Agricultural reconstruction in a consumer society: The Mboza Village project¹

Clive Poultney and Peter Derman have conducted field research in Northern Natal since 1978 and 1981 respectively. The research is ongoing and is sponsored by the Human Sciences Research Council. They have established a permanent research camp at Mboza and this provides a research base for a multidisclplinary programme. The research programme, as with the Mboza Village Project, is sanctioned by the Mboza development committee and the community at large.

Abstract

While this paper draws upon research conducted in northern Natal, it has general relevance for rural development debates in South Africa today. The authors argue that it is imperative that agricultural development be located within the context of socio‐economic factors that prescribe relations of consumption and development of labour supply. Agricultural performance and the potential for agricultural development should be assessed within the context of the interrelationship between different spheres of economic exchange as well as the differential management of risk within a narrow range of marginal economic options. Serious attention should be given to the structural causes of rural poverty and the high social and economic costs associated with rural life in South Africa. Such issues are not necessarily addressed in attempts to increase rural productivity through reforming indigenous land tenure systems.

Notes

Clive Poultney and Peter Derman have conducted field research in Northern Natal since 1978 and 1981 respectively. The research is ongoing and is sponsored by the Human Sciences Research Council. They have established a permanent research camp at Mboza and this provides a research base for a multidisclplinary programme. The research programme, as with the Mboza Village Project, is sanctioned by the Mboza development committee and the community at large.

Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Natal.

Anthropologist, Human Sciences Research Council.