Indigenous and Institutional Thought in the Practice of Rural Development a Study of an Ushi Chiefdom in Luapula, Zambia
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Indigenous and institutional thought in the practice of rural development a study of an Ushi chiefdom in Luapula, Zambia. Philip Neal Gatter. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 1990 ProQuest Number: 10672785 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672785 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract. This thesis presents a critical analysis of rural, especially agricultural, development, viewed as social process. It considers how villagers and formal institutions understand economic activity, and how these differing perspectives inform patterns of practice. First, given that development is nominally about the formulation and implementation of ideas, the possibility of using the concept discourse as originated by Foucault is explored: an approach which treats concept and practice as reciprocally constitutive. The area first examined substantively is technical knowledge of agricultural production in Mabumba. I show how techniques can be conceptually differentiated between "traditional" village methods and institutional interventions. This is followed by an exegesis of village political economy, stressing how kinship provides the foundation for an economy strongly premised on distributive processes. The third section examines the various formal institutions at work in the village, stressing a contrastive emphasis on the productive processes in themselves, particularly in relation to cash crop maize. Chapter nine then takes up the theme of productionism and distributionism as expressed in the political activities of the chief, to show how these different foci.are arenas for the operation of power. 2 The final chapter reviews the evidence, concluding that intervention articulated through maize (productionism) very closely resembles a Foucauldian discourse. Ideas about how maize should be grown are beginning to inform a new subjectivity for the grower: the modern, developed farmer who applies quantitative standards to the evaluation of production and people. It is shown how the discourse approach complements a more traditional Marxist one: by specifying the embodied processes through which capital becomes effective, and allowing for an ideological element in the determination of how people think and act, without granting ideology unqualified hegemonic status. Discourse in relation to agricultural research is reconside red, suggesting some new ways forward, mindful of the limitations which productionism imposes. 3 Acknowledgements The research presented in this thesis would not have been possible without the help of individuals and institutions too numerous to name in full. The following is necessarily a selective list: others not mentioned specifically should not feel they have been forgotten. Materially, the project was made possible by a studentship from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the U.K. Freedom to conduct the research as I chose was granted by the Rural Development Studies Bureau in the University of Zambia, and by Mr. L.C. Mfula, Permanent Secretary for Luapula Province. Within the University of Zambia I received support from many people: I must especially thank Dr. John Milimo, U s e Mwanza, and Dr. M. Musambachime. Other researchers, at various stages of their careers, were sources of inspiration: Drs Elisabeth Colson, Kate Crehan, Henrietta Moore, Megan Vaughan, and Jonathan Haberad; and my fellow research affiliates Trish Fleming and Riff Fulan. In Mansa Feline Chongola, Jeremy Gould, Daphne Thuvesson, Harri Pitkaranta, and Gun Mickels all took an interest in my work. Numerous others, volunteers and local people, provided a lively social life which was invaluable in times of boredom; and I must thank Dr. Alain Bouckenooghe for treatment when ill. In ARPT much support came from colleagues Ben Zimba, Bernard Mtonga, Michael and Antonia Allen, Marcelo Dougnac, Tord Karlsson, Marie Afors, Patrick Sikana, Alastair Sutherland, Ayson Simbeye, Henry Chilufya and Fabian Chanda, with whom I worked closely. In Mabumba special thanks are due chief Musa Mabumba, Charles Chembe, Mr. Banda and my research assistant, Abel Mumba. Many other villagers gave up their time generously to talk to me and assist in my learning about village life. Finally, I must acknowledge the advice and encouragement given throughout by my supervisor, Johan Pottier. 4 Contents. Page Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 4 Chapter 1. Introduction 9 Theoretical perspective 13 Methodology 26 Order of presentation 32 The field work situation 35 Chapter 2. Production techniques in Mabumba 41 Major historical developments 41 Shifting cultivation 44 Indigenous soils classification 58 Cash maize farming 66 A new activity: vegetable production 70 Livestock 72 Chapter 3. Mabumba kinship and residence 80 Ushi kinship terminology 82 Matrikin 86 Affinal relations 92 Kinship and residence: a case study 103 What does being a kinsman mean? 113 The "household" 121 Chapter 4. The social organisation of production 127 The nature of productive individualism 128 Gender and labour 137 Outside labour 155 Rewards for labour 161 Beer and its shifting meanings 162 The meanings of money 170 Chapter 5. The social organisation of distribution 183 Forms of distribution 184 Distribution in the production process 187 Informal marketing in Mabumba 189 Household budgetting 200 Conflict in resource use 202 Land and its changing meanings 205 Whither distribution? 216 5 Chapter 6. Extension: part one 225 Village perceptions of the history of extension 226 Current perceptions and expectatons of extension 229 The camp officer in Mabumba 237 The T and V system as seen from the village 250 Measurement: production and the self 257 A new professionalism? 260 Chapter 7. Extension: part two 264 The T and V system as seen from provincial level 264 Production data 271 The Lima schemes 275 The missing social context 283 Field staff 284 Chapter 8. Other institutions 305 1. The Church 306 2. The Department of Social Development 329 3. The Cooperative Societies 340 4. A note on the Party 346 Chapter 9. The Chief and Makumba 353 Introducing Makumba 355 The Shinganga 366 Fertility, morality, humanity and nature 371 A new vigilance 376 The relations of different discourses of fertility 378 The chief and other sources of power 380 Sources of tension 389 Chapter 10. Conclusions: prospects for agricultural 393 development Distributionism 393 Maize farming: a putting into discourse of agriculture? 395 Households and economic differentiation: category and process 402 ARPT and the "liberation" of agricultural research 418 Figures and tables. Figure 1. Field use cycles in Mabumba 49 Figure 2. Mean aggregate times spent on agricultural tasks by men and women in Mabumba 140 Figure 3. Total hours per adult female: maize and cassava compared 141 6 Figure 4. Total hours per adult male: maize and cassava compared 142 Figure 5. a. The sexual division of labour in agriculture: clearing and cultivation 143 b. The sexual division of labour in agriculture: planting 144 c. The sexual division of labour in agriculture: weeding 145 d. The sexual division of labour in agriculture: harvesting 146 Table 1. Levels of cash maize production by contact farmers 252 Table 2. Productionist and distributionist strategies compared 351 Appendices Appendix 1 Non-agricultural production 434 Appendix 2 Kinship A. Core terms: first ascending generation 442 matrikin B. Core terms: same generation matrikin 443 C . Core terms: first descending generation 444 matrikin D. Core terms: affines 445 E. The ulupwa: generational shift of 446 inclusiveness F. Core kin groupings in Chipanta 447 G. Sketch map of Chipanta 448 H. Relatedness in Chipanta 449 I. Ushi clan names 451 Appendix 3 A. Farmer category definitions (MAWD) 452 B. Crop production and sales figures for 452 Mansa East block 7 Appendix 4. Maps Map 1: Zambia and Luapula province 454 Map 2: Mabumba agricultural camp 455 Glossary 456 Bibliography 459 8 Chapter 1: Introduction ’’Th e subject matter of agricultural and rural development could by described as lying at an intersection of the agronomic and the social or political with a third plane, namely, that of power, government and administration in the realm of bureaucracy, organisation and logistics." (Apthorpe, 1984, p,139). I begin with a substantive rationale for the research presented in this thesis. In a naive sense "development" appeals as a subject for the anthropologist: it is about the formulation of ideas and their application; the relation of notion and practice in the attempt to engineer changes in a society. It raises such issues as ideology, motivation, intentions, outcomes and reflections on outcomes. Further, it has engendered a whole literature on the possible role of the anthropologist as an actor in applied social research, as means for sensitising the juggernauts of development (the World Bank, IMF, etc.)