‘My hunger has brought business’: ‘efficiency’ and the de-moralizing logic of maize distribution in an era of market liberalization

Abstract

The adoption of maize market liberalization policies in Zambia marked the beginning of a radical transformation of government institutions and ideologies. The maize marketing boards and input credit schemes that characterized the post-independence humanist project in Zambia were replaced by the ideology of ‘efficiency’ and a reification of markets as the vehicle to poverty reduction and food security. Using ethnographic and historical data, this article situates the ‘farming as a business’ development model within the broader context of this political economic transition. It shows how the interaction between the growing legitimacy of business-oriented maize farming and liberalized maize markets create conditions for a cycle of hunger in rural Zambia, by eroding the terms by which food insecure people acquire maize through piecework systems, loans, and food gifts.

Keywords:

• moral economy
• commoditization
• food security
• market liberalization
• maize

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the National Science Foundation for funding the research that led to this article. He would also like to thank the people of Mayindi for support and acceptance he received throughout the course of his research.