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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Tomatoes, land and hearsay: property and history in Asante in the time of structural adjustment
Author:Berry, SaraISNI
Year:1997
Periodical:World Development
Volume:25
Issue:8
Pages:1225-1241
Language:English
Geographic term:Ghana
Subjects:Ashanti
customary law
land law
tomatoes
External link:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(97)00039-9
Abstract:After a decade of advocating market-based solutions to poverty and underdevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa, policy analysts have begun to reexamine the actual and potential role of African States and institutions in promoting sustainable development. Much of this debate rests on ahistorical approaches to understanding African institutions which portray them as inflexible and fragile, beleagered by economic and political change rather than contributing to it. After reviewing some of the conceptual inflexibilities which underlie recent debates, this essay argues for a more historical and processual approach, which takes account of the negotiability and ambiguity of many institutional arrangements. It draws on a case study of recent changes in land rights and agricultural practices in Ghana, namely Kumawu, a rural town about 50 km northeast of Kumase, the regional capital of Asante. In addition to new demands for credit, the spread of tomato cultivation has given rise to new land tenure arrangements in Kumawu. The essay is based on interviews conducted in Kumawu in June and July 1994. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum.
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