultural project, the Master Farmers' Scheme, and assesses its effectiveness in food production and in the creation of an elite class of farmers. The scheme commenced in 1950 and came to an end in 1962 when the nationalist government replaced it with the Integrated Rural Development Programme. The paper examines the scheme at four contextual levels, namely, agriculture and development ideas in postwar Africa, transformation of production, growth of rural differentiation and, finally, rural protest and resistance. It shows that the government's expectation of nursing the emergence of a rural 'yeoman' class was only partially realized in that, although some of the Master Farmers became its strong supporters, there were also many Master Farmers who rebelled against the government. Notes, ref. |