University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology Anthropology 2017 LIVING ON THE EDGE: SMALLHOLDER GROWERS’ RESPONSES TO A CHANGING TOBACCO ECONOMY IN MALAWI Tony S. Milanzi University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2017.310 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Milanzi, Tony S., "LIVING ON THE EDGE: SMALLHOLDER GROWERS’ RESPONSES TO A CHANGING TOBACCO ECONOMY IN MALAWI" (2017). Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology. 27. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_etds/27 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Tony S. Milanzi, Student Dr. Lisa Cliggett, Major Professor Dr. Sarah Lyon, Director of Graduate Studies LIVING ON THE EDGE: SMALLHOLDER GROWERS’ RESPONSES TO A CHANGING TOBACCO ECONOMY IN MALAWI DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Tony Milanzi Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Lisa Cliggett, Professor of Anthropology Lexington, Kentucky 2017 Copyright © Tony Milanzi 2017 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION LIVING ON THE EDGE: SMALLHOLDER GROWERS’ RESPONSES TO A CHANGING TOBACCO ECONOMY IN MALAWI This dissertation explores how smallholder tobacco growers in Lilongwe, Malawi, experience and respond to fluctuating and declining incomes, and to a generally unstable market as a result of changes in the global tobacco industry. Policy makers and scholars have for a long-time debated on the question of how smallholder farmers are going to adapt to future institutional and structural changes in global agriculture. Studies on rural livelihood restructuring have revealed that processes of economic globalization have disrupted state marketing institutions, and undermined regulatory frameworks, causing shocks to livelihoods of smallholders across the world. These livelihood shocks affect smallholders’ capacities to engage in traditional risk management practices, leaving them vulnerable to future changes in global agriculture. Some studies have called for the strengthening of state and non-state institutions to assist smallholders recover from livelihood crises that result from market shocks. However, the role of these institutions in shaping the perception risk and awareness of the changes smallholders face, which in turn shapes their responses to current and future crises, has not been adequately investigated. Tobacco farmers in Malawi have in recent years experienced unstable markets marked by fluctuating and declining incomes, at the same time that the global tobacco in- dustry is experiencing institutional and structural changes resulting from the anti-smoking lobby, and changing consumption and production patterns. This ethnographic study exam- ined the perception of risk to long-term viability of tobacco farming and adaptive responses among smallholder tobacco growers. Fieldwork revealed that most growers consider the on-going market instability as just one of the risks farmers must deal with and that they employ a repertoire of coping strategies rather than long term adaptive strategies. I argue that smallholders view the current market instability through the lens of exploitative and inefficient tobacco institutions which preclude them from taking a long-term view about their livelihoods. KEYWORDS: Rural Livelihoods, Smallholders, Tobacco Growers, Perception of Risk, Livelihood Restructuring. Tony Milanzi June 27th 2017 LIVING ON THE EDGE: SMALLHOLDER GROWERS’ RESPONSES TO A CHANGING TOBACCO ECONOMY IN MALAWI By Tony Milanzi Lisa Cliggett Director of Dissertation Sarah Lyon Director of Graduate Studies June 27, 2017 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks go to research participants at Kumala for their patience and willingness to share with me their stories, and their aspirations for the future as they tried as best as they could to make a living in tough times. The Department of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky was a collegial place to undertake an intellectually demanding exercise such as Ph.D in Anthropology. I would like to thank faculty and staff and students for the intellectual stimulation and encouragement. I particular, I would like to thank my cohort Ryan Anderson, Veronica Miranda, Megan Maurer, Lydia Roll and Gavin Davies for all the camaraderie and for the emotional support ever since we began this journey together. I would also like to thank my adviser Lisa Cliggett for the mentoring and supervision of my intellectual growth throughout my stay in the program, and for the encouragement and support throughout fieldwork and the writing phase. My dissertation committee Hsain Ilahiane, Deborah Crooks, and Keiko Tanaka for offering critical insights on perspectives about my topic of research and for advice on conducting fieldwork. Many thanks to Ann Kingsolver who through her work, inspired me to work on tobacco growers’ livelihoods in my own country. My parents Stanley and Judith Milanzi, I thank you for instilling in me the desire to seek heights in everything I do, and for the moral support throughout the program. My siblings Gerald, Esnat, Elasma, Augustine, Jacob, Edith and Maureen for your support, moral and otherwise. Finally I’d like to thank Mtisunge for being there for me and for patiently enduring the long hours when I was physically close, and yet unavailable to you. To each and every one of you, I dedicate this dissertation. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements............................................................................................................iii List of Tables......................................................................................................................vii List of Figures..................................................................................................................viii Chapter One: Introduction....................................................................................................1 1.1 Overview of the Argument...........................................................................3 1.2 Theoretical Framework of the Study............................................................9 1.3 Overview Methods......................................................................................11 1.4 Findings in Brief.........................................................................................13 1.5 Overview of the Dissertation......................................................................15 Chapter Two: History and Context of Tobacco Production and Marketing in Malawi..................................................................................................................17 2.0 Introduction...................................................................................................17 2.1 A Brief History of Tobacco Production and Marketing in Malawi.............19 2.2 Tobacco, the State, and Smallholders...........................................................26 2.2.1 The Colonial State and Agriculture.....................................29 Alienation of Land..................................................28 Extraction of Labor..................................................29 A Note on Local Resistance....................................30 Regulation and Control............................................31 2.2.2 The Post Colonial State and Agriculture.............................38 Land Alienation........................................................38 Legislation................................................................38 Commodity Marketing Boards................................39 2.3 Reform in the Tobacco Industry...................................................................40