The Ivory Coast Economic "Miracle": What Benefits for Peasant Farmers?
In: The journal of modern African studies: a quarterly survey of politics, economics & related topics in contemporary Africa, Band 21, Heft 1, S. 25-53
Abstract
In explanation of the apparent "miracle" of economic growth of Africa's Ivory Coast, three main arguments are presented: (1) Growth is heavily due to two export crops, cocoa & coffee, aided by a beneficent climate & a stable government that encourages their production through (A) increasing producer prices, (B) awarding cash bonuses to producers, (C) supplying cheap foreign labor, (D) guaranteeing security of land tenure & unrestricted transfer, & (E) ensuring competition by putting marketing in the hands of private agents. (2) Individual small-holder farmers actually responsible for this growth have not benefited in terms of increased assets, incomes, or living conditions. In contrast to the alleged formulation of a "Ru bourgeoisie," the peasant farmer has remained politically impotent & economically blocked, & inequality prevails. (3) Ironically, the prime beneficiaries of the success of these crops have been government officials & representatives of foreign, primarily French, firms, few of whom have peasant backgrounds or any direct connection with farming cocoa or coffee. 5 Tables. K. Hyatt.
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Englisch
ISSN: 0022-278X
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