The Political Uses of Agricultural Markets in Zambia

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Periodical article

Title:	The Political Uses of Agricultural Markets in Zambia
Author:	Pletcher, James R.
Year:	1986
Periodical:	Journal of Modern African Studies
Volume:	24
Issue:	4
Pages:	603-617
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zambia
Subjects:	agricultural policy agricultural marketing Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Economics and Trade Politics and Government
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/161241
Abstract:	Examination of the social and economic conditions whitin which the Zambian State surrenders control over agricultural markets. The analysis shows contradictory tendencies in Zambia's agricultural policies: on the one hand, the government sought to expand peasant participation in national markets, while on the other, controls were used in such a way as to retard the expansion of the smallholder sector. The political forces which gave rise to these contradictory market policies are examined by analysing the relative weight of various constituencies in the dominant United National Independence Party. In the 1970s, a small but articulate and powerful middle class began to exert pressure on the regime to abandon its monopoly hold over many sectors in the economy. However, to abandon controls over agricultural markets would have threatened the popularity of UNIP by squeezing those urban residents who could least afford a jump in the price of food. Notes, ref.