First published in 1997, this volume asks whether Africa’s future is necessarily rooted in peasant agriculture. The title of this book,
Farewell to Farms
, is deliberately intended to challenge the widely held view that Africa is the world’s reserve for peasant farming. African rural populations are themselves moving away from a reliance on agriculture. ‘De-agrarianisation’ takes the form of urban migration as well as the expansion of non-agricultural activities in rural areas providing new income sources, occupations and social identities for rural dwellers.
Using recent continent-wide case study evidence, the authors assess the impact of de-agrarianisation on household welfare, business performance and national development. Their findings, which reveal new economic trajectories and social patterns emerging from a period of accelerated change, call into question assumptions about Africa’s future place in the world division of labour.