(Research in Rural Sociology and Development 16) Alessandro Bonanno, Hans Baker, Raymond Jussaume, Yoshio Kawamura and Mark Shuksmith (Editors) - From Community to Consumption_ New and Classical Theme

FROM COMMUNITY TO
CONSUMPTION: NEW AND

CLASSICAL THEMES IN RURAL
SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
RESEARCH IN RURAL SOCIOLOGY
AND DEVELOPMENT
Series Editor: Terry Marsden
Recent Volumes:
Volume 1: Focus on Agriculture
Volume 2: Focus on Communities
Volume 3: Third World Contexts
Volume 4: Rural Labor Markets
Volume 5: Household Strategies
Volume 6: Sustaining Agriculture & Rural Community
Volume 7: Focus on Migration
Volume 8: Dairy Industry Restructuring
Volume 9: Walking Towards Justice: Democratization in
Rural Life
Volume 10: Nature, Raw Materials and Political Economy
Volume 11: New Directions in the Sociology of Global
Development
Volume 12: Between the Local and the Global
Volume 13: Gender Regimes, Citizen Participation and Rural
Restructuring
Volume 14: Beyond the Rural–Urban Divide:
Cross-Continental Perspectives on the
Differentiated Countryside and Its Regulation
Volume 15: Welfare Reform in Rural Places:
Comparative Perspectives
RESEARCH IN RURAL SOCIOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT
VOLUME 16
FROM COMMUNITY TO
CONSUMPTION: NEW AND
CLASSICAL THEMES IN
RURAL SOCIOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
EDITED BY
ALESSANDRO BONANNO
Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
HANS BAKKER
University of Guelph, Guelph ON, Canada
RAYMOND JUSSAUME
Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
YOSHIO KAWAMURA
Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan
MARK SHUCKSMITH
Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
United Kingdom – North America – Japan

India – Malaysia – China
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK
First edition 2010
Copyright r 2010 Emerald Group Publishing Limited
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CONTENTS
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS ix
INTRODUCTION xiii
PART I: SOCIOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 1 I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE,

AND IT WORKS! HOW JOINT FARMING MAY
SOLVE CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN
TECHNOLOGICAL LEVEL AND FARM
STRUCTURE IN NORWEGIAN DAIRY
PRODUCTION
Reidar Almås 3
CHAPTER 2 NEW PEASANTRIES AND

ALTERNATIVE AGRO-FOOD NETWORKS: THE
CASE OF RÉSEAU SEMENCES PAYSANNES
Alessandra Corrado 17
CHAPTER 3 THE DEVELOPMENT OF

ALTERNATIVE PRODUCTION AND
CONSUMPTION ACTIVITIES RELATED
TO FOOD SAFETY AND SECURITY AND
ASSOCIATED GENDER ISSUES
Hitomi Nakamichi 31
CHAPTER 4 THE ROLE AND POSSIBILITIES

FOR SUBSISTENCE PRODUCTION: REFLECTING
ON THE EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN
Keiko Yoshino 45
v
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER 5 THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE

POULTRY INDUSTRY: TYSON FOODS AND
PILGRIM’S PRIDE IN MEXICO
Douglas H. Constance, Francisco Martinez and 59
Gilberto Aboites
CHAPTER 6 STUDYING FERTILITY BEHAVIOR

OF FARM POPULATION AS A CONTRIBUTION
TO UNDERSTANDING OVERALL LOW
FERTILITY TRENDS: THE CASE OF
SLOVENIA
Majda Černicˇ Istenicˇ 77
PART II: DEVELOPMENT, RURAL,

COMMUNITY, AND MIGRATION
CHAPTER 7 STATE AND MARKET: THE

POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT, ‘‘PEASANTIZATION,’’
AND AGRARIAN RESTRUCTURING IN
NORTHERN LAO PDR
Jamaree Chiengthong 95
CHAPTER 8 WITHOUT CATEGORIES AND

CLASSIFICATIONS: ‘‘RURAL’’ AS A SOCIAL
EXPRESSION
Loka Ashwood 113
CHAPTER 9 RURAL COMMUNITY IN A

GLOBALIZING WORLD
Josefa Salete Barbosa Cavalcanti 127
CHAPTER 10 ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS

AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN
RURAL AUSTRALIA
Kirrily Jordan, Branka Krivokapic-Skoko and 141
Jock Collins
Contents vii
CHAPTER 11 THE REGENERATIVE POWER

OF OLDER MIGRANTS? A CASE STUDY OF
HOKKAIDO, JAPAN
Kayo Murakami, Rose Gilroy and Jane Atterton 155
PART III: CONSUMPTION
CHAPTER 12 MAKING DEVICE FOR

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS:
A CASE STUDY OF JAPANESE FARMERS’
MARKETS
Tadahiro Iizaka and Fumiaki Suda 171
CHAPTER 13 DIRECT SALES SUIT

PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS’
INTERESTS IN VIETNAM
Paule Moustier and Thi Tan Loc Nguyen 185
CHAPTER 14 PARTICIPATION OF THE STATE

IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD TO URBAN
AREAS AND POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS
FOR THE VENEZUELAN AGRO FOOD SECTOR
Agustıń Morales 199
PART IV: NATURAL RESOURCES AND

RURAL WOMEN
CHAPTER 15 CAPACITY BUILDING FOR

THE ENVIRONMENT: FOREST POLICY AND
MANAGEMENT IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
Sabine Weiland 219
CHAPTER 16 HISTORIES AND CONTINUITIES

OF WATER GOVERNANCE IN NORTHERN GHANA
Jennifer Hauck and Eva Youkhana 235
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER 17 GENDER, BODIES AND

ETHNICITY IN RURAL PLACES: SETTLEMENT
EXPERIENCES OF IMMIGRANT WOMEN IN
RURAL VICTORIA
Gayle Farnsworth 251
CHAPTER 18 WOMEN FARMERS’

NETWORKING IN JAPAN: A CASE STUDY
OF A PIONEERING NETWORK
Juri Hara-Fukuyo 261
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Gilberto Aboites is a researcher at the Center of Socioeconomic Research at

the Autonomous University of Coahuila and a professor of sociology at the
Antonio Narro Agrarian Autonomous University, Saltillo, Mexico.
Reidar Almås is a professor of rural sociology and regional development and
the Director of the Centre for Rural Research at the University of
Trondheim, Trondheim, Norway.
Loka Ashwood is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Community
and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
USA.
Jane Atterton is a researcher in the Rural Policy Centre, Scottish
Agricultural College (SAC), Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Hans Bakker is a professor of sociology and anthropology at the University
of Guelph, Guelph ON, Canada.
Alessandro Bonanno is a distinguished professor of sociology and the
Department Chair at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA.
Josefa Salete Barbosa Cavalcanti is a CNPq researcher and associate
professor of sociology in the Department of Social Sciences at the Federal
University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
Majda Černič Istenič is an associate professor of sociology in the
Department of Agronomy, Biotechnical Faculty at the University of
Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia and a senior researcher at the Sociomedical
Institute, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences
and Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Jamaree Chiengthong is an associate professor in the Department of
Sociology and Anthopology, Faculty of Social Sciences at Chiang Mai
University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Jock Collins is a professor in the School of Finance and Economics at the
University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.
ix
x LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Douglas H. Constance is professor of sociology at Sam Houston State

University, Huntsville, TX, USA.
Alessandra Corrado is a researcher in the Department of Sociology and
Political Science at the University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy.
Gayle Farnsworth is a doctoral candidate at the Hawke Research Institute
University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Rose Gilroy is a senior lecturer, at the Global Urban Research Unit,
Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom.
Juri Hara-Fukuyo is a senior researcher at National Agricultural Research
Center, NARO, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki, Japan.
Jennifer Hauck is a researcher at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental
Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
Tadahiro Iizaka is a professor at National Agricultural Research Center,
NARO, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki, Japan.
Kirrily Jordan is a postgraduate researcher at the School of Finance and
Economics at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.
Raymond Jussaume is a professor of rural sociology at Washington State
University, Pullman, WA, USA.
Yoshio Kawamura is a professor of agricultural/rural development at
Ryukoku University, Japan.
Branka Krivokapic-Skoko is a lecturer in economics and management at the
School of Marketing and Management, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst,
Australia.
Thi Tan Loc Nguyen is a researcher in economics at the Vietnam Fruit and
Vegetable Research Institute (FAVRI), Hanoi, Vietnam.
Francisco Martinez is a professor in the Department of Agricultural
Economics at the Antonio Narro Agrarian Autonomous University and
Head Researcher at the Center of Socioeconomic Research at the
Autonomous University of Coahuila, Saltillo, Mexico.
Agustı́n Morales is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics
at the Central University of Venezuela, Maracay, Venezuela.
Paule Moustier is a researcher in economics at CIRAD, MOISA unit,
Montpellier, France.
List of Contributors xi
Kayo Murakami is a honorary research fellow at Centre for Rural Economy

(CRE), Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom.
Hitomi Nakamichi is an associate professor in the Faculty of Agriculture at
Ehime University, Matsuyama City, Ehime, Japan.
Mark Shucksmith is a professor of planning at Newcastle University,
Newcastle, United Kingdom.
Fumiaki Suda is a researcher at the Policy Research Institute of the Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery of Japan, Tokyo, Japan.
Sabine Weiland is a senior researcher at Catholic University Louvain,
Louvain, Belgium.
Keiko Yoshino is a project manger of Institute for Sustainability Research
and Education, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan.
Eva Youkhana is a senior research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Latin
America Center, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
INTRODUCTION
This edited book contains a selection of papers that were originally presented
at the XII World Congress of Rural Sociology held in Goyang, South Korea,
in July 2008. Contrary to the case of conference proceedings, this volume
includes papers that underwent a peer review process and, therefore, possess
the quality of finished research manuscripts. The idea of publishing a
selection of the most significant papers read at the 2008 World Congress
stems from the desire to share the wealth of research presented at the
conference with interested individuals who could not attend the event.
Additionally, this will be the first of a series of volumes containing the most
salient works presented at world congresses and reflecting the research
characterizing contemporary rural sociology. As this sociological sub-
discipline evolves along with society and the rural world, it appears of
paramount importance to make salient research available to the international
scientific community.
Rural sociology is changing, and it is significantly different from the
discipline that was the subject matter of the First World Congress of Rural
Sociology held in Dijon, France, in 1964. One of the primary scientific
preoccupations emerging from that conference was the documentation of
the unique and separate world represented by the ‘‘rural.’’ Contextualized in
the then dominant Functionalist paradigm, the rural world was seen as
lagging behind the modernizing urban society, yet it was a place featuring a
number of desirable social characteristics largely absent in other contexts.
This nostalgic and evolutionistic view of rurality has been replaced by a
more sophisticated understanding of the rural generated by a much
more diversified discipline. Although some of the traditional preoccupations
remain, new themes dominate rural sociological debates. Simultaneously,
new views of the rural have become the subjects of discussion and research.
It is this change and the knowledge about it that this volume wishes
to document in terms of both a comparison with past research and a point
of reference for future investigations. The new and the traditional in
rural sociology are reflected in the themes represented by the chapters
included in the volume. The traditional rural sociological concerns of
farming, development, rural, community, and migration are accompanied
xiii
xiv INTRODUCTION
by attention to the new topics of food consumption, natural resources, and

the role of women. These themes are discussed in the four parts that
constitute the volume.
The first part of the book, Sociology of Agriculture, contains six chapters.
It opens with the contribution of Reidar Almås entitled ‘‘I have seen the
future, and it works! How joint farming may solve contradictions between
technological level and farm structure in Norwegian dairy production.’’
Almås analyzes the relevance of the phenomenon of joint farming in
Norwegian dairy production. Global competition, low prices, and over-
production, Almås contends, engendered a crisis for dairy farmers. Often
forced to work long hours and accept lower-income levels, farmers search
for new coping strategies. One of these strategies is ‘‘joint farming.’’ It
involves the establishments of joint ventures among three or more farmers
who share farm resources, infrastructures, and labor. The net result, Almås
concludes, is that farmers enjoy an improved work environment, great
security, and work less hours.
The notion of alternative strategies available to farmers is also explored
by Alessandra Corrado in her chapter, ‘‘New peasantries and alternatives
agro-food networks: the case of Réseau Semences Paysannes.’’ Corrado
documents the emergence of alternative production networks that address
contemporary concerns over food quality, the environment, and social
justice. Employing the case of the French professional association, Re´seau
Semences Paysannes, she indicates that efforts to recover traditional modes
of agricultural production – a phenomenon know as repeasantization – led
to the creation of sustainable farming practices, new forms of development
and reflexivity. Farmers are now more involved in alternative agri-food
networks, solidarity, and cooperation.
Alternative production and consumption are further discussed by Hitomi
Nakamichi in the chapter: ‘‘The development of alternative production and
consumption activities related to food safety and security and associated
gender issues.’’ Through the use of the case of Japan, Nakamichi documents
the growing concern that society has toward developing safe and secure
food production and consumption systems. As they are still male
dominated, these are systems that could benefit from a greater participation
of women.
In the subsequent chapter, Keiko Yoshino also employs the case of
Japan to discuss subsistence farm production. Entitled, ‘‘The role and
possibilities for subsistence production: reflecting on the experience of
Japan,’’ this chapter illustrates the decline of subsistence farming but also its
importance for the strengthening of social networks, community well-being
Introduction xv
and the sharing of knowledge. Subsistence farming, therefore, occupies a

contradictory position in the current social system of agriculture in Japan.
As it declines and becomes increasingly obsolete, it contributes to the
intensification of social networks, therefore, providing a positive social
contribution.
In the following chapter, entitled ‘‘The globalization of the poultry
industry: Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride in Mexico,’’ Douglas H.
Constance, Francisco Martinez, and Gilberto Aboites analyze the indus-
trialization of the poultry industry in the United States and its development
in Mexico. The growth of industrial poultry production in the United States
has been based on vertical and horizontal integration based on the contract
system. This system is advantageous to large agri-food corporations that
have full control of the production process while shifting risks to farmers. It
is a system, the authors argue, of control without liability for corporations.
As Mexico’s middle class grows and food consumption evolves, this system
has been exported from the United States to Mexico to benefit transnational
agri-food corporations.
This first part of the book is concluded by Majda Černič Istenič’s chapter:
‘‘Studying fertility behavior of farm population as a contribution to
understanding overall low fertility trends: the case of Slovenia.’’ Černič
Istenič’s research contributes to the understanding of the low fertility rate of
the Slovenian farm population. Low fertility rates are not uncommon
among farmer communities in many countries, yet the reasons for such
outcomes vary. In the case of Slovenia, this author argues, low fertility rates
are generated by the social context in which farmers interact rather than the
norms and values guiding their actions.
The second part of the book addresses the traditional themes of
Development, Rural, Community, and Migration. The issue of rural
development is discussed in the first two chapters of this section. In the
first chapter of this section, Jamaree Chiengthong discusses the role of the
state in contemporary programs of rural development in the Lao People’s
Democratic Republic. Countering arguments that see the weakening of the
state under globalization, this author contends that, in the Laotian case, the
state has been playing a pivotal role in the creation of conditions that permit
the insertion of Lao PDR into the global economy.
The themes of rural and community are addressed in the next two
chapters of this part of the volume. In her chapter: ‘‘Without categories and
classifications: Rural as a social expression,’’ Loka Ashwood investigates the
contemporary meaning of the ‘‘rural.’’ Acknowledging the difficulties and
ambiguities with which this term is employed in contemporary debates, she
xvi INTRODUCTION
suggests that its various uses explain rural residents’ desire for actual
intervention. This is a desire for intervention to change the current
conditions of rural space. Josefa Salete Barbosa Cavalcanti further
investigates the issue of the rural focusing on the notion of community. In
her contribution, ‘‘Rural community in a globalizing world,’’ she contends
that rural community is a concept rich of meanings that emerge from a
context characterized by the uncertainties that globalization brings to rural
residents and the future of rural spaces. Because of these uncertainties, she
argues, the concept of rural community remains highly important and
represents a valuable asset for the creation of a better future. The
intersection of migration and community is addressed in the chapter by
Jordan, Krivokapic-Skoko, and Collins. In, ‘‘Italian immigrants and the
built environment in rural Australia’’ the authors discuss the impact of
the presence of Italian immigrants in rural Australia and document how the
expression of cultural heritage through the creation of a built environment
facilitated the establishment of social networks and improved inter-ethnic
relations. The last chapter of this part touches on the themes of community,
migration, and rural but also on aging by studying attempts to revitalize
rural communities in Japan through the (partial) relocation of retirees
in these areas. In their chapter ‘‘The regenerative power of older migrants?
A case study of Hokkaido, Japan,’’ Kayo Murakami, Rose Gilroy, and
Jane Atterton discuss the assumptions and implications of a Japanese
program designed to facilitate the relocation of retiring baby-boomers
from crowded urban centers to less-developed rural areas. The rationale
for this effort of rural revitalization is that affluent urban retirees would
find life in rural communities more attractive and pleasant. Simultaneously,
rural communities would benefit socially and economically from the
influx of people and resources that this move would generate. Despite these
promising assumptions, they argue, it is premature to assess the actual
effect of this project. It is possible that a large influx of urban population
to traditional rural areas might engender negative consequences including
the loss of indigenous local identity. To enhance benefits and minimize
losses, they conclude, a fully participatory management of this project is
necessary.
The third part of the book, Consumption, tackles issues associated with
this ‘‘new’’ theme in rural sociology. The first of the three chapters that are
contained in this portion of the volume addresses the issue of farmers’
markets in Japan. That farmers’ markets are a desirable structure for
consumers is a conclusion supported by pertinent literature. In their chapter,
Tadahiro Iisaka and Fumiaki Suda, however, address the relevance of
Introduction xvii
farmers’ market not only for consumers but also for farmers. They argue
that these structures have been valuable for Japanese farmers in terms of
various benefits that cannot be obtained from conventional production and
consumption systems. Although Japanese farmers’ markets are not as wide
spread and popular as in other parts of the advanced world, the benefits that
they bring to consumers and producers alike are increasingly recognized.
Accordingly, the authors conclude, they now occupy an important place in
the panorama of alternative food systems and movements. In the following
chapter, Paule Moustier and Nguyen Thi Tan Loc analyze farmers–
consumer relations in Vietnam. In their chapter ‘‘Direct sales suit producers
and consumers’ interests in Vietnam’’ they contend that while the direct sale
of vegetables has been documented for Western countries, less attention has
been paid to this process in Vietnam. In the West, they maintain, it is clear
that direct sales create positive outcomes for both consumers and producers.
In Vietnam, consumers view direct sales as a positive process as they can
purchase products that they consider fresh. Furthermore, they see it as a
condition that allows them to obtain information about the purchased
products’ origins and safety. For farmers it is also positive as it brings higher
income. However, and due to the high administrative costs of direct sale
programs, only more affluent farmers can afford to participate. Contrary to
cases recorded in the West, the authors conclude, direct sales do not foster
solidarity among producers and consumers as both groups focus on
personal, instrumental gains. The chapter by Agustı́n Morales, ‘‘Participa-
tion of the state in the distribution of food to urban areas and possible
implications for the Venezuelan agro food sector,’’ concludes this part of the
book. Morales documents the actions of the Venezuelan state aimed at the
creation of a program for food distribution to members of that country’s
lower class. Propelled by oil revenue, state intervention has been
characterized by subsidies to make food available to the lower strata. As
demand for food increased, a new situation emerged requiring the
continuous presence of state-sponsored programs. If maintained, Morales
argues, this state intervention would improve food distribution and favor
low-class consumers. In particular, it would serve as a stimulus for the
positive rationalization of the system and the elimination of unnecessary
transaction costs.
The concluding part of the volume is devoted to the emerging themes of
Natural Resources and Rural Women. The first two chapters of this section
tackle the issue of natural resources. In her chapter, ‘‘Capacity building for
the environment: Forest policy and management in southeastern Europe,’’
Sabine Weiland probes the theme of the impact that European Union and
xviii INTRODUCTION
international policies had on forest management in two Southeastern

European countries: Croatia and Albania. Chosen because of their different
degrees of association to the European Union and requirements to comply
with directives from international political bodies, Croatia and Albania
offer important insights into the evolution of the management of natural
resources in the region. Despite the assumed similarities, their comparison
demonstrates that there are important differences between these two
nations. This situation, the author concludes, begs for a careful evaluation
of broad generalizations about Eastern European countries and, more
importantly, requires a careful regional analysis of each country’s
specificities. The issue of water management in developing countries is
investigated in the chapter, ‘‘Histories and continuities of water governance
in Northern Ghana’’ by Jennifer Hauck and Eva Youkhana. Employing the
case of the Upper East Region of Ghana, the authors illustrate the
consequences of the introduction of community-based practices of water
management. Established as an alternative to top-down management
strategies, these practices engendered results that differ from those
envisioned by proponents. The authors maintain, therefore, that there is a
gap between theory and practice in community-based participatory
management. The reason for the existence of this gap, they conclude, rests
on the social complexity of the local situation and the inadequate approach
and preparation of technical personnel.
The issue of women in rural space is addressed by the last two chapters of
this concluding part of the volume. In the chapter, ‘‘Gender, bodies and
ethnicity in rural places: Settlement experiences of immigrant women in
rural Victoria,’’ Gayle Farnsworth studies the intersection of gender,
rurality, and immigration. Adopting a constructionist feminist approach,
Farnsworth illustrates the social difficulties and marginalization of an
immigrant woman in rural Australia. Her narrative points to the manner in
which this immigrant woman experienced her existence in a context
populated by forces that fostered her social exclusion. In her conclusions,
the author stresses the importance of everyday lived experiences in assessing
the contemporary meaning of rural. In the second of the two chapters on
women, Juri Hara-Fukuyo explores the theme of women farmers’
networking in Japan. In her chapter, ‘‘Women farmers’ networking in
Japan: A case study of a pioneering network,’’ she documents the evolution
of the ‘‘Rural Heroines Exciting Network’’ a formal organization of rural
women. Hara-Fukuyo underscores that the existence of this network
enhanced confidence, mutual support, and a sense of identity among rural
Introduction xix
women. She also points out that these results are exclusively confined to the
sphere of the individual. At the collective level, this organization failed to
engage the government and other institutions as this practice is hampered by
the power of traditional social relations.
Alessandro Bonanno
Mark Shucksmith
Raymond Jussaume
Hans Bakker
Yoshio Kawamura
Editors
PART I
SOCIOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 1
I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE, AND

IT WORKS! HOW JOINT FARMING
MAY SOLVE CONTRADICTIONS
BETWEEN TECHNOLOGICAL
LEVEL AND FARM STRUCTURE IN
NORWEGIAN DAIRY PRODUCTION
Reidar Almås
ABSTRACT
Changing conditions for farming force farmers to search for new ways to
organize agricultural production. In dairy farming, households experience
long working hours, inconvenient working conditions, and low incomes.
Dairy markets are beleaguered by overproduction, low prices on staple
dairy products, and low return to labor and capital. This structural
squeeze, which is aggravated by quick technological changes and the
globalization of markets, is negotiated in various ways by dairy farmers in
different agricultural regimes. A recent coping strategy for dairy farmers
in Norway has been joint farming, a process whereby two, three, or even
more farmers establish a joint company to merge their resources and work
together. These joint farmers enjoy more leisure time, greater security in
case of illness, and improved work environments. Why is joint farming so
From Community to Consumption: New and Classical Themes in Rural Sociological Research
Research in Rural Sociology and Development, Volume 16, 3–16
Copyright r 2010 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016004
3
4 REIDAR ALMÅS
successful in Norway? One main explanation is the difference between

agricultural regimes, which places the Norwegian dairy farmer in a
privileged position when it comes to building coping capacity.
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Dairy farming has for a long time undergone radical structural changes in
all advanced, industrialized countries. Family farms, which were once the
dominant model, have in some states of the United States, like California
and Texas, given way to corporate farms, whereas family farms have
increased their size dramatically in countries like Australia, The Nether-
lands, and Denmark (Berrevoets, 2000; Schwarzweller & Davidson, 2000).
In Norway, more moderately enlarged family farms prevail (Bjørkhaug &
Blekesaune, 2008). The driving forces behind this restructuring process have
been a combination of government policies to enlarge farms, overproduc-
tion that causes low prices and low return to labor and capital, and
technological changes. Because of global competition, world market prices
on staple dairy products have been lowered to an unsustainable level for
most small- and medium-sized farms. Government subsidies both in North
America and in European countries have not changed this general picture
of a reduced return to labor and capital (Tracy, 1989). The milk farmers of
advanced capitalist countries have been forced to step upon a treadmill
(Cochrane, 1958), which is moving faster and faster. To respond to these
challenges, Norwegian dairy farmers have established a process of joint
farming, where two, three, or even more local farmers form a joint company
to merge their resources and work together. According to Norwegian
Agricultural Authority, 4,300 dairy farmers are now participating in 1,890
joint farming firms, producing 30 percent of the milk in Norway.1
Different dairy regulatory regimes2 have influenced this enlargement and
restructuring process considerably. Whereas similar technology, knowledge
support systems, and policy solutions prevailed in most OECD countries
until the late 1970s (Buttel & Newby, 1980; Friedmann, 2005), deregulation
and neoliberalism took different trajectories in the 1980s and 1990s
(Bonanno, Busch, Friedland, Gouveia, & Mingione, 1994). In Australia
and New Zealand, government intervention was pulled back through
deregulation, leaving the milk industry completely exposed to world
market determinants (Schwarzweller & Davidson, 2000, p. 100). According
to neoliberalism, the best and most efficient farmers would prevail to the
I Have Seen the Future, and it Works! 5
betterment of consumers; less efficient farmers would quit the business,

leaving greater market shares to more successful farmers and consequently
strengthening the competitive advantage of the Australian and the New
Zealand dairy industry on the world market.
In the European Union (EU), although under internal and external political
pressure to reduce farm subsidies, neoliberalization has followed a different
trajectory. Increasing overproduction in the milk sector from the early 1980s
and onwards, as well as budget stress and obligations resulting from the
Uruguay Round of GATT, forced the European Commission to introduce
milk quotas and later to decouple farm subsidies from production (Ingersent
& Rayner, 1999, pp. 349–350). In successive reforms of the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP), a second pillar of support for rural development
emerged. In the last CAP reform of 2003–2004, milk subsidies were partly
turned into fixed premiums paid to farms, dependent on former dairy and
landscape subsidies. The dairy quota system, however, was prolonged to the
farm year 2014/2015.3 Afterwards, milk quotas would be abolished, leaving
the dairy farmer with a fixed per capita support. With the exception of France
and Switzerland (Rambaud, 1985; Stræte & Almås, 2007), joint farming is not
seen in dairy farming of EU or the other OECD countries. This decoupling
method may be described as the neo-regulated dairy regime.
In Norway, neoliberalism was not pursued as far as in most other
OECD countries. Norwegian agricultural policies are still regulating the
sector to a substantial degree, with the annual Agricultural Agreement
negotiations serving as a centerpiece (Almås, 2004). Whereas a state-
regulated, protectionist modernization of agriculture was driven in the 1950s
and 1960s, a greening of agricultural policies was undertaken in the 1970s,
starting a reorientation toward a more sustainable agriculture (Almås, 2004,
p. 349). Multifunctional agriculture and diversification into green services
were stressed in policy documents and policy practice in the 1990s and after
(Almås, 2002). In the dairy sector, farmers require a quota to sell milk,
which is based on a three-year historical production before the quota
introduction in 1983 (Almås, 2002, p. 318). Since 1996, dairy quotas may be
bought or sold, although the price and quantum is regulated. Through these
years, processing and marketing cooperatives owned by the farmers have
been responsible for most milk and meat, which are the two most important
production sectors (Almås, 2002). This Norwegian system may be described
as a classical regulated dairy regime. Although there have been considerable
structural changes in Norwegian dairy production, reducing the number of
milk farms radically from 39,000 to 26,500 between 1979 and 1999, joint
farms have sprung up like mushrooms during the past 12 years.
6 REIDAR ALMÅS
On this basis, the following questions are posed:

What kinds of farmers enter joint farming?
What motivates Norwegian dairy farmers to participate in joint farming?
Why is joint farming so successful in Norway and rarely seen under
neoliberal and decoupled dairy regimes?
The first two questions are analyzed based on empirical data, whereas the
third question is dealt with on a more theoretical basis in the discussion.
NORWEGIAN DAIRY FARMING AT A GLANCE

Norway is a mountainous and thinly populated country with a population
of 4.7 million on 323,800 square km (14 persons per square km). Most of the
countryside is sparsely populated, and animal agriculture is prevalent
throughout the country. Only one million hectares or 3 percent of the total
area is under agricultural cultivation, mostly around the coast or on the
inland valley plains. Compared to many countries in Europe, the country-
side seems ‘‘modern’’ and ‘‘affluent,’’ thanks to a strong public sector
and generous regional and rural policies. A long tradition of effective local
government has empowered farmers and rural people. There is a strong
support for agriculture in the public opinion with 68 percent reporting
support for farm subsidies at the present level (Almås, 2004).
However, worsening economic conditions for farming have forced
farmers to search for new ways to organize agricultural production. Dairy
farmers in Norway have experienced increasing difficulties maintaining
quality of life and earning a decent living. Farm relief services are generous
in Norway (Almås, 2002, p. 283), but not sufficient. Farm relief workers
paid by subsidies visit farms every 10th week or so, allowing dairy farmers
to have a break. Another more serviceable option, which has been a
widespread coping strategy recently, is joint farming. Within this model,
individual ownership of the land is maintained; however, herds are
merged in a commonly built cow barn. Machinery also tends to become
communalized. The average membership is 2.5 members per joint farm, with
90 percent of joint farms having two or three members. This rapid growth of
joint farming is completely transforming the dairy sector in Norway,
prompting the analysis of why this phenomenon has evolved under the
Norwegian dairy regime and not elsewhere.
In the empirical part of this chapter, I discuss who is entering joint
farming and why. Furthermore, I analyze why this considerable
development toward joint dairy farming has occurred in Norway, and why it
is rarely seen in neoliberal and neo-regulated dairy regimes.
JOINT FARMING IN NORWAY

The first joint farms based on classical cooperative principles were
established in Sweden and Norway in the 1940s. These were not successful,
mostly because members sold grass and hay to the joint farm but did not
participate in the daily work (Almås, 1980, p. 69). Then, in the late 1960s
and early 1970s, there was a new beginning based on a modified cooperative
model. The most innovative trait in this new model of joint farming was
that member farms were more integrated into the joint enterprise (Almås,
1980, p. 77). Most members were working full time on the joint farm, and
buildings and equipment became a common property over the years. The
joint farm surplus was the sole or most important income source for most
members. This new form of joint farming rapidly increased in the late 1970s,
peaking in the early 1980s with 120 joint farms. However, this increase was
quickly halted when government structural policy shifted toward favoring
small- and medium-sized family farms in 1975–1976 (Almås, 2002, p. 279).
Joint farming reemerged in the mid-1990s, after the government policy
toward joint farming was changed. Although some of the economies of scale
were taken away by later governments, reducing some of the members’
subsidies when they entered a joint farming arrangement, this policy change
resulted in a quick increase in the number of joint farms, from 146 in 1995 to
529 in 2000 (Stræte & Almås, 2007, p. 187). From 2001, the Centre-Right
Coalition Government at the time had a more favorable policy toward larger
production units, which was seen by some dairy farmers as another policy
signal to form joint operations, almost the only way to increase scale of pro-
duction under a milk quota regime. The result was a dramatic increase in the
number of joint farms, from 700 in 2001 to 1890 in March 2009. This quick
growth was escalated even further by a new investment optimism among all
Norwegian farmers from 2003 and onwards (Rye & Storstad, 2004).
CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES
Our conceptual approach to joint farming has been drawn from the
‘‘new sociology of agriculture’’ field (Bonanno, 1990; Bonanno et al.,
1994; Buttel, Larson, & Gillespie, 1990; Buttel & McMichael, 2005;
8 REIDAR ALMÅS
Buttel & Newby, 1980; Friedland, Busch, Buttel, & Rudy, 1991). This new
sociology of agriculture emerged as a critique of rural sociology and
agricultural economics, because these traditional disciplines failed to
grasp the causes and consequences of economic concentration in modern
agriculture (Friedland et al., 1991). The national perspectives, which
had previously dominated in studies of agriculture, were supplemented
by comparative, global perspectives such as commodity chain analysis
introduced by Friedland and others (Bonanno et al., 1994).
In classical Marxist theory, tension between productive forces (like
technology) and the relations of production means a period of social
revolution (Buttel & Newby, 1980, pp. 78–81). One important theoretical
debate within the sociology of agriculture of the 1980s was the survival
chances of the family farm (Buttel & Newby, 1980; Friedland et al., 1991).
In the orthodox Marxist approach, coinciding with the classical liberal
economists, it was claimed that the family farm would disappear because of
fierce competition and economic concentration. Mann and Dickinson (1978),
however, argued that the family farm was functional for the maintenance of
overall capitalist production relations. Mann and Dickinson (1978) claimed
that the conditions of agricultural production – with its dependence on
seasons and biological processes, as well as the necessity to tie capital to
commodity production for longer periods than labor was tied up – reduced
profitability and henceforth discouraged corporate capital from investment
in primary agricultural production. The Mann and Dickinson thesis may
be suitable for Norway, as family farms have shown a strong ability to
survive (Bjørkhaug, 2007). In many other advanced capitalist countries
(Schwarzweller & Davidson, 2000; Tracy, 1989), however, vigorous
restructuring has been taking place and corporate farming has made an
inroad, especially in the United States (Bonanno et al., 1994).
One discussion within the sociology of agriculture has concerned the
so-called disappearing middle: there is a tendency that the middle-sized
farms disappear, whereas the smallest and biggest farms prevail. However,
according to Buttel and LaRamee (1991, pp. 166–167), this dualism trend in
the United States was slowed or even reversed in the 1980s. Despite
contradictions in the literature, the ‘‘bifurcation’’ hypothesis has undergone
little scrutiny in empirical research and seems difficult to prove. The extent
to which joint farming offers insights into the bifurcation hypothesis is
therefore discussed later in this chapter.
In commodity chain analysis, another important topic concerns the inter-
relationship of organization and economic concentration, asking questions
such as ‘‘ where, in the chain of production and distribution of particular
commodities does concentration occur?’’ (Friedland et al., 1991, p. 22).

And furthermore, ‘‘how shall we account for the variable organisational
structures that develop in differing locations?’’ This political economy of
organisations, their internal and external processes and their relationships to
the state, defines the theoretical field in which I place this study.
METHODS
The chapter is empirically based on two sets of data. The first was a survey
that was conducted through a questionnaire posted to a representative
sample of 1,677 Norwegian farmers, both ordinary farmers and joint
farmers (Storstad & Flø, 2005). This large national agricultural survey is
conducted every second year by the Centre for Rural Research. The second
set of data was derived from a series of interviews held with one
representative from each of 150 joint farms, all over Norway (Stræte &
Almås, 2007). These in-depth interviews, mostly with the elected leader of
the joint farm, were conducted by project staff members. In addition, a
questionnaire was left behind to be filled in by the other members. A further
276 joint farmers returned these questionnaires (73 percent). These 150 joint
farms were strategically sampled, and number of members, region and
upstart year were the three key stratification variables. I also draw upon
data from in-depth interviews that I conducted with members of 19 joint
farms in 1975–1976, presented in Almås (1980), to provide historical
contextual information for the present research. Observation and analysis of
the Norwegian agricultural policy discourse over four decades also serves as
a source of background data (Almås, 2004).
JOINT ‘‘FARMERS’’: WHO ARE THEY

AND WHAT DO THEY WANT?
The first two questions explored who the joint farmers are, and what
motivates them to merge their farming operations. Joint farmers are as
diverse as farmers in general (Vik & Stræte, 2007a; Flø, 2007). Most of them
are men (88 percent), but that is also the case with other farmers; just
13 percent of all dairy farmers are women. Joint farmers have slightly more
agricultural education than other farmers, but their general level of highest
education is the same. Joint farmers tend to be younger: the average age is
10 REIDAR ALMÅS
45.7 years compared to 49.7 among dairy farmers in general. Their farm size
is also similar to their nonjoint farming counterparts: 55 percent of the joint
farmers and 58 percent of other dairy farmers in Norway have between
10 and 25 hectares of arable land (Vik & Stræte, 2007b).
When comparing their self-identity and future visions of farming, I find
that joint farmers are more closely connected to ‘‘being farmers’’ than other
farmers in general. When asked about with whom they identify, 82 percent
of joint farmers identified themselves with the farming profession, compared
to 58 percent of all farmers.4 Joint farmers also envision a brighter economic
future in dairy production than farmers in general, and 63 percent
recommend that their offspring take over the farm, compared to 49 percent
among all farmers (Vik & Stræte, 2007a, p. 31).
On analyzing their motives to enter a joint farm, the reasons are
mentioned in order of priority in Table 1.
As revealed, joint farmers expect a better social life when they join this
rather demanding form of cooperation. More leisure time and more security
during sickness are ranked one and two when farmers are asked to prioritize
their motives to join. Leaving the farm for a long vacation abroad or going
on weekend vacations with the whole family has always been a problematic
feature of dairy farming due to the twice-daily milking regime. Joint farming
provides greater flexibility allowing farmers to leave the property – or
indeed, in covering for them when they are sick.
Improved work environment and reduced work load are related factors
ranked third and fourth on the motive priority list. In general, the workload
has increased among Norwegian farmers, as farm size has increased and
more farmers have been forced by economic circumstances to take off-farm
work (Bjørkhaug & Blekesaune, 2007). A substantial number of family
farms have developed into ‘‘one-man farms,’’ hardly a socially sustainable
Table 1. Reasons Cited for Entering a Joint Farming Arrangement,

In Order of Priority.
More leisure time 66
Security in case of illness 48
Improved work environment 34
Reduced work load 26
Increased income 26
Reduced costs 22
Reduced investment risk 18
Other reasons mentioned 27
Notes: More than one answer was possible. Percent. N ¼ 284.

unit in a modern society. Forty-eight percent of joint farmers have built new
barns or made substantial improvements to the buildings after joining. This
renewal of farm buildings may be explained by the ‘‘work environment’’
motive to join. Another improvement in a work environment is of course
to have work mates – this is a major change from the ‘‘lonely farmer’’
situation, which most dairy farmers experience.
Improved income, reduced costs, and reduced investment risk represent
fourth to sixth place when motives to enter joint farms are ranked. These
factors may be analyzed together. The motive to reduce costs is strong
among all dairy farmers, as the stagnant milk price has been lagging behind
the soaring fuel and machinery prices. Technological development in dairy
production has also favored larger units, whereas Norwegian dairy farms in
general are small, with an average number of 18 cows per farm. For these
farmers, there are two ways to overcome this cost/price squeeze on
small farms: either to increase the dairy herd and consequently use more
on-farm resources, which is limited by the lack of land and labor as well as
the limited milk quotas for sale, or to enter a joint farm where the same
economies of scale may be acquired. If the dairy farmer is scaling up
production, they are obliged to invest in more buildings and machinery,
thus running a greater economic risk. In entering into a joint farming
arrangement, a number of people share the risk, reducing the psychological
stress of the farmer.
So what are the social and economic consequences of joint farming?
At the micro level, it renders possible the necessary modernization of barn
buildings. In some cases, it means the introduction of new technology, such
as milking robots. It also means that a dairy farmer family experiences the
same social benefits as other working Norwegians: leisure time, vacation,
and security during illness. Locally, it also means the preservation of dairy
production in marginal communities. The pace of technological change
has increased and small- and medium-sized farms may experience new
economies of scale, which they would not achieve without entering joint
farming. Joint farmer families have higher household incomes than other
farmers and consider their economic situation to be better, both at present
and in the future (Stræte, 2007, pp. 124–125). Over the years, some members
may leave the joint farm, but there is no evidence that joint farming in
itself will quicken this pace of leaving farming (Stræte & Almås, 2007).
At the macro level, joint farming means a quicker and more robust change
in dairy structure than would be the case without joint farms. The societal
costs of dairy production are lowered, and subsidies are saved from the
state budget.
12 REIDAR ALMÅS
DISCUSSION
To us, it appears a paradox that the Norwegian Government has been so
reluctant in their support of joint farming. The main political arguments for
the introduction of joint farming are the restructuring of a pressured sector,
more efficient economies of scale and the need for the modernization
of buildings and machinery (Almås, 2004, pp. 349–352). The farmers
themselves cite arguments of the social benefits and a lowering of the costs
and risk for new investments as important factors when considering joint
enterprises. However, a transformation from self-employed farming to joint
farming involves a long list of challenges. New relations of cooperation must
be developed. New technologies are often introduced in production, and the
reorganization of work affects the farming family.
These problems are met in different ways by different agricultural
regimes. One approach may be to deregulate and let the market decide, as
seen under the neoliberal dairy regime. But joint farming is not a feature of
neoliberal agricultural regimes. The neoliberal vision never materialized
because export markets were distorted by protection and subsidization, and
many small farmers refused to ‘‘adjust’’ out and capitulate (Lawrence, 1996,
p. 334). As farmers have embraced the neoliberal ideological agenda and
governments had abdicated from agricultural policies, the dairy sector was
left with almost no support and few regulatory institutions. Individualism
has also prevailed in rural Australia and New Zealand (Lawrence, 1996),
reducing the potential for joint ventures.
A second option may be to decouple subsidies and change milk subsidies
into fixed premiums paid to farmers, dependent on past subsidies. Regardless
of their present or future production, farmers are paid ‘‘production neutral’’
support to secure farm incomes above the very levels that would be a result
of free competition. This decoupling method is used by the EU, and I have
called this the neo-regulated dairy regime. Although market forces are given
more freedom, there are still some strict regulations in most countries of the
EU, such as production quotas between and within countries. Even still,
joint farming is rarely seen under this neo-regulated agricultural regime,
with the exception of France. In France, joint farming in the form of
‘‘Groupements Agricoles d’Exploitation en Commun’’ (GAEC) has had
all-party support from the 1960s and onwards (Rambaud, 1985). However,
meeting the CAP system of support per farming capita, the collective GAEC
system has met regulatory obstacles in the EU. The decoupled CAP as a
neo-regulated regime is so focused on the individual farmer that it is difficult
to see a new opening for joint farming in countries outside France.
As we have seen from the Norwegian dairy regime, a third option is

possible: organizing joint dairy farms to allow small farmers to profit from
new technologies and economies of scale. This restructuring of a pressured
sector started as a grassroots movement, but has hardly been embraced by
farm politicians within the major parties. Both the Norwegian Farmers’
Union and the Norwegian Small-Holders’ Union, as well as the agricultural
administration, have been reluctant to support this new trend. One
challenge has been the subsidy system, which has been politically tailored
to support small- and medium-sized farms since the 1970s. When those
farmers engage in joint farming, the argument in administrative and
political circles has been that they have turned into ‘‘big’’ farms and should
lose most of their small farm subsidies. At the bottom line, this issue
concerns who is going to lose and who is going to win. Who is going to
achieve the economies of scale from cooperation? According to farmers,
they should get the reward because they take the risk, while the state is
claiming it back on behalf of the taxpayer.
Does the growth of joint farming mean that the family farm is
outdated? I believe not, but I see a marked dualism in dairy farming,
lending some support to the disappearing middle thesis. We may say
that the middle-sized family farms ‘‘disappear’’ as such, when they
enter joint farms. As a major portion of small- and middle-sized farms
are run as family operations (Bjørkhaug, 2007), this, combined with the
increasing number of large units due to the transformation of middle-sized
dairy farms into joint farms, gives empirical evidence to the bifurcation
thesis.
In contrast, however, some joint farms are just ‘‘inevitable’’ expansion of
family farms, according to the market needs of survival. During start-up,
some farmers join as ‘‘sleeping partners,’’ while as years pass by, we see that
the number of active members in joint farms may diminish. But in this
study, I find no increased pace in the number of closing farms because
of joint farming (Stræte & Almås, 2007). Rather, it may be argued that the
inevitable structural rationalization is more humane in joint farming
because most farmers may adapt to their work, land, and capital at their
own choice, rather than being driven out of business. The tensions between
the development of the productive forces and the relations of production are
not fully solved, however, with the introduction of joint farming. At the next
stage of development, even the larger joint farms may be too small to
survive the competition.
Important questions for investigation in commodity chain analysis
have included ‘‘who are the losers and who are the winners’’ and ‘‘where,
14 REIDAR ALMÅS
in the chain of production and distribution y does concentration occur?’’

(Friedland et al., 1991, pp. 21–23). In dairy farming, those who enter a joint
farm may be seen as winners, because they survive as farmers and reap some
social benefits that other farmers do not have. This perspective was also
touched upon by several joint farmers themselves. For example, phrases
such as ‘‘If I didn’t enter this joint enterprise, I would have quit farming
altogether,’’ were mentioned several times. In some communities, the joint
farm saved dairy farming as a local production system, because the younger
generation would not have taken over individual dairy production
units (Flø, 2007). Although concentration has been occurring quickly in
most other agrarian sectors and sections of the food production chain,
this process has now reached the primary dairy sector, regardless of
three centuries of Norwegian agricultural policies favoring small- and
medium-sized farms.
CONCLUSIONS
Joint farms have become quite popular in Norwegian milk production.
In this chapter, I have shown that the farmers’ motives are mixed, ranking
social benefits as leisure time and security during illness above financial
motives. Joint farming means a radical social transformation of milk
production in the advanced capitalist economy of Norway. Changes in the
overall property structure of agriculture have been moderate, whereas
this restructuring of dairy production has happened rather quickly in
the past 10 years. I see this as a coping strategy by some of the most
knowledgeable and dynamic milk producers. In some rural communities,
the joint farm members are the only surviving dairy farmers in a harsh
economic climate. Farm organizations and the Norwegian government have
been rather reluctant to embrace this radical solution. This is a paradox,
because organizing joint farms means that small- and medium-sized dairy
farmers may profit from new technologies and economies of scale. In that
way, joint farming may solve some of the contradictions between
technological level and farm structure in Norwegian dairy production. One
major explanation for why this form of organization is so prevalent in
Norway may lie in differences between dairy regimes. Compared to dairy
farmers experiencing more deregulated and individualistic agricultural
regimes, the Norwegian dairy farmer is in a privileged position when it
comes to coping capacity.
NOTES
1. In what follows, joint farming is defined as ‘‘two or more farmers combining
their resources to run a joint farm enterprise, but still owning their land privately,’’
2. We define ‘‘agricultural/dairy regime’’ as a congruent set of policy institutions,
market regulations, political discourses, and policy decisions on the agricultural/
dairy sector. See also Friedmann (2005) on food regimes.
3. See http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/publi/capexplained/cap_en.pdf.
4. Because many farmers also work off-farm, they may have another set of
identities.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge my colleagues Egil Petter Straete, Bjorn Egil
Flo, Jostein Vik, and Frank Egil Holm, who took part in the three-year
research project on Norwegian joint farming, financed by Norwegian
Research Council (2004–2006). Thanks also to Hilde Bjørkhaug for valuable
comments to a draft of this chapter and to Carol Richards and Kiah Smith
for their editorial work.
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CHAPTER 2
NEW PEASANTRIES AND

ALTERNATIVE AGRO-FOOD
NETWORKS: THE CASE OF
RÉSEAU SEMENCES PAYSANNES
Alessandra Corrado
ABSTRACT
In recent years, small farmers have been coming together more and more
in networks and organizations, joining forces to resist the squeeze process
that they are being subjected to in a system dominated by agribusiness.
In alliance often with consumers and other actors concerned with issues
of quality food, the environment, and social justice, these farmers are
interested in developing alternative forms of production and consumption.
These farmers, who are struggling to achieve self-reproduction and the
establishment of sustainable agro-food systems, appear to be mainly
concerned with the control of resources. The spread of this kind of
experience evokes the issue of repeasantization. In this chapter, I use
the case of the French association Réseau Semences Paysannes (RSP)
to highlight some recent innovations in alternative agro-food models,
as well as paths of research and rural development emerging within this
framework.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016005
17
18 ALESSANDRA CORRADO
INTRODUCTION
The development of networks in the rural world can be seen as a result of
processes that, aside from demonstrating the limits and distortions produced
by agribusiness in alliance with the regulatory treadmill, have exhibited
novel strategies for conserving or establishing forms of production and
consumption that are alternatives to those defined by the conventional agro-
food system. In this chapter, proceeding from the assumption that these
alternative forms restore or innovate upon certain elements that characterize
peasant agriculture, I examine their objectives.
Small farmers, in an attempt to gain autonomy and resist the processes of
expropriation, cannibalization, and standardization that threaten them, are
reorganizing their way of farming by grounding it once again upon nature,
developing new forms of cooperation and social relations, and seeking
decommodification.
Peasant agriculture has in recent years been the subject of debate
between the classical thesis of depeasantization and the newer theories of
repeasantization. In the field of peasant studies, Araghi (1995) has noted a
clash between those who support a disappearance theory and those who
advance a permanence theory. Both groups seek to situate the historical
path of the peasantry within the process of development of the broader
society. The disappearance theory, articulated within Marxist thought and
refined by Russian thinkers, proceeds from the conviction that capitalism
will lead to the dissolution of the peasantry, with individual peasants
gradually becoming salaried workers in urban areas or capitalist farmers in
the countryside. The permanence theory, on the contrary, situated within
the debate between Marxism and Russian populism, asserts that peasant
societies do not respond to the laws of individualistic capital but obey a logic
of their own, which can be seen in the survival of both the peasantry itself
and its conditions for reproduction.
If we viewed the peasantry as merely a social unit involved in a form
of production based exclusively on agriculture, then obviously we would
conclude that the world is undergoing depeasantization. But if instead we
considered the central elements of the peasant condition, that is ‘‘the driving
logic of subsistence and the maintenance of some control over the means of
production’’ (Johnson, 2004, p. 56), then we would have to observe not just
the peasantry’s continuance – as evidence of the continuing failure of the
development project – but also its resistance and its innovativeness by means
of various mechanisms and strategies for responding to the needs of
reproduction. This corresponds to what van der Ploeg (2008) has termed the
New Peasantries and Alternative Agro-Food Networks 19
peasant principle, according to which the socioeconomic project of the

peasantry has different manifestations but is always seeking possibilities
for its reproduction notwithstanding the hegemony exercised by the agro-
industrial Empire.
In my opinion, the increasingly frequent references to a process of
repeasantization rely on this interpretative basis for the peasant condition.
Hence, in this chapter, I use the case of peasant seed networks to explore
how the repeasantization process arises. In particular, I examine how it
comes about in connection with innovative dynamics of production in the
rural setting as well as how it reaffirms or redefines the centrality of a new
agrarian question on the global level as a critique to the neoliberal project by
giving rise to a transnational peasant movement and the politicization of
agricultural and food relations.
To illustrate the transformation that has taken place in the relevant
terminology, I make reference to alternative agro-food networks. The
emergence of heterogeneous networks that are alternatives to the standard
industrial style agro-food system arises from the building of new relation-
ships among various social actors (producers, consumers, and organiza-
tions) with the aim of defetishizing food and requalifying it as a common
good instead of a commodity.
In the following section, I consider how new peasantries can be
conceptualized as products of processes that are complex, multisector, and
multiactor. In the next section, the development of peasant seed networks
provides empirical evidence in support of the analytical aspects that are
illustrated. In the final section, I draw certain conclusions.
CONCEPTUALIZING NEW PEASANTRIES

To a large extent, the term ‘‘repeasantization’’ has been used to indicate a
strategy employed by rural society for coping with squeeze effects produced
by the large-scale production and distribution processes and with the
distortions generated by modernization and technologization within the agro-
food system in the midst of a transition toward different possible scenarios.
In recent years, various authors have proposed different theories
regarding processes of repeasantization, taking into consideration very
different contexts and dynamics. Some studies have noted evidence of a
recomposition or differentiation, through agriculture, of the incomes or
the material bases for living. For example, one type of repeasantization
occurs when people not previously engaged in agricultural labor enter into
small-scale farming, as in the pattern that emerged from the impact of

economic crisis and reform on Cuban agriculture. The Cuban process has
been characterized by a conversion in the style of farming, which has created
an independent agriculture based on (1) higher prices paid to producers;
(2) agro-ecological technology; (3) small farming units; and (4) organic
urban agriculture (Enrı́quez, 2003; McKibben, 2005).
Other studies, in developing countries, give evidence of the reemergence
of a more diversified agricultural economy – with rural communities also
implementing other kinds of strategies such as migration (Sivini, 2000) –
and of a refocusing on subsistence crops that links repeasantization to a
decommodification process as well (Sesia, 2003).
Because pluri-activity, multifunctionality, forms of cooperation, direct
selling, and organic production are endogenous strategies that are also
spreading out all over Europe, repeasantization should be conceived of
as a qualitative shift in the way agriculture is organized amid a search by
social actors for agricultural sustainability and value-seeking strategies
that are socially grounded. One category relevant to this argument is that
of alternative agro-food networks (van der Ploeg, Long, & Banks, 2002;
Renting, Marsden, & Banks, 2003; Whatmore, Stassart, & Renting, 2003).
Alternative agro-food networks are a reflection of recent crises in
conventional agricultural costs and prices but constitute also a strong
criticism of the human/ecological divide of modern agriculture (Goodman,
1999) in that small farmers engaged in them embrace pluri-activity as well as
new methods of internal management for economical, ecological, and
sustainable farming, while consumers, in turn, change their food style and
their approach to the market. These networks can thus be interpreted as
‘‘expressions of transitional relations within/between food regimes in which
both objective and subjective forces are at play, separately and together’’
(McMichael, 2008, p. 73).
Hence repeasantization can be seen as a process of differentiation for
endogenous rural development. If the main term of reference is peasantry,
then repeasantization has to be understood as a plurality of farming styles
based on the capacity for organizing agriculture not just for production
but also for the reproduction of resources and of the small farmers
themselves. Connecting production to local culture and people enables
peasant agriculture to obtain more independence and control over both the
quality of the goods produced and the labor provided to produce them.
Differentiation by farmers implies innovation – to reduce commodification
and incorporation into the technological political system – as well as
reappropriation and readaptation of technologies to the farmers’ own model
of production. As a consequence, repeasantization can be understood as an

assertion of both agency and autonomy, where small farmers, conscious of
the constraints that arise from the expert knowledge system and the global
market in which they operate, try to organize themselves to confront
these challenges and change their conditions, by reshaping local knowledge
systems and local exchange systems to their own ends.
Accordingly, seeking the reproduction of the conditions necessary for
their own existence, new peasantries develop through (1) the rediscovery of
the centrality of food as a common good rather than a commodity; (2) a new
economies generated by self-control of resources, pluri-activity, and multi-
functionality; (3) a focus on the territory, seeking the safeguarding of
natural and cultural resources, as well as the building of new ties, alliances,
and forms of extra- and inter-territorial cooperation. Therefore with
economy, food, and territory representing fundamental elements of a new
agrarian question, peasants’ strategies based on them can be summarized as
sustainable paths for local development based on the organization of new
forms of cooperation and a redefinition of quality.
In this chapter, I assume that the search by small farmers for greater
autonomy from financial capital and for new means to supplement their
income and remunerate their labor is joined with a requalification of the
product of their activity, that is, food. The forms of cooperation and conflict
that connect social actors, government bodies, and nature become the very
foundation of innovations in the knowledge and regulatory systems and in
models of sustainable development as well.
A NEW FOUNDATION FOR AGRO-FOOD SYSTEMS

Although it may seem paradoxical, the repeasantization process makes seeds
fundamental in self-management of local resources and farmer autonomy.
In repeasantization, agriculture is conceived of as based on the production
of commodities and non-commodities using natural resources, peasant
labor, and local knowledge. This model is characterized by heterogeneous
environments and diversity in cultivation systems: to cope with the obstacles
posed by a lack of or a reduction in inputs, farmers are forced to rely on
biodiversity, viewed not merely as a multitude of plant varieties that are still
undergoing evolution – and hence not homogeneous and stable as demanded
by traditional regulatory criteria (Bové & Dufour, 2001) – but as a gene
bank and also as a memory bank for the social and cultural features of a
specific territory (Escobar, 1998).
In France, the case of Re´seau Semences Paysannes (RSP) can serve as

an example of the construction of articulated and heterogeneous social
relationships that take advantage of natural, cultural, and social resources in
an attempt to resist industrial agriculture, the commodification of nature
and food, and the destruction of small farming.
The birth of RSP was tied up with a series of trends in French agriculture
that began in the mid-1980s. The seeds issue had become inextricably
entwined with the issue of peasant agriculture, the issue of agro-food
sustainability and quality, and the issue of agro-biotechnology. The
founders of RSP were in fact bodies antagonistic and critical toward
the dominant system, such as Confe´de´ration Paysanne (CP), Fe´de´ration
Nationale d’Agriculture Biologique des Re´gions de France, Nature et Progre`s
(N&P), Mouvement de Culture Bio-Dynamique, and Coordination Nationale
pour la De´fense des Semences Fermie`res (CNDSF).
In France, the attention that has been given to safeguard biodiversity and
mobilizing diverse social forces is related to a specific model of agriculture,
a model that after the end of the Second World War – and especially due
to the setting up of the European Community’s Common Agricultural
Policy (CAP) – underwent a growth process in which there prevailed a
‘‘productivist logic of concentration, intensification and innovation and
oriented particularly towards bulk commodity production’’ (Buller, 2004,
p. 108). The spread of this model progressively threatened the survival of
less-intensive small farmers, agro-biological variety, food security, and
food quality.
PEASANT RESISTANCE AND THE

ANTIGLOBALIZATION MOVEMENT
The Confe´de´ration Paysanne (CP) can be considered the driving force

of initial opposition to the industrial model of agriculture. The CP was
founded in 1987 as a merger of two marginal farmers’ associations on the
radical left composed of discontented farmers from western and southern
France. The merger was carried out to increase their capacity to challenge
the hegemonic and conservative farmers’ association Fe´de´ration Nationale
des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles (FNSEA).
The CP from the outset drew up a distinctive set of principles inspired by
critical, anarchist, and ecological thinking: defense of small-scale, sustain-
able agriculture; rejection of the predatory competition prevalent in the
farming sector; and denunciation of the cultural homogenization that was

sweeping in with liberal globalization. Reappropriating what had become
a pejorative or backward term – paysan – the CP has identified and plays a
key role in international peasant networks tightly integrated into the wider
international antiglobalization movement, such as the European Peasant
Coordination and Via Campesina (Heller, 2002).
In France, opposition to agro-biotechnology has become the centerpiece
of a wider critique of modern state and global capitalism. CP’s action has
‘‘(y) extended beyond a purely ecological and national frame to denounce
the complicity of corporate interest and public research on an international
scale,’’ shaping a ‘‘not in anybody’s back yard’’ (NIABY) critique of
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (Seifert, 2009, p. 28).
QUALITY FOOD AND PARTICIPATORY

AGRICULTURE
For a long time, France was reluctant to adopt the multifunctional and
ecological role models for agriculture that emerged in the CAP reform
process. At present, to respond to growing internal demand for organics,
France has to import 50% of the organic products consumed each year,
as just 2% of the agricultural area under cultivation is dedicated to organic
farming.
In 1978, the professional organization Fe´de´ration Nationale de l’Agri-
culture Biologique (FNAB) was formed, which today represents about 60%
of France’s organic farmers. Nevertheless, consumer demand in France,
orientated more and more toward quality agriculture, has stimulated
diversified forms of production and quality assurance, an orientation
that has spurred the creation of other associations with different focuses.
Nature et Progre`s (N&P), for instance, is an association that involves
various stakeholders: farmers, consumers, agronomists, technicians, and
even medical doctors. It operates as a participatory guarantee system with
its own private organic standards and its own certification procedures
(involving peer review and bringing consumers into the inspection process).
Besides organic methods, N&P also takes into consideration transparency,
nearness, and solidarity when issuing the Nature et Progre`s label.
The link between food quality, peasant agriculture, and nearness is
recognized even among consumers. This can be seen by the rapid spread of
the Associations pour le Mantien de l’Agriculture Paysanne (AMAPs) since
2001, created to promote peasant agriculture as defined by the CP charter, to

favor local markets, and to create ties between consumers and small farmers.
Whereas French organic farmers were beginning to oppose agro-
biotechnology because of the alleged risk of contamination by GMOs
and, as a result, the devaluation of organic farm products on the market,
by the strategy of associating GMOs with la malbouffe (junk food) and
translating a debate that basically revolved around technical risk into a
sociocultural debate, the CP reframed GMOs as an issue of food quality
intrinsically tied into productivist agriculture, cultural homogenization,
and neoliberal globalization (Heller, 2002). The principal tactic
employed to remain in the public eye by activists from the CP and other
organizations in the faucheurs volontaires (voluntary reapers) network is
the destruction of GMO fields. By attacking GMOs, these present-day
Luddites also attack the socioeconomic order that is part and parcel of
agri-biotechnology.
PEASANT EXPERTISE AND

BIODIVERSITY LIBERATION
As with other alternative agro-food movements (Petrini, 2003; Escobar,
1998), in the CP worldview, nature is associated with peasant expertise
(savoir faire) and consequently with culture. In this peasant outlook, what is
promoted is the notion of the peasant both as producer and manager of the
rural economy and also as steward of nature.
The real threat to peasant autonomy and expertise, and also to food
quality and culture, is represented by the privatization of seeds. In France,
mobilization around this specific issue began when new legal measures
attempted to forbid peasants from saving seeds from their harvest and using
them in planting. This legal maneuver was prepared by the seed companies,
the principal farmers’ union, and the Ministry of Agriculture, ostensibly as
a short-term strategy to enforce royalty collection in preparation for the
implementation of the revised version of the International Convention for
the Protection of New Varieties of Plants by means of intellectual property
rights. As a consequence of this measure, peasants have been compelled
to purchase commercial seeds. In fact, in 2001, a government-sanctioned
system of ‘‘mandatory voluntary contributions’’ was created. Farmers who
pay this seed tax receive partial reimbursement if they bought certified seed,
but if they used farm-saved seed, they get nothing back at all. Yet 85% of
the money thus collected goes directly to the seed industry, supposedly to
fund research (GRAIN, 2007, p. 8). Obviously, this system creates obstacles
to the production, selection, and exchange of farm seeds.
The institution of this seed tax has given birth to an organized resistance.
The CP and a number of other organizations formed the Coordination
Nationale pour la De´fense des Semences Fermie`res (CNDSF). The new
movement, seeing the taxing of farm-saved seeds as a real expropriation of
farmers’ rights, had two aims: ‘‘on the one hand, economizing about 50%
by making our seeds with our harvest, and on the other, defending what
is for us a fundamental freedom, that of reproducing from our harvest’’
(Yves Manguy in RSP and CNDSF, 2005, p. 4).
Peasant associations have begun to engage in seed-variety selection
activities, for which they sometimes suffer legal sanctions. The militants of
faucheurs volontaires have also turned into semeurs volontaires (voluntary
sowers) or semeurs de biodiversite´ (sowers of biodiversity), planting, and
promoting, the exchange of seeds that are unpatented or illegal.
THE CASE OF RÉSAU SEMENCES PAYSANNES

RSP is an association that includes farmers’ unions, development
organizations, and associations for biological and peasant agriculture,
along with associations of seed producers, peasants, artisans, the network
Jardins de Cocagne, and the Natural Park of Queyras.
RSP was born after the Auzeville declaration of 2003, which called for
united, collective action by the different groups then engaged in peasant seed
selection to affirm the inalienable bond between the peasant and the seeds.
RSP was created afterwards to facilitate this collective action by means
of the following goals: (1) linking up the various single actions being
undertaken to consolidate dynamic conservation and the management of
agricultural biodiversity in farms and gardens; (2) facilitating training and
exchange regarding peasant expertise; (3) promoting technical, scientific,
and legal recognition of peasant practices of seed and plant production;
(4) contributing to the emergence of new schemes for seed selection, variety
creation, and the distribution of adapted seeds to biological, biodynamic,
and peasant farmers; and (5) informing public opinion about issues related
to the production and commercialization of seeds.
Participatory Plant Breeding
Since RSP’s foundation, its farmers have entered into a novel relationship
with institutional research through what is defined as Participatory Plant
Breeding (PPB). PPB is a relatively recent concept used to refer to a broad
array of breeding methods. Most PPB projects are initiated by international
institutes of research and aim to speed up the adoption of improved
cultivars by small farmers in developing countries.
In some PPB research programs, farmers’ participation is limited to the
final steps of the process, that is, evaluating and commenting on a few nearly
finished or advanced varieties just before their official release. In other cases,
PPB implies participatory selection involving unfinished or stored plants,
which feature a high degree of genetic variability.
In fact, one of RSP’s main aims is precisely to promote a different idea
of participation. ‘‘Participation is obtained by means of dialogue at every
step of the process of peasant reconquest of seed autonomy, in a shared
conception [inside a professional network as well as with the researcher]
of fundamental principles regarding the nature of living beings’’ (Chable &
Berthellot, 2006, p. 129).
As a result, the involvement of peasants in the selection of varieties and
plants – by recognizing the value of the peasants’ expertise and cooperation
– has become an innovative method not just for developing plant varieties
that are better adapted for peasants’ specific needs but also for contributing
to sustainable development and empowering farmers and rural communities
(Chiffoleau & Desclaux, 2006).
The 2003 Auzeville meeting brought together peasants, artisans,
researchers, biotechnicians, doctors, and consumers, with one aim being
to test the use of old varieties of wheat for baking. Peasants who have
decided to carry out baking on their farms (paysans boulangers) have
become involved in variety selection too, knowing that work on old varieties
can permit the recovery of plant adaptability to soils, an essential plant
characteristic if chemical inputs are to be avoided.
In some cases, modern plant varieties, selected by industry for their higher
productivity and higher protein rates, have proven to be unsuitable for
biological production. As a consequence, organic farmers and peasant craft
bakers have needed to seek out alternative varieties and have launched
cooperative programs, which include the participation of the Institut
National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), to obtain varieties suitable
for biological agriculture.
The necessity of developing sustainable farming methods, together with

the specificity of the needs of the various actors, is making more and more
evident the limits of traditional knowledge systems and hence stimulating
new paths of research. Thanks to the initiative of farmers’ organizations
and networks, in the space of just a few years, participatory breeding
programs have multiplied across France and elsewhere in Europe (Bocci &
Chable, 2008).
Nevertheless, farmers often have difficulty in having their role as
plant selectors accepted because of the specificity of their selection methods,
which are aimed at their particular needs, their way of thinking, and their
environment. The farmer plant selection that is carried out by various
member groups of RSP is part of a continuous process of innovation that is
based on cooperation, exchange, solidarity, and trust. The definitions of
peasant selection and peasant varieties that RSP has adopted have not yet
met with official recognition. Instead, they still need to overcome the hurdles
posed by the expert system and by the ever more stringent limitations of
the governmental regulatory system – influenced by strong pressure from
the seed industry – on the exchange and marketing of unregistered seed
varieties.
In my opinion, peasant seed selection can be understood as a rural
coproduction process – nature, human beings, and technology working
together to carry out transformation and innovation in pursuit of quality.
Quality enters the picture when the plants are made adaptable to the soil by
means of cultivation techniques that come from the peasant himself and
accord with his sensitivity. It can be said that peasant seed selection
represents a kind of parallel evolution, that is, an evolution of the seed variety
alongside an evolution of the image that the peasant has of this variety.
Hence coproduction and coevolution are processes that characterize peasant
agriculture in its search for autonomy. Quality care in the production process
is linked to the interest in skill-oriented technologies, in which a central role
is played by labor, intensive both in quantity and in quality.
Peasant Networking and New Paths for Rural Development
RSP, taking into account the importance of peasant seed selection and
peasant agriculture in its efforts to create quality food, to safeguard
biodiversity, and to boost local development, has developed various
forms of cooperation with different associations and research organizations.
This cooperation sometimes assumes the form of programs that feature

the exchange of seeds, knowledge, and experience, programs carried out
not just in France but also across Europe and in other regions. In union
with other national seed networks, RSP has sponsored the creation of a
Peasant Seed Coordination in Europe, which also has the aim of supporting
or strengthening lobbying action, as for example in the case of the
implementation of the EU’s Council Directive 98/95/EC regarding
conservation varieties, a directive that binds the EU to examine the creation
of a separate set of rules for the marketing of traditional or old varieties of
plants. These national seed networks are also involved, along with research
institutes, in Europe-wide projects aimed at supporting new seed policies
that take into consideration the different national situations regarding
conservation or peasant plant varieties.
The political implications of this emergence of new peasantries are
apparent not merely in their concrete practices in favor of autonomy but
also in the pressure and demands they direct at the systems of governance
implemented from the local level to the transnational level.
CONCLUSIONS
In this chapter, I have highlighted some recent innovations in alternative
agro-food models, as well as paths of research and rural development
that have emerged within this framework. Notwithstanding theories that
assert continuing depeasantization and predict an eventual extinction of
the peasantry, it is evident that today there is a ‘‘qualitative process’’
of repeasantization that is defining new conditions for the reproduction of
small-scale farming. What characterizes the new peasantry, aside from its
affirmation of the principle of autonomous reproduction, is its participation
in alternative agro-food networks and its involvement in political and
ethical practices of solidarity and cooperation.
I have illustrated these features through an analysis of the case of RSP.
This network can be considered an antisystemic movement (Arrighi,
Hopkins, & Wallerstein, 1997) due to the strong criticism it has expressed
toward the dominant agro-food system and toward the cultural, techno-
scientific, and knowledge models that derive from it.
Further study, however, needs to be directed to the network’s innovative
features and to the transformations engendered by the practices and forms
of cooperation developed by RSP in connection with other networks or
other social actors. In effect, these transformations, which involve the
peasant knowledge and research system for developing agro-ecological

techniques, for safeguarding biodiversity, and for guaranteeing the
reproduction of small farmers, end up also being important for the
safeguarding of food security and quality. Furthermore, the use of these
kinds of innovations to exert influence on the system of governance
at various levels represents another key tool for reaching these goals as
well as for promoting endogenous development processes and territorial
revitalization. As a reticular process, therefore, repeasantization seems to
have important implications for both transnational and local governance.
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Seifert, F. (2009). Consensual NIMBYs, contentious NIABYs: Explaining contrasting forms of
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CHAPTER 3
THE DEVELOPMENT OF
ALTERNATIVE PRODUCTION AND
CONSUMPTION ACTIVITIES
RELATED TO FOOD SAFETY AND
SECURITY AND ASSOCIATED
GENDER ISSUES
Hitomi Nakamichi
ABSTRACT
In Japan, since an outbreak of mass food poisoning in 2000, consumer

interest in food safety and security has increased, focusing on activities
such as Chisan-Chishō (Local Production, Local Consumption), Slow
Food, and LOHAS. Activities related to food safety and security in Japan
have a strong local character, are moving toward industrialization, are not
bound by tradition, and can be said to be activities in pursuit of alternative
forms of consumption and development. In Japan, most supporters of Slow
Food, LOHAS, and Chisan-Chishō have been women. In societies where
production is important, consumption has been entrusted to women.
Therefore, activities related to food safety and security are tied to social
reform with women in central roles. Receiving social recognition, these
activities develop business opportunities, move toward globalized
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016006
31
32 HITOMI NAKAMICHI
industrialization, and, in a gendered society centered on men, become

activities with men in central positions. Gender in the area of food does not
allow women to take part in production and distribution and is moving to
exclude women. To secure women’s position in food, it is necessary to
industrialize according to women’s ways such as maintaining the viewpoint
of living nature, mutual support, collective leadership, and networking.
INTRODUCTION
Increasing Interest in Food and the Development of Consumer Action
At the outset of the new millennium, consumer consciousness regarding

‘‘food safety and security’’ soared in Japan. This was a direct consequence of
an outbreak of mass food poisoning from dairy products, followed by the
discovery of BSE in 2001 and then in 2002 by unlawful activities and cover-
ups by a leading food company. In 2003, with the aims of ensuring a safe
food supply and of gaining the trust of the Japanese people regarding food,
the MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) established the
Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Bureau. Subsequently, however, as
further deception and cover-ups related to food products were discovered
and reported, consumer interest in food safety and security increased,
focusing in particular on activities such as Chisan-Chishō (Local Produc-
tion, Local Consumption), Slow Food, and LOHAS.
Among activities related to food safety and security that have gained
attention in recent years, this chapter considers LOHAS, Slow Food, and
the organic produce and Chisan-Chishō movements that were born in
Japan. These activities have spread in response to various problems caused
by industrialism during the move in recent years to post-industrialism.1
In modern society, food production and supply is globalizing as food
products, and flavors are being standardized in accordance with mass
production and mass consumption. In response, the above-mentioned
activities act in concert with antiglobalization movements, which place great
emphasis on regionality as opposed to standardized foods and flavors, and
with alternative ideas of development.2 However, as these immature niche
activities receive increasing social recognition and develop as industries, they
will gradually be entrusted to men rather than women. In a gendered
society, women, who have borne responsibility for ‘‘food’’ in private life,
have carried out activities related to food safety and security. The
The Development of Alternative Production and Consumption Activities 33
industrialization of such activities will drive women to the periphery, with

the latent possibility that daily life and ‘‘food’’ will be separated.3
This chapter shows activities such as LOHAS, Slow Food, organic food
production, and Chisan-Chishō to be pursuing alternative consumption and
development in the face of modernization. In Japan, the activities that bring
about such social change have been carried out by women, but in a gendered
society, as the activities are socialized and industrialized, their appropriation
by men has quickened, particularly through recent policies. I clarify this
point through a detailed examination of Chisan-Chishō activities, of which
women form the core.
Goals and Current State of LOHAS and Slow Food Activities
LOHAS is an acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability and is

generally applied to activities aspiring to ‘‘a healthy, environmentally-
concerned life.’’ It is said that in the United States, 26% of adults (50 million
people) have a deep interest in ecology and the global environment, human
relations, peace, social justice, self-realization, and self-expression. Gaiam,
Inc., with a market strategy targeting these people, has its origin in the sale
of LOHAS goods such as household items, clothing, and clean energy
products.
LOHAS has created an area in which investors and entrepreneurs can
gather, as Gaiam, Inc. has joined other businesses and financial concerns
with an interest in people holding such new values to form an organization
of ‘‘natural businesses.’’ In Japan, the group company Todo Press and
Mitsui Bussan hold most LOHAS trademarks. Sotokoto, the magazine
instrumental in spreading LOHAS in Japan, is published by Kirakusha, an
affiliate of Todo Press.4 LOHAS appears to have become an industrialized
activity in Japan.
LOHAS can be divided into five specific categories: (1) sustainable
economy, (2) healthy lifestyle, (3) alternative healthcare, (4) personal
development, and (5) ecological lifestyle. From these categories, it can be
seen that LOHAS aspires to a lifestyle of concern for environment and
resources and for self-control. As it takes the preindustrial life of harmony
with nature to be the goal of ‘‘industry,’’ it is an activity in pursuit of
alternative consumption and development.
The Slow Food movement began in 1986 and is said to oppose ways of
thinking and actions represented by Fast Food (Italian Slow Food
Association, 2009). The ‘‘Slow Food Manifesto’’ makes the following
34 HITOMI NAKAMICHI
statements: ‘‘May suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and slow,

long-lasting enjoyment preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who
mistake frenzy for efficiency.’’ ‘‘Let us discover the flavors and savors of
regional cooking.’’ ‘‘In the name of productivity, Fast Life has changed our
way of being and threatens our environment and our landscapes. So Slow
Food is now the only truly progressive answer’’ (Slow Food International,
2009b). As this manifesto suggests, the Slow Food movement is an
antiglobalization movement whose concern extends to lifestyle5 and, given
the latitude of its activities, aims to restructure the food industry, with
agriculture at the center, and thus is another activity in pursuit of alternative
consumption and development.
The three aims of the Slow Food organization are to (1) ‘‘save the
countless traditional grains, vegetables, fruits, animal breeds and food
products that are disappearing due to the prevalence of convenience food
and industrial agribusiness’’; (2) ‘‘organize fairs, markets and events locally
and internationally to showcase products of excellent gastronomic quality
and to offer discerning consumers the opportunity to meet producers’’; and
(3) ‘‘help people rediscover the joys of eating and understand the importance
of caring where their food comes from, who makes it and how it’s made’’
(Slow Food International, 2009a).
PRODUCTION/CONSUMPTION PARTNERSHIPS IN
THE JAPANESE ORGANIC FARMING MOVEMENT
AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT
These movements from abroad act in the same way as the buying of local
produce and purchasing cooperatively that are the foundation of the
Japanese organic agriculture movement, which has developed in grassroots
fashion for over 30 years in response to concerns about food safety.
Through the 1970–1980s, producers and consumers built relationships of
trust and formed ‘‘producer/consumer partnerships’’ in which consumers
received organic produce from producers on a regular basis. ‘‘Almost all of
the people on the consumer side of these partnerships were in accord in re-
evaluating a way of eating that gave priority to consumer preferences. They
felt that, rather than having the soil (agriculture) adjust to the consumers’
mouths (diet) y they should eat in conformity with the natural conditions
of the agricultural land. They learned that if they did not support
agriculture, agricultural methods would not change’’ (Honjō, 2002, p. 48).
A key term used by the Japan Organic Agriculture Association (JOAA) is

shindo fuji (the notion that the human body cannot be separated from the
soil, climate, and geographical conditions and that people should eat
seasonal foods harvested within a 12 kilometer radius from the place they
were born and raised), in other words, local self-sufficiency and consump-
tion of local produce (Adachi, 2003).
The JOAA was established in 1971, and the first ‘‘organic boom’’ began
with the publication in 1974 of Ariyoshi Sawako’s novel, Fukugō osen
(Complex Contamination). The boom’s main supporters were the con-
sumers and producers of the JOAA, who were influenced by the
antipollution movement (Adachi, 2003). A second ‘‘organic boom’’
occurred following the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. As the demand
for organic agricultural products increased, the activities of groups
advocating ‘‘compatibility with business,’’ such as specialized distributors
and the Seikyō (Japan Consumer Cooperatives), which were enthusiastic
about local direct purchase groups, were expanded. In 1993, the ‘‘Guidelines
for Labeling of Organic Agricultural Products’’ of the MAFF were put into
effect, the JAS (Japan Agricultural Standard) specification was created, and
the third ‘‘organic boom’’ began (Adachi, 2003). In 1999, the decision was
made to introduce an organic certification system, and the JAS law was
revised in accordance with Codex Alimentarius. In 2001, the system for
inspection and certification of organic foods went into effect. The increasing
sense of panic among consumers regarding food caused agricultural policy
to shift from a focus on production to consumption and food safety. The
issue in 2002 of the ‘‘Plan for the Recovery of ‘Food’ and ‘Agriculture’ ’’ was
followed by revision of the Agricultural Chemicals Regulation Law,
enactment of the Food Safety Basic Law, revision of the Food Sanitation
Law, and so on.6 Accompanying this switch to ‘‘food safety’’ policies,
Chisan-Chishō has been promoted as a way of raising the food self-
sufficiency rate.
The organic agriculture movement in Japan is advanced even in world
terms and shares some ideas with Slow Food and LOHAS, but it lacks their
publicity strength. It is a movement of producers, who say ‘‘Dealing with the
soil is our way of living,’’ and consumers, who say ‘‘Our way of eating is our
way of living’’ (Adachi, 2003, p. 56). It rejects the industrialization of
lifestyle, food culture, and food production represented by mass production
and mass consumption and seeks alternative forms of consumption and
development. However, along with the industrialization of organic food
production, responsibility has shifted from single individuals to distributors
and the government.
36 HITOMI NAKAMICHI
THE CURRENT STATE OF THE AGRICULTURAL

PRODUCT SELF-SUFFICIENCY MOVEMENT AND
CHISAN-CHISHŌ
The Agricultural Product Self-Sufficiency Movement
The starting point of Chisan-Chishō7 can be seen in the Life Improvement

movement in agricultural communities following World War II and in the
agricultural product self-sufficiency movement that began around 1965.8
Under the 1961 Basic Agricultural Law intended to ‘‘improve the welfare of
farmers through improvements in the quality of daily life and rationaliza-
tion of the labor of women’’ and through the guidance of extension workers
dealing with household matters, groups of women throughout Japan
independently joined to improve the quality of daily life. At first, the main
target was improvement of food and diet.
The members of the Life Improvement groups were also members of the
women’s clubs of the Nōkyō (Japan Agricultural Cooperatives; JA), and in
many instances, the Nōkyō and the extension services worked together. In
Akita Prefecture, the women’s club of the Nikaho Nōkyō began a well-
known agricultural product self-sufficiency movement in 1970, and thus,
that year is referred to as ‘‘Year 1 of self-sufficiency’’ (Hasumi et al., 1986).
In 1985, the Nōrinchūkin Bank Research Institute conducted a survey of 42
Nōkyō prefectural cooperatives and 978 local cooperatives and found that,
whereas until 1970, only 4.8% had been involved in the self-sufficiency
movement, 49.1% were taking part in 1984.
The primary reason for taking part was ‘‘to achieve self-sufficient
production of fresh, safe food,’’ whereas the second was ‘‘to improve health
through a balanced diet.’’ The products focused on the self-sufficiency
movement were vegetables (96%), grains (36%), animal products (22%),
and fruit (19%). Self-sufficiency was also sought in areas other than food,
such as fuel, fertilizer, clothing, and wood products.
According to Suzuki Hiroshi and Negishi Hisako, these sorts of self-
sufficiency activities ‘‘were the first step in breaking away from a large-scale,
specialized agriculture polluted by agricultural chemicals and steeped in
chemical fertilizers.’’ ‘‘It was a movement not just to become self-sufficient
in food, but also to reconsider the resources of the community as a whole,
including energy from water, fire, wind, etc., and to make better use of them
in daily life’’ (Hasumi et al., 1986, p. 45).
The agricultural product self-sufficiency movement was the origin of
Chisan-Chishō in rural communities. Although it appeared and spread well
before Slow Food and LOHAS, it was limited to farming communities.

Moreover, because the agricultural product self-sufficiency movement was
connected with the spread of nutritional education following World War II,
which denied the value of the traditional diet, people were not aiming
for self-sufficiency in traditional foods. Particularly in the five years
from 1956, mobile kitchens visited farming communities throughout the
country, ostensibly to provide nutritional guidance and to improve people’s
diets, but also rejecting traditional foods and encouraging change to a
Western diet (as had been sought by the postwar occupation army
headquarters).9 In reality, self-sufficiency in familiar vegetables and
processed foods, for which production methods (procuring of seeds,
planting, etc.) were common knowledge, remained high, but overall, the
vegetable self-sufficiency rate tended to decrease. In particular, traditional
vegetables decreased with the change in diet, whereas self-sufficiency
in vegetables considered necessary to a Western diet increased (Nakamichi,
1990, 1991).
The Current State of Chisan-Chishō
According to a 2004 survey of Chisan-Chishō conducted by the Statistics

and Information Department of the MAFF, there were 2,982 permanent
direct sales outlets established by municipalities (including the third sector)
and Nōkyō. The average total annual sales were 74,620,000 yen, of which
local agricultural products made up 63.8%, or 47,590,000 yen. Excluding
local products, items produced in other parts of the prefecture accounted for
6.5%, or 4,830,000 yen, thereby bringing the total of products from within
the prefecture to approximately 70%. In addition, the annual purchasing
costs for farm households (incorporated), agricultural businesses other than
families, and processing plants established by Nōkyō (numbering 1,686 in
the survey) totaled 130,910,000 yen. Of this, the purchasing cost for local
agricultural products was 104,090,000 yen, or 79.5%. Also, 76.6% of school
lunch programs in public elementary and junior high schools, as well as in
other jointly used kitchens, (1,636 sites), responded that they used local
agricultural products regularly.
In 2001, and again in 2002, the Rural Life Research Center surveyed
agricultural policy and production divisions of municipalities regarding self-
sufficiency within each municipal district (Nōson Seikatsu Sōgō Kenkyū
Sentā, 2003). The results showed that in Chisan-Chishō activities, women
from farm households comprised 67% of participants in ‘‘processing and
38 HITOMI NAKAMICHI
development,’’ 62% in ‘‘direct sales outlets,’’ and 57% in ‘‘farming

community restaurants,’’ with an overall participation rate of 55%. Clearly,
farm women were the leaders in Chisan-Chishō.
CASE STUDIES OF WOMEN’S CHISAN-CHISHŌ

ACTIVITIES
Chisan-Chishō in a Direct Sales Market
In recent years, direct sales venues with women in pivotal roles, such as
Ehime Prefecture’s Tokimeki Suito Market, have achieved sales of over
500,000,000 yen per year. In 1990, as consumer interest in agricultural
products increased, leaders of the women’s club of the Saijō City Nōkyō led
members in a lengthy study of direct sales activities, and in 1991, 60
members started a Sunday open-air ‘‘100-yen’’ market. In 1995, the
Tokimeki Suito Market was opened in front of the main Nōkyō building.
A steering committee was formed, comprising the 11 branch leaders of the
Nōkyō women’s club. By 2003, there were 765 members, and two women
had been named to the Nōkyō board of directors. For the benefit of
consumers concerned with food safety and security, several farm households
had gained certification of their organic produce and begun selling it under
organic JAS. In addition, as this is one of the major rice-growing areas in
the prefecture, sale of bread made with rice flour was begun in 2004, with as
much as one ton of local rice used in a month.
In the case of Suito Market, Chisan-Chishō is being carried out and
managed by women, and they have gained enough power that two have
become Nōkyō directors. Also, in terms of consumption of local products, it
is clear from the group’s production of rice flour bread that they are not
bound to traditional foods but are pursuing alternative forms of distribution
and consumption and working toward regional development.
Chisan-Chishō in Environmentally Conscious Animal Husbandry
Ms. Shiraishi in Saitama Prefecture began raising pigs in her garden in 1978.
In 1981, she switched to a breed no longer seen in the area, the Middle
Yorkshire, which grows more slowly (9–10 months to market size) but has a
better flavor. Ms. Shiraishi has continued raising this pure breed, which was
imported from England. In 1998, she increased her herd to 400 head. Sales
reached over 30 million yen. In 2003, her husband retired and also took up
farming, and in 2005, her son left his job with a company and established a
processing branch.
To protect the environment, they obtain discarded shimeji mushroom
bedding and rice husks from nearby farms, add microorganisms, used this as
bedding for the pigs, and produce fermented compost. This is sold to neigh-
boring rice and vegetable farms. Thus, agricultural plant and animal waste
are turned to fertilizer and recycled within the community. For feed, they use
brewer’s yeast, lactic acid bacteria, and nattō bacteria mixed with steamed
barley and non-GM corn. No hormones are added. The pigs are allowed to
range freely to keep them as close as possible to a natural state.
Ms. Shiraishi is preserving a breed and caring for the environment while
at the same time practicing Chisan-Chishō. The pigs are from England and
are not traditional Japanese food, but nevertheless, we can see business
expansion through alternative forms of production and consumption.
Moreover, as the business has grown, husband and son have been employed
and further expansion is planned.
Chisan-Chishō in a Fishing Community
In traditional fishing, men catch the fish and women process and sell it. Even
if fish are caught, there will be no money if they are not sold. Until fishing
cooperatives began selling fish, it was women’s work. Peddling fish became
impossible because of health and sanitation problems, and as fishing
cooperatives took over sales, women gradually disappeared from fishing. In
Okinawa, however, peddling was transformed into sashimi (raw fish) shops,
many run by women.10 Some of these women have continued making time-
consuming squid dumplings to provide local seafood for school lunches.
Catching small amounts of fish that cooperatives will not accept or fish
unwanted in the market bring fishermen no money, but the women’s sashimi
shops accept these and thereby play a part in Chisan-Chishō. Members of a
Life Improvement group on Irabu Island, famed for its bonito, process this
fish and sell it at the harbor. This has been traditional women’s work on the
island.
The women of Okinawa’s fishing industry have always supported Chisan-
Chishō, even as they have changed its form. Supporting small-scale
fishermen by accepting small amounts of fish and types unwanted by the
market, they too are involved in the idea of shindo fuji, antiglobalization,
and the pursuit of alternative forms of consumption and development.
40 HITOMI NAKAMICHI
GENDER ISSUES IN THE PURSUIT OF

ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF CONSUMPTION AND
DEVELOPMENT
Characteristics of Safety and Security Activities in Japan
We can consider the LOHAS, Slow Food, organic agriculture, and Chisan-
Chishō activities all in terms of the key words ‘‘ecology, environment, and
health.’’ They are united in valuing things that have not been valued in the
modern age and in reconsidering modern systems of production and
consumption. Moreover, they are activities in pursuit of alternative forms of
consumption and development. They differ, however, in their locality,
industrialization, and tradition. Although LOHAS has spread throughout
the country partly through businesses and magazines, it is centered mainly
in metropolitan areas. Slow Food also is found primarily in urban areas,
while the major activities in outlying areas are Chisan-Chishō. Organic
agriculture has begun to spread throughout the country along with the JAS
certification system. LOHAS is already giving rise to a ‘‘LOHAS industry.’’
Its industrial strategy is aimed at a newly emerging stratum of consumers,
and previously existing large corporations are taking part. Slow Food and
organic agriculture are solidifying their positions as industries as well. We
can also see signs of the industrialization of Chisan-Chishō in the large-scale
facilities for direct sale being built in various parts of the country by Nōkyō.
Slow Food aims to preserve traditional diets, but the other three are not
necessarily concerned about preserving traditional ways of eating. The
consciousness of ‘‘nutrition’’ in Japan since the postwar period, which has
rejected the traditional diet, is strongly rooted.
Thus, activities related to food safety and security in Japan have a strong
local nature, are moving toward industrialization, are not bound by
tradition, and can be said to be activities in pursuit of alternative forms of
consumption and development.
Gender as Seen in Changing Support for Safety and Security Activities
In Japan, most supporters of Slow Food, LOHAS, and Chisan-Chishō have

been women. Owada Junko is well known in connection with LOHAS and
Shimamura Natsu with Slow Food. Shirane Setsuko is prominent as a
leader on the consumer side of the producer/consumer partnerships of the
JOAA. The women of rural communities support the actual functioning of

Chisan-Chishō. In societies where production is important, consumption
has been entrusted to women and children. When women have been
involved in production, it has only been to assist men or to cover niches men
ignore. In modern society, women have been driven to the periphery, but in
postmodern society, the women’s niche of Chisan-Chishō activities is being
acknowledged and is attracting attention. In recent years, along with
changes in policy,11 the men of farm households are looking to Chisan-
Chishō as a source of farm income, and direct sales markets in which men
play central roles or that have become industrialized also have appeared. In
the birthplaces of Slow Food and LOHAS, men are central, and these
movements are becoming industrialized. In Japan, Slow Food and LOHAS
are working together with the foreign movements and moving toward
industrialization. They are to be considered labor and men’s activities. As
women’s activities move from the periphery to the center in a male-centered
society, they are converted into men’s activities. Will women continue to be
central in areas at which new agricultural policies are aiming, such as
Chisan-Chishō, local brands, food education, and school lunch programs?
Let us look at examples from Chisan-Chishō.
In the case of the Suito Market, the steering committee is controlled by
the leaders of the Nōkyō women’s club, and two women have been chosen to
the cooperative’s board of directors. The direct sales market is growing, but
women still retain control of the actual right of management. The women’s
group is based in the Life Improvement movement, but because of a recent
revision in policy, the post assigned to train supporters of the Chisan-Chishō
activities has disappeared and the development of Chisan-Chishō by women
is now in danger. Regarding Chisan-Chishō in the Okinawa fishing industry,
the appearance of a new women’s network gives hope for future growth, but
along with the deterioration of the fishing cooperatives, the number of
women members is decreasing, and strengthening the women’s clubs will be
an important issue.
It will be difficult for women to remain as the central figures in Chisan-
Chishō activities. One of the best known examples of direct sales markets in
Japan is Karari, a joint stock company in the town of Uchiko in Ehime
Prefecture. Karari involves 410 farm households, with total sales in 2005 of
244,000,000 yen. It is the subject of many observation tours and has become
one of the town’s important industries. At first, women were the nucleus of
the activities, but while the chairperson of the management council is a
woman, most of the council members are men. The president of the
company is a man formerly employed by the town office, the managers are
42 HITOMI NAKAMICHI
all men, and there is only one woman employee. The IT system, Chisan-
Chishō, eco-certification, and so on were all ideas of the male employees,
and decisions about the company’s future course are made by men. Even in
the case of Ms. Shiraishi, as the pig-raising business has grown, her husband
and son have left other jobs to join the concern, further evidence that when
there is a possibility of business opportunities, which is likely to lead to
industrialization, men will become involved.
Gender as Seen in Safety and Security Activities and

Questions for the Future
Activities related to food safety and security in Japan are tied to social
reform and are pursuing alternative forms of consumption and develop-
ment, with women in central roles. As the immature niche activities that
carry forward social reform gain social recognition, are seen as business
opportunities, and move toward industrialization, the activities themselves
are globalized and, in a gendered society centered on men, become activities
with men in central positions. This tendency can be seen not only in Slow
Food and LOHAS but also in Chisan-Chishō. Where food is concerned,
production, distribution, and consumption have become separated accord-
ing to gender. Gender in the area of food does not allow women to take part
in production and distribution and, as before, is moving in the direction of
excluding women. A hint for overcoming this and securing women’s
position in food issues can surely be found in women’s activities. Women
need to secure a core position in the process of industrialization, and, while
postmodernizing ‘‘industry’’ and maintaining the viewpoint of everyday life,
they must aim for industrialization takes advantage of the special nature
of women’s groups, which is characterized by mutual support, collective
leadership, and networking.
NOTES
1. For industrialism and post-industrialism, see Tachikawa (2005).
2. For alternatives to ‘‘modernization,’’ see Nakamichi (1998).
3. For example, regarding the gourmet trends referred to as ‘‘recreational eating,’’
see Ishidō (1988).
4. The main sources consulted regarding LOHAS were the LOHAS Club
Homepage (http://www.lohasclub.org) and the homepage of Owada Junko, one of
the movement’s promoters (Owada, 2006; http://www.owadajunko.com).
5. Regarding antiglobalization and Slow Food, a good explanation is given in

Furusawa (2003a,2003b). In Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, in addition
to quantity, price, and quality, a fourth standard taken into consideration is ‘‘food
miles.’’ Local food, which is low in food miles, is (1) good for the producer, (2) good
for the consumer, (3) good for the local economy, and (4) good for the global
environment (Adachi, 2003).
6. Events during this period are explained in detail in Taniguchi (2005).
7. The term ‘‘Chisan-Chishō’’ includes direct sales markets, direct sales corners in
larger stores, school lunches, facilities providing local foods (restaurants, inns, etc.),
and community gardens (Nōringyogyō Kin’yū Kōkō, 2006), and thus Chisan-Chishō
is used as a general, inclusive term.
8. For a detailed example of the Rural Life Improvement Movement, see Ichida
(2001), which describes the movement in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Hasumi, Suzuki,
and Negishi (1986) give details of the agricultural products self-sufficiency
movement. For the relationship of the self-sufficiency rate and traditional diet in
rural communities, see Nakamichi (1990, 1991).
9. Suzuki (2003) contains a detailed description of the connection between mobile
kitchens and the occupation army headquarters.
10. The activities of women in the Okinawa fishing industry are described in detail
in Nakamichi (2005).
11. In the MAFF’s 21seiki shinnōsei 2006 (New Agricultural Policies in the 21st
Century 2006), Chisan-Chishō, local brands, and food education (including school
lunches) are mentioned specifically (MAFF, 2007).
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Nōringyogyō Kin’yū Kōkō [Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Finance Corporation]. (Ed.)
(2006). Chisan chishō no torikumi jōkyō to kadai [Current efforts and issues in Chisan-
Chishō]. Chōki kin’yū, 94, 1–67.
Nōson Seikatsu Sōgō Kenkyū Sentā [Rural Community Life Research Center]. (2003). Chiikinai
jikyū – chisan chishō no genjō to jichitai no torikumi – shichōson e no anke¯to chōsa kara
[Self-sufficiency within local areas – the current status of Chisan-Chisho and the efforts
of municipal districts – From a survey of cities, towns, and villages], Nōson Seikatsu
Sōgō Kenkyū Sentā.
Owada, J. (2006). Amerika o sasuteinaburu na kuni ni shiyō to shiteiru antorepurenatachi
[Entrepreneurs trying to turn America into a sustainable country]. JKSK NPO
Homepage. Available at http://www.jksk.jp/j/youcan/20027.htm
Slow Food International. (2009a). Our mission. Available at http://www.slowfood.com/
about_us/eng/mission.lasso
Slow Food International. (2009b). The SF manifesto. Available at http://www.slowfood.com/
about_us/eng/manifesto.lasso
Suzuki, T. (2003). ‘‘Amerika no komugi senryaku’’ to Nihon no shokuseikatsu [The ‘‘American
Wheat Strategy’’ and Japan’s diet]. Tokyo: Fujiwara Shoten.
Tachikawa, M. (2005). Posutoseisanshugi e no ikō to nōson ni taisuru ‘manazashi’ no henyō
[The transition to post-modernism and the change in ‘‘gaze’’ on rural communities].
Nenpō sonraku shakai kenkyū daiyonjūisshū shōhisareta nōson – posutoseisanshugika no
‘‘aratana nōson mondai.’’ Tokyo: Nōsangyoson Bunka Kyōkai.
Taniguchi, Y. (2005). ‘‘Shoku no anzen’’ tsuikyū wa nōgyō, nōson ni dono yō na eikyō o
ataeteiru ka [What effect is the pursuit of ‘‘food security’’ having on agriculture and rural
communities?]. Nenpō sonraku shakai kenkyū daiyonjūisshū shōhisareta nōson –
posutoseisanshugika no ‘‘aratana nōson mondai.’’ Tokyo: Nōsangyoson Bunka Kyōkai.
CHAPTER 4
THE ROLE AND POSSIBILITIES FOR

SUBSISTENCE PRODUCTION:
REFLECTING ON THE
EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN
Keiko Yoshino
ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the meaning and expected role of subsistence
production in contemporary Japan through an overview of national trends
and a case study from the Ashigara region. With the expansion of the
market economy, subsistence production has become marginalized in
Japan. Women operated under the double burden of economic and
subsistence activities, but with the increased importance of economic
activities the social status of subsistence activities decreased. Nowadays,
subsistence production is mainly carried out by elderly women. Owing to
its decreased economic importance, food processing became ‘‘gendered’’
as a ‘‘women’s hobby’’ rather than a household necessity. Resources and
information are shared with neighbors, relatives, and friends, and function
as an important medium for communication. Subsistence production
supplies use value, and through it, one can learn the limitation and
abundance of nature, as well as the extent of our wants, which capitalism
has excessively enlarged. Since individual profit is not sought, resources
and information can be shared, strengthening social networks and social
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016007
45
46 KEIKO YOSHINO
security. Through inclusive participation of citizens regardless of

occupation, sex, or age, one will rediscover the meaning of work and
living together.
INTRODUCTION
Subsistence production has been a central activity for centuries. Subsistence
production directly produces use value (Marx, 1992[1887]) and meets
various everyday life needs. It has kept a diversity of products regardless the
exchange value. Konaka (2008) categorized the value of resources into three
spheres, ‘‘source (value for the nature),’’ ‘‘subsistence’’ and ‘‘market
resources,’’ and he explained that the basic principle of ‘‘subsistence’’ is a
‘‘blessing’’ while that of ‘‘market resources’’ is ‘‘scarcity.’’ In subsistence
production, crops well adapted to the locality are grown with low input of
chemicals, and a deep understanding of the dynamics of the local ecosystem
lies behind such skills. However, with the penetration of capitalism,
subsistence production has decreased enormously even in less-developed
regions of the world.
Adam Smith (1982[1776]) famously claimed the advantage of the division
of labor and exchange in procuring the ‘‘wealth of nations,’’ whereas Marx
(1857–1858, 1993) placed the ‘‘modern bourgeois’ mode of production as
the most advanced form in the economic development of society.
Subsistence production, as it were, has been supposed to go extinct.
Regarding the exchange value, the main value in a market economy,
Tonoue (1986) argued that this merely demarcates the wealth moved
between producers and consumers that does not necessarily enrich human
life. Against the capitalists’ view of separate and distinct position of market
economy, Polanyi (1944) claimed that the human economy is embedded in
social relationships, and he emphasizes the importance on house holding
(production for one’s own use) as a basic principle in addition to
redistribution and reciprocity. Against the myth that the self-sufficiency
oriented lifestyles of hunting and gathering societies were constantly faced
with the twin dangers of hunger and famine, Sahlins (1972) revealed the
affluence of their lifestyles through detailed examinations of consumption
and leisure time.
With the expansion of capitalism, peasants were to be ‘‘modernized’’ to
improve productivity, and in the Third World, Structural Adjustment Policy
spurred the ‘‘modernization’’ (Brass, 2005; Bernstein, 1990). However, from
Role and Possibilities for Subsistence Production 47
the 1990s, the focus of peasant studies shifted to cultural aspects such as eco-
feminism, new social movements, etc. (Brass, 2005). From the eco-feminist
perspective, Mies, Benholds-Thomsen, and Werlhof (1983) pointed out the
nature of asymmetry of primitive accumulation within capitalism. They
noted the exploitation by capitalism of women, small farmers, and colonies
for the purpose of primitive accumulation, and they placed a ‘‘subsistence
perspective’’ in opposition to capitalism. In new social movements, an
alternative way of ‘‘development’’ is sought, and subsistence farming is also
one of the important components both in Third World and industrialized
countries (Smith, 2004; Williams, 2008).
From the viewpoint of sustainable resource management, the ‘‘Commons’’
is one of the important places for subsistence production attracting attention
for its unique management system. In Japan, the ‘‘Commons’’ is known as
Iriai. It allows equal access to members of the community for sustenance
production though collective management system (Tabeta, 1990). It is also
focused on the nature of pleasure in subsistence production, paying attention
to ‘‘minor subsistence’’ activities, which are induced by the interaction
between nature and humans (Matsui, 1998). In the context of the importance
that subsistence production, this chapters investigates how ordinary rural
people practice it and meanings that it embodied for them in Japan.
After briefly reviewing the transformation and the present situation of
subsistence production in Japan, in the second section of the chapter I will
explore the research question employing the case of the Ashigara region in
the prefecture Kanagawa. In the next two sections, I will focus on the
continuation and ceasing of food processing at the individual level, and
efforts for its continuation. Finally, I will discuss the expected role and the
possibilities for the continuation of subsistence production. I will conclude
by stressing the high importance of subsistence production.
TRANSFORMATION OF SUBSISTENCE
PRODUCTION IN JAPAN
In Japan, with the increase of cash income the share of subsistence

production in the food supply has decreased continuously. At the national
level, food self-sufficiency has fallen below 40% in 2006 (Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries [MAFF hereafter], 2008). The rural
population was expected to provide a labor force for urban areas, and
agricultural products were continuously exposed to international
48 KEIKO YOSHINO
competition. In 1961, the Agricultural Basic Law was enacted, and policy
for the ‘‘formation of a primary production base’’ through ‘‘selective
expansion’’ of production was promoted. Changes in food habits (e.g.
westernization of diet, increase in eating out, and the use of processed foods)
also accelerated the growth of imported foods.
At the individual farm household level, food self-sufficiency ratio is also
decreasing. Although the market economy had been part of Japan long
before World War II, this decline became apparent following the post-war
rapid economic growth that began in 1950s. According to Farm Household
Economy Survey (Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry and Fisheries
[MAFF], 1934–1996), the food self-sufficiency ratio (ratio of supply in
kind) in farm households was calculated to be 68% in 1955. The rate
decreased continuously dropping to below 50% in 1965, and reaching 13%
in 1995. In terms of the cash amount, supply in kind increased until 1985,
and taking price rise into consideration, the decrease in self-sufficiency ratio
was mainly attributed to the increase in total food expense until 1985.
Thereafter (in particular after 1990, a critical period of shifting toward
liberalization of trade), the real supply decreased. The production of
processed food also continuously decreased. With regard to Japanese
traditional and representative preserves, miso (soybean paste) and takuan
(dried radish pickles), the self-sufficiency ratio in farm households fell from
89% and 97%, respectively, in 1960 to 34% for both in 1995.
Even farm households came to purchase vegetables from supermarkets.
Farm women reacted to this situation and provided impetus for the creation
of the ‘‘self-sufficiency movement’’ in the 1970s (Hasumi, Negishi, & Suzuki,
1986). This was also the time when the adjustment of rice production, which
had been fully supported by the government, began impacting farmers’
income. The ‘‘self-sufficiency movement’’ was regarded as a frugal strategy
to reduce household cash expenses. However, with rising health concerns on
the use of agrichemicals, the need for safe foods was increasing among
consumers, and chemical-free products by farm households primarily for
their family use appealed to them. Thus the ‘‘self-sufficiency movement’’
developed in selling surplus products initiated by women farmers.
Nowadays, ‘‘farmers’ markets’’ have grown in both number and scale.
There are more than 10,000 farmers’ markets in Japan (Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries [MAFF], 2004), and markets with
annual sales of more than 100 million yen are not exceptional. Chisan-chisho
(use local) is a recent movement attracting attention, and is expected to
activate rural communities and economies. Within broad movements of
Chisan-chisho, farmers’ markets have been the leading and chief activities.
Finding a place to sell products in small amount or irregular ones, it has

been noted that women and elderly farmers actively experimented in
growing diverse crops, and additionally began to utilize wasted fields.
However, it has also been noted that products that used to be shared among
neighbors came to be sold, and that the use of agrochemicals or chemical
ingredients increased corresponding with an up-scale in production. Early
customers trusted the products for their use value, but with the expansion of
markets, consumers’ interest shifted to low-price: the exchange value
(Yoshino et al., 2001). Here lies the contradiction between ‘‘subsistence
production’’ and ‘‘sale.’’
Different movements, however, are also occurring among nonfarm or
urban residents. A significant number of people are getting interested in
producing their own food in various ways, such as kitchen gardening,
weekend farming, joint cultivation, and engaging fully in agriculture. Such
movements were observed earlier among elder generations after retirement,
attracting the attention since of the mid-1990s (Rural Culture Association,
1998). These days, younger generations being tired of restless, materialistic,
and artificial urban life are also getting interested.
RESEARCH AREA AND METHODS
The Ashigara region in Kanagawa prefecture is a suburban area

approximately 80 km from Tokyo, including the seashore to the south and
mountains to the north. Among 130,000 households settled in this region,
farm households occupied 5% (almost identical with the national average)
in 2005 (Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry and Fisheries [MAFF], 2009).
There are several farmers’ markets operated by various sectors such as
farmers’ cooperatives, local government, and private owners. According to
the hearing from agricultural extension personnel of Kanagawa prefecture,
large factories were constructed here before World War II endowed with
good water quality, and taking advantage of the closeness to Tokyo, farmers
initiated cultivation of cash crops such as fruits. Thus people here had
opportunities for cash income from the early part of the twentieth century.
Being located in a suburban area, the land has significant value as real
estate. Thus owners would not easily rent farm land out for cultivation even
when it is fallow fearing for being limited free disposal, which resulted in
the hindrance of effective utilization of the land. Food self-sufficiency
ratio in farm households was calculated to be around 9% in 1995 (MAFF
1934–1996), which is below the national average. The Ashigara region
50 KEIKO YOSHINO
shows the typical influence of the penetration of capitalism experienced

in Japan.
Four kinds of surveys were conducted as follows:
(1) A questionnaire survey on subsistence farming and food processing in

farm households was administered to 218 female members1 of the
Ashigara-Seisho Farmers’ Cooperative, which covers the whole Ashigara
region (‘‘Coop survey’’ hereafter) in June 2008. Among 213 respondents
(98%), 74% were over 60 years old, and 20% were over 70 years old.
(2) Interviews were conducted with 12 women who had received awards in
recognition of their food processing skills from the Cooperative
(‘‘interview’’ hereafter) from 2004 to 2008. All the informants were
over 60 years of age, and three were from nonfarm households.
(3) Participatory observations on activities for continuation of traditional
food processing skills, and hearings from people concerned were
conducted since 2004.
(4) A questionnaire survey was administered to 124 nonfarm households
[customers of an organic farming group, named Ashigara Noh-no kai,
(‘‘customers’’ hereafter)] in November, 2005 (100 respondents, 84%).
PRESENT STATUS OF SUBSISTENCE PRODUCTION

IN ASHIGARA REGION
According to the Coop survey, 85% of respondents grew some kind of crops,
and 91% processed agricultural products. Eighty three percent of respondents
were the sole producer among family members. The most-produced processed
foods were pickled plum (74%), and butterbur preserve (67%). Miso
(soybean paste), and Takuan (dried radish pickles), the representative and
traditional preserves as aforementioned, were the two least produced items
(17% for miso and 31% for takuan) among 11 basic processed foods in
Ashigara region. Regarding materials for processing, plum (one of the major
crops in this region) was produced by 41% of respondents, radish by 64%,
whereas soybean was produced by only 11% of respondents. Soybean was
one of the first crops to be exposed to international competition after World
War II, and its production decreased drastically.
Only 45% of respondents sold crops, and 11% sold processed food. With
various off-farm income opportunities, full-time farm households are quite
few, and farming for personal consumption may have remained as the main
system of agricultural production here. Among customers, 37% of
respondents grew vegetables or fruit trees, and 55% processed agricultural

products. Jams and juice were the most-produced items (33%), followed by
pickled plum (28%).
The case of Ms. Y illustrates the typical mode of production and
consumption in this region. She was born in 1932 and lives with her
husband, son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters. Her husband and
son are public employees, and Ms. Y has been the main support for farming
while male members worked at weekends. On 700 m2 of paddy fields, she
grows two varieties of rice, and potatoes and broad beans consecutively.
In 2007, 800 m2 of paddy fields was returned from a tenant, and she started
to grow soybeans. On 150 m2 of upland field, she grows about 70 kinds of
vegetables. Several varieties of each crop are grown according to expected
usage. She gathers more than 20 kinds of seeds by herself, and some seeds
and seedlings are shared among friends too. On the corners of her fields,
crops of previous harvest are also growing spontaneously. For enjoyment of
children, there are more than 15 kinds of fruit trees. Harvest season is year-
round, and she is always busy. One crop can be harvested at different stages
and used for various recipes. For example, when ginger is young and thin, it
is eaten raw. Later, it is pickled, and when fully grown, it is sliced, and
boiled with soy sauce as a side dish, or cooked as a sweet with sugar.
She makes no less than 40 kinds of processed foods. She endeavors to
make full use of the harvest because she does not want to waste the each
plant’s life, and one day, she sliced skins of yuzu orange all day. Although
she grows various crops and makes processed foods, she sells only a portion
of the rice and soybean through cooperative, and miso at a farmers’ market.
Almost the entire products are consumed by the family or shared among
relatives, neighbors and friends. Sometimes she shares too much to save any
for her own family’s use. For every meal, various handmade products are
served, but her daughter-in-law never helps with the production, although
her granddaughter sometimes does. Now, the granddaughter can make
some of products quite well, and she feels that her daughter-in-law
appreciates the skill, but she is unsure who will continue her domestic food
processing once she becomes physically unable to do so.
REASONS WHY PEOPLE ARE ABANDONING OR

CONTINUING FOOD PROCESSING
Presently, the main supporters for subsistence production are elderly women
in the Ashigara region. According to the Coop survey, 76% of respondents
52 KEIKO YOSHINO
answered that they would like to pass on food processing skills to the next
generation, but only 27% agreed that the younger generation would take
over. This raises the question of how and on what meaning these skills will
be transferred to future generations.
When there was no place to purchase, all food was necessarily processed
by individual household or community. If a food required manual labor,
processing involved all family members. However, to get the necessary food
with minimum labor, labor-saving skills like ‘‘rolling pickles’’ were invented
(a bottle containing shallots and sauce is left on the yard, and kicked by
family members when passing by. Moved at intervals, pickles do not get
rotten, and the sauce soaks into the pickles.). Following the period of rapid
economic growth, much food processing (especially labor intensive ones)
has been replaced by purchasing alternative goods or abandoned altogether.
In reality, women had strong need for an alternative. ‘‘I was too busy’’;
‘‘I was relieved when processed foods became available at shops.’’ Such
women’s voices show the extreme busyness of women doubly burdened with
cash crop cultivation and subsistence production (actually triple burdened
adding reproductive activities). With the degradation of subsistence produc-
tion among family members, they could not help but to abandon them.
According to Coop survey, the main reasons for abandoning food
processing (M.A.) were ‘‘Family members do not like to eat’’ (40%), ‘‘No
longer gathering at home’’ (30%), ‘‘Production of materials stopped’’
(28%), ‘‘Death of family member in charge’’ (22%), ‘‘No time to produce,’’
and ‘‘Purchased ones taste better’’ (16% each). Socio-economic changes
such as the availability of processed foods at shops; a general reduction in
community activities performed in the individual home, in which homemade
foods were expected; and the gradual passing on of skilled elders within the
household, taking with them irreplaceable knowledge and skills had a large
influence, and changes in the consumption patterns and taste of younger
generations also influenced. Moreover, availability of own materials was
affected by the expansion of cash crops cultivation, and the ‘‘moderniza-
tion’’ of housing accompanied the abolishment of facilities necessary for
food processing like preserving rooms, large ovens, and earthen floors (12%
of respondents).
However, as to reasons why continue processing foods (M.A), ‘‘Quality’’
(flavor, safety, and nutrition) was selected most (94%), followed by
‘‘Custom (used to make)’’ (79%), ‘‘Enjoy seasonality’’ (71%), ‘‘For family
enjoyment’’ (63%), and ‘‘Personal enjoyment’’ (57%). ‘‘Necessity’’ was also
selected by half of the respondents (51%), but it is no longer a dominant
incentive. Concerning miso processing, the main reason for continuing was
also ‘‘Quality’’ (11 respondents), followed by ‘‘Necessity’’ (5) among 12

respondents.
From interviews, it was understood that processing food skills were not
necessarily handed over from predecessors. Five of the 10 women, who
married to their present household in the 1950s or 1960s, answered that
none or only a few items were processed when they married in. Many of
them started processing food for their own enjoyment. Friends were
important sources of information on new recipes, and by tasting friends’
handmade foods at gatherings, interest aroused. Among elderly women, the
custom of bringing homemade foods and exchanging them at gatherings
remains strong, and they themselves enjoy it. The age of most of those who
process food, typically in their 1960s and 1970s, is also significant, since they
generally experienced or observed the processing of basic foods from their
childhood, and thus resuming the practice at a later date may not have been
so difficult.
Food processing is marked as ‘‘personal enjoyment’’ now by women
producers, and it is noticeable that most of women work alone. Most of the
informants for the interviews did this work at night alone, after finishing the
entire ‘‘regular household’’ work, and after other family members have gone
to sleep. As trivial work with no commercial value in the old days, and as a
hobby these days, food processing has been consistently confined to elderly
women in individual households.
NEW MOVEMENTS FOR SUBSISTENCE

PRODUCTION
There are efforts to enhance the interest in food processing of local people in
the Ashigara region. In this subsection, I will examine such efforts focusing
on miso (soybean paste) processing, the primary seasoning for daily food
but the self-sufficiency had decreased significantly in households.
Typical activity to encourage miso processing is to hold various cooking
classes for local people. For example, one farmers’ market holds ‘‘miso
processing trials’’ every winter. Nearby residents participate, but most of the
participants are women (there was only one man among 24 participants in
2008) and rather aged.2 Another group started to teach miso processing to
students in local primary school as an experience.
Miso processing starts from koji3 fermentation, which takes about a week.
Then soybean is boiled and crushed, and mixed well with fermented koji.
54 KEIKO YOSHINO
Finally, mixed koji and soybean is put in a container and left in the cool
place for about a half year. Among the processing stages for miso, the
fermentation of koji requires skill and attentive care most. It used to be said
that those in charge of koji fermentation – usually women – could not even
attend a funeral because they had to keep koji at certain temperature. This
was one of the main reasons for abandoning miso processing at home.
In both aforementioned activities, participants experienced only the final
stage, mixing koji with soybean and putting it in containers.
With regard to dealing with the workload of food processing, two
approaches are observed. One approach tries to lessen the workload by
making use of up-to-date machines or outsourcing the most burdensome
processes. For miso processing, koji fermentation used to be outsourced
from early times at individual level. There is one processing group that
introduced an advanced fermentation machine and a large steamer at the
community center to save time and eliminate the difficult process, in order
to expand miso producing party in the area. However, another approach
makes much of each process itself. Ashigara Noh-no kai (Noh-no kai
hereafter) is the voluntary group organized by newly engaged farmers and
nonfarmers, which performs organic farming utilizing local resources for the
environmental soundness. In Noh-no kai, various ways of participation in
agriculture are sought and provided such as helping individuals become
independent farmers if they desire to, finding land for cultivation and
collective production of basic food crops such as rice, soybean, and tea.
Participants of Noh-no kai’s activities positively enjoy production processes
and rural life respecting the wisdom of nature and local knowledge.
Miso-no kai (an activity for processing handmade miso) is one of their
main activities starting with cultivation of soybean on rented fallow field.
Each participant is handed a handful of soybean seeds to be grown to
seedlings at individual house. The seedlings are then brought, and
transplanted collectively. Occasional weeding and harvesting are done
collectively, too. Each work is logically allocated to individual or collective
one to ease and even the burden of participants. As for miso processing,
participants start from fermenting koji, the most burdensome part as
aforementioned, with advices and helps from other experienced participants.
In such collective environment, the burdensome work turns to a mutual
enjoyment.
Participants vary in their age, sex, or occupation, and it is often observed
that entire family members participate including small children half playing
with the surrounding nature. Participants’ number increases every year.
Fifty group participants are recruited per year, and it is fully booked before
the deadline. Up to 2007, more than 120 groups participated in miso-no kai.4
At the gathering for last stage (mixing koji with boiled soybean), each
participant exhibits previous year’s miso and dishes using miso. They taste
each other’s products, and exchange recipes. Such scenes remind us of the
rural elderly women’s tasting and exchange of information at gatherings.
The difference is that at the miso-no kai, young men and children are also
participating. The approaches of Noh-no kai – fully experiencing the entire
processes with joy and mutual help – may attract the minds of the younger
generations.
MEANING OF SUBSISTENCE PRODUCTION FOR

JAPAN AND INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES TODAY
In the Ashigara region, food processing had been abandoned due to the
penetration of capitalism and modernization (westernization) of lifestyle.
Although there is a problem for the transfer of processing skills from the
older to young women within families, new movements are emerging
beyond individual family. Subsistence production by rural women in
Ashigara region can be considered as the remainder of pre-capitalist
activities, but it also implicates contemporary aspects such as (1) individual
woman selected the activities by themselves re-evaluating its meaning by
own criteria and (2) in regions, rural women’s subsistence production has
evolved as Chisan-chisho which seeks for alternative marketing system.
In contemporary Japan, the simple fact is that most citizens can live
without their own supply of food stuffs, and even without cooking in urban
area. Subsistence production is not indispensable, and itself has become
‘‘minor subsistence’’ now. Then, what meanings can subsistence produc-
tion have?
Concerning the production aspect, processing food alone at night may not
be acceptable to the younger generation. The function of handmade food as
a tool for communication has lower importance among the younger gene-
ration who are accustomed to eating out. With the difficulty in processing
food, it is doubtful whether easing this burden through outsourcing or
mechanization can revitalize subsistence production if food processing
remains a low priority in the lives of the younger generation. On
consumption aspect, with the increasing distrust toward purchased food,
the demand for reliable handmade foods is growing, and it may encourage
subsistence production. For the consumers, Chisan-chisho is one of the
56 KEIKO YOSHINO
major options to meet such needs, but it entails the contradiction of the
‘‘marketing of subsistence production,’’ so long as the consumers’ attitude
does not change.
A fair evaluation of subsistence production is required, and there are two
different approaches. One is to calculate the assumed economic contribu-
tion. For example, at the time when the ‘‘self-sufficiency movement’’ was
being promoted, a particular amount was targeted to save by trying to
produce an equivalent economic value in foodstuffs. Calculation of the
value of unpaid work has also been one of the critical issues for feminists
(Waring, 1988). Another approach is to evaluate the meaning of subsistence
production itself like miso-no kai. They enjoy the process of production itself
and also the collective activities, which attracts many nonfarmers of diverse
characteristics (age, sex, marital status, occupation, and so forth).
Noh-no kai’s activities can be considered as one of the new social
movements. The main discussions on the new social movements are centered
around ethical aspects such as resistance, social ethics, and ‘‘coherence’’
between thinking and acting (Brass, 2005; Nihei, 2006; Williams, 2008).
However, what Noh-no kai puts importance in and is missing in major
discussions is ‘‘delight’’ of interactions with nature as well as with people,
which is one of the determinants of quality of life. There is indeed the sense
of ‘‘blessing’’ as Konaka (2008) defined in subsistence production.
In Japan and other industrialized countries as well, most people, in
particular the younger generations, do not have a chance to experience
farming, or do not know where and how food is produced. Such ignorance
and divergence from the reality of agricultural production lead many to
consider agricultural products like industrial products, as if the production
can be controlled merely by will. Attitudes of consumers seeking cheaper
foods have resulted in more and more increases in imported food, which
have caused further exploitation of resources overseas and endangered the
environment. New indicators such as ecological footprints, food miles, and
virtual water clearly demonstrate the existence and long-term consequences
of these problems.
In such a time, the significance of subsistence production is increasing. It
supplies the use value, and the production itself has direct meaning.
Moreover, it can provide direct opportunities for interaction with nature,
without utilizing a calculus of profitability. Through subsistence production,
we can learn the limitations and abundance of nature, as well as the extents
of our wants, which capitalism has enlarged to such a rapacious extent as to
threaten our continued life as a species. Knowing the severity of nature
promoted an appreciation of the lives of individual crops and a delight of
the harvest, and knowing their limitations, our ancestors cherished their
products and developed skills to make full use of them.
Subsistence production does not seek individual profit, and thus the
resources, products and information can be shared, strengthening social
networks and social security. This value of reciprocity that subsistence
production has should be re-evaluated as well. Through inclusive participa-
tion of people, regardless of gender, age, or they are professional farmers or
not;5 we have the potential to rediscover the meaning of work and living
together as a family or in a community.
NOTES
1. Representatives of 28 branches of the Cooperative who participated in the
annual meeting of the Cooperative held in May, 2008. Total membership of the
cooperative is 1,233 in 2008.
2. Information from person-in-charge of the market at the town office.
3. Koji is made by breeding a particular kind of mould (Aspergillus oryzae) on
steamed rice, wheat, or bean.
4. Information from the leader of miso-no kai.
5. Regarding real participation in subsistence production, the principle of the
‘‘Commons’’ needs to be applied, and wasted land needs to be open to those who
would like to cultivate and are ready to undertake management.
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CHAPTER 5
THE GLOBALIZATION OF
THE POULTRY INDUSTRY:
TYSON FOODS AND PILGRIM’S
PRIDE IN MEXICO
Douglas H. Constance, Francisco Martinez and

Gilberto Aboites
ABSTRACT
The organizational structure of the modern poultry industry that
developed in the US South has been advanced as the future model of
agriculture and agro-industrial globalization. This ‘‘Southern Model’’
characterized by asymmetrical power relationships between the integrat-
ing firms and production growers and reliance on informal labor patterns
in processing is being diffused to other countries. Research on the
diffusion of this model deserves special attention from those concerned
with the socio-economic implications of the globalization of the agri-food
system. This chapter first provides an overview of the industrialization of
the poultry industry in the United States, then documents the diffusion of
this model globally and in Mexico through the activities of Tyson Foods,
Inc. and Pilgrim’s Pride, Inc. The chapter concludes with a discussion of
the relationship between neoliberal restructuring in Mexico and the
globalization of the poultry industry.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016008
59
60 DOUGLAS H. CONSTANCE ET AL.
INTRODUCTION
The organizational structure of the modern poultry industry that developed
in the US South during the 1950s and 1960s has been advanced as the future
model of agriculture and agro-industrial globalization (Boyd & Watts, 1997;
Breimyer, 1965; Morrison, 1998; Vogeler, 1981). This ‘‘Southern Model’’
(Constance, 2008) characterized by asymmetrical power relationships
between the integrating firms and production growers and reliance on
informal labor patterns in processing is being diffused to other countries
(Burch, 2005; Griffith, 1995; Heffernan, 2000; Vocke, 1991). Research on
the diffusion of the Southern Model deserves special attention from those
concerned with the socio-economic implications of the globalization of the
agri-food system (Bonanno & Constance, 2008). This chapter first provides
an overview of the industrialization of the poultry industry in the United
States, then documents the diffusion of this model globally and in Mexico
through the activities of Tyson Foods, Inc. and Pilgrim’s Pride, Inc.
THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF THE POULTRY

INDUSTRY
The modern poultry industry emerges in the 1920s in the northeast region of
the United States known as the DelMarVa Peninsula (Delaware, Maryland,
and Virginia) (Brown, 1989). Broilers, the young male chickens, were a by-
product of egg production. The females were kept as laying hens while the
males were eaten. Some egg producers realized more money could be made
growing broilers than eggs (Williams, 1998). By 1925 some 50,000 broilers
were raised in the area (Gordy, 1974). Today, broilers refer to male or
female chickens raised for meat products.
As the local fishing and fresh vegetable industries declined, canneries were
converted into poultry processing plants and local growers built more
chicken houses. By the mid-1940s about 300,000 birds per day were
processed and destined for Northeastern markets (Williams, 1998). In 1930,
a New Jersey agricultural scientist commented that the broiler industry
‘‘lends itself rather easily to factory methods of production’’ (Gordy, 1974,
p. 384).
This early broiler production system was comprised of independent
breeders, hatcheries, farmers, feed dealers, slaughterhouses, truckers, and
merchants who controlled the distribution networks to metropolitan
Globalization of the Poultry Industry 61
markets. Broilers were raised by independent growers who paid cash for the
chicks and feed, and then sold them on the open market (Gordon, 1996).
In 1935, the DelMarVA Region accounted for two-thirds of total US broiler
production (United States Department of Agriculture [USDA], 1967).
Several factors supported the modernization of the industry. The
synthesis of vitamin D in 1926 allowed indoor confinement and the
National Poultry Improvement Plan in 1933 provided research support
(Gordon, 1996; Strausberg, 1995). During World War II the entire
production of the DelMarVa region was under contract for federal food
programs. Domestic demand was met by the emerging broiler growing areas
in the US South (Bugos, 1992; Frazier, 1995; Williams, 1998). Research on
nutrition, disease control, and confinement housing combined with rural
electrification supported improvements in environmental control and labor
productivity in confinement operations (USDA, 1967). Together, these
technological innovations and government programs facilitated a continued
increase in productivity.
In 1950, the broiler industry was still characterized by an independent
system of farmers growing broilers and small firms providing input,
processing, and marketing services. By 1960, the broiler industry was under
the control of vertically integrated firms and had adopted an industrial
model (Heffernan, 1984). This shift to a new organization model, a tightly
coordinated commodity system (Friedland, 1984), was accompanied by a
spatial concentration in the South.
After World War II the location and structure of the broiler industry
shifted (Reimund, Martin, & Moore, 1981). After numerous cotton crop
failures, many Southern farmers saw contract broiler production as similar
to sharecropping and embraced it as a profitable supplement to their
farming operations (Martin & Zerring, 1997). Underemployed farm labor,
a favorable climate, less unionization, and subsidized feed prices contributed
to South’s advantage (Breimyer, 1965). By the early 1970s the South
accounted for approximately 90% of the total broiler output; in 2002,
the South still accounted for approximately 75% of broiler production
(Lasley, 1983).
At the center of the Southern Model was the contract grow-out
arrangement. For feed dealers, broilers were a lucrative way to add value
to their feed, which they could buy at discounted prices due to government
grain subsidy programs. What began as informal contracts between feed
dealers and local farmers in the 1940s became formalized in the 1950s
(Gordy, 1974). The formal contracts ensured a minimum return to the
growers, whereas retaining the feed dealers’ ownership of the birds. This
shift to formal contracts ‘‘marked the evolution from a simple credit

arrangement to a tightly interlinked credit, input, and labour contract’’
(Boyd & Watts, 1997, p. 200).
The formal contracts were an integral component of the larger
organizational structure of vertical integration. As the feed dealers
continually found themselves in cost-price squeezes due to boom and bust
commodity cycles, some integrated through the purchase of hatcheries and
processing plants. The integrated firm became the industry norm and
accounted for 90% of the production by the 1960s (Heffernan, 1984).
Vertical integration forced out many smaller companies as firms such as
Pillsbury and Ralston Purina dominated the industry by the 1960s
(Strausberg, 1995; Striffler, 2005). Because of the volatile broiler commo-
dity cycles, several of the large firms divest their poultry operations, which
were bought up by regional firms such as Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s
Pride as they developed their vertically integrated systems (Marion &
Arthur, 1973).
Vertical integration supported the rationalization of the broiler industry
as all aspects of production were under the control of one company.
Production advancements increased the average broiler live weight while
decreasing the maturation period (Watts & Kennett, 1995). As it became
possible to grow larger numbers of broilers in less time, the number of farms
growing more than 100,000 birds rose rapidly from 0 in 1954 to
approximately 30% in 1974 to almost 100% by the mid-1990s (Reimund
et al., 1981; Welsh, 1996). About 90% of production was organized on
formal contracts and 10% from company-owned facilities (Welsh, 1997).
With the development of mechanized processing, these efficiencies greatly
reduced costs and moved broilers from a farm sideline to an agribusiness
(Gordon, 1996).
The southern post-war political economy ‘‘provided the social and
institutional context for the contract-based model of integration’’ that
became the industry standard (Boyd & Watts, 1997, p. 194). The dissolution
of the southern farm tenancy system, called the ‘‘southern enclosure,’’
enhanced the supply of cheap labor (Daniels, 1981). The integrators adopted
more efficient assembly line techniques (line speed and automation) in the
slaughter plants that took advantage of the labor surplus, primarily women,
and older children (Fite, 1984). The ideologies of dominance such as
Evangelical Christianity, racism, white supremacy, and anti-union attitudes
kept the workers docile and loyal to the plants. The poultry processing plant
magnified ‘‘the traditional authority of men over women, whites over
blacks, and primary over supplementary wage earners’’ (Griffith, 1995,
p. 138). Line speed increases, high turnover rates, and stagnant real wages
created a ‘‘work regime of unimaginable time-discipline y and stress-related
hazards and little recourse to collective bargaining’’ (Boyd & Watts, 1997,
p. 214; Griffith, 1995).
Integrated broiler production also required a specialized spatial pattern
that matched the land tenure system in the South. The grow-out barns
needed to be near the feed mills and the processing plant (Kim & Curry,
1993). These spatial requirements combined with biological risks associated
with confinement production (disease risks due to monoculture) combined
with the preference for contracts (as opposed to tying up capital in
company-owned facilities) required a special kind of farm structure that
existed in the US South in the form of small, marginal farms in proximity
(Boyd & Watts, 1997).
In the 1980s, the processing plant workforce shifted from poor
Whites and Blacks to Hispanic, and some Asian, immigrants (Griffith,
1995). Hispanics increased from a small proportion of the workforce in
1988 to approximately 75% in 2005, with most of the remainder from
Southeast Asia and Micronesia. The mostly male workers who migrated
first often sent for their families who also got jobs in the plants. The
globalization of the economy leads to the internationalization of workers
in gathering places such as poultry plants where they often encounter
worker safety and human rights difficulties (Human Rights Watch, 2005;
Striffler, 2005).
This Southern Model of labor use ‘‘laid the social and cultural foundation
on which new recruitment strategies, new labor-management relations, and
other practices used with the growing immigrants have been erected’’
(Griffith, 1995, p. 145). This system developed in the US South around
‘‘agro-industrial districts’’ is the model for the low-cost production systems
that are the ‘‘social basis of competitiveness in a now global industry’’
(Boyd & Watts, 1997, p. 207).
FROM VERTICAL INTEGRATION TO

HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION
Although vertical integration rationalized the broiler industry, the crucial
component of the system was the production contract as the formal link
between the broiler grower and the processing firm. Most contracts
stipulated that the integrating firm provided the farmer with day-old chicks,
feed, medication, and technical support and the farmer provided the
grow-out buildings, labor, and utilities. Without contracts ‘‘it is doubtful the
new entrants, primarily feed manufacturers and dealers, would have con-
sidered broiler production very attractive’’ (Reimund et al., 1981, p. 8).
Although the contract system reduced some risks to the grower related to
marketing, the growers were vulnerable because the company did not have
to renew the contract (Heffernan, 1984; Stull & Broadway, 2004). The
contracts were typically batch to batch whereas the farmers incurred long-
term debt to build the grow-out barns. The contracts allowed coordination
production but did not require the company to either tie up capital in land
and buildings or formally employ the farmers, with associated guarantees of
wages and benefits. The firms have control but avoid responsibility and
liability (Constance, 2001, 2008).
The contract model of broiler production is an example of how industrial
agriculture can control production practices without formal ownership.
Farmers become ‘‘propertied laborers’’ who compromise autonomy for
security (Davis, 1980) or ‘‘semi-autonomous employees’’ who hold title to
the land but have lost decision-making control (Mooney, 1983). The high-
cost and single-purpose poultry barns create a debt-dependency relationship
as integrators can use the threat of contract termination to force growers to
adopt new technological improvements, and thereby perpetuate the debt
(Heffernan, 1984; Wilson, 1986). Contract growers are sharecroppers, more
like an agricultural worker than a family farmer (Roy, 1972; Vogeler, 1981).
Called ‘‘serfs on the land’’ (Breimyer, 1965), some growers have reported
that they are the ‘‘only slaves left in the country’’ (Wellford, 1972).
‘‘Growers have little recourse in disputes with integrators, and stories of
abuse and intimidation are commonplace’’ (Stull & Broadway, 2004, p. 50).
Integrators have market power over contract producers (Brandow, 1969;
Heffernan, 2000; Morrison, 1998).
In conjunction with vertical integration, horizontal integration in the
broiler industry increased steadily through mergers and acquisitions. By
the early 1980s, approximately 95% of broilers were under contract with
less than 40 companies (Heffernan, 1984). Economic concentration
increased from the largest 19 firms with 30% of production in 1960 to the
top 8 with 30% in 1975 to the top 4 with approximately 50% of produc-
tion in 1998 (Heffernan, 2000; Reimund et al., 1981). By 2003, the largest 4
firms accounted for 58% of production (Tyson Foods, Inc., 2004–2005).
Consolidation often resulted in regional monopolies and an oligopolistic
market structure (Breimyer, 1965; Heffernan, 2000; Rogers, 1963).
GLOBALIZATION OF THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

As economic concentration increased at the national level, poultry firms
were expanding operations globally (Heffernan, 2000; Heffernan &
Constance, 1994). In the 1980s and 1990s US-based firms such as Tyson
had operations in Mexico and Canada; ConAgra was in Puerto Rico,
Portugal, Spain, and the USSR; and Cargill in Argentina, England, Brazil,
and Thailand. Japanese-based firms such as Mitsui and Co., C. Itoh,
Mitsubishi, Ajinomoto, and Nippon Meat Packers had operations in
Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil, and Thailand. The Italian-based Ferruzzi had
operations in France, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Portugal, Puerto Rico,
Thailand, Yugoslavia, the United States, the USSR, Hungary, Poland, and
China. By the early 1990s, the dominant agribusiness transnational
corporations had created a global poultry agri-food complex that linked
the most favorable areas of production to profitable consumer markets
(Constance & Heffernan, 1991).
In 1988, Tyson began its international expansion in poultry with a joint-
venture with Trasgo de Mexico. In 2001, it expanded into Panama and
entered the Chinese market through a joint-venture with Zhucheng Da Long
Enterprises, Co. Ltd. By 2003, Tyson had joint-venture poultry operations
in Argentina, Brazil, China, Denmark, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Panama, Philippines, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela (Tyson
Foods, Inc., 2005a, 2005b). According to Greg Huett, president of Tyson
International, ‘‘These efforts move us quickly forward along our strategy of
producing quality products for our worldwide customers from cost effective
global locations’’ (Tyson Foods, Inc., 2005b, p. 2).
In 2008, Tyson enlarged its Chinese presence through a joint venture with
vertically integrated Shangdong Tyson Hinchang Foods Company and
Jinghai Poultry Industry Group, Inc. In 2008, Tyson entered the Indian
market through a joint venture Godrej Foods and bought three Brazilian
broiler companies (Macedo, Avita, and Frangobras) to supply domestic
demand and exports to Asia and Europe. Brazil leads the world in chicken
exports (Peer, 2008; Tyson Foods, Inc., 2009; World Poultry, 2009).
In 2001, Tyson bought IBP, the world’s largest beef and pork processor,
for $3.2 Billion and became the largest meat-processing company in the
world with operations in the United States, China, Russia, and Ireland
(Hoovers, 2006; Tyson Foods, Inc., 2009). It employed approximately 52,000
people globally had sales of $16.9 Billion in 2000 (Reuters, 2001). In 2001,
Tyson/IBP processed 42M/broilers/wk, 203K/cattle/wk, and 337K/hogs/wk
in 145 processing plants. Its poultry division included 17 feed mills, 7,000
contract poultry growers, and 41 company-owned chicken growing
operations (Tyson Foods, Inc., 2003). CEO John Tyson commented, ‘‘By
combining the No.1 poultry company with the leader in beef and pork, we
are creating a unique company that has a major global presence’’ (Reuters,
2001, p. 1). The IBP/Tyson merger created a company with 30% of the beef
market, 33% the chicken market, and 18% the pork market (Meat Industry,
2001). Tyson/IBP accounted for approximately 30% of the 400,000 workers
in the meat and poultry processing industry (MigrationInt, 2003). In 2007,
Tyson expanded its beef operations with a joint venture with Cactus Feeders
and Cresud, the leading agribusiness in Argentina, that created the first
vertically integrated beef operation in Argentina (Reuters, 2007; Tyson
Foods, Inc., 2007).
TYSON IN MEXICO
In 1986, Tyson Foods formed a joint venture with Trasgo de Mexico
by acquiring an 18% share of the company (Tyson Foods, Inc., 2009;
Villarreal, Flores, & Acevedo, 1998). In 1973, Trasgo owned by the Villegas
family in the state of Durango, was the largest poultry complex in Latin
America. In 1984, Trasgo took advantage of government rural development
programs and pioneered the system of broiler contracts in Mexico,
called ‘‘aparcerias.’’ The Mexican Government development bank, FIRA,
provided guaranteed loans to ejidatarios to construct grow-out facilities
that were linked to private investors like Trasgo. Trasgo supplied the
day old chick, feed, medicines, in addition to loans, technical, and
accounting assistance, which were subsidized by FIRA. The contract
grower provided the modern facilities, labor, utilities, and bedding. At the
end of the flock, the value of the broilers was divided between Trasgo and
the grower based on the amount of kilograms produced (Villarreal et al.,
1998).
In 1989, Tyson formed the ‘‘Citra’’ joint venture with C. Itoh of Japan
and Empresas Provemex (a Trasgo subsidiary) to market deboned poultry
products in Japan and Asia (Smith, 1992; Tuten & Amey, 1989; Villegas,
2010). Citra processed and marketed broilers grown in Mexico for the
expanding Mexican market and further-processed broiler meat imported
from Tyson’s facilities in the United States and destined for Asian markets
at a maquiladora plant under Tyson’s name (Tuten & Amey, 1989). As part
of this arrangement, Tyson removed the breast meat in Arkansas for the fast
food industry and shipped the leg quarters to Mexico to be deboned by hand
at much lower labor costs. The marinated meat was shipped to Asia as
‘‘yakatori sticks,’’ a fast food item. Rafael Villegas, President of Trasgo de
Mexico, explained his company’s position in the transnational joint-venture.
‘‘We are in a global economy. We index our costs to the international
markets (and we) have an advantage of less expensive labor. That allows us
to compete against American producers in the deboned market’’ (Tuten &
Amey, 1989, p. 32).
A partnership with a major broiler company like Trasgo presented
Tyson with a low-cost, low-risk means of learning the Mexican market-
place. Food industry analysts reported that ‘‘the partnership represents a
major maneuver for Tyson Foods, which can now tap the expanding
Mexican poultry sector to grow its own poultry business easier and faster
than in the domestic U.S. market’’ (Smith, 1992, p. 3). In light of the very
competitive and slowing broiler market in the United States, ‘‘this situation
makes a country like Mexico especially attractive, not only because of the
expanding demand for chicken there, but because of Mexico’s status as a link
to Latin America, South America, and the Pacific Rim’’ (Smith, 1992, p. 26).
In 1994, Tyson acquired majority interest in Trasgo de Mexico and
changed the company name to Tyson de Mexico. In 2001, it bought out
95% of the remaining interest and purchased the vertically integrated broiler
assets of Nochistongo S.P.R. de R.L. In 2003, Tyson de Mexico was the
largest producer of value-added chicken for both retail and foodservice in
Mexico and was expanding into other areas of Latin America and Asia
(Tyson Foods, Inc., 2005a, 2005b).
Mexico is Tyson’s prototype for global expansion where 15 years after
initial joint-venture investment, it is the third-largest chicken producer and
largest producer of value-added products. Over the period of 1997–2008, the
number of Trasgo/Tyson contract growers increased from 48 to 121 and the
number of contract grow-out facilities increased from 138 to 730 with 71%
of production from ejidatario aparceros and 29% by small private
producers. During the same period, the number of broilers produced
increased from 35.8M to 189.3M (Mirande, 2008).
Supplied by a sparkling new plant outside of Torreon, in 2004 the well-
stocked supermarket Sorianas in Torreon was selling $100,000 a month in
Tyson chicken to middle-class Mexicans. At a wholesale market in Torreon,
shopkeepers from the nearby mountains drive down to buy gizzards and
chicken wings at Tyson’s local stall. At the Torreon processing plant
workers stack layers of ‘‘New York dressed y fat yellow hens’’ and
‘‘8 inches of crushed ice’’ into 32 ft. containers on truck beds. When the
container is full, the trucks start the 18 h trip to Mexico City where Tyson
sells the birds from the back of the trucks (Morais, 2004).
‘‘Tyson followed its American customers south – such as WalMart, Burger
King and Kentucky Fried Chicken – and doesn’t shy away from taking on
Industrias Bachoco, the local chicken plant’’ and largest poultry producer in
Mexico (Morais, 2004, p. 6). In Mexico, Tyson prospers with thin overhead
and fat margins. According to managing director, Jose Antonio Valdes,
‘‘Tyson de Mexico’s return on invested capital is 30% higher than in the U.S.
partly because the company sometimes uses older U.S. plant equipment;
Mexican factory workers earn about $7,000 a year, compared with $34,000
or so for their U.S. counterparts’’ (Morais, 2004, p. 6).
At the other end of vertically integrated production system is contract
grower Jose Antonio Flores raising broilers near Torreon. Educated in the
United States, Flores borrowed money from his father to meet the 20%
equity needed to secure the $220,000 loan to build the grow-out buildings.
Tyson provides the chicks and feed and pays Flores a premium 42 days later
if he delivers his fully grown broilers at above-average weights. Flores has
been so successful that he paid back his father in the first year of operation
and after four years added 16 more chicken houses to his operation
(Morais, 2004).
In 2009, Tyson had sales of $26.7 B with 6,049 contract farmers and
117,000 employees at 400 facilities around the world (Tyson Foods, Inc.,
2009). Although Mexico is the prototype for overseas expansion, ‘‘Tyson’s
real future overseas lies in the companies it is quietly building in emerging
nations like China. Next frontiers of expansion: rebounding Brazil, and
Eastern Europe’’ (Morais, 2004, p. 6).
PILGRIM’S PRIDE IN MEXICO

In addition to Tyson, Pilgrim’s Pride, Inc. has also been very active in
Mexico. It entered the Mexican market in 1987 with the acquisition from
Purina of four fully integrated broiler operations serving Mexico City. From
1987 to 1991, Pilgrims tripled the size of the Mexican operations. With
sales in the US stagnant, the Mexican operations became increasingly
important and grew to 20% of Pilgrim’s total revenues by 1994 (Funding
Universe, 2009).
In 1995, it expanded its Mexican operations with the purchase of five
broiler companies in the State of Queretaro (Pilgrim’s Pride, 2005b). The
plants are strategically located to serve 75% of all Mexican consumers.
By 1997, Pilgrims had entered every major market in Mexico with a 19%
share of the market (Funding Universe, 2009). Pilgrim’s Pride is the second
largest broiler company in Mexico and the largest in Puerto Rico (Pilgrim’s
Pride, 2005a, 2005c). With its acquisition of Goldkist in 2007, Pilgrim’s
Pride became the largest broiler producer in the United States and the
world, and the largest in Puerto Rico (Pilgrim’s Pride, 2007). Total sales in
2009 were $7.1 B with 41,000 employees in the United States, Mexico, and
Puerto Rico (Pilgrim’s Pride, 2010).
After economics difficulties in 2008 and 2009 due to debt burdens and the
high feed costs, Pilgrim’s Pride declared bankruptcy and was bought by JBS
of Brazil (Chasen & Burgdorfer, 2009; Spector, Etter, & Stewart, 2009). JBS
is Brazil’s largest agri-food multinational company with major operations in
beef, pork, and chicken (JBS, 2009a). Acquisitions of Swift and Co. and
Armour (Argentina) in 2005, Swift and Co. (United States and Australia) in
2007, Smithfield Beef (United States), National Beef (United States), and
Tasman Beef (Australia) in 2008 established JBS as the largest beef sector
company in the world. In 2008, JBS had $30.3 B in sales and more than
60,000 employees worldwide (JBS, 2008). With the acquisition of Pilgrim’s
and Bertin SA (beef operations in Latin America), JBS becomes the largest
multiprotein company in the world (JBS, 2009b).
IMF, NAFTA, AND NEOLIBERAL RESTRUCTURING

The rapid rise to dominance of Tyson and Pilgrim in Mexico was facilitated
by neoliberal restructuring in Mexico (Yañez, 2007). As part of the
IMF structural adjustment programs enacted after the 1984 peso crisis, the
Mexican Constitution was amended to reform the ejido system to allow
joint-ventures with private capital, in this case Trasgo, with funding
support provided by FIRA. This action opened the door to the aparceria
system of contract farming with the ejidos. As noted earlier, the dispersed
land-tenure system of the US South made up of small, private holdings was
a key feature of the successful development of the Southern Model. This
pattern was not common in Mexico, which limited the diffusion of the
poultry contract innovation. Allowing ejidatarios to contract
with the emerging poultry integrators removed this roadblock to poultry
industry modernization.
In 1995, NAFTA provided further stimulus to the globalization of the
poultry industry in Mexico. NAFTA relaxed foreign direct investment
restrictions, but more importantly, it eliminated tariffs on corn imports
(Zahniser & Coyle, 2004). As a result, corn from the US flooded into Mexico.
Although the corn imports supported the growth of the vertically integrated
poultry operations as part of agro-industrial development, it also impover-
ished many Mexican campesinos and ‘‘accelerated the stampede from the
country side into the migration stream’’ (Ross, 2008, p. 2). Subsidized corn
from the United States was dumped in Mexico as part of the neoliberal
restructuring with disastrous effects (Oxfam, 2003; Weiner, 2002).
In an other example of neoliberal restructuring, after NAFTA, in 1998
FIRA was reorganized to provide increased institutional resources to
support the growth of the large poultry companies, i.e. Tyson and Pilgrim
(Del Angel, 2005). The changes included new financial mechanisms designed
to convert producers (contract farmers) into agro-industry suppliers and
guarantee profitability to the poultry corporations through enhanced
flexibility along the entire poultry value chain. Part of the reorganization
also involved a shift in focus away from ejidos to private farmers as the
preferred pattern of contract farming. The aparceria system linked to the
ejidos was a remnant of the pre-neoliberal era and was being replaced with a
system much more like the Southern Model.
Bachoco is the largest poultry firm in Mexico and one of the world’s 10
largest poultry producers with 2008 sales of about $1.57 B (Bachoco, 2008).
Especially since the entry of Tyson and Pilgrim in the 1980s, Bachoco has
followed a pattern of both vertical and horizontal integration to rationalize
production and increase market share. In 2005, Bachoco (#1), Pilgrim (#2),
and Tyson (#3) accounted for approximately 60% of the Mexican broiler
market (Zahniser, 2005). This represents a level of economic concentration
higher than in the United States.
CONCLUSIONS
The model of poultry production developed in the US South is now being
diffused to other countries. Although the examples of Tyson and Pilgrim’s
Pride moving rapidly into dominant positions in Mexico illustrate this point,
the Mexican prototype is now targeted to new frontiers in emerging
markets. For example, the Thai firm Charoen Pokphand Group adopted the
vertically integrated model in the 1970s and is expanding into China,
Southeast Asia, and the United Kingdom (Burch, 2005). Tyson’s recent
expansions in Brazil, India, and China, as well as JBS’ move into the US
market with the acquisition of Pilgrim’s Pride, provide further evidence of
the globalization of the poultry industry.
To what extent the systems of contract production and poultry processing

will take on the negative socio-economic characteristics found in the United
States is an open question. We should not assume that the Southern Model
will manifest as the poultry agro-industrial poultry system diffuses around
the world. But, if Boyd and Watts (1997) are correct, then there is much
work to be done by agri-food researchers in monitoring the diffusion of this
innovation as part of the neoliberal restructuring (see Harvey, 2005) and the
globalization of the agri-food system.
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CHAPTER 6
STUDYING FERTILITY
BEHAVIOR OF FARM POPULATION
AS A CONTRIBUTION TO
UNDERSTANDING OVERALL
LOW FERTILITY TRENDS:
THE CASE OF SLOVENIA
Majda Černič Istenič
ABSTRACT
The extremely low fertility of European society is today one of the most
important policy and scientific topics due to its adverse effect on
increasing aging of the population. Since extant research has evidenced a
huge complexity of below replacement fertility, it cannot be satisfactorily
explained on the basis of a single pattern. Each country can therefore
contribute through specific case studies to a better overall understanding
of this phenomenon. This chapter presents the results of research into the
fertility behavior of farm population, the group with the highest fertility
rate in Slovenia. They reveal that the fertility of farm population is not
based on a higher respect for family norms and related values, as some
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016009
77
78 MAJDA ČERNIČ ISTENIČ
critics of contemporary life patterns of the young generation might

suppose. The results indicate that it is more probable that motivation for a
higher number of children among the farm population derives from their
social context; the specific social relations of ‘gift exchange’ that help to
maintain the particular nature of ensuring their everyday livelihoods.
INTRODUCTION
Below replacement fertility and very low fertility in a large part of Europe
are significant demographic issues that nowadays concern policy makers
and social scientists. Notably, after several decades of low fertility, the
European continent and most of the rest of the developed world is entering a
demographic regime characterized by population decline and accelerated
aging of the population. Owing to a fertility rate significantly below the
reproduction level, Slovenia is one of the countries that faces these
challenges. In 1980, under the socialist regime, the fertility level already
dropped below replacement and the steady downward trend did not end
until 2007, at a total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.38. The lowest level was
reached in 2004, at 1.20 TFR. This level ranks Slovenia among the countries
with the lowest level of fertility in the world (United Nations, 2008).
Statistical data for Slovenia show that, with the exception of the farm
population, all social groups have fertility levels that are below reproduction
(Šircelj, 2006). For generations born between 1911 and1945 data indicate
that the difference between farm and nonfarm groups was decreasing.
However, in the 1941–1945 cohorts, the fertility rate of social groups such as
managers, professionals and artists was still only 60 percent of that of
farmers. The 2002 census data provide an insight into the fertility rate of
different professional groups among younger generations, born in the
period 1947–1966; fertility decreased in all professional groups, but the
aforementioned difference in fertility between farmers and other profes-
sional groups remained unchanged.
Apart from statistical analysis, there is no additional research on different
fertility levels exhibited by farmers and other professional groups in
Slovenia. The lack of attention to this particular research topic is true for
other countries, as well. This chapter addresses this analytical gap. It
attempts to contribute to the search for factors that are the most responsible
for the aforementioned differences and it intends thus to contribute to
broader scientific and public debate about the reasons for very low fertility.
Studying Fertility Behavior of Farm Population 79
SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL RELEVANCE OF

STUDYING THE FERTILITY BEHAVIOR OF THE
FARM POPULATION
Despite uniformly extremely low-fertility statistics throughout Europe,
‘‘European demography itself is not homogeneous’’ (Douglass, Nash,
Erikson, & Lim, 2005, p. 17). What characterize the demographic picture of
today’s Europe and most developed countries are divergences of family
forms and behavior rather than similarities. For instance, countries viewed
as traditional, Catholic, and family-oriented inexplicably had markedly
lower fertility than those that were Protestant, more secular, and had weaker
family ties (Chesnais, 1996, p. 729). Further, contrary to the assumptions of
classical demographic theories countries with the lowest percentage of
women in the working force have lower fertility than countries with a high
percentage of women working (Del Boca, 2002, p. 11). Reproductive
patterns such as low age of marriage and preference for formal marriage
over cohabitation, a characteristic of Eastern Europe, should promote
fertility however this group of countries has the lowest fertility in the world
(Sobotka, 2003). There is thus no single pattern that could lead to and
adequately explain overall below replacement fertility levels: each country
case can contribute to better understanding of the overall phenomenon.
Moreover, shared statistics on the aggregate level mask the many differences
both between and within countries (Douglass et al., 2005, p. 19).
From this point of view, it seems very pertinent to study the patterns of
fertility behavior of those social groups that show a significant deviation
from a country’s general population. Research of farm population that
shows the highest fertility in the country, a specific professional group and, at
the same time, part of rural population with its distinctive life pattern, can
contribute to a more comprehensive picture of general social processes. More
specifically, in recent public discussions in Slovenia about the ‘numerical
smallness of the nation’ it is stressed, especially by Catholic theologians, that
the main reason for low fertility in the country is the destruction and absence
of family norms and related values among the population, such as joy of life,
the importance of family atmosphere and the benefit that children bring to
the nation (Knežević Hočevar, 2007). This claim gives rise to a significant
question. Namely, whether the relatively high fertility of the farm population
is a sign of their higher respect for family norms and values than is the case
among other social groups, or whether some other factors give rise to a
special pattern of fertility behavior of the farm population?
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
According to Mackensen (1982), any research and explanation on fertility
behavior, just as any other social behavior, should proceed from the concept
of the specific structural and cultural characteristics of each society and the
historical processes that shaped them. In this context, the most compre-
hensive theory of the farm population fertility behavior was formulated by
the historical demographer, Caldwell (1982). According to his theory of
fertility decline ‘‘fertility behavior, in general, in societies of every type and
stage of development is rational, and fertility is low or high as a result of
economic benefit to individuals, couples, or families. Whether high or low
fertility is economically rational it is determined by social conditions:
primarily by the direction of the intergenerational wealth flow. This flow has
been from younger to older generations in all traditional societies: and it is
apparently impossible for its reversal before the family is largely nucleated
both emotionally and economically’’ (p. 152). High fertility is rational when
the amount of wealth flow in terms of work, money, security, love, support,
pieces of advice, and the like is greater from the younger to the older
generation than the opposite. This direction of wealth flow is a feature of
societies in which economic activities are mainly located within family. In
the context of the ‘family way of production’ the decision about production,
consumption, and reproduction is the privilege of older, mainly male family
members and is a particular feature of the extended, three generational
family. The monopoly of the older generation is enabled and maintained by
family and social relations structured by age, gender, origin, and marital
status. These relationships are sustained and justified by a family morality
that covers a considerable part of the society’s culture and is maintained by
religion. Family morality stresses the importance of home, the superiority of
family and its continuity over the interests of an individual.
Since 1965, considerable demographic changes have been observed in
many European countries (decrease in marriages, increase in cohabitations,
delay of, or renunciation of parenthood, increase in divorces, and single
parent households) presumably due to a shift in value orientation that
indicates a strengthening of the principle of an individual’s free choice (Kaa
van de, 1987). The ‘post-modern demographic behavior’ of contemporary
reproductive cohorts more likely corresponds to the individualistic ‘‘life-
style, in which it is understood that sex and marriage/union are no longer
closely related, and that contraception is only interrupted to have a self-
fulfilling conception’’ (Kaa van de, 1999, p. 31). This new pattern of
behavior is apparently reflected in changes of the life course of young
generations; earlier entry into first sexual intercourse, but later achievement
of economic and housing autonomy and creation of own families (Iedema,
Becker, & Sanders, 1997; Cordón, 1997; Nave-Herz, 1997). It has been
demonstrated for Slovenia (Černič Istenič & Kveder, 2008) that the behavior
of the young urban generation shows an indicative post-modern demo-
graphic pattern. Conversely, the young generation living in rural areas, with
the highest share of farm population, tends to follow the more ‘traditional’
pattern of previous generations.
Recently, personal networks have been receiving increasing recognition as
predictors of demographic events (Bühler & Philipov, 2005). It is assumed
that the perspective of social networks more suitably enables an examina-
tion of the social and economic situation of an individual or a household.
To date, few studies support the relevance of networks as an explanation of
recent fertility trends. Philipov, Speder, and Billari (2006) report an
increasing tendency of Bulgarian and Hungarian women to have a second
child when they experience supportive personal relationships. Philipov and
Sholnikov (2001) document similar results for Russia. According to Bühler
and Fratzcek (2004), the intention of Polish couples to have a second child
increases with the size of their support networks and their involvement in
supportive exchange relationships.
On the basis of the aforementioned theoretical grounds, the following
hypothesis is formulated:
Differences in fertility behavior, measured by the actual and expected number of children
among farm, rural, and urban populations, are associated with their different cultural
and structural characteristics. These characteristics are observed through the behavior,
status, social networks, attitudes, and views of these populations.
DATA AND METHODS

The analysis is based on data from survey ‘‘Generations and Gender
Relations on Slovenian Farms 2007,’’ sponsored by the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MAFF). The purpose of the survey was
to study the social context of farm families and its impact on the process of
farm succession. The latter is a problem for many Slovenian farms.
According to the 2000 Census of Agriculture, only 24 percent of farm
holders of the 86,000 farms report having secured a farm successor
(Dernulc, Ilijaš, Kutin, & Orešnik, 2002). In order to improve this situation,
in 2004 MAFF introduced special agricultural subsidies modeled on
European Union’s directives. To accelerate the transfer of farms from
older to younger farmers, subsidies were provided to the former (over 57) to
retire and to the latter (below 40) to take over the farm.
One of the hypotheses of this survey was that these types of subsidies are
positively associated with intergenerational relationships of farm families
and, consequently, on a future of farms that also takes into account the
reproductive potential, fertility behavior of farm families. To contextualize
the situation in farm families, the answers of respondents living on farms
(n ¼ 407) were compared with those of people who live in the countryside,
but are not engaged in farming (n ¼ 135), as well as with those of residents
of urban areas (n ¼ 275). Further, there is a distinction between farm
respondents who are recipients of early retirement or young farmer subsidies
(n ¼ 301) and those farm respondents who do not take part in either scheme
(n ¼ 106).
Considering that the great majority of the population in Slovenia
completes its reproductive life around the age of 40 (i.e., the age-specific
fertility rate of women aged 40–44 and 45–49 is 4.6 and 0.2, respectively,
whereas the general age-specific fertility rate is 38.1) (Statistical Office of
Republic of Slovenia, 2008), the respondents were divided into two age
groups: (1) aged less than 40 and (2) aged 40 and more.
When the simultaneous impact of independent structural and cultural
variables on fertility behavior was examined, an analysis of variance was
carried out with a univariate general linear model (GLM).
Measures of Structural Characteristics
In order to measure the impact of factors associated with the social structure
characteristics of individuals in addition to the urban/rural/farm catego-
rization, an additional 11 variables were selected:
Household structure: six nominal categories, covering living alone, a
couple, nuclear family, one-parent household, three-generation house-
hold, and remaining forms of households.
Marital status: five nominal categories, covering single, married,
cohabitation, divorced, and widowed.
Labour force status: eight nominal categories, covering employed,
working on farm, unemployed, student, pensioner, housewife, and other.
Respondent’s education: seven ordered categories ranging from ‘‘less than
primary school’’ to ‘‘master’s or doctor’s degree.’’
Mother’s education: the same categories as listed above.
Way of solving housing problem: six nominal categories, covering buying,

building, extension of existing home, receiving from parents, and
inheritance.
Savings: two nominal categories, covering ‘‘yes’’ and ‘‘no.’’
Social ties: a covariate referring to the number of persons from whom the
respondent expects assistance.
Farm size: a covariate pertaining to the size in hectares (ha).
Subsidy beneficiary: two nominal categories, covering receivers, and
nonreceivers.
Secured successor: two nominal categories, covering for ‘‘yes’’ and ‘‘no.’’
Measures of Cultural Characteristics
On the basis of principal component factor analysis of the set of originally

obtained variables with a five-point scale, ranging from strongly agree to
strongly disagree, five new ones were constructed to measure attitudes and
views relating to family life:
Children’s duty to care for parents: constructed from the following items:
‘‘Children should adjust their work to the needs of their parents,’’
‘‘Daughters should care more for their parents than sons,’’ ‘‘Parents
should move to their children’s place of residence when they cannot care
for themselves anymore’’ (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0.66).
Reconciliation of family and work: constructed from the following items:
‘‘Family and home offer the same satisfaction as employment,’’ ‘‘If a
mother is employed a child suffers,’’ and ‘‘If a father is employed a child
suffers’’ (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0.65).
Gender equality-constructed from the following items: ‘‘Husband should
be older than wife,’’ ‘‘If a woman has a higher income than her partner
this impacts unfavorably on their relationship,’’ and ‘‘Men are better
politicians than women’’ (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0.57).
Partnership relations constructed from the following items: ‘‘An
unmarried couple can live together,’’ ‘‘In spite of having children, a
couple who do not have proper understanding should divorce,’’ and
‘‘Homosexual couples should have equal rights to heterosexual ones’’
(Cronbach alpha ¼ 0.53).
Life fulfillment by having children constructed from the following items:
‘‘A woman should have a child to be fulfilled’’ and ‘‘A man should have a
child to be fulfilled’’ (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0.95).
In addition, another two categorical variables were considered in this set

of variables:
Religiosity: with four ordered categories ranging from ‘‘very important
role in one’s own life’’ to ‘‘very unimportant role in one’s own life.’’
Attendance at religious ceremonies: with four ordered categories ranging
from ‘‘never’’ to ‘‘frequently.’’
RESULTS
As the data show (Table 1) both groups of farmers, those who received and
who did not receive subsidies, irrespective of their age, have the highest
number of children. Their actual and expected number of children is far
closer to the reproduction threshold than it is in urban respondents. Rural
dwellers do not significantly deviate from any of the groups. The results also
indicate that the younger generation of farmers who are subsidy
beneficiaries demonstrate a higher actual and expected number of children
than farmers who are not subsidy beneficiaries.
In the next stage of the analysis, the impact of the urban/rural/farm
setting on the variability of the actual and expected number of children was
examined by inclusion of other social and cultural characteristics of the
respondents into univariate GLMs.
In terms of the variability of actual number of children, respondents from
all areas aged less than 40 compose the first model, whereas respondents
Table 1. Actual and Expected Number of Children by Urban–Rural–

Farm Classification and Age (Means and Standard Deviations).
Urban Rural Farm Farm F Levene
Population Population Population Population Statistic
Subsidy Nonsubsidy
Beneficiaries Beneficiaries
W40 years 1.25 1.71 1.79 1.84 10.949 0.145

Actual (0.91) (0.91) (0.96) (0.93)
o40 years 0.44 0.77 1.26 0.85 14.830 24.720
Actual (0.74) (1.02) (1.17) (1.18)
o40 years 2.26 2.24 2.60 2.46 2.942 0.390
Expected (0.89) (0.86) (0.87) (0.81)
po.001, po.050, and po.100.
aged 40 and over represent the second one. In the third and the fourth model
the distinction in actual number of children among farmers aged less than 40
and aged 40 and over are analysed, respectively. Variability of expected
number of children is analysed in the fifth model among all respondents
aged less than 40 and in the sixth model among farmers aged less than 40.
The results in Table 2 indicate that all six models are valid and significant
and that selected independent variables are in relatively strong relationship
with dependent variables. As the R2 of all models show, the independent
variables explain from 82 percent (model 3) to 39 percent (model 5) of the
entire variability in the actual and expected number of children. However,
in contrast to hypothetical expectations, the interaction of the urban/rural/
farm setting when other structural and cultural characteristics are taken into
consideration does not have a statistically significant relationship with either
the expected or the actual number of children. This holds true for all six
models.
In the case of the actual number of children, the strongest influences
among the variables included in the models are household structure and
marital status; those living in three generational households and married
have significantly more children than respondents belonging to other
categories. Additional bivariate analyses showed (the information is
available from the author) that, in this regard, considerable differences
exist among respondents from different settings. Large, extended, three
generational households prevail among farmers receiving subsidies, whereas
the nuclear family is common for the other three groups. Significant
differences exist among groups in terms of one-parent households, those
living alone, and those living with a partner. Urban dwellers are relatively
more numerous in all these categories. Furthermore, additional bivariate
analysis also showed that the percentage of those married – half of all
respondents – is 14 percentage points higher among those who have received
subsidies and 16 percentage points lower among urban dwellers, while the
opposite is seen for single persons. This group prevails in urban areas; its
smallest share is observed among farmers who have received subsidies.
Additionally, the share of divorcees is considerably higher among urban and
rural dwellers than among farmers. This status is quite rare among
beneficiaries of subsidies. The proportion of those who have experienced
their parents’ divorce is also considerably higher among the urban than the
farm population.
The impact of household structure and marital status on variability of
actual number of children particularly holds true for younger respondents in
the first model, while other variables do not show any significant impact.
Table 2. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects with GLM on the Number of Children (F Statistics).
86
Actual Number of Children Expected Number of Children
1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Model 6 Model
o40 Years W40 Years o40 Years Farm W40 Years Farm o40 Years o40 Years Farm
Population Population Population
Corrected model 21.034 5.087 10.849 2.685 2.183 1.585

Intercept 39.001 37.224 3.204 8.182 5.650 61.800
Structural characteristics
Urban/rural/farm context 1.087 0.279 0.929
Household structure 10.349 14.214 4.468 5.542 1.024 0.612
Marital status 101.384 6.853 40.557 5.286 0.841 0.397
Labour force status 1.920 0.447 1.586 1.758 1.056 1.478
Respondent’s education 2.564 0.310 1.498 1.050 0.002 0.747
Mother’s education 0.875 1.370 0.828 1.384 1.036 1.387
Way of solving household problem 1.747 1.598 0.637 1.142 2.441 1.279
Savings 3.441 2.257 4.955 0.543 1.850 1.271
Social ties 1.169 7.809 0.465 2.705 0.003 0.001
Farm size 3.589 2.479 0.683
Subsidy beneficiary 0.734 0.344 4.665
Secured successor 0.510 1.102 0.178
Cultural characteristics
Religiosity 0.754 0.025 0.038 0.016 0.343 0.209
Attendance at religious ceremonies 1.238 1.764 0.108 0.473 1.017 0.099
Children’s duty to care for parents 0.001 0.096 1.345 0.321 0.104 0.268
Reconciliation of family and work 0.091 4.449 0.138 0.326 0.481 0.971
Gender equality 0.085 4.065 0.960 7.257 0.952 1.288
Partnership relations 0.315 0.348 1.003 0.087 3.853 0.486
Life fulfillment by having children 0.022 1.325 0.005 0.008 0.099 0.399
R2 0.801 0.420 0.817 0.511 0.392 0.547

MAJDA ČERNIČ ISTENIČ
Levene statistic 0.804 0.708 0.630 1.201 0.869 1.716

po.001, po.050, and po.100.
The same picture is observed in the farm population aged less than 40, with
a single exception; farmers who manage to save some of their money tend to
have more children than farmers who are not able to save any. In the older
generation, in addition to household structure and marital status, some
other factors have an impact: social ties, attitudes toward gender equality
and attitudes toward the reconciliation of family and working life, but to a
lesser degree. This shows that respondents with less broadly developed
social ties, more inclined to ‘‘traditional’’ gender roles and less in favor of
the adjustment of family with professional life, have more children than
respondents with the opposite characteristics. Only among the older farming
population do cultural characteristics – attitudes toward gender roles – show
a greater impact than marital and household structure. Only the way of
solving the housing problem has an impact on the variability of the expected
number of children in the fifth model. This shows that particularly those
who have obtained their homes through inheritance expect to have more
children at the end of their reproductive life than those who have obtained
their houses/apartments primarily by purchase. Additional analysis (the
information is available from the author) showed that respondents from
different social settings strongly differ in terms of how they solve their
housing problems. In urban areas, they have obtained their houses/
apartments primarily by purchase (67 percent), whereas the majority of
rural dwellers have built their own homes. A considerable share of the rural
population and farmers has obtained their homes through inheritance from
their parents. A single factor of importance is revealed in the farming
population in the sixth model. In this case it is shown that farmers who have
received a subsidy tend to have more children in the future than farmers
who have not received a subsidy.
Thus, the differences in actual and expected number of children among
respondents from different settings found earlier are primarily the result of
variations in their household structure and marital status and much less the
result of variations in other included variables. In view of such results the
hypothesis can be confirmed only partly; it is evident that structural
characteristics are more important factors for explaining differences in
fertility behaviour than cultural ones.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The present analysis revealed that the actual number of children and
motivation for a higher number of children was fairly weakly associated
with different attitudes relating to family relations. Even religiosity does not
appear to be an important predictor of the number of children, as was
supposed by Caldwell (1982). As other investigations have also shown
(Černič Istenič, & Knežević Hočevar, 2009) it appears that farmers
emphasize the duty of the younger generation to care for the older
generation more strongly than other groups of population. However,
considering attitudes toward gender roles, reconciliation of family and
working life and the importance of children for fulfillment of men’s and
women’s lives, farmers share fairly similar views with groups of the
population living in urban and rural areas. Previous research on attitudes to
gender roles and the division of care for children among couples from
urban, rural, and farm populations (Černič Istenič, 2006, 2007) also
corroborates these findings. It appears that the farm population share
similar general views on family relationships with other social groups,
probably due to similar exposure to the influence of public opinion makers
(mass media, education, and legislation). However, in actual life they show
different life patterns, e. g., in spite of similar availability of services in their
environment farm women are considerably more engaged, in terms of the
amount of time and accepting sole responsibility, in the care of their
children and elderly family members than women of other occupations
living in rural areas. Considering this evidence, speculation about the
conditionality of the low fertility level in Slovenia on the decline of family
norms and values among its population is therefore dubious.
It seems probable that the motivation for a higher number of children
among the farm population derives from the social context, specific social
relations based on the specific nature of providing the daily livelihood,
which of course does not exclude specific norms and values. These norms
and values are presumable tied strongly to particular demands of survival
and maintenance of farm strata and not to maintenance of the nation as a
whole. As a study on the possibilities of reproduction of farm strata in
Slovenia revealed (Barbič, 1993), farm women and, particularly, farm men
select and gain their partners to a very large extent only from the farming
population or at least from the rural population, very rarely from the urban
one. This indicates fairly weak marital mobility and isolation of the farm
population; in terms of marriage they mostly rely only on the members of
their own group. This phenomenon is highlighted by Heady (2007) as the
major motivational force for high fertility in traditional agrarian societies.
On the basis of the theory of gift exchange (adopted from previous scholars)
he claims that parents have children, in part at least, for the sake of the other
people in their community – to perpetuate the system of relationships – and
not only due to concerns about their own and their potential offspring’s
welfare. Following the idea of exchange processes, he presumes that the very
low fertility in today’s East and Central Europe is a result of the weakening
of past social relationships, especially kinship ties of dependence,
characteristic of agrarian societies, owing to the spread of new patterns of
economic cooperation across the old communities’ lines (which also have an
impact on the widening of the marriage market) and additionally due to still
deficient consolidation of these new social patterns.
The analysis presented in this chapter supports such conclusions,
indicating that in the farming population, especially among beneficiaries
of subsidies, old patterns of social exchange still probably exist, whereas in
the rural and urban population these patterns of exchange are gaining new
forms (favoring more widespread social connections and relationships, and
other ways of accumulating social capital) that do not motivate a high
number of children. Other studies on the fertility behavior of farmers, from
different countries, also taking other methodological approaches, should
further verify these particular findings and contribute to an understanding
of the social grounds of low fertility.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to thank Alessandro Bonanno and the anonymous reviewers

for their helpful comments on early versions of this chapter.
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PART II
DEVELOPMENT, RURAL,
COMMUNITY, AND MIGRATION
CHAPTER 7
STATE AND MARKET: THE

POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT,
‘‘PEASANTIZATION,’’ AND
AGRARIAN RESTRUCTURING
IN NORTHERN LAO PDR
Jamaree Chiengthong
ABSTRACT
The late incorporation of Lao PDR in the globalized age as an agricultural
producer and exporter has been created through the process of
‘‘peasantization’’ and restructuring of agricultural upland productive area.
The chapter discusses the role of the state and cross-border markets
through contract farming in three villages in northern Lao PDR. Contrary
to the general belief that economic globalization will result in the
weakening of the state, the chapter argues that the state still has a
significant role to play. Being late in the corporation into the world
market, the changes that take place become very intense.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016010
95
96 JAMAREE CHIENGTHONG
INTRODUCTION
In the 1990s, as many socialist countries gradually opened up their economies
to trade and foreign investment, words like ‘‘regionalism’’ and ‘‘economic
cooperation’’ began to enter development vocabularies. With the world
arranged spatially into clusters, new regional groupings began to appear,
including the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), covering southern China,
Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The Asian
Development Bank (ADB) perceived the GMS as a single dynamic economy
with shared borders that should not be an obstacle to economic development
(Rigg & Wittayapak, 2009).
As the ADB believes cash crop production and market access are crucial
to poverty reduction, it agreed to help finance construction of a road (route
R3B) in northern Lao PDR, cutting from Boten in Luang Namtha near the
Chinese border to Huai Xai in Bokeo near the Thai border. Although it is
hoped that the road will provide market access for Lao farmers, in many
ADB reports the road is usually referred to as an ‘‘economic corridor,’’ a
term that suggests something that connects two places, or an area through
which one passes, rather than a place to stop. This has created doubts about
the intentions of the road and its likely benefits to Lao farmers. Would the
road really benefit the Lao farmers or would it benefit the much larger
entrepreneurs in the two larger countries, China and Thailand, at opposite
ends of the road?
This chapter discusses the effects this recent push for regional development
has had on the landscape and rural restructuring of northern Lao PDR. It
attempts to show how global capital has found, conquered, and transformed
additional space, once considered remote and ‘‘undeveloped,’’ to serve its
interests; and also how the state has a crucial role in the transformation of its
internal space and fill this up with ‘‘peasants’’ to generate production and
‘‘development.’’
Fieldwork was undertaken in March–April 2008 in two villages in Bo
Keo Province and one village in Udomxai Province and again in April
2009 in the same two villages in Bo Keo Province. The methodology
employed involved field interviews with farmers, merchants, and other
residents.
The chapter is divided into four sections. The first section reviews the
literature on the role of the market and state in agrarian transformation.
The second section provides background information on Lao PDR and its
development policies and trends. The third section analyzes the fieldwork
State and Market 97
materials and the final section discusses the findings in relation to the
process of agrarian change.
GLOBALIZATION AND AGRARIAN

RESTRUCTURING
Capitalism involves the organization not only of forms of markets and states,
but also of the structuring of space and time. In the early phase of capitalist
development, the nation-state is the most appropriate state form as it is a self-
contained, clearly demarcated, land boundary whereby exact bureaucratic
regulation can take shape. Referring to Weber, Bonanno (2008) points to the
importance of the organization of space under the nation-state system. The
modern state organized the national space in formal rational terms and was
instrumental in the development of bureaucracies and authority structures that
further fostered the process of capitalist growth. In this respect, the historical
importance of the creation of national space is both central to and linked to
the establishment, organization, and control of national markets (Bonanno,
2008, p. 21). Bonanno further asserted that agricultural commodities are
among the most typical examples of intervention of nation-states, as they
intervened to regulate the production and prices of commodities with an array
of justifications and measures (Bonanno, 2008, p. 27).
The system of state intervention entered a crisis in the late 1960s and early
1970s. Economists began to criticize the state for interfering too much in the
market, causing market failures whereby markets were unable to perform
most efficiently according to the law of demand and supply (Toye, 1993).
This criticism of the role of the state in interfering with the market took
place globally and directed at socialist central state planning as well.
Bonanno, however, argued that the crisis of the state in the globalized
era is not the crisis of the state per se, but should be considered in terms
of the crisis of the Fordist nation-state form, of large scale organization.
The new spatial and temporal dimensions of capital mobility clash with the
temporal and spatial dimensions of the Fordist nation-state (Bonanno,
2008, p. 32). Though production and its coordination and regulation are
progressively removed from the sphere of nation-state and placed under the
sphere of new supranational states, however, it still requires the active
intervention of the nation-state to open up markets for the rapid circulation
of commodities (Bonanno, 2008, p. 35). Within this new globalized agrarian
transformation, ‘‘the state continues to play a central role in domestic
restructuring and negotiating a competitive global environment’’ (Watts &

Goodman, 1997, p. 13).
AGRARIAN TRANSFORMATION IN
FORMER SOCIALIST ECONOMIES
As a response to criticism of rigid state planning, former socialist countries
began to adopt market liberalization and privatization in the 1980s–1990s.
This adoption has resulted to changes in the agrarian structure. Especially in
the former European socialist countries, a system of small farm producers
who are major producers in the marketplace has emerged though many large
state farms are still being maintained (Spoor, 1997a, 1997b). For example, in
Russia, the household plots and docha gardens produced an increasing share
of production though the collective farm still remained (Wehrheim, 1997). In
Romania, Dumitru (1997) observed that land reform returned land to former
owners and allowed many small farms to emerge which contributed greatly
to social stability. Outside of Europe, such as in Vietnam after the 1986
doimoi (renovation) reform, a small family farming system was also a
predominant system, though some may only produce a ‘‘subsistence peasant
production’’ (sometimes more food deficient than subsistent) other ‘‘small
family farms’’ entered into exclusively market-oriented, commercial produc-
tion (Tuan, 1997).
The coexistence of large and small farms was well remarked by Kautsky
when he discussed agrarian transition in the early twentieth century noting
the capacity of small farms to exert the ability of self-exploitation (to use
Chayanovian terminology) whereby peasants can work hard, consuming
less; and also not receiving any wages whereas large capitalist farm would
have to pay wages for the workers (Rigg, 2001). The existence of small farms
not only serve the market’s interests as well as the farmer – workers’
existence themselves, but also contributed to national political stability.
THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN

DEPEASANTIZATION AND PEASANTIZATION
Although theorists in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries such as
Marx or Polanyi focused on the role of the market in transforming the
peasant economy, Frederick Buttel (1997, p. 344), however, focused on
the role of the state in deterring the process of depeasantization. Discussing
State and Market 99
the United States and other advanced industrial countries from the end of
the World War II to the 1970s, he observed a predominance of ‘‘moderately
large, highly capitalized, petty-capitalist, family proprietor farms.’’ He
attributed this slow movement of depeasantization to state policies, including
credit and other subsidy programs, aimed at helping small farmers to survive.
Only after changes in state policies in the 1980s toward a revival of neoliberal
ideologies which demanded withdrawal of nationally regulated farm support
programs, smaller family farms became less competitive.
Wilkinson (1997, p. 38) draws attention to the complexity of forms of
production when he noted a scenario in the southern states of Brazil in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The states encouraged the
settlement of European migrants, first forming a peasant economy that later
evolved into a family farm economy. He suggested that ‘‘a flourishing
peasant economy’’ can expand ‘‘in articulation with merchant capital, which
provided access to markets’’ and can then be transformed into the modern
family farm while the trading capital evolved into agro-industry.
Though paying attention to the various policy and theoretical arguments
pertaining to the survival and viability of diversified family farms,
Wilkinson did not attempt to defend the family farm in terms of principles
of justice or equity as the populist approach usually does. He was more
interested in trying to understand, as Long (1997) remarked, ‘‘the processes
by which a plurality of social institutions and modes of coordination, based
for example on market, state, and communal forms of regulation, sustain
and transform a heterogeneous ‘regional’ assemblage of modes of economic
organization, in which the diversified family farm is embedded and by which
it acquires its livelihood dynamics.’’ Wilkinson (1997) cautioned for a
careful examination of the types and characteristics of the modern small
family farms, as it is an ‘elastic category’ that can include everything from
peasant subsistence to technology-driven monoculture. He also noted the
importance of modern agro-industrial production which linked to small
family farm production on the basis of ‘‘contract quasi-integration’’ (p. 39).
PEASANTIZATION, TERRITORIALIZATION,
AND RETERRITORIALIZATION: THE STATE
IN LATE CAPITALIST DEVELOPMENT
Similar to Wilkinson’s observation of state’s encouragement of peasant

economy in Brazil in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this
author’s own fieldwork in Thailand described the process of land

clearing by farmers in the forested areas at the beginning of the twentieth
century as ‘‘peasantization.’’ The terminology, however, does not intend
to essentialize the peasants, but employed to emphasize the newness
of the settlement (Pitackwong, 1996, pp. 55–60), and to emphasize the
incorporation of theses peasants as producers for the expanding
market economy under the state’s development schemes and ideology
(Pitackwong, 1996, pp. 76–83). Hirsch’s (1990) study of a westernmost
province in Thailand documented a similar process where he observed
how villagers cleared land for commercial production of corn and tapioca,
under encouragement by the state through state-supported development
schemes.
Although this author’s fieldwork in Thailand focused attention in the
expansion of the market, Ganjanapan and Kaosa-ard (1992) focused
attention on the forests as a contested space. Doing fieldwork in northern
Thailand in the 1980s, they noted the role of the state in first encouraging
land expansion of peasants into the forests but then later to restrict and to
declare forests as reserved area to comply with rising global environmen-
talists’ concerns over shrinking forest space.
The concept territorialization is used by Vandergeest and Peluso (1995) to
draw attention to the role of the state in organizing internal space as a
resource control strategy. Following Sack’s definition (1986), they define
territorialization as ‘‘the attempt by an individual or group to affect, to
influence or control people, phenomena, and relationships by delimiting and
asserting control over a geographic area’’ (Vandergeest & Peluso, 1995, pp.
387–388). Buch-Hansen (2003, p. 324) elaborated the concept further when
he argued that territorialization of rural Thailand and management of local
natural resources is a contested space between local, national, and global
institutions. Though on the one hand the state may want to conserve its
forest area, on the other hand it has to promote exports of agricultural
products. As a response to the global demand for animal feed, beginning in
the 1960s and accelerated in the 1970s–1980s, the state encouraged
production of agricultural commodities such as cassava and corn. Even
the peripheral areas were incorporated under the production for export
market, and forests had been transformed into cultivated areas, resulting in
dramatic change in the landscape, even in the hilly areas (Buch-Hansen,
2003, p. 328). Hence, ‘‘reterritorialization’’ can take place when new
economic activities are either prescribed or contested in place of the old
activities in the same space.
State and Market 101
SYNTHESIZING THE LITERATURE

From the literatures reviewed, we can see the importance of the state in
organizing its internal space, and also to settle people in that space to create
productivity. This is achieved under the name of national development.
LAO DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE:

TERRITORIALIZATION AND NATION BUILDING
Lao PDR has a population of approximately 5.7 million and an area of

230,000 ha. Population density is only approximately 23 persons per square
kilometer. GDP is approximately 370 US dollars per person and the econo-
mic growth rate is 2.1% per year (Pholsena & Banomyong, 2006, p. 71).
After the World War II, Laos gained independence from France, but the
political leaders in the north formed the naew lao hak xat movement which
later becoming the Pathet Lao government adopting a socialist ideology,
fought a long-running civil war for control of the country from its
stronghold in the northern provinces of Pongsali, Xam Nuah, and Luang
Namtha. Ethnic minorities living in the highlands were recruited to take
sides in the fighting. Some were relocated to strategic positions. Others, like
the lowland Tai Lue in Muang Sing District in Luang Namtha, fled to the
border areas to escape the fighting (see appendix for map of Lao PDR).
In 1976, the Pathet Lao defeated the Vientiane government and took
control of the country, creating the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, a
territorialized communist state. The new government began an earnest
attempt to restructure the country’s productive capacity. A cooperative
system of peasant producers was introduced. Villages were relocated close to
each other for security reasons as well as to better provide schooling,
healthcare, and other forms of development. Permanent agriculture was
encouraged to replace swidden agriculture. Eradication of opium production
among the highlanders was declared a development target, as well as the
eradication of poverty (Evrad & Goudineau, 2004). Post-1976, the state was
the principal actor in development. The borders with capitalist market
economy, Thailand were closed, whereas the borders with communist China
and Vietnam remained open (except for brief Chinese-Lao 1977-1983 border
closure due to political clashes).
In 1989, however, the Lao PDR government announced the policy of
Jintanakan mai, a new economic development policy willing to accept
broader foreign investment. The borders with Thailand were opened. The
ADB began to play a greater role in the development of basic infrastructure
in Lao PDR. The cooperative system was abolished. In the mid-1990s,
government introduced a policy that allowed farmers to claim ownership of
their cultivated land though the process of measurement and granting of
land certificates but in most localities, this has yet to happen (see e.g.,
Moizo, 2008).
Another interesting characteristic of Lao PDR is its ethnic diversity.
Detailed categorization yields up to 800 different ethnic groups; broader
categorization based on language differentials yields 47 groups (Evans,
1999, p. 167; Kossikov, 2000). As a result, ethnic unification has been one of
the development priorities to create national unity; the ethnic groups in Lao
PDR are officially described with the emphasis on being Lao, as highland,
upland, and lowland Lao – or Lao Sung, Lao Toeng, and Lao Lum.
Apart from ethnic unification, the development discourse in Lao PDR
continues to emphasize permanent cultivation. In 1999, an estimated
280,000 households throughout the country were still engaged in swidden
cultivation when the government set a target to convert 160,000 of these
households to permanent agriculture by 2010 (Azimi et al., 2001). The
eradication of opium cultivation by the year 2005 was a critical component
of this strategy, particularly in northern Lao PDR where highland ethnic
villagers were engaged in shifting cultivation of opium.
Poverty eradication remains an important target. According to an ADB
report (2002), approximately 30% of the population of Lao PDR was living
below the poverty line, defined as having cash income less than 142,500
kip (around 16 US dollars) per person per month. The incidence of poverty
in the northern provinces, particularly Luang Namtha, was higher than the
national average. The same report mentioned insufficient rice production
in the north. Rain-fed cultivation of rice yielded 1.5 tons/ha in the
northern highlands whereas the average for the lowlands was approximately
2 tons/ha.
OPIUM SUBSTITUTION PROGRAM:

RETERRITORIALIZATION AND
CONTRACT FARMING
As part of its development assistance to Lao PDR, the Chinese government
has supported an opium substitution program aimed at converting
more than 4,500 ha of opium fields to other crops. Route 17, connecting a
small town (Muang Sing) in northern Lao PDR with a small border town
(Muang Mang) in China, was improved. With improved access, Chinese
merchants began to enter Lao PDR and engaged in commercial contract
farming. Lyttleton et al. (2005) noted the widespread watermelon
production in lowland Muang Sing area where Chinese farmers/merchants
rented land from Lao farmers after the rice harvest to grow watermelons.
The Chinese provided the seeds, know-how, and fertilizers as well as
contracted Lao farmers to cultivate the land. After the harvest, the
watermelons were exported to China. Yayoi Fujita, Thongmanivong, and
Vongvisouk (2006) mentioned the relocation process in Muang Sing where
they noted that many villages were regrouped along the road to facilitate a
process of commercial production under contract farming with exporting
Chinese firms.
More significant than watermelons is the increasingly widespread
cultivation of rubber. Although rubber has been grown in southern China
for over 50 years, growing Chinese demand easily outstrips supply. Lao
farmers, learning from their relatives across the border about the opportunity
for cash income from rubber, began to plant trees in the 1990s. Later, the
Yunnan Provincial Government of China signed a contract with the Luang
Namtha Provincial Government of Lao PDR (and Bokeo and Udomxai
Provinces) to cultivate rubber as part of the opium substitution program. In
2004, private Chinese companies were also encouraged to invest in rubber
cultivation in Lao PDR as part of this opium substitution program. The three
Lao provincial governments agreed that they would not grant large tracts of
land under concession but would maintain small farmers’ land ownership,
with the companies having to contract with the farmers. In the typical
arrangement, the farmer provides the land and labor while the company
provides seedlings, technology, and market access with the farmer receiving
70% of the cash sales and the company 30%. However, in practice, as the
company has to hire labor (sometimes the landowners themselves) these
shares were usually renegotiated with the company receiving 40–45%. Land
usage in Luang Namtha, Bokeo, and Udomxai has begun to shift toward
permanent rubber tree cultivation.
With rubber trees requiring 5–7 years after cultivation before first
harvesting, short-lived commercial crops, such as tapioca and sugarcane,
were also introduced to farmers as a part of the opium substitution
program. Unlike watermelons, which are grown in the rice fields after the
rice harvest, tapioca and sugarcane can be grown in the upland areas. Most
of the crops grown are under contract farming with Chinese companies and
exported to China (Dai, 2007; Shi, 2008).
Although territorialization in combination with peasantization had taken

place since the internal war period, and later in the forest conservation and
opium production replacement process, the open up of the market has
reterritorialized space for commercial production.
THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE

COUNTRYSIDE UNDER CONTRACT FARMING
Corn production near the Thai border town of Chiengkhong provides

another evidence of the increasing commercialization and market access of
northern Lao farmers. In anticipation of the future bridge across the Mekong
connecting the new R3B road to Thailand, two silos for drying corn had been
strategically located on the Thai side. During fieldwork in March–April 2008,
corn from the dry season harvest in Lao PDR could be seen being ferried
across the river to these silos. Favorable corn prices in 2007–2008 had led
Thai and Lao farmers on both sides of the Mekong to enthusiastically
produce corn for animal feed. (For a discussion of expansion of corn
production in poor, upland areas in Thailand, see Rakyutidharm, 2009).
Ban Ponsavang and Ban Dan Villages in Bokeo Province, Lao PDR
Ban Ponsavang and Ban Dan are adjacent villages in Bokeo Province, 20 km
south of the small town of Huai Xai; situated on a road that runs along the
Mekong River. They are large lowland, or Lao Lum, peasant villages. Ban
Dan village was settled 100 years ago. However, during the fighting in the
1960s–1970s, many villagers fled to Thailand, only to be replaced by those
fleeing fighting elsewhere. As the migrants grew, they cleared additional land
and settled another village nearby, which is now Ban Ponsavang. This process
of peasantization was supported by the local government in Bokeo province,
as they wanted the peasants to stop at the Lao side rather than crossing over
to Thailand.
After liberation in 1975, the government established a cooperative system
only to abolish it 2 years later after peasants in the two villages petitioned
that it was neither beneficial to the peasants nor to productivity (see
discussion on cooperatives in other regions in Evans, 1990). With the closure
of the Thai border after liberation, peasants in the villages had difficulty
obtaining necessities, such as salt and clothes. They had to travel long
distances to towns bordering Myanmar (Muang Mom) or China (Luang
Namtha). Agricultural production was subsistence and peasant-based. When

plans to reopen the border with Thailand were initiated in 1987, the peasants
began to obtain forest products to trade with Thailand. When they
discovered Thai merchants offered very low prices for their products, they
formed themselves into a traders’ association to bargain as a group with the
Thai merchants.
When the border did reopen, those Lao peasants from the village with
relatives in Thailand began crossing the border to visit. As the relatives were
often small family farmers also, the Lao peasants began to learn about corn,
a crop that was in good demand in the Thai market. Lao peasants began to
devote land to corn production. Starting around 2000, with the rise in prices,
peasants began to clear additional land and/or convert existing upland lands
for corn production in earnest, keeping the lowland paddy fields for
subsistence rice production. Though we may say that the expansion of the
cultivation area in this period is a response to the market, the local
government has played a part in the expansion by acknowledging ownership
of the land. From interviews with farmers in 2009, it is found that those who
clear land in this period can report ownership to the village headman, and
later can apply for land certificates. Some farmers however reported that
they did not clear land from the dense forests but only used the land
that had been left vacant by the saw mills. As production of corn was
expanding additional labor was needed and from the year 2000 there had
been an encouragement from the local government for the poor Lao Toeng
(upland Khamu ethnic peasants) to settle in a nearby satellite village
called Ban Ponxai. The peasantized Khamu had obtained some upland plots
and engaged in rice production, as well as selling their labor to the Lao Lum
farmers.
A local farmer stated in 2008 that at least 3,000 ha of upland area, a
substantial amount, in the two villages had been devoted to corn production.
The field appears interconnected as a large single piece. Instead of fences,
only sparsely planted trees demarcated individual holdings. These small-
holders group their labor together to form a production team under a leader
who supervises the utilization of labor. A group usually consists of between
30–50 householders. This organization is not the same as the cooperatives
that were attempted in the socialist period. It is more a kind of traditional
peasant exchange of labor often seen during the peak periods of demand for
agricultural labor – planting and harvesting. Dai (2007) also observed similar
activities of Lao farmers in Muang Sing in Luang Namtha Province during
the tapioca harvest. There, however, a Chinese company with farming
contracts to grow the tapioca organized the exchange.
In the first period of corn production, the team leaders who organize
labor for production got the chance to come into contact with merchants
who buy corn. Most sales are made to the merchants who advanced them
the seeds and other factors of production under contract farming. As
production develops the head of the production teams become the sub-
buyers of the corn before reselling to the merchants and can make a profit.
The profit was later turned into investment of large tractors to provide land
preparation service to their team members. Rental charges are deducted
from the sales of the produce. This is the latest development, and it produces
an effect of double binding the farmers with the team leaders and the
merchants. Though a head of a production team said that they are not
strictly bound to sell to the merchants who advance them the seeds, usually,
however, as learned from an interview with a Lao merchant in 2009, farmers
do not want to break the connections they have established.
Most corn seeds used in Ban Ponsavang are the 888 variety produced by
the CP company, Thailand’s largest agribusiness. CP does not engage in
contract farming inside Lao PDR like some of its Chinese counterparts are
doing to the north. However, some smaller Thai merchants are engaged in
contract farming in Lao PDR. The corn drying silos on the outskirts of
Chiengkhong belong to some entrepreneurs who distribute and export
agricultural products. They will distribute the dried corn to a number of
animal feed businesses, including CP.
Muang Hun District, Udomxai Province, Lao PDR
Muang Hun is a small district 90 km from the town of Udomxai in Udomxai

Province. In late April 2008, fieldwork was conducted in Ban Sri Bunhoeng, a
new cluster of 11 villages grouped together under a new administrative unit,
covering a productive upland area of about 3,000 ha, all devoted to corn. This
is similar to what was found in Ban Ponsavang. Farmers were preparing land
and beginning to grow rainy season corn. Under the land reform policy, small
farmers owned the cornfields, with 1–2 ha each. Again, there was no fence to
mark land ownership. As tractors are used to plough the land, constructing a
fence would obstruct the operation of the tractors. Villages were relocated to
both sides of the road that runs from Muang Hun to Pak Beng on the
Mekong River. Some of those relocated to form the new administrative unit
were of Hmong ethnic origin from the highland, or Lao Sung.
With the majority of agricultural production in the area devoted to corn,
a Lao and a Thai merchant collaborated in establishing a silo for drying
corn. The silo cost approximately 400 million kip (approximately 47,000 US
dollars). The rainy season crop is usually exported to Thailand by boat
along the Mekong River to the port of Chiengkhong. The exported corn is
usually sold whole, i.e., without being dried or taken off the ear. The Thai
buyers then remove and dry the kernels and sell the cores to a small power
plant nearby for fuel. Corn that is dried by the silo in Ban Sri Bunhoeng is
usually exported to Vietnam instead of Thailand. There are also some
Vietnamese buyers operating in the area. They distribute Vietnamese
produced corn seeds called LVN to farmers. Some of the LVN seeds from
Vietnam, as well as the 888 seeds from Thailand, can be bought from the
market in Udomxai or small shops in Muang Hun. As demonstrated in the
case of Muang Hun, the process of ‘‘peasantization,’’ the expansion of
merchant capital that turn them into ‘‘small farmers’’ producing for sales,
and the process of globalization of competing external capital from larger
neighboring countries are operating nearly simultaneously to take advan-
tage of small cheap peasant labor and the land abundant resources of the
Lao PDR.
STATE AND MARKET: AGRARIAN

RESTRUCTURING AS ‘DEVELOPMENT’
Although territorialization and peasantization had taken place since the

internal war period, this has even become more intense with the open up of
the market where the state has become active in reterritorializing the
upland forested area for commercial production. Similar to Muang Sing,
Ban Sri Bunhoeng in Muang Hun has also had its villages created along
the roadside, and a new productive landscape created. The Lao Sung
swiddeners who are relocated into the area are being turned into lowland
peasants. Even in Ban Ponsavang and Ban Dan, where lowland cultivation
already existed before the larger-scale, upland cultivation of corn, the
intensity of commercial production of corn and its vast unfenced field is
new. The vast landscape of cornfield ploughed with tractors cannot
symbolize anything but large-scale capitalist production replacing tradi-
tional hoe and traditional plough agriculture while still utilizing small scale
farmers’ labor.
The state policy of national integration, or ‘‘laoization’’ of upland and
highland cultivators into lowland peasants, or lao lum, has taken shape.
Many newly restructure of agricultural areas and villages are composed of
more than one ethnic group. In the Muang Sing area, the Lao Sung, or
Akha, intermingled with the lowland Tai Lue. In Ban Sri Bunhoeng in
Muang Hun, the Lao Toeng, or Khamu, intermingled with the Lao Sung of
Hmong ethnic origin. In conversations, people referred to other ethnicities
as either Lao Toeng or Lao Sung, with the emphasis on being ‘‘Lao.’’
Despite the adoption of the open-market, neoliberalist policy, however,
the Lao government has been sensitive to the issue of foreigners taking
advantage of their resources and has tried to establish a nationalistic policy
to guard against foreign control of its economy. For example, all foreign
investments must have Lao citizens as co-investors. In contract farming,
whether in rubber or other field crops, the national as well as provincial
governments have tried to ensure that either the foreign companies or their
contracts are registered. This is true especially in Luang Namtha. In Bokeo,
Chinese rubber companies registered in Lao PDR, but in the case of field
crops like corn, the trade across the border with Thailand is still
unregulated. Lao traders, however, organized themselves into association
of corn exporters to bargain for a better price.
CONCLUSIONS
Globalization of the capitalist market is usually thought of as the borderless
flows of goods, capital, and labor. Despite the fact that the description is
true, it does not mean a minimal role for the state or the insignificance of
national borders. The ‘‘national’’ space still needs to be maintained to serve
the various actors’ economic interests. The internal landscape, however, has
to be transformed to facilitate large-scale productive activities to serve global
market. The national ideology of unification and a drive for progress are the
main engines within this national and regional politics of development.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to thank The National Agriculture and Forest
Research Institute (NAFRI) in Lao PDR for their cooperation. Special
thanks are to Dr. Linkham Duangsavan and Dr. Somboone Xaiyavong for
their kind assistance and Souksadachanh Suvanasing and Vilaphong
Kanyasone for their help with the fieldwork. Also thanks to Dr. Olivier
Evrad for commenting on an earlier version of the chapter and drawing
attention to the concepts of territorialization and reterritorialization. The
research was carried out under support of Thailand Research Funds (TRF)
under Professor Yos Santasombat’s research team. The German Highland

Development Project in Chiangmai under directorship of Dr. Andreas Neef,
provided financial support for the author to present the first draft of this
chapter in Korea. The project also provided some information on rubber
plantation in the northern part of Lao PDR, for which the author would
like to express her thanks here. Thanks are also to Andrew Adam for
sparing time not only for English editorial, but valuable feedback.
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APPENDIX
CHAPTER 8
WITHOUT CATEGORIES AND

CLASSIFICATIONS: ‘‘RURAL’’
AS A SOCIAL EXPRESSION
Loka Ashwood
ABSTRACT
This chapter explores social representative groups as a medium to study
‘‘rural’’ meaning in Ireland. In research terms, the concept of ‘‘rurality’’ is
increasingly debated, its existence questioned, and approaches to establish
conceptual and methodological boundaries continuously challenged. By
studying the language of social representative group leaders, it is argued
in this chapter that the ‘‘rural’’ can be fluidly explored through its
expression. Through a theme-based deconstruction of interviews with
group leaders, I explore the expression of loss in Irish dialogue and its
implication on ‘‘rural’’ meaning.
INTRODUCTION
Social classifications are increasingly challenged in an age where time and

space boundaries are permeated by technological advances. ‘‘Rural’’ as a
social category is particularly vulnerable to these changes because of the
term’s orientation with place and time-held traditions. In an attempt to move
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016011
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114 LOKA ASHWOOD
away from such classifications of the ‘‘rural’’ and toward a more fluid
approach to the term, I use social representative groups in Ireland that
actively invoke ‘‘rural’’ language to explore the meanings and uses of
‘‘rural.’’ Because of these groups’’ status as social representative groups, this
research takes their viewpoints as popularly accepted representations of
‘‘rural’’ meaning. I begin this chapter by reviewing theoretical foundations of
social categorization and its effect on ‘‘rural’’ classifications. Launching from
the complexities of these ‘‘rural’’ categorizations and attempts at creating
boundaries, I review the varied uses of ‘‘rural’’ in the recent Irish past. In my
section, Methodological Issues, I detail my use of social groups to explore
current ‘‘rural’’ expressions in Ireland, which I follow with my methodology
of group selection. I then review the results of my analysis, and for purposes
of this chapter, I only focus on one of the emerging themes in detail – the
expression of loss. In Ireland, loss is different than the sentiments of ‘‘rural’’
expressed in the past century. The varied dialogues of the ‘‘rural’’ in the Irish
past and the disagreement over whether a claimed loss of the ‘‘rural’’ is a
myth or reality (Newby, 1977) highlights the tentative state of ‘‘rural’’ as a
concept without clear boundaries, which must be interpreted in the context
of time. It is through the combination of theoretical challenges, past
differentiations, and current usage of the term that ‘‘rural’’ is argued in this
chapter to be a social expression, with common meanings in constantly
evolving forms that challenge categorization.
Embedded in the exploration of social differences and cultural boundaries
is the assumption that the characteristic divisions of land and the history of
the people living within it are inherent in culture. Culture, tradition, and
knowledge in effect are linked to the differentiations and habits embedded in
the repetition of time. Giddens (1984) defines social differentiations through
time and space and until recently these time and space differentiations were
generally accepted in the social sciences as a given mean of separation to
define societies. A rise of the ‘‘informal, global, networked’’ society (Castells,
2000, p. 10) and increased ‘‘diverse mobilities’’ in a ‘‘placeless’’ world (Urry,
2000, pp. 191, 219) are challenging the use of spatially defined terms.
Differences, boundaries, and place feed categorizations of societies, and can
be used for blank and stark division. Particularly with use of ‘‘rural’’ as a
descriptive term imbedded in space and time division, increased technological
connection poses challenges to the conception and potential extinction,
assuming the former existence, of the term ‘‘rural.’’ Woods (2006, p. 590)
writes that the ‘‘rural’’ is defined by ‘‘geographic stability’’ and ‘‘rootedness to
place, by a belonging to land and locality by an understanding of spatial
boundaries y’’ leaving ‘‘rural’’ areas particularly prone to conflict with
Without Categories and Classifications: ‘‘Rural’’ as a Social Expression 115
‘‘transient populations,’’ whose mobility threatens this identity. By defining

place through Marc Augé’s (1995) terms as ‘‘relational, historical and
concerned with identity’’ (p. 77), the ‘‘rural’’ becomes a term particularly
vulnerable to the crippling of space and time.
The challenge of creating criteria for what classifies or determines ‘‘rural’’
has led to a variety of critiques of the term and suggestions as to potential
methods that could define it as a category of analysis. In order to identify or
find the ‘‘rural,’’ Halfacree (1993) writes that the physical environment does
not determine physical behavior, but rather that the locality defines the
‘‘rural’’ and that the ‘‘rural’’ is symbolic. Little (1999, p. 438) writes that, ‘‘A
greater sensitivity toward the complexity and fluidity of ‘rural’ otherness
requires that we focus more directly on the meaning and construction of
identity in a ‘rural’ context.’’ It is argued that the cultural turn in ‘‘rural’’
studies finally gives freedom to study masculinity and femininity in the
‘‘rural’’ setting (Little & Leyshon, 2003, p. 258). In a critique of the increased
popularity of an abstract approach to the ‘‘rural,’’ Cloke (2006) writes that
the use of the ‘‘idea rural’’ is too unstructured, whereas Bell (2007) uses it as
one of the two categorizations, writing that an ‘‘idea rural,’’ ‘‘is to engage the
possibility that it is too late for the rural, for it is already gone, and maybe
never even existed’’ (p. 411). Bell’s second category is more traditionally
agricultural and is titled material production. This stark classification, Bell
(2007, p. 409) writes, attempts to create ‘‘boundaries in the boundless’’,
although he overall concludes that the only appropriate approach to the
‘‘rural’’ is one with plural meanings. The plethora of approaches used to
define ‘‘rural’’ or clarify the use of the word magnifies the impossibility of
confining the conception in a fenced arena.
Ireland has been chosen as the location in which to probe the
conceptualization of ‘‘rural’’ boundaries and study the use of ‘‘rural.’’ The
country’s extreme economic change, increased development, recent imple-
mentation of technologies, and relative lack of industrialization pre-
European Union membership in 1973 makes it a particularly relevant and
unique example. Referring again to Augé’s definition of place as, ‘‘relational,
historical and concerned with identity,’’ Ireland’s long-litany of struggles
over land control and ownership are central in understanding the historical
importance of place in the country and the linguistic adhesion to ‘‘rural’’ in
the past and present. Using observable and measurable means to define the
‘‘rural’’ has been less prevalent in Irish literature, particularly in the 1990s,
and more typical in British work. Such literature in Ireland is primarily
confined to Cawley (1980, 1991), Duffy (1987), and most recently Mahon
(2007), who writes that in Ireland the ‘‘rural’’ is becoming increasingly
116 LOKA ASHWOOD
complex, with ‘‘seemingly contrasting and contradictory meanings of this

term’’ (p. 355). In comparison to current attempts to measure the ‘‘rural,’’
descriptive use of the term in Ireland has changed substantially since the
early 1900s. In the 1930s, ‘‘rural’’ Ireland was framed as a picturesque
sustainable ideal by Arensberg and Kimball (1940), based on the conception
that the ‘‘rural’’ was determined spatially and through community, although
the theoretical basis of the work was later discredited. In striking contrast,
community group Muintir na Tire was founded in 1940 to combat poverty,
describing ‘‘rural’’ Ireland as a ‘‘drab, dull and lifeless place’’ (Tierney, 2004,
p. 7). In the 1950s and 1960s, newfound fears that ‘‘rural’’ communities were
dying dominated discourse (Healy, 1968). With EU membership in 1973, the
theme of modernization of Ireland primarily dominated ‘‘rural’’ discussion
into the 1980s. The 1990s marked an increased sense of ‘‘crisis’’ (Varley,
Boylan, & Cuddy, 1991) and a defense of ‘‘rural’’ Ireland against claims that
it was an ‘‘irrelevant backwater’’ (Curtin, Haase, & Tovey, 1996). In the
modern decade, Ireland is referred to as increasingly complex (McDonagh,
2001), and as having overcome its ‘‘rural’’ roots, ‘‘to take its rightful place as
an equal among the nations of the world’’ (Coulter, 2003, p. 15). In 2007,
Ireland was the second wealthiest country in the EU based on Gross
Domestic Product. These rapid changes in Ireland from a peasant-based
culture to a technologically driven, industrial economy are reflected through
very different ‘‘rural’’ dialogues, echoing a transformation away from time–
space differentiations and toward interconnection and mobility.
METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
Regardless of what the ‘‘rural’’ can be or is identified with, any sort of
classification or boundary for ‘‘rural’’ is immediately thronged with
impossibilities. Taking the concept of ‘‘boundaries’’ and going further,
attempts at defining the ‘‘rural’’ dissect the object(s) of study in order to
create classifications, a nearly unfeasible quest in a recognized age of
networks (Castells, 2000, 2004) and mobilities (Urry, 2000). These attempts
at categorization disregard the use of ‘‘rural’’ as a social expression rather
than a structure. By instead beginning with expressions of the ‘‘rural’’ at the
lay level – the insiders’ perspective versus that of the outsiders (Jones, 1995;
Long, 2003) – the ‘‘rural’’ in its modern linguistic use can be probed within
the context of fundamental social changes driven by mobility.
This research uses social representative groups in Ireland that actively use
‘‘rural’’ language to explore meanings and uses of the ‘‘rural’’. By studying
‘‘rural’’ expression through lay discourse via group representation, this

research particularly challenges notions of a ‘‘symbolic rural’’ (Halfacree,
1993), where some aspects of the ‘‘rural’’ are argued not to actually exist
(Newby, 1977), but to be a projection and imaginative force driven by those
who utilize or in some cases exploit ‘‘rural’’ mythical perceptions (Hopkins,
1998). Although being careful not to undermine the importance of these
approaches to understand emerging perceptions of ‘‘rural,’’ they can
mistakenly be used to de-legitimize ‘‘rural’’ at the lay level and problems
expressed through ‘‘rural’’ discourse. Through groups, the ‘‘rural’’ can be
studied as a malleable social description that is dependent on lay perception,
particularly the people in Ireland who prescribe to the projected ‘‘rural’’
language of these groups and appoint leaders as their vocal representatives.
The use of social representative groups is a step toward removing the
projections of the researcher onto the subject. Since the groups studied in this
chapter express ‘‘rural’’ in their group formation and in continuing issues, the
term is not being isolated and given meaning and agency, but is emerging
from social representation and lay discourse.
Representative groups have been used as a method to explore social change
and a reflection of the general associations of society. In America, Putnam
(1995) connects the decline of social representative groups to low levels of
civic engagement and the failure of government. He writes that civic groups
reflect the moral and intellectual associations of the country (p. 65). Using
groups to study larger trends, in Great Britain, Hay (2004) writes that the
overall decline of civic engagement reflects the disenchantment of the country.
In the context of specifically studying the ‘‘rural,’’ Woods (1997, 2003) uses
groups to document an increase in revolts and demonstrations in ‘‘rural’’
areas. Continuing to use representative groups to study social change, but
countering Hay (2004) and Putnam’s (1995) themes of decline, Boonstra
(2006) argues that social representative groups are arising in nontraditional
forms that represent increasingly diverse communities. In their study of
‘‘rural’’ Illinois cooperatives, Foreman and Whetten (2002) relate members’
identities in organizations to social identities at large and individual’s beliefs.
Thus groups socially formed to represent the needs of a larger constituency by
virtue are socially representative. Taking this concept further, social
representation theory (Moscovici, 2000) argues that people make representa-
tions to reflect their reality and these representations are shared by a mass of
people. People’s representations, therefore, reflect reality just as representa-
tions of the ‘‘rural’’ reflect reality. Literature further contests that the meaning
of words are not of themselves definite, but are socially constructed (Berger &
Luckman, 1966). Applying Berger and Luckman’s theorization to the
118 LOKA ASHWOOD
‘‘rural,’’ its meaning becomes socially constructed and created by those who
employ the word ‘‘rural.’’ The representative groups I selected for study and
their leaders that I interview are thus representational of ‘‘rural’’ meaning in
two ways: Through the direct dialogue of group leaders who socially
construct the ‘‘rural’’ by employing the word, and also by being
representatives of the groups that are representational by nature.
METHODOLOGY
All groups selected were voluntary in nature at their formation. The primary
criteria for the selection of groups was that they used ‘‘rural’’ as a central
topic in their reasons for founding and the issues central to their purpose.
The groups selected span nearly a decade of founding from 1911 to 2002:
1. The Irish Countrywomens Association (ICA), founded in 1911 under the

name The United Irishwomen, was originally formed to address the
‘‘Problem of Rural Life’’ (Plunkett, Pilkington, & Russell, 1911, p. 2). The
group has been in existence for nearly a century. Current membership is
15,000.
2. The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), originally founded in 1955 under
the name the National Farmers’ Association, was formed by 2,300 farmers
to address economic problems (Anderson, 1974, p. 65). The IFA recently
developed a new partner, the IFA Countryside (IFAC), although the
group is still a part of the overarching IFA. The IFAC is ‘‘for all with an
affinity for the countryside. This includes anyone who grew up on a farm
and those who use the countryside for fishing, shooting, walking, and
other country pursuits as well as all involved in field sports such as hurling
and football. It helps to build links between farmers and those removed
from the land, ensuring that it does not become a question of ‘them and
us’’’ (IFA Countryside, 2008). Current overall membership is 80,000.
3. The Keep Ireland Open (KIO) association was formed in 1993 by farmers
to keep commonage, primarily in mountains and bogs used commonly in
‘‘rural’’ areas open in wake of efforts to fence it off. The mission
statement of the organization has evolved to, ‘‘An environmental
organization devoted to the maintenance of traditional access to our
common heritage of mountain, lake and river’’ (KIO, 2007, p. 2). Current
membership is estimated at 450, with associated membership through 10
other organizations of about 4,500 members.
4. The Irish Rural Dwellers Association (IRDA) was formed in 2002 to

reduce the ability of planners to control and prevent the building of homes
in ‘‘rural’’ Ireland. IRDA’s goal is, ‘‘To unite all rural dwellers and people
of goodwill toward rural Ireland and in the context of peaceful,
multicultural co-existence in the common cause of ensuring, by legal and
constitutional means, the growth and maintenance of a vibrant, populated
countryside in the traditional Irish forms of baile fearann or dispersed
village, sraid bhaile or street village and the clachan or nucleated
(clustered village)’’ (Connolly, 2006, p. 2). Current membership is 1,600.
I conducted interviews with group leaders from each of the four organiza-
tions in January and February 2008, ranging between 1 and 4 hours in length.
The leaders I interviewed are as follows: The Honorary National Secretary for
the ICA, the Chairman of the IFA Countryside, the IFA Regional
Representative, the KIO Connaught Secretary, and the IRDA President.
My interviews of group leaders were loosely structured, following with
qualitative methodological research arguing that interviews provide more
freedom for the interviewee in their responses (Fontana & Frey, 2000). The
interviews were central to understanding the language and culture of the
groups. Although the primary intention of the group leader interviews was to
remain as unstructured as possible, there was particular information I needed
to gather. Thus I asked group leaders what their primary group orientation or
issues were, how the group had changed, how the group represented the
‘‘rural,’’ and if the group was in conflict with any other organizations.
Because interviews require a constant ‘‘rapport’’ with the interviewee (Kitchin
& Tate, 2000, p. 215), depending on the group leader that I was interviewing,
there were sometimes fewer questions prompted in some interviews than in
others.
I adopted themes as the method to absorb, dissect, and digest the lengthy
interviews with social representative group leaders in an effort to
thematically identify ‘‘rural’’ meaning in Ireland. ‘‘Theme discovery’’ is used
as a commonly accepted qualitative methodology as part of the ‘‘inter-
pretivist tradition’’ (Ryan & Bernard, 2000, p. 86). In Opler’s (1946) work,
still strongly drawn on today (Ryan & Bernard, 2000), he writes that, ‘‘It is
probable that much of what we have loosely called ‘structure’ in culture is
essentially the interrelation and balance of themes’’ (p. 202). Particularly
Opler (1946) argues that themes are a culmination of expressions. I adopt the
term expression throughout this chapter in the data analysis. It is through
interviews that I identify themes and consequently develop the expression of
‘‘rural’’ meaning.
120 LOKA ASHWOOD
My group leader interview analysis focused on identifying themes through

a ‘‘labor-intensive, line-by-line analyses that, so far, only humans can do’’
(Ryan & Bernard, 2000, p. 85). The scrutiny techniques that I employed to
find themes were observational and did not employ coding or manipulating
techniques. In the process of transcribing and on analysis after transcrip-
tion, I employed the observational techniques of repetition (Ryan &
Bernard, 2000, p. 89), and similarities and differences (Ryan & Bernard,
2000, p. 91). The themes that I identified ranged from those particularly
relating to each of the groups and more general themes that were shared by
all four of the organizations. For the purposes of this chapter, I discuss the
theme of loss, which was a shared theme between the four groups that
related to an overarching ‘‘rural’’ expression of loss and pride.
EXPRESSION OF LOSS
Loss was expressed by all group leaders interviewed, from the most recently
founded IRDA to the oldest organization, the ICA. Recently created groups
were founded to protect what they felt was being lost in the ‘‘rural,’’ and
representatives of the older groups spoke of challenges and changes that had
brought loss to the group and communities. Representatives lament change
and express their respective quests to maintain the ‘‘rural,’’ whereas stressing
the interconnection between ‘‘rural’’ and Ireland. When group leaders spoke
of their organizations and their ‘‘rural’’ members, it was with a sense of
justification of purpose and central importance for restoration and most
acutely, future survival, whether it be survival of the group itself, a
continuation of heritage, the survival of a particular Irish ‘‘rural’’ settlement
pattern, or saving a proclaimed Irish social structure.
The IRDA takes a stance against planning regulations that the group
argues are preventing the survival of the townlands, a scattered community
of homes and the lowest-level officially defined geographical unit of land in
Ireland. The group’s reasoning is that by overcoming planners, communities
can have the freedom of development, townlands can be reinvigorated, and
the ‘‘rural’’ in Ireland can survive. The dialog becomes one of the heritage
and saving what is being lost:
One of the saddest most heart-breaking factors of rural life that I’m familiar with is it is
actually dying. Centuries, and in the case of Ireland, thousands of years of culture, of
tradition, is disappearing. It can never be replaced. In Ireland it is particularly sad
because we have such a long tradition of culture, such a long long tradition. And it is in
our literature, this rural. Our music is, our language was. (Connolly, 2008)
This general sense of losing what is Irish and ‘‘rural’’ is targeted by the IRDA
through planning, whereas the KIO, although also trying to preserve the
countryside, takes a protective stance. Trying to prevent what they call a loss
of the old Irish countryside, the KIO association is orientated around saving
green tracks and old paths becoming restricted to the general public because
they are on private property. The goal of the KIO is embedded in an overall
theme of sustaining the Irish heritage of freedom and roaming that they view
as under attack. To prevent this loss, action must be taken, thus the reason
for the formation of the group and the orientation of its future goals.
Our lovely network of tracks and paths, they’ll be lost to future generations unless we
protect them now. They’re pearls of great price and they should be kept. They were green
roads, another word for the old roads where they walked in the old days of persecution.
They’d track across the hills to where they had a flat stone, and they’d have mass in the
hidden valleys. (Murphy, 2008)
For both the IRDA and the KIO, the individual group themes are embedded
in a larger context of loss and saving what is disappearing. This expression of
fear and need to protect what they deem as theirs from outsiders is part of
the theme of loss. ‘‘Rural’’ becomes the expression of this loss.
The same theme of ‘‘rural’’ loss and survival is recurrent in the language of
longer established groups and in the groups’ structural reorientations to
address changing constituencies. Despite their efforts to make these changes,
a major theme in the dialogue of both the Irish Farmers Association (IFA)
and the ICA was that change was made to keep numbers up, whereas the
overall loss of the ‘‘rural’’ was irreparable. Owing to the ‘‘terminal’’ decline of
agriculture, the IFA has created a new branch of their organization, the IFA
Countryside, to try to target nonfarming populations living in the countryside
(Wilkinson, 2008). In doing so, the group is working on counteracting the loss
of ‘‘rural’’ populations by advocating government intervention.
We’re talking about rural decline. It’s very evident. The non-viability of the local
community. They lose the post office. They lose the pub. The countryside is becoming a
difficult place to live without services, and yet they must be maintained. (Wilkinson, 2008)
The original goals of the ICA were to address the, ‘‘higher standard of
material comfort and physical wellbeing in the country home, a more
advanced agricultural economy, and a social existence a little more in
harmony with the intellect and temperament of our people’’ (Plunkett et al.,
1911, p. 2). In December 2007, the organization held a national meeting in
Dublin to discuss its decline and the need to implement further changes to
modernize the organization. The gains for Irish women through ICA are
equated now with loss: An organizational loss and an unclear path for the
122 LOKA ASHWOOD
future, with dwindling membership and an aging constituency. Three options

were presented to voting delegates, one of which was ending the organization
in recognition that it had ‘‘served its purpose’’ (Dennison, 2008). The members
overwhelmingly voted for reinvigoration and not to end the organization.
The expression of a ‘‘lost rural’’ is argued by some not to actually exist
and is classified as an ‘‘idealized notion’’ of the ‘‘rural’’ (Crow & Allan,
1994; Newby, 1977, 1979). Newby (1977), who is still prominently drawn on
today, looks at ‘‘rural’’ loss as a faith that he relates to the ‘‘ultimate rural
idyll – the Garden of Eden’’ (p. 19). In stark contrast to his conclusion that
‘‘rural’’ loss is a belief or a faith in something that has disappeared and the
language employed to express that belief is part of the myth, my research
methodology employs language to understand what the ‘‘rural’’ is, and thus
the language of loss is a integral part of ‘‘rural’’ meaning in the Irish
dialogue. The ‘‘rural’’ is its social expression, and in Ireland, the expression
of the ‘‘rural’’ is loss.
CONCLUSION
The intertwinement of ‘rural’ and ‘loss’ in group dialogue marks a change in
the expression of ‘‘rural’’ in Ireland, a message popularly accepted by the
groups’ supporters. Regardless of categories of current meanings for the
‘‘rural,’’ past interpretation, statistical adoption, or ‘‘rural’’ oriented policy,
the messages these groups are relaying revolve around a ‘‘rural’’ need for
immediate intervention. The object of study becomes less how to categorize a
term used to express a need, or what the ‘‘rural’’ is – an impossible task
considering the variety of meanings conveyed through the term – but how the
word is used as a social expression. Instead of focusing on the problem of
defining the ‘‘rural,’’ by reinvigorating the focus on how the word is used in
different places at different times and allowing it to run a course free from
category, and by effect time or space, the expression becomes the most
important point of study. From this comparatively structure free perspective,
the utilization of ‘‘rural’’ as a mean, rather than an end, allows the freedom to
understand what is so emotive, prone to conflict (Woods, 2003), and explosive
within these groups, communities, or places that label themselves with ‘‘rural.’’
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to thank the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) for
their generous support through the Fred Buttel Award. I would also like to
thank the Social Sciences Research Centre (SSRC) for its funding and the
Arts Faculty at the National University of Ireland, Galway, for awarding a
travel bursary to present on this research.
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policy. Social Policy and Administration, 40(6), 579–595.
CHAPTER 9
RURAL COMMUNITY IN
A GLOBALIZING WORLD
Josefa Salete Barbosa Cavalcanti
ABSTRACT
The community can be considered as an empirical category of thought and

hope. This is how various understandings of real, imagined, invented, local,
and global communities are created. Sociological studies give meaning to
this heuristic category and its historical representations and its values
centered around a world of proximity, primordial loyalties, solidarity,
face-to-face communication, production, reproduction, knowledge, and
environmental preservation. Community equally expresses the existence of
a territory where populations reproduce; a place for a convivial exchange
among generations, traditions, and respect to cultural heritages and ethnic
boundaries. The rural community is seen as the guardian of present and
past histories of groups identified by struggles for subsistence, resistance,
and celebration of memories from ancestors. Community provides the
foundation for sociability and sustainability. In the context of a fluxional,
risky, and individualized society, community members are becoming more
vulnerable as their pleas for solidarity and safety are unheard. Although
the rural community described here has been an object of speculation and
violence that affect our world, the concept of community is still desired.
Accordingly, its relevance is renewed for a prosperous rural future in a
globalizing world.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016012
127
128 JOSEFA SALETE BARBOSA CAVALCANTI
INTRODUCTION
This chapter focuses on understanding the problems that affect the
contemporary world, a world generally characterized by differences and
inequalities in access to commodities, spaces, and territories, as well as serious
environmental problems and weak ties, which make considerable parts of the
population more vulnerable. As Murmis (2003, p. 74) points out, ‘‘this is the
search for bridges in the level of subjects and their groups has also been
followed by the search for connections between old and new organizations’’
because the globalization that would tend to promote homogenization,
considering those mechanisms used to standardize technical procedures for
construction and control of goods, has actually been accentuating hetero-
geneities and raising new barriers that prevent the circulation and promotion
of groups that are more exposed to capital chains and historical derooting
processes. Such aspects cause community members to fight incessantly for
inclusion. To Appadurai (1998, p. 10), ‘‘Globalization has reduced the
distance between elites, shifted key relations between producers and
consumers, broken many links between labor and daily life, obscured the
lines between temporary locals and imaginary national attachments.’’
In today’s world, the various social divisions and barriers imposed to
living in society make the problem of belonging an asset in the struggles of
daily life. The notion of community, as stated by Bauman (2003), becomes an
aspect of sociability and safety, given the human consequences of
globalization. This is why as Appadurai (1998, p. 39) suggests, ‘‘even state
agencies and governments, are trying to monopolize the moral resources of
community.’’ Identity movements constitute an aspect of this fight, aiming to
reduce the barriers among those who easily circulate in the fields of
globalization (Bonanno, 2007) and those who are constantly trying to find a
place in the world to overcome the limits for a future with more inclusion. To
bring the topic of rural communities into focus, more than an academic
activity is needed as a positive strategy to face the future.
RURAL COMMUNITY AS A CONSTRUCT:

PERSISTENCE AND CHALLENGES
Rural community is one of the most critical topics in Sociology since the
golden era of the Chicago School. This school made its contributions
attempting to understand changes in a world which moved from the rural
Rural Community in a Globalizing World 129
area toward the city – a place of specialization, agglomeration, diversity,

and urbanity. All this is in contrast to a world molded by principles and
values that privilege proximity, cooperation, and collective commitment,
according to practices built on daily solidarity and reciprocity in the
boundaries of rurality. Practices most prized by small-sized communities,
such as low population density and close bonds among individuals and
domestic groups, made up the basis of an ideal type that contrasted with the
new model of an urban world.
The cities that made it dynamic were seen as opposed to another ideal type
of folk or rural life, and according to Sjoberg (1965) was never empirically
revealed as such. The notion of that world ‘‘is the idea of community.’’ Here
again, community can be understood as abstract, highly mediated, and
universal; however, as concrete, immediate and particular, as an ideal type,
community and the rural world usually used as synonyms are situated in
contrast to the urban, the city. In the new context, these communities would
constitute the place for a provision of assets, such as goods and labor
commodities, desirable and necessary for a good development of industries,
cities and capitals. In that sense, the city becomes the place.
The essence of urban life is organization, specialization, and industrializa-
tion, contrasted to the essence of rural life; of close contact with nature; of
the interdependence defined by work according to seasonal variations; and of
basic requirements of subsistence and preferential uses of land, agricultural
techniques, and particular ties. Thus, the model that contained a predictable
dissolution of peasantry and consequently of peasant communities revealed
itself as little effective in the long run. As stated by Goodman and Redclift
(1981), this transformation and its consequences were postponed for an
indefinite period, bringing those peasants to a situation of threatened
permanence as also suggested by Garcia (1990).
Such a finding fed new demands and appeals for public policies, so that at
last the communities and their populations would be recognized and
legitimized and finally included as objects of public policies (Bonanno, 1987).
Peasant movements that marked the 20th century raised an alert about the
permanence of spaces, communities, social categories, and areas of
production and knowledge, based traditionally on the uses of land and
agriculture. These rural spaces were characterized by particular ways of using
social-economical-environmental practices and were redefined, because of
the reconceptualization of a world of qualities (Cavalcanti, 2006).
The rural quality attribute of the communities that is maintained
according to a particular lifestyle has contributed to the reconfiguration
of territories formed by counties. In the case of Brazil, these territories did
not exceed 20,000 inhabitants, as stated by Wanderley (2000). Such

territories are characterized by close ties with agricultural practices and
particular relationships with a culture defined by values inherent to peasant
communities and are constituted in the core of rural life.
Conversely, advances in the consumer society and new contexts of
production organization are generating a desire, an ideal of community and
rurality under new pretenses and meaning in the fields of food production
and an offer of amenities to urban populations.
RURAL COMMUNITY TERRITORIES OF

TRADITIONS AND MEMORIES
Rural communities are reinvented as the guardians of the natural resources of
earth, water, forests, and fauna, besides their traditional roles as farmers and
maintainers of the community (Meillassoux, 1981, 1997). Rural communities
that would be a place to shelter youngsters and the elderly in situations of
risk or due to the fragile relationship between consumers and workers
(Chayanov, 1985) continue to be required to answer to the demands of
social, demographic, and environmental balance, according to practices
recognized by peasant societies.
However, in spite of those aspects, rural communities were previously
challenged by capitalism, under the expectation that upon the elimination of
the symbolic framework that involved the ideal of communities, the main
institutions of capitalism would deal with workers who were free from the
ties of tradition and community duty.
As Bauman (2003, p. 33) stated (based on Marx and Engels), modern
capitalism, in its efforts to transform all institutions that are concrete, would
include ‘‘the self-sustained and self-reproductive’’ communities to make way
for others forged according to the new factories’ disciplines and routines.
There was the expectation of a dissolution or disappearance of these
communities and the feelings gathered in their populations and lifestyles,
governed by the loyalties and respect to local customs and traditions.
According to Bauman (2003, p. 34), ‘‘a rigorous disciplinary regimen, closely
supervised, filled in the opening caused by the disappearance of natural
understanding and consent, which formerly regulated the course of human
life.’’ However, these loyalties, attributed to the past, did not lose their
symbolic power in the present.
Recently, the recovery, or as Hobsbawm & Ranger (1983) put it, the
reinvention of the tradition of proximity, good practices and memory,
brought about another quality to the newly defined or reorganized territories

following the appeals of a designation of origin for the new commodities that
circulate in the markets and in the peoples’ communal. It is through linkages
between new capitals – symbolic, social, and economical – that such territories
and rural communities have been gaining popularity now (Bourdieu, 1974).
Primitive farmers and peasants developed strategies that promoted the
protection of their territorial limits and the dissemination of practices valued
by the group. The demarcation of territories according to such practices
constitutes rights, although disputable, in view of the continuous advances of
different types of capital.
In Brazil, these practices of delimitation and recognition of territories and
communities that give life to these traditions are part of the new diversity
map drawn up by the communities, according to ethnic development
strategies that promoted rural communities made of black people as well as
traditional and native communities recognized by agents of development
and multiculturalism. Those previously nonacknowledged communities
were included in the new flows of globalization. As spaces of leisure,
environmental protection, conservation, acknowledgment, and control of
biodiversity, these ideal communities are included among the new constructs
of those who dream of a world of freedom, prosperity, and recognition.
These ideal communities refrain from being spaces of backwardness, and
poverty constitute spaces of dynamicity and leisure in which new emerging
social classes circulate. Furthermore, moved by recognition processes and the
rights of traditional populations, united by ethnic contours of generation and
reinterpretation of gender relationships (Wortmann, 1992), these commu-
nities are a target for new interpretations being studied in the field of family
and youth studies also (Bokemeier, 1997). Equally, new lifestyles and the
appeals of consumer society transform the new spaces of rural communities
and their inhabitants. Thus, the recent globalization phase seems to signal to
the various facets of rurality. Marsden, Murdoch, Low, Munton, and Flynn
(1993, pp. 185–191) define such processes as leading to the existence of a
differentiating countryside: preserved, contested, paternalistic, and clientelist.
The green conscience, the threats to biodiversity or to the planet’s thermic
regulation, and the increase in retirees who experience the benefits of a
retirement fully guaranteed pension (Veiga, 2004) are promoting a new
movement of populations from cities to fields, although exploitation and
clientelist ties acknowledged by literature equally persist or are redefined.
Referring to how these ties highlight factions of Brazilian peasantry and the
peasants’ restricted access to land, Forman (1975, p. 71) affirms ‘‘that
controlled access to land requires Brazilian peasants to seek ties with people
who are more advantageously placed within the stratification system.’’ For
Meillassoux (1981, p. 3), ‘‘the agricultural domestic community is an
integrated form of social organization which has existed since the Neolithic
period and upon which still depends an important part of the labor power
necessary to the development of capitalism.’’
BRAZILIAN TERRITORIES OF DIVERSITY
The agricultural development model adopted in Brazil during its coloniza-

tion was based on slavery and monoculture and left few opportunities for
subsistence crops and formation of rural communities. The sugar planta-
tions and later cotton production and extensive cattle-raising determined the
nondemocratic uses of national territory. The authoritarian model of slave
control, which extended to the rural workers who succeeded them, reveals
how the practices of integrating small farmers and the freedmen to the land
were antidemocratic as Andrade (1973) suggests.
These limits, however, did not impede the formation of localities and
small farms or communities, studied by Queiroz (1973) and Candido (1982)
in the South of Brazil and by Wagley (1964) in the Amazon. These
contributions are valuable; they reveal agricultural practices of sociability,
mutual aid, and cultural patrimony that guaranteed the persistence of these
communities through time. Other studies regarding the integration of
immigrants of Japanese, Italian, and German origins also reveal how new
communities were formed, supported by colonization projects aimed at
ensuring coffee farms and other cultivations.
The cultural diversity and traditions celebrated in the globalization context
reveal possibilities for processes of inclusion and the strengthening of the
communities in which ethnic dimensions must be considered, proved by the
specific case of fruticulture in the San Francisco Valley in the Brazilian
Northeast. After 100 years of Japanese immigration in Brazil, these
traditions continue to be highlighted in an environment where Northeastern
and Italian immigrants are also included as elements of the prosperity
encountered in certain spaces and territories of fruticulture exportation in the
Northeastern Brazil (Cavalcanti, 1999; 2008; Pires, 2004).
In a discussion of community labels or concepts, analyzed by Caron and
Sabourin (2003:147), ‘‘Nowadays, the term community was retaken by
community action programs and projects that supported family farmers
by the Brazilian government.’’ Many forms of cooperation arise, from
mutual help practices to proximity networks, unions, syndicates, producer
associations, revealing a diversity of organizations that complement each

other to build an organized action, delegate responsibilities, and organize
producers in face of external demands.
Equally, there is a notion of community present in a fluid manner, as a
democratic value of a new organized citizen movement in Brazil’s Landless
Workers Movement (Scherer-Warren & Ferreira, 2002, pp. 253–254). This
agenda expresses the ideals of solidarity, and the material objective – the
land – is not enough. Attaining these goals may require fights for social
rights and the formation of people.
Lima and Wilkinson (2002, p. 30) also used the expression organized
territories when analyzing scientific and technological support programs
for the settlements of agrarian reform and family agriculture as promoters
of the quality for competitive reinsertion of family agriculture in Brazil.
As stated by Fialho (2006, p. 46),
the fight for the acknowledgement of territories of so-called traditional rural populations
by the national government, according to ethnic dimensions that mark the recent
territories of diversities, such as indigenous, black rural communities, extrativistas
(extract and gather groups) ribeirinhos (those who get their provisions from river
borders), among others, have brought into surface the complexity and heterogeneity of a
population that is generally categorized as rural.
Regarding black populations, Acevedo and Castro (1997, pp. 374–398,

1998) examine how black rural communities, based on over two centuries of
occupation, distinguish themselves from traditional ones in Amazonian
territories, moved by ‘‘the common need to conquer territories that enable
these groups to be safeguarded from threats and build new ways of
permanent social organization,’’ this peasant group is integrated in a weave
of sociocultural relationships based on history, the memory of the quilombo
(a hiding place of runaway slaves), ‘‘incorporated in the present as a social
project of remaining in the conquered lands.’’
THE RURAL COMMUNITY IN A FLUXIONAL,

RISKY, AND INDIVIDUALIZED SOCIETY
Rural communities are generally said to be different from what Anderson

established as imagined communities, although Anderson (1991) himself
came to consider, ‘‘Actually, all the communities bigger than the primordial
settlements where there was a face to face contact (and maybe even these)
are imagined.’’
Given the limits of this research, the indication of these movements of

construction and renewal of communities are processes only occurring in
territories delimited by history, memory, and knowledge that make it
possible to explain the permanent formation processes of imagined and real
communities, capable of facing the challenges of our time.
However, the impact of capital on rural areas was a continuous
dissolution of these communities. This caused problems for capital’s
developmental goals that were despised by the local workers. In addition,
the industries were not committed to the community; their strong
concentration was on production businesses, not on people.
The imposition of this production model, more and more, was attentive to
productivity and strong worker control that caused constraints in the daily
lives of the people, and therefore, the industries became a target of contro-
versy. Thus, the multiple forms of resistance that emerged on the grounds of
the factories or in agri-industrial fields signaled the feebleness of the model
(Scott, 1979).
The challenges and conflicts that developed in this area of power were
significant for unveiling the limits of a system that developed without
concern for the future of the workers. As Shanin (1987) states, the deliberate
dissolution of peasantry and the little attention given by the academy to the
demarches of so-called peasant communities removed these societies from the
sight and context of public policies and the state. The overexploitation of the
workforce and the imposition of rent requirements (Wolf, 1970) on family
farms, as well as the types of control over workers, expose the perverse face
of the new routine imposed by the capital and the conditions of this social
question. As Murmis (2003, p. 74) points out [my translation from the
Spanish text],
To handle the social question today requires the search for ways that enable a confluence
between the problems from different social layers and a variety of institutions. Knowing
the diversity, the fragile ties and the strong bonds can help us to incorporate the
demands and focused projects, the universal components our nations need.
In a globalization context, the origin of commodities is questioned, as are

the workers who along with the commodities make up the new social actor
subjected to outside control. The strict limits on demands and lack of
expectation of reliance in a risky society caused a narrowing of the
relationship between producers and consumers, as well as increasing control
over workers (Giddens, 1991). In his analyses regarding the flows that make
up the network society, Manuel Castells (1996) draws attention to the way
technological innovations contributed to great changes in the production of
commodities and services that develop under the coordination of commodity

chains that controlled building and circulation processes. Equally, for Lash
and Urry (1994), the movements generated by the capital promote the
circulation of commodities and workers who leave their communities and
become integrated in the wheels of globalization. Many communities stay
out of this apparently global dynamic. Alongside new regional hierarchies,
there are vast territories that tend to become more and more excluded from
the large dynamics that feed the growth of global economy.
Conversely, when analyzing new patterns of farming and rural livelihood
emerging in Latin America in the 21st century, Long and Roberts (2005,
p. 77) call attention to the large impact of the expansion in the production of
soy in Brazil, in the areas of implementation, and indirectly through the
expulsion of existing rural population and expose the frailty of these new
rural spaces; ‘‘even those extracting a living from agriculture maintain
houses in town and more basic shelter in the rural hinterland.’’ The same
is also observed in the fruticulture region in the San Francisco Valley
(Cavalcanti, Mota, & Silva, 2002).
However, this apparent exclusion of rural communities from these large
capital movements is contested. Empirical evidence regarding the status of
these communities in the process of building new sustainability and rurality
models are challenging the new North/South relationships. Analysis of the
different processes of new ruralities and urbanization aspects promoted by
the expansion of cultivations that affect the rural livelihoods of the involved
populations should be undertaken.
The implementation of environmentally healthy practices and the provision
of spaces and natural amenities, ‘‘sources of energy and biodiversity,’’
promote a super valorization or reinvention of these communities (Lash &
Urry, 1994, p. 316) as promoters of quality of life and a healthier environment.
RURAL COMMUNITY MEANINGS AND

RELEVANCE FOR A PROSPEROUS FUTURE
The differences and inequalities that expand with the globalization process,
accentuated in their aspects of culture, gender, ethnicity, nation, religion,
generation and the context of labor through specializations, qualifications
and restricted access to labor markets, technology and knowledge must be
considered (Long, 1996, p. 37). It is essential to inquire about the impact of
these conditions in the course of subjects and communities they are bound to,
in specific conjunctures and historical contexts, which is an economy of signs

and spaces (Lash & Urry, 1994; Silva, 1999; Sigaud, 1992) in which the
mobility and the permanent itinerancy of the subjects are registered.
The social movements that emerged in the three past decades of the 20th
century (Scherer-Warren, 1984) set the ground for contending how
unsustainable the adopted development models were and still are. The green
movements and those of fighting for the land and other natural resources
signaled critical issues related to the use of the environment, water, and
labor. There were significant changes in how to live and guarantee the
subsistence and survival in contemporary societies. Changes that took place
contributed to the generation of more unsustainable forms of development
because of a conception of the world without recognizing the transitory
character of the available resources and the need to discuss the choices made
(Braun & Castree, 1998; Sen & Foster, 1997). For thousands of years and
especially in the past centuries, predatory ways of penetrating the globe’s
natural layers were accentuated to attend to the demands of a privileged part
of the population.
The consequences of these actions for other groups were not questioned,
and they ended up losing control of their own subsistence. Thus, particular
ways of conceiving the world and managing its resources lead to the
destruction of communities, cultures, local knowledge, practices of territory
demarcation, and the acknowledgment of sociability spaces of diverse
populations. The numerous social movements that were organized in the last
decades of the 20th century to contest the abuses on populations and the
environment were anchored on proposals that were polarized between save
nature and manage nature in this mine field of ambiguities.
In these movements, barriers to the use of resources and knowledge were
contested, considering the dominating structures of power. Exercising
citizenship is a battlefield between those who control the commodities and
the landless, the roofless, and the justice-less people. At this point, it is
necessary to point to the role of community for the governance of natural
resources. The governance in this field requires various partnerships, as
those that bring together state activities and communities, or in Lawrence
(2005, p. 149) word, when ‘‘state activities are supplemented by a network of
self organized actors’’ or self-governing communities, and are considered the
core of sustainable development and democratic life.
More and more, it is recognized that globalization, when trying to
homogenize the forms of consumption, means of communication, and
circulation of exotic foods to make them known in different parts of
the world at an unprecedented speed and standardization, makes the
limitations to some and excess to others more visible (Friedland, 1994).

Evidence suggests that a great part of the world’s population works to
ensure the quality of these commodities, according to compatible
standards and images of the lifestyles that are structured under the
labels of quality of life (Featherstone, 1991) and facilities for the
flow that enable transportation to previously unimagined communities.
Territories are constructed according to a process of invention of tradi-
tions and community memories, including community historical representa-
tions, as aggregated values to the services and other goods produced to
consumers.
CONCLUSIONS
The analytic effort herein carried out also makes apparent the possibilities
and forms of resistance to the barriers imposed by those who hold the
power. It is also necessary to realize how powerful these transversal alliances
are among those inspired by the desires and needs for the permanence of
rural communities and others that are reconstructed through identity
processes and who fight for inclusion in new labor worlds, for the
acknowledgment of rights, territories, and cultures.
The imagined communities and the real material ones that resist
continuous exclusion that come about in the daily lives of men, women,
elderly, youngsters, and children in our times reveal processes of
identification that emerge, because the hard part of the world of factories
and work became meaningless for many who were excluded and strayed
from the present, as Meillassoux (1997) would convey. Thus, it is possible to
state that rural communities, in their new and old acceptations, transformed
and updated, are continuously strengthened in their virtuous effects in spite
of the capital’s continuous threats and advances. Hope remains that
meaningful institutions should be constituted for a prosperous future, with
equity, acknowledgment of rights, and the triumph over hardships, for this
is how we are inspired.
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CHAPTER 10
ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS AND

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
IN RURAL AUSTRALIA
Kirrily Jordan, Branka Krivokapic-Skoko and

Jock Collins
ABSTRACT
Non-Anglo-Celtic immigrants have transformed Australian rural land-
scape through the construction of public and private spaces expressing
their cultural heritage. These sites can also significantly impact the
dynamics of social cohesion and intercultural relations in multicultural
rural communities. This chapter links heritage and multiculturalism in
rural settings and explores the potential role of the sites built by rural
ethnic minorities in facilitating intra- and intergroup social networks.
The chapter is divided into two parts. The first part briefly explores the
literature on immigration and heritage, place, belonging and social
cohesion, and the relationship between social capital and the built
environment. The second part outlines preliminary empirical findings from
Griffith in New South Wales. Using the concepts of intercultural dialogue
and bonding and bridging social capital, the chapter explores the role of
the places built by Italian immigrants in facilitating social networks and
improved relations within and between Griffith’s ethnic communities.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016013
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142 KIRRILY JORDAN ET AL.
INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, issues of ethnicity and diversity have tended to be more
associated with urban settings. There are some recent indicators of shifts
among scholars and policy makers in terms of recognizing multiculturalism,
ethnicity, social cohesion, and intercultural exchange within the rural
environment. Ethnic diversity in rural areas has been signposted by a
considerable debate examining relations between the concepts of ‘‘otherness,’’
marginalization, ethnic landscape, and rurality (Holloway, 2007; Neal, 2002;
Williams, 2007; Ray & Reed, 2005; Knowles, 2008; Garland & Chakraborti,
2007).
There has been a strong focus on the role of rurality as a signifier of an
exclusive and white national identity. For instance, Agyeman and Spooner
(1997) addressed the nature of racism in the context of the English
countryside and referred to a series of reports of the 1990s which found an
extensive amount of racial violence, harassment and a resistance to the
arrival of incomers into rural communities. Similarly, Holloway (2007),
Neal (2002), Williams (2007), Ray and Reed (2005), Knowles (2008), and
Garland and Chakraborti (2007) investigated the experience of other ethnic
groups within the English countryside, highlighting the problems with
increasing ethnic diversity in the predominantly white populations. They all
pointed to the need to look beyond the idyllic and static representations of
the rural environment and combine this romanticized notion with the reality
of ethnic exclusivity.
There has been comparatively little research on immigration, ethnic
diversity and rurality in Australia, or on the relationship between
immigrants and place in these settings. We argue that the contemporary
research on rural ethnic landscape should be broadened to discuss the
impact of different ethnic groups on the built environment of rural
townships. The immigrants settling down in rural areas have transformed
the rural landscapes through the construction of public and private spaces
expressing their cultural heritage. These sites can significantly impact the
dynamics of social cohesion and intercultural relations in multicultural rural
communities. This chapter links the built environment and immigration in
rural Australia and explores the potential role of the sites built by rural
ethnic minorities in facilitating intra- and intergroup social networks. The
built environment may be seen as a ‘‘form of expression.’’ It is a ‘‘mode
of communication through which people express to others something
about themselves, their values, aspirations, needs and desires’’ (Lalich, 2003,
p. 41). Viewing the built environment as a manuscript of social and cultural
Italian Immigrants and the Built Environment in Rural Australia 143
processes, the Australian built landscape is a rich source of information

about major demographic, cultural, and political change. However, until
recently the places built by non-Anglo-Celtic immigrants in Australia have
remained largely overlooked in studies of the built environment, particularly
in rural areas.
This chapter first outlines the literature on the immigration, place,
belonging, and social cohesion, and the relationship between social capital
and the built environment. The chapter then outlines some preliminary
empirical findings from applying these concepts to the sites built by Italian
immigrants to Griffith, a regional city in south-western National Trust of
Australia (NSW). Griffith is an outstanding example of a regional town
characterized by a high degree of cultural diversity. Based on preliminary
fieldwork involving a small pilot survey carried out in August 2006 and in-
depth interviews completed in January 2007, the chapter investigates the
significance of the recently built Italian Museum and Cultural Centre to
Italian immigrants to Griffith and their descendants, as well as the role of
the Museum in intercultural relations. It also explores the social significance
of Griffith’s four Italian club houses.
IMMIGRATION AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Winikoff (1992) has argued that ‘‘the material evidence of ethnic minority
settlement is rarely celebrated’’ in Australia and that there is ‘‘an obvious
bias in favour of British influence’’ in research on the Australian built
environment (Lalich, 2003, p. 3). This lack of attention has been partially
redressed in recent years with a growing literature on ‘‘cultural landscapes’’
recognizing the places built by non-Anglo-Celtic immigrants (Armstrong,
1997, 2002). This literature has explored the ways in which landscapes can
be read as ‘‘texts,’’ based on the ‘‘proposition that places/landscapes are
physical representations of public history awaiting interpretation’’ (Arm-
strong, 2002, p. 206).
A major theme within this literature is the sense of place individuals and
communities create through enacting their cultural traditions in the spaces
they inhabit (Armstrong, 2002; Babacan, 2005). Hage (1997) has described
this as part of a process of ‘‘home building’’ which may involve changes to
the physical landscape as well as changes to the social landscape through
language, food and cultural practices in an attempt to build a comfortable
and familiar space in which immigrants feel they can belong.
Some of the places built by non-Anglo-Celtic immigrants in Australia have

become iconic sites or landscapes in their own right. Perhaps the most obvious
of the places built by immigrant minorities are the grand places of worship,
such as the Auburn Gallipoli Mosque in Sydney’s West, or the Guru Nanak
Sikh Temple in Woolgoolga on the north coast of NSW. But immigrant
minorities have also built less immediately striking facilities including cultural
centers, social clubs, schools, and aged care facilities. Together, these sites can
be understood as ‘‘multicultural monuments’’ (Dunn, 1999) – records of
Australia’s cultural diversity in its built environment.
Immigrant minorities have also had a dramatic influence on Australia’s
commercial spaces. In some instances, the businesses established by
immigrants have become iconic places in the local landscape. As Collins
(2003) has described, in the mid-twentieth century the Greek milk bar and
Chinese restaurant became key symbols of immigrant diversity in almost
every Australian suburb and country town. Indeed, he suggests that in this
way ethnic entrepreneurs have been the ‘‘vanguard of cultural diversity’’ in
this country, pushing forward into Anglo-Celtic Australia at the front lines
(Collins, 2003, p. 10).
Increasingly, the iconic places built by immigrant minorities are being seen
as assets by local authorities (Collins & Kunz, 2005). For example, individual
sites and ‘‘ethnic precincts’’ – such as Chinatowns, Spanish Quarters, and
Little Italy’s (Anderson, 1990; Kinkead, 1993) – may be promoted as tourist
attractions, with the ‘‘culture industries’’ such as tourism and the arts seen as
the new engine of economic growth in global cities (Zukin, 1995) as well as
rural areas (Noussia, 2003). In this context, Helzer (2001) has moved beyond
seeing the ethnic landscape as a simple indicator of the persistence of identity
among group members. In exploring the emergence of a ‘‘Cal-Ital’’ landscape
in northern California’s wine industry she outlines how efforts to introduce
consumers to Italian wines have led to reinvention, ‘‘cultural packaging’’ and
marketing of Italian heritage.
One useful way of understanding the role of place in interethnic relations
is through the concept of social capital. The usefulness of the concept of
social capital to a study of social cohesion is most obvious in the notions of
‘‘bonding’’ and ‘‘bridging’’ social capital, where bonding social capital is
understood as strong ties within a group and bridging social capital is
understood as weaker ties between groups (Woolcock & Narayan, 2000;
Onyx & Bullen, 2000; Putnam, 2000). Characteristics of bonding social
capital include trust and networks of reciprocity within the group, whereas
characteristics of bridging social capital include trust of strangers (Putnam,
2000) and tolerance of difference (Onyx & Bullen, 2000).
The benefits of strong ‘‘bonding’’ social capital have been much debated.
Putnam (2000), for example, has noted that while networks and norms are
usually good for those within the network, they can have negative effects on
those outside. He suggests that while bonding social capital creates ‘‘strong
in-group loyalty,’’ it ‘‘may also create strong out-group antagonism’’
(Putnam, 2000, p. 23). That is, close communal ties may hinder interaction
between groups. However, Onyx and Bullen (2000) argue that while strong
bonding within communities may be associated with exclusivity and
intolerance of others, this is not necessarily the case. In research conducted
in several Australian communities, they found a ‘‘small but positive’’
relationship between strong connections within communities and tolerance
of diversity (Onyx & Bullen, 2000, p. 38). Hence, they argue that it is
possible to have both strong bonding capital and bridging between
communities, although ‘‘we cannot y expect it to follow’’ (Onyx & Bullen,
2000, p. 38). Leonard and Onyx (2004) argue further that strong bonds
within communities may actually facilitate stronger bonds between groups,
with society being a ‘‘mesh’’ of bonded communities with some strong ties
between them. Interestingly, Onyx and Bullen (2000) suggest that while rural
communities are likely to have strong bonding social capital, they are less
likely than urban areas to have significant bridging social capital, so that
minority groups in rural areas are less likely to receive support.
Studies of the relationship between social capital and the built
environment have explored the social impacts of neighbourhood design
(Leyden, 2003) and urban and regional museums (Burton & Griffin, 2006).
As Burton and Griffin (2006) note, in positing a link between buildings and
social capital a further conceptual point must be clarified. That is, unless the
previous stock of social capital is known, it cannot be assumed that the
current stock was entirely created by the presence of the building. Hence,
rather than measuring the stock of social capital, a more productive
approach is to examine how the ‘‘programs, policies, and activities’’
associated with the building lead to increases or decreases in social capital
(Burton & Griffin, 2006, p. 4).
ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS AND THE BUILT

ENVIRONMENT: GRIFFITH, NEW SOUTH WALES
Griffith, a small rural town of around 24,000 people, is located in the Riverina
region south-west of NSW. It is one of the largest wine and vegetable
production areas in Australia. It has a long history of multiculturalism, with
the Wiradjuri, the Indigenous owners of the land, joined by Anglo-Celtic

immigrants in the early nineteenth century and southern European
immigrants (particularly Italians) since the early 1900s. The first Italian
immigrants to Griffith were mainly Trevisani from the Veneto region of
northern Italy. Subsequent immigrants came from many other regions of
Italy: before World War II they were mostly from the northern provinces,
especially from the north-east of Veneto and Friuli (Piazza, 2005; Huber,
1981). Following World War II a new wave of Italian immigrants arrived, this
time mostly from the southern regions, particularly Calabria and Sicilia
(Piazza, 2005, p. 10, 19). Those from the south eventually came to outnumber
those from the north (Kabaila, 2005, p. 53). Other Italian immigrants came
from Abruzzo, Toscana, Piemonte, Marche, and Campagna (Piazza, 2005, p.
10, 19). Recent estimates put the proportion of the population in Griffith with
Italian ancestry at up to 60 per cent of the total population (Sims, 2004) and
some ‘‘Italian’’ families are now into their fifth generation in Australia
(Kabaila, 2005).
The influence of Italian immigrants on Griffith’s built environment is
evident in, among other things, the Italian Coro and Yoogali clubs, the
Italian Museum and Cultural Centre, the Scalabrini retirement village and
the Our Lady of Pompeii and Sacred Heart Catholic Churches. In addition,
many of the town’s public buildings were built by Italian immigrants and
their descendants. Although the evidence is subtle, several Italian
immigrants have also expressed their heritage through ‘‘ethnic nostalgia’’
in their homes (Kabaila, 2005, p. 127). For example, several of the homes in
Griffith have adopted Italian elements such as elaborate metalwork fences
or arched verandas. On the outskirts of town, the Italian influence on some
farming houses is also apparent, incorporating Italian-style columns or
statues of lions, the latter a symbol of Venice.
Construction of the Griffith Italian Museum and Cultural Centre was
completed in 2003. A 2005 study of local history recommended the Museum
be listed on local and state heritage registers for its ‘‘high significance to the
Italian community’’ (Kabaila, 2005). The museum traces the history of
Italian immigrants to Griffith and the surrounding region. Photographs and
artifacts point to the central role of Italian immigrants in the economic and
cultural development of the town. They are a clear illustration that Italian
immigrants and their descendants not only belong to Griffith but were an
integral part of its growth.
The design of the building was deliberately inclusive. It is intended to
reflect both Griffith’s Italian heritage and Australian rurality, with the front
of the building consisting of Italian columns and arches with a torre, or bell
Fig. 1. The Griffith Italian Museum and Cultural Centre.
tower, that is reminiscent of building designs in Italian villages (Kabaila,

2005, p. 151). The back of the building with its corrugated iron roof
represents a common rural Australian shed (Fig. 1). One of the members of
the original museum committee, a middle-aged man with Italian heritage,
here called Lorenzo, described the significance of the design:
This was meant to mould the two communities together, the Anglo-Saxon and the
Italian y the building had the arches and the tiled roof at the entrance as a portico, and
that’s typically Italian, and then the rest of the building is in zinc alum iron, which is
styled like a shearing shed, like an early Riverina shearing shed, so that the two came
together y Rather than build a typically Italian building we just wanted to show the
community that we wanted, we weren’t being divisive, and here it is, a building that it
achieved, that the two cultures could meet and live together. (Interview G2)
A major event that occurs in the grounds adjacent to the museum is the
annual Festa Delle Salsicce (Salami Festival), organized by the Italian
Museum Committee. The festival is a fundraiser for the museum and was
originally conceived as a way to showcase the museum to the public. The
festival was first held in 2003 and has grown steadily, in 2008 attracting
around 600 people including locals of both Italian and Anglo-Celtic

heritage, as well as visitors from other states (Pattison, 2008).
The relationship of the museum to social cohesion among Italians and
Italian Australians in Griffith is complex. According to Joe, an elderly Italian
immigrant who is on the current museum committee, one aim of the museum
is to remind young Italian Australians about their cultural backgrounds and
the heritage of Griffith’s Italian pioneers (Interview G5, not his real name).
The museum’s visitor book shows that the site has certainly been visited by
these younger generations, particularly those attending with school groups.
As well as being important for a sense of identity and belonging for first
generation immigrants, places built in their new environment can also be
central to the transmission of culture to future generations. This has
important implications for cultural continuity and the intergenerational
sustainability of minority cultures in multicultural environments.
When the original idea of the museum was proposed, there was
widespread enthusiasm from within Griffith’s Italian-origin community.
For example, many Italian groups – including regional associations (such as
the Abruzzo, Calabrian group, Trevisani, Veronesi, Vicentini, and Fogolar
Furlan), armed forces groups (such as the Alpini and Marinai D’Italia) and
sports and social groups (such as local bocce clubs, the Italian Sports Club
and the Italian Republic Day Committee) – generously donated funds
(Piazza, 2005, p. 53). But the museum has also aroused tension and division
within the Italian-origin community. For example, there is some perception
that the museum is largely a celebration of northern Italian heritage. This
highlights a longstanding tension between northern and southern Italian
immigrants to this area. As current committee member Angelo explains, the
broader Italian community in Griffith:
thought that there was an overbearance of northerners in the committee, or not only on
the committee, but also what was going to be displayed y So that alienated the groups
from the south, who thought ‘this is a northern thing’. And I don’t think that’s waned
yet, I think that’s still there. They feel that the committee, that it’s mainly the northerners
that want to y establish it and therefore put their ideas which is a bit of a shame.
(Interview G7, not his real name)
In addition, with the museum’s curator deciding on a minimalist display,

a large number of items donated to the museum by the local community
have been retained in storage. Many people have consequently been upset
that their cherished belongings have not been included in the museum’s
public display.
The Festa Delle Salsicce adds yet another layer of complexity to the
impact of the museum on relations within the Italian-origin community. For
example, the festival involves traditional Italian music, dancing and food,
with food and wine for the day donated by local businesses and an Italian-
style lunch cooked by local women. These processes can be seen as part of
community-building through shared traditions as well as an operationaliz-
ing of informal networks in organizing and preparing for the day. In this
way, it can be seen that the museum has played a role in developing social
networks among some Italians and Italian-Australians, whereas at the same
time decisions over the museum’s display have played into existing tensions
and arguably undermined trust among other members of the community.
The Italian Museum and Cultural Centre also impacts the relations
between ethnic groups in Griffith. Visitors include locals from Anglo-Celtic,
Italian, and Pacific Islander backgrounds, as well as diverse groups from
local primary schools. The Festa Delle Salsicce provides opportunities for
participatory intercultural exchange. A scoping survey of those at the
festival asked people if they thought that the festival was meaningful, and, if
so, why. Many said it was an opportunity to catch up with old friends and
spend time with other long-time residents, with one respondent commenting
that ‘‘We’re all local people, part and parcel of our community’’ (Interview
G5). A number of people also commented on the mixing of cultures. For
example, one respondent argued that:
[It’s meaningful] because it’s all the different nationalities y it’s nice and harmonious,
there’s no hate y For integration it’s really great’’. (Interview G8)
Another suggested that:

[It’s meaningful because it’s] seeing the heritage of the past, Italian heritage, and there’s
other people who get involved too. It’s very pleasant to see that – everybody
amalgamates. (Interview G3)
The opportunity provided by the Festa Delle Salsicce to strengthen and

develop informal networks between the Anglo-Celtic and Italian-origin
communities suggests that the festival, and hence the museum, can have an
important role in interethnic dialogue.
Although the Griffith Italian Museum and Cultural Centre is a relatively
new building, Griffith has been home to a number of ‘‘Italian’’ club houses
for a much longer period. Although these were originally established by
Griffith’s Italian immigrants, today they are recognized much more as public
recreational clubs. There are four Italian club houses in Griffith and
surrounds. The first to be built was the Italo-Australian Club, established in
1937 at the Coronation Hall. The club was forced to close during World War
II, and when it re-opened after the war it became the Coronation Club. Today
it exists as the Coro Club. In 1946, both the Yoogali and Yoogali Catholic
Clubs were opened, followed by the Hanwood Catholic Club in 1955.
The clubs have been key places where Griffith’s Italian immigrants have
forged their sense of belonging. In particular, they have been used to
maintain cultural traditions such as bocce and Italian card games while also
speaking Italian dialects. This allowed Griffith’s Italian immigrants to create
a space to feel at home and secure in their new environment. For example,
Joe, the elderly Italian immigrant referred to earlier, suggests that without
these clubs, he would not have stayed in Australia:
There was a dance there [at the Coronation Hall] on a Saturday night and that’s how we
met, yes, even that was something that was lovely to newcomer. If it wasn’t those for
those places there, I would not stay here in Australia, no, I would go back to Italy.
Otherwise live here like animals, you know, you got nothing. So, we started to build
things y and started to build up here a good community until we felt y it was good to
live here. (Interview G5)
As Armstrong (1994) has argued, such sites are important parts of the
inheritance of contemporary society and facilitate a way of life or continuing
cultural practices. They can play a valuable role in transmitting culture,
educating the public, and facilitating social and cultural exchange. The clubs
Italian immigrants built in Griffith can be regarded as an adaptation of a
traditional osteria and simultaneously as media for partial integration
(Huber, 1981, p. 56). These processes can be seen as part of immigrant
adaptation to a new Australian landscape where ethnic groups who build
their own community facilities demonstrate that they have ‘‘roots in
transferred cultures’’ as well as being firmly embedded in the local context
and social space (Lalich, 2003, p. 11).
Our fieldwork also suggested that the four Italian clubs were built, at least
in part, as a response to the exclusion Italian immigrants felt from
mainstream society. Tony, an elderly Italian immigrant who arrived in
Griffith as a young man, stated explicitly that:
The reason why the Italian clubs were first initiated was that we were not allowed to join
the Ex-Servicemen’s Club, or what was then the Jondaryan Club. I was barred from
entering the Ex-Servicemen’s Club after a football game. I was playing football for
Griffith, and all the team went in after the game and I was stopped at the door. So I then
took on board the Italian clubs and patronized them. (Interview G1, not his real name)
It can be argued that the establishment of the Italian clubs was, therefore,
a way of claiming citizenship through the social use of space. Like the Italian
Museum and Cultural Centre, Griffith’s Italian clubs tell a complex story
about place and social cohesion in an ethnically mixed rural city. A number
of the clubs have had a historic association with Italians from a particular
region. For example, when the Yoogali Catholic Club was opened, it
specifically excluded southern Italians. Today, the membership is more
mixed, but the members who are Italian migrants are still predominantly
from the north. In contrast, the Yoogali Club, located immediately next
door to the Yoogali Catholic Club, is today seen as a predominantly
southern Italian club. The Hanwood Catholic Club has taken a different
trajectory. Tony, the elderly immigrant introduced earlier, suggests that the
club was instrumental in building relations between northern and southern
Italians, as well as aiding integration with the non-Italian club members:
The Hanwood Club was in trouble and it looked like closing down y There was
disenchantment with the board of directors or committee at the time y [there were]
Italian factions from different regions of Italy. At the time the different factions wouldn’t
fratonise. (Interview G1)
Although being flavored with intra-ethnic tensions and competition, the

Italian clubs have made a point of being open to non-Italians. Today,
members of the clubs are of diverse ethnic backgrounds, from Anglo-Celtic
to Pacific Islanders. For these reasons, the clubs are no longer popularly
known as being ‘‘Italian.’’ The mixed membership of the clubs has provided
a forum for members to meet and socialize with people from other cultures,
as well as helping the Italian immigrants to make connections beyond the
Italian community.
CONCLUSIONS
The buildings examined in this chapter are just a few of the sites through
which the Griffith region’s non-Anglo-Celtic immigrants and their
descendants have enacted and expressed their belonging to place. The
relationship between the immigrant impact on the built environment and
social cohesion warrants careful consideration. The concepts of bonding
and bridging social capital are useful avenues with which to explore this
relationship. The research presented here highlights the broad issues. The
Griffith Italian Museum and Cultural Centre may have facilitated some
cultural exchange between younger and older generations in the Italian
community and has formed part of the town’s social infrastructure,
providing physical infrastructure and social services as well as a place for
social encounter. However, it has also re-inflamed old intra-ethnic tensions.

Although some of the Italian clubs have at times been associated with one or
another regional group, they have also opened possibilities for intra-ethnic
dialogue and the development of social capital within Griffith’s diverse
Italian community.
The study also draws attention to the potential of built sites to generate
interaction and exchange between cultural groups. The Italian museum
serves an educational purpose for visitors from all cultural backgrounds.
Through the Festa Delle Salsicce, it is also a site that enables the engagement
of people from non-Italian backgrounds in an active experience of Italian
food, culture and traditions, and a space of substantial intercultural
exchange between Italian and Anglo-Celtic Australians. By opening their
doors to non-Italians at a time when Anglo-Celtic clubs denied Italians
membership, the Italian clubs have also provided space for the development
of bridging social capital in an ethnically diverse rural setting.
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CHAPTER 11
THE REGENERATIVE POWER

OF OLDER MIGRANTS? A CASE
STUDY OF HOKKAIDO, JAPAN
Kayo Murakami, Rose Gilroy and Jane Atterton
ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the retiring Japanese ‘‘baby boomer’’
generation is rethinking the role of later life and potentially provides a
new future for depopulated areas in rural Japan. Drawing on a case study
of the Hokkaido prefecture, the chapter highlights three points. First, the
baby boomer generation in Japan has very different ideas about the
meaning of later life, and the spatial implications of these may present
opportunities for regeneration. Secondly, hard-pressed rural local
authorities are looking to exploit these opportunities to build a new
socioeconomic base from the needs and aspirations of older people. Third,
the chapter questions what kind of rural futures might be built.
INTRODUCTION
While the aging of the population is a global issue felt in the developed
and developing world (Harper, 2006), the ratio of older to not old in
Japan coupled with the rapidity of its shift from a young to an old society
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016014
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156 KAYO MURAKAMI ET AL.
has led to its position as the first ‘‘hyper aging society’’ (see Coulmas, 2007
for a detailed and thoughtful analysis). However, and perhaps uniquely
among developed countries, the political and cultural ethos of Japan
has made it unwilling or unable to balance this trend by encouraging
large-scale immigration of economically active foreign-born people
(Sorensen, 2006).
Japan is not only a super aging society but also a super urbanized one with
almost 80 percent of Japanese living in cities1 whose richer education and
employment opportunities continue to draw younger people away from the
rural areas leading to further depopulation and an increase in the average age
in their areas of origin. Both the key trends of aging and urbanization have
happened within the lifespan of the dankai2 (post-war baby boomers born in
1947–1949) giving this group a particularly prominent role as shapers of
cultural and social change. Having been part of the urban shift in their earlier
years in the 1970s and 1980s, the dankai generation now coming to
retirement is reconsidering the possibility of life in the countryside and thus is
providing a possible new future for rural places. This chapter considers the
potential for rural areas to regenerate through capturing wealthy footloose
older people. It begins by considering the characteristics of these ‘‘new’’ older
people and the reasons why rural living appeals to many of them. How is
Japan preparing itself for this new phenomenon and can the failing economic
base of rural areas be transformed by their choices? Through a case study of
Hokkaido, we explore how one rural prefecture is hoping to cash in on the
baby boomers through multi-habitation.
WHAT IS NEW ABOUT OLD AGE?

Over the past decade, new narratives of older people have emerged, such as
‘‘third age’’ and the ‘‘new old’’ (Huber & Skidmore, 2003; Campbell, 2003),
influenced by the development of more pluralized and diverse forms of old
age (Phillipson, 1998). In particular, baby boomers born in the aftermath of
World War II are expected to revolutionize later life (Huber & Skidmore,
2003), bringing to it consumer habits built in an era of unprecedented
affluence and libertarian ideas that, at each stage of their life, have created
social change (Lowe & Speakman, 2006).
These concepts of the baby boomer generation have been built largely by
western observers but are they also applicable to the dankai? Like their
western counterparts, Japanese baby boomers are the first generation to
experience old age en masse. Like their peers, they were the protest
The Regenerative Power of Older Migrants? 157
generation and formed local citizens’ movements. Coming into the labor
market in the late 1960s and early 1970s, they were the engine of the new
Japanese economy combining an aspiration to lifetime employment with
company loyalty (Coulmas, 2007).
Like their western peers, they are wealthier than their parent’s generation.
It is anticipated that the savings of the dankai (what is termed ‘‘silver’’
money) amounts to an estimated $1,100–1,300 billion or 8–9 percent of the
total individual savings and financial assets in Japan (Japan Center for
Economic Research, 2006). Research in the United Kingdom and the United
States reveals that older people traditionally spend much less than younger
people possibly because their appetite for consumption is sated or because
they lack the financial competence to buy. However, there is a suggestion
that this pattern may be changing with the baby boomer generation
continuing their love affair with spending (Gilleard & Higgs, 2000) and
increasingly likely to use their resources for their own benefit rather than pass
them on as inheritance (Lowe & Speakman, 2006). Manufacturers and
service providers clearly anticipate a growth in luxury products and services
as well as new markets around health and care services, specialist housing,
leisure, lifelong learning, assistive technologies, and mobility devices. Such a
consumer boom is predicated upon the image of older person as spender not
saver, which runs contrary to evidence from a recent Japanese survey that
revealed that older people are already nervous that their personal wealth and
state pension may not maintain their accustomed standard of living (Cabinet
Office of Japan, 2005). This anxiety may be the cause of the 80 percent of the
dankai who say they hope to continue to work after retirement; however,
statistics reveal that there is generally a greater appetite for work among
older Japanese. Statistics for 2002, for example, show that before the
‘‘retirement’’ of the dankai, the labor force participation rate for Japanese
men aged 65 and over was 31.1 percent and 13.2 percent for women. This
compares to participation rates for British older men and women at 7.8
percent and 9.3 percent and for older Americans at 17.8 percent and 9.9
percent respectively (The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training,
2004; Coulmas, 2007).
A very different way to consider labor market participation is to reflect on
the professed desire for personal development (‘‘ikigai,’’ literally, a search for
the meaning of life), which is also cited as motivation for continued work.
This may suggest that the desire to work among older Japanese may be a
catalyst for work opportunities that concentrate on social engagement and
personal development rather than moneymaking. It also points to greater
creativity in strategic economic thinking, for what Huber and Skidmore
(2003, p. 13) call ‘‘the harness[ing of] elderpreneurship by creating new

models of economic participation that allow older people to use their skills
and assets.’’ It is useful to reflect on the concept of kanreki which celebrates
that on reaching 60 years of age, a person enters into a second childhood
having completed the life cycle marked out by the Chinese zodiac. In a
society where 1 million people have already reached 90 years or more and
centenarians number 33,000 (Japan Times, 2007), an obvious question is
what is old about reaching 60 – should the boundaries of old age be pushed
back to start perhaps at 70 or later? Or does reaching 60 have new
resonance – is it an opportunity to begin a new life with different goals? This
new phenomenon of mass aging calls into question the dominant work-based
model of life that saw people preparing for work, working and retiring with
no real function. A new model is needed that allows education and
employment to be entered and re-entered over time perhaps with new goals
and motivations. Greater prosperity and mobility of older people also bring
new temporal and spatial implications to the concept of multiple life courses.
To prepare for this challenge, in April 2007, the Japanese Cabinet Office
launched a major study on ‘‘multiple life courses.’’
SPATIAL IMPLICATIONS OF
DANKAI CHOICES
The dankai are above all an urban group with half of the 7 million cohort
living in the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka.
However, according to the City Regions Report 2006 (Japan Ministry of
Land Infrastructure and Transport, 2006), 40 percent are willing to change
living places when they retire. Key questions are where are they going, what
are the impacts on the host areas, and how might spatial planning respond?
As most Japanese house construction is in wood, there is a general
expectation that property needs to be replaced after 30 years. For some
urban older people, the choice is to relocate to city center areas from the
suburbs fueling the present building boom in high-rise apartment blocks
with caretakers and CCTV cameras. Others are making greater step changes
by moving to small towns in the rural regions as well as less densely
populated rural settlements in coastal and mountainous areas. Some have
links with these areas through birthplaces where their old parents still live.
For those without a local connection, relocation is frustrated by the system
of landownership, community, family, and social patterns that make many

absent owners unwilling to sell or let houses in rural villages.
If the city presents greater opportunities for cultural and consumption
activities, the countryside offers a chance to get in touch with nature and
return to some quintessential Japan. But why choose one when both are
possible? The idea of ‘‘multi-habitation’’ (koryu-kyoju) – retaining the first
home in the metropolitan areas while owning or renting a second home in
the more remote rural areas – is based on an expectation of an increasing
number of retirees with time and money who will choose to live both urban
and rural lifestyles at different times. Highly developed transport networks
mean that travel between two homes is realistic, and a surplus of housing
(and consequent decline in land and house prices) in rural areas provides a
rich choice of both dwelling type and location. This multi-habitation could
be dismissed as fueling British style holiday home ownership with its
associations of minimal social and economic engagement in the rural
community and negative impacts on local services for year-round dwellers.
Clearly some of this may well occur, but it is hoped that that by owning
properties, newcomers will become engaged in local community activities
and will contribute to the local rural economy, through buying locally
grown produce and locally made goods, thus stimulating local production
and labor markets.
Multi-habitation not only provides a ‘‘have it all’’ solution to the choice
generation but may represent a compromise between husband and wife who
through the working years build very different lives. The Japanese sarariman
works long hours, socializes in bars and restaurants with his male colleagues
after work, and returns home late at night. On retirement, men are faced
with limited or no social networks in their community and may now be
looking for opportunities to engage with other people. This has fueled the
rapid growth of retirement associations by big corporations that now exist
throughout Japan (Coulmas, 2007) and give rise to, potentially, a new work
force for the burgeoning voluntary sector. Women of this generation were
more likely to give up work after childbirth and consequently built
neighborhood social and support networks. On retirement, they are faced
with the ‘‘wet-fallen-leaves husbands’’ (Yonemura, 1994) who stay at home
all day and follow their wives everywhere. The idea of multi-habitation
could be a compromise solution that fulfills needs for both husband and wife
and also balances the need of the squeeze generation to care for their
(possibly) frail parents living in the rural areas and to provide support for
their own children juggling full-time work and child care in the city. There
remains a challenge for rural areas to understand the needs of urban older
women and build a strategy that will attract them as willing, rather than
grudging, migrants.
PROMOTING ‘‘MULTI-HABITATION’’
AS A SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY
The concept of ‘‘multi-habitation’’ has three components: ‘‘long-term
holiday,’’ ‘‘themed tourism,’’ and the ‘‘promotion of permanent residency.’’
The first component has a long history in rural areas that have been
promoting rural landscapes to holiday makers. Using subsidies from Central
Government, many rural local municipalities have built publicly owned
hotels and cottages with ‘‘onsen’’ (hot springs), to which has been added
welfare and educational facilities for the local communities. Other activities,
ranging from traditional cookery schools to guided hiking, have also been
added to encourage holiday makers to stay longer. This type of holiday
merges into ‘‘themed tourism,’’ which needs more institutionalized
arrangement in the form of branding areas, continuity, and consistency in
selected activities and local community participation. Another strand of this
is recruiting migrants into first-time farming through activities ranging from
farm stays for visitors to training for would-be farmers.
Attracting new permanent residents is the cherished aim of many
depopulated areas, but a weak infrastructure to support land and property
sales has frustrated this. To overcome this, the local municipalities
have begun to act as conduits for information exchange between rural
sellers and urban buyers. Several local municipalities have launched ‘‘akiya
(vacant house) banks,’’ internet websites that provide regularly updated
information on houses available for sale or rent. The ‘‘Rural Living
Guide: Promotion of Multi-Habitation,’’3 launched by the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and Communication and maintained by the Research
Committee for Depopulated Areas, is a web-based resource to provide
various kinds of information that promotes ‘‘multi-habitation.’’ Navigating
through the site options labeled ‘‘a short break’’ right through to
‘‘permanent residency,’’ users can find updated useful information provided
by the prefectures and local municipalities about different rural commu-
nities and the activities that are available as well as contact details. The main
drivers for promotion of ‘‘multi-habitation’’ in the regions are the
prefectural governments. Some prefectures have set up organizations to
run the programs, including marketing, monitoring, and providing websites.

Hokkaido, as befits the most depopulated area, has emerged as a leader in
the field.
HOKKAIDO’S PROMOTION OF
IMMIGRATION: A PRIVATE AND PUBLIC
PARTNERSHIP APPROACH
Hokkaido is the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands. Its population
of 5.6 million according to the 2005 Census is concentrated in urban areas
with one-third living in the capital city Sapporo and many more employed
there. Only one-fifth of the total population lives in scattered rural areas,
which make up four-fifths of the island’s land area. All Hokkaido
settlements, except Sapporo, have suffered depopulation, which has
contributed to the island’s marked aging profile. More than 21 percent of
all Hokkaido residents are aged 65 or older compared to just over 18 percent
in 2000. The city area with the highest percentage of older people nationally
is found in Hokkaido (Yubari-shi at 39.7 percent, Statistics Bureau, 2005)
while nearly a quarter of those who live in rural Hokkaido are now over 65.
Building on the strength of its consistent high rating among all Japanese
as one of the best areas in Japan to visit, Hokkaido launched its permanent
residency programs in 2005 (Ohyama, 2007). An initial web-based
questionnaire survey was carried out in 2004 targeting 10,000 baby boomers
living in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The results showed that 80 percent of
the respondents had an interest in living in Hokkaido either temporarily or
permanently and 70 percent of these preferred villages/towns over city
living. The survey report estimated that the economic multiplier effect would
bring Hokkaido up to f570 billion ($5.7 billion), if 1,000 retiree couples per
year moved there during 2007–2009 and spent the rest of lives in Hokkaido.
While the same in-migrants would cost f120 billion in extra social security
provision, clearly there are economic gains.
The Hokkaido prefectural government budgeted f49.6 million ($496,000)
for a two-year program, which was carried out intensively during 2005–2006
at national, prefectural, and local levels. Emphasizing public–private
partnership, the program had three main components: marketing, a one-
stop information bureau, and local municipalities’ involvement. Two
organizations were set up to drive this initiative: the first one is a business
consortium4 with 11 partners including major transport (train, ferry, and
aviation) corporations, travel agencies, and media corporations; the second is
a local municipality consortium,5 through which member local municipalities

benefit from the support of the Hokkaido prefectural government to
promote the ‘‘permanent residency’’ program. By October 2006, this had
engaged 64 local municipalities.
The first component, the marketing strategy, provides surveys, advertising,
and long-stay holiday packages and is led by the business consortium. They
have launched a campaign using mass media (magazines, newspapers and
TV, as well as mailing lists) and seminars and forums as a showcase of
Hokkaido’s programs.6 Each of the partner corporations has also launched
its own website to promote its services and products. The information bureau
(‘‘Hokkaido Concierge’’7), started in the summer of 2006 provides the pivotal
role of a one-stop information center for those who want to visit or live in
Hokkaido and mediates between in-migrants and local municipalities. The
web site is linked to 94 local municipalities that have their own sites for the
promotion of permanent residency. Local municipalities engaged in the
program are encouraged to offer substantial support and useful information
to in-migrants.
A ‘‘testing period’’ or taster program has now been initiated by a
consortium of sponsoring companies and local municipalities. Travel
agencies offer ‘‘long–stay’’ holiday packages, which allow urban retirees to
explore potential housing, local facilities (local shops, hospitals, as well as
tourist places), and community activities. The package includes accommoda-
tion in flats and houses, rather than hotels and guest houses associated with
usual tourist trips, discount transportation fees (supported by a passenger
ferry company), and a chance to meet local people such as council officers
and local community representatives, which is organized by recipient local
municipalities. After the first phase of Hokkaido’s programs (2004 to the first
half of 2006), the program experienced an increasing number of requests
from baby boomers living across Japan.
Nearly 100 local municipalities out of a possible 180 in Hokkaido have
expressed a willingness to join the prefectural government’s initiative. The
ethics of using public money on this type of program is arguable although to
date evaluations of the first phase reveal that it has benefitted the local
economy through new businesses set up in ‘‘taster’’ package tours. The
Hokkaido prefectural government feels that ‘‘ideally the ‘concierge business’
should be undertaken by the private sector alone and that this is already
possible’’ (senior officer, Hokkaido prefectural government). However, it is
likely that even should a ‘‘Hokkaido Concierge service’’ be led by the private
sector, public sector backing would ensure greater security and peace of
mind for its end users.
Recent figures (Hokkaido Iju Sokushin Kyogikaki, 2008) reveal a modest

level of success. At least 273 people in 123 families have moved to Hokkaido
as permanent residents since the program was launched in 2006. This
represents the number who contacted the prefecture and the local
municipalities for information and subsequently made use of the testing
period before making their urban to rural relocation. Clearly there may be
others who have relocated as part of their own long-term strategy to return to
their birthplaces.
THE IMPACTS OF MULTI-HABITATION

ON RURAL HOKKAIDO
To date, Hokkaido has concentrated on bringing in older people, seeing
their wealth cascading through the local economy in terms of promoting
house building and spending on consumer goods and services. Ironically,
the biggest constraint on promoting ‘‘multi-habitation’’ has been the lack of
appropriate housing stock in the areas to which in-migrants want to move.
Hokkaido prefectural government believes that this is a problem that only
the private sector can tackle because there is no public money designated for
this purpose. Some rural local municipalities however are taking a lead in
promoting new housing developments in depopulated rural villages, hoping
that the expectation of incomers will be seen as creating worthwhile business
opportunities for land and housing developers. This movement is partly
encouraged by one of the Central Government’s development initiatives:
‘‘Excellent Countryside Housing’’ launched in 1998. This development
model aimed firstly to promote immigration to depopulated rural areas and
to make the best use of rural land, and secondly, to prevent disorderly
development (avoiding a repetition of urban sprawl) in rural areas.
The results however are questionable. Yuni town, one of the rural
municipalities in Hokkaido, took up this challenge with an emphasis on
greater community involvement through the introduction of a ‘‘construction
cooperative mechanism,’’ in which potential buyers engaged in the process
of land allocation, area layout, public space management alongside the local
municipality, and local people. The 28 new houses that resulted attracted
higher interest than expected and new residents were keen to be neighborly –
at least with each other. The lack of any local contracts means, however,
that new incomers are not always using local builders, and the latitude of the
local authority in allowing scattered development has resulted in a
landscape of dwellings that have little connections with the town. Ultimately
this may deter newcomers from settling in Yuni as it begins to look less like
the rural idyll of the mind or memory.
Give the expressed desire to work in some capacity, local municipalities
need to find effective ways of harnessing the energies of incomers. Hobby
farming has been promoted but this is unlikely to appeal to everyone.
Greater opportunities for part-time work and in the voluntary and non-
profit sector are important and emerging features of Japanese society that
may be more attractive to some older people. Driven in part by demographic
change as well as the political and social trends to ‘‘smaller government,’’ the
Japanese government is beginning to see that this new sector might deliver
services previously provided by the public sector (Osborne, 2003). For older
people, this may mean an increase of work opportunities some of which may
be about delivering services to their own cohort and their older frailer
neighbors, which also creates opportunities for integration. A nationwide
network JOIN (Japan Organisation for Internal Migration)8 representing
major corporations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Japan
now provide information to their employees who wish to enjoy the best of
urban and rural life after retirement. It is now seen as a crucial responsibility
for both the employers and the former employees to explore better ways in
which retired people’s abundant time (and money) could add to the national
economy not only as consumers but also as people with skills and knowledge
to contribute to revitalizing impoverished rural economies and communities.
Field work in Hokkaido suggests a high level of skepticism among local
people about the potential for retired in-migrants to establish businesses. An
interviewee claimed that ‘‘it is simply because retirement in-migrants who
have enough pension are not keen on making money.’’ The continuing trend
of in-migration pushes up levels of housing demand, but new business start-
ups in estate agency and construction companies have not been seen in most
of areas. This is partly because existing businesses are well connected making
it hard for new comers to enter the network. Exclusion from these networks
means a lower chance of success. In the agricultural sector, land-use
regulations and the complex farmer registration process makes it difficult for
non-farmers to enter the sector. In terms of business start-ups, information
and communication technologies (ICT) businesses may be footloose, but the
perception is that a rural destination is not necessarily the best place for
starting up. However, there is increasing number of part-time job oppor-
tunities and volunteer activates in social welfare sector, which may satisfy
those in-migrants who would like to be engaged socially and economically.
These comments heard on the ground are understandable in the current
context. It is believed that the public sector is still responsible for people’s
social welfare; the scale of local business activities is rather small and thus
the capacity to invest in a new market is lower than that in large urban
areas, even if there are relatively high growth expectations. Older people
themselves have not fully grasped the possibility that what they require can
modify the functioning of the social welfare system that might reflect the
scale of volunteer activities in the social welfare field in Japan.
In-migrants, baby boomers in particular, are concerned about health care in
later life and local municipalities need to consider this factor seriously. Will
investment attract newcomers and how can small municipalities with low
taxation bases invest in high-quality facilities? Will newcomers attract invest-
ment in health care facilities or do rural areas need new models for delivering
services? Some private elder care service companies are already building
condominiums in urban areas with integrated care services that can be used by
older residents and existing local residents. Hokkaido prefectural government
believes that these business models could apply to rural areas with few care
facilities, where increasing numbers of in-migrants could stimulate an increased
demand and supply and Date city, a small town that attracts many retirees
from other areas in Hokkaido, has already developed new style condomi-
niums. The residents are highly satisfied with the service provided, and a strong
sense of community has emerged in these new collective living arrangements
that deliver greater community interaction and opportunities for social
networking. Nevertheless, this is an option only for better-off older people.
For local older people, high-rise buildings and unfamiliar interior design that
are popular in urban areas can appear ‘‘uncomfortable’’ or even ‘‘unsafe.’’
The concept of multi-habitation is also tied up with rural local identities.
For example, ‘‘rural’’ is equated with disadvantage in relation to the
‘‘urban,’’ and new in-migrants would change the status of rural Hokkaido.
In-migrants from urban areas may seek a ‘‘rural idyll’’ in the places to which
they move, but they still want a high standard of local facilities. What
Hokkaido aims to do in the longer term is to create a nationwide movement
that will question the existing subordinate role of rural areas and promote a
rationale for supporting the new rural economy.
The Hokkaido initiatives have prompted the Central Government to set
up a task force to promote ‘‘multi-habitation,’’ and a package of
deregulation and tax credits is being debated. The ideas include many
regulatory changes in a number of fields including agriculture, tourism, and
consumer taxes. Most far reaching are changes in
public transport: to allow individuals to operate small-scale public

transport within designated rural areas, and parcel delivering services;
medical care: to relax the current regulations about the minimum number
of doctors or nurses to allow the opening of small clinics in the rural
areas;
agriculture: to lower the minimum size allowable for farms and to allow
non-registered farmers to sell produce from their gardens; and
housing: to allow temporary residents to apply for public sector housing.
The proposed new tax regime includes the re-structuring of residential tax
paid on first and second homes so that those who are seasonal residents
pay less.
CONCLUSIONS
‘‘Multi-habitation’’ can be seen as an economic development strategy, both
at local and at national levels. In the context of overall rural aging and
depopulation, the Hokkaido partnerships have an optimistic view of
newcomers arriving, however old they are and however long they plan to
stay in the rural communities.
Hokkaido’s initiative started with promoting longer term holidays, which
was strongly driven by tourism-related businesses, and it is leading the way in
viewing the dankai generation as active consumers whose needs can be met in
ways that are profitable. ‘‘Multi-habitation’’ can be seen as a spring board
for bringing about overall improvements for everyone, not just the old, living
in Hokkaido. To achieve this, approaches could be more inclusive so that
these active retirees with knowledge and skills can have the potential to raise
the profile of older people in both their new and existing communities. The
current ‘‘testing period’’ schemes might help. During short stays in
temporary accommodation, mutual learning opportunities can occur
through various locally organized events and communication between urban
participants and local communities. It is important for rural communities to
seek ways of enhancing the capacity of local areas to steer these larger scale
processes and actions to their benefit through positive use of the varied
resources that urban incomers bring with them (Lowe, Murdoch, & Ward,
1995). This is the notion of neo-endogenous development. Through this, new
socioeconomically productive and positive rural values can be framed.
It is too early to evaluate the impacts of multi-habitation on the quality of
life of communities. The result might be a highly mobilized consumer
society, which maintains some economic stability but at the expense of
losing indigenous local identities and increased environmental damage
caused by unsustainable transport modes. More positively, if this strategy is
pursued, it could also help reduce some of the socioeconomic, political, and
knowledge gaps between urban and rural areas and encourage older people
to pursue their aspirations in later life thereby contributing to the
regeneration of Japan’s rural areas. What is important now is to realize
that in-migration to rural areas could improve the quality of living
environments for older in-migrants and long-term residents, but only if
it is managed carefully and with the full informed participation of all
involved.
NOTES
1. ‘‘Urban’’ refers to administrative boundaries of ‘‘Shi’’ (City).
2. ‘‘Dankailiterally means ‘‘massive group.’’ The term was coined by the novelist
Taichi Sakaiya in his 1976 book ‘‘Dankai no sedai’’ (dankai generation),
Bungeisyunju.
3. http://kouryu-kyoju.net/index.php. Retrieved on September 29, 2008.
4. Sundemitai Hokkaido Suishin Kaigi (Promotion Committee for Hokkaido
Living), http://www.kurasube.com/krsb_top.php. Retrieved on September 29, 2008).
5. Hokkaido Ijyu Sokushin Kyogikai (Hokkaido In-migration Promotion
Committee), http://www.dankai-iju.jp/iju_top.html.Retrieved on September 29, 2008.
6. ‘‘Hokkaido In-migration Forum’’ in Tokyo (on October, 2005, 528 partici-
pants); ‘‘Hokkaido Life Seminars’’ (September 2006, Nagoya; October 2006, Tokyo);
‘‘Hokkaido Life Fairs’’ (November, 2006 Osaka, Tokyo); and Open days at a
department store in Tokyo (April–May 2006, 769 inquires; September 2006).
7. http://www.hokkaido-concierge.com/. Retrieved on September 29, 2008.
8. http://www.iju-join.jp/. Retrieved on September 29, 2008.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank the Daiwa Foundation, The Great Britain
SASAKAWA Foundation, and The Community Study Foundation, Japan,
for the research grant that supported this study.
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households. Tokyo: Cabinet Office Japan.
Campbell, A. L. (2003). How policies make citizens: Senior political activism and the American
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Coulmas, F. (2007). Population decline and ageing in Japan – The social consequences. London:
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Gilleard, C., & Higgs, P. (2000). Cultures of ageing: Self, citizen and the body. Harlow: Prentice
Hall.
Harper, S. (2006). Ageing societies: Myths, challenges and opportunities. London: Hodder
Arnold.
Hokkaido Iju Sokushin Kyogikaki (In migration Promotion Committee). (2008). The 2007
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37–38.
PART III
CONSUMPTION
CHAPTER 12
MAKING DEVICE FOR

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL
SYSTEMS: A CASE STUDY OF
JAPANESE FARMERS’ MARKETS
Tadahiro Iizaka and Fumiaki Suda
ABSTRACT
Farmers’ markets in Japan have different characteristics from those in
Europe and America. Although the amount of each farmer’s sales profit
is small, Japanese farmers’ markets have proved to be beneficial for
Japanese farmers by providing them with nonmonetary benefits that
cannot otherwise be gained from the modern large-scale farm products
circulation. It also functions as the place of the rehabilitation of certain
foods and products ‘‘forgotten’’ in modern circulation, and cases with
old fashioned ‘‘grapes’’ and ‘‘eggplants’’ are those examples. Point of
Sale (POS) systems, which were thought the symbol of modernized
circulation, however, have been suggested to function as the device for
communicating with farmers and consumers. Because the studies of
Japanese farmers’ markets are approved to the origin of various logics,
the researchers were not able to establish the united theory. However,
it should be noted that Japanese farmers’ markets have established a firm
position in the local food chain and will continue to function as a valuable
channel for supporting sustainable agriculture.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016015
171
172 TADAHIRO IIZAKA AND FUMIAKI SUDA
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study is to investigate Japanese farmers’ markets as
‘‘compromising devices’’ (Boltanski & Thevenot, 1991) for sustainable
agricultural system by articulating plural logics of justification (market,
civic, and domestic). These devices are also ‘‘qualification devices’’
(Dubuisson-Quellier, 2003) in defining the products as authentic and thus
embedding them in the local market.
The conception and construction of these devices are crucial in the intense
competition between big supermarkets and farmers’ markets under an
immaterial accumulation regime. Under this regime, it is essential to
incorporate various values (such as environmental, civic, or domestic, and
market) and use authenticity in marketing.
While the study from such aspects are still on the way in Japan, Suda
(2008) discussed the theoretical investigation that aimed at building in
‘‘market-mediation-device’’ by introducing Latour (1994), Callon (2006),
and Cohoy (2002). Under the deterioration of a rapid economic environment
in recent years, the frame of a new economic theory is being sought in Japan.
On the contrary, the present condition of the Japanese agriculture is
described as follows. Compared to France (130%), the United States
(119%), Germany (91%), and the United Kingdom (74%), Japan’s food
self-sufficiency ratio, on a calorie basis, is significantly low (39%), ranking
27th among the 30 member states of the OECD.
The Japanese government has aimed to raise its food-sufficiency ratio, but
it has been difficult. One of the biggest reasons for this is that Japanese
farms are generally smaller than those in other developed countries. Japan
has only 5 million ha of farmland (in comparison, Australia has 447 million
ha), and the mean area per farm is only 1.8 ha. More than half (57%) of key
agricultural workers are 65 years old or older.
Despite these structural constraints, the Japanese government has
launched several programs to enhance the self-sufficiency ratio. Thus, the
‘‘Shokuiku [food education] Basic Law’’ took effect in July 2005, and the
Shokuiku Basic Program was enacted in March 2006. In elementary schools,
teachers explain to students where their food comes from at lunch time and
take them to neighborhood farms.
These activities are expected to improve the food self-sufficiency ratio,
preserve traditional dietary culture, and promote good health. As part of
this program, a national movement of ‘‘Chisan Chisho [local consumption
of locally produced agricultural products]’’ has been initiated (Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, 2007).
Making Device for Sustainable Agricultural Systems 173
A BRIEF HISTORY OF JAPANESE

FARMERS’ MARKETS
Here, we describe the ‘‘social life’’ or ‘‘biography’’ of products sold at
farmers’ markets. Farmers have always sold their goods, either directly to
consumers or through farmers’ markets and bazaars.
However, after the Meiji era in Japan, these bazaars were replaced by the
large-scale distributors of agricultural products. Several traditional bazaars
still remain as sightseeing spots for tourists (Fig. 1).
In the 1980s, as a result of the surplus production of rice, the Japanese
government urged farmers to replace rice with other crops or vegetables.
Many large vegetable-growing districts had already been established during
the golden age of Japanese capitalism in the 1970s.
Many small farmers, however, were disadvantageous because their farms
were unsuited to standardized vegetable production in terms of quantity,
appearance, and shapes that they produced. Hence, they were excluded from
the mainstream distribution channels. Agricultural cooperatives bought
products from farmers and sold them to wholesalers.
Several groups of farmers’ wives, supported by prefectural extension
services, grew vegetables for their own home consumption. These groups
and small farms had easy access to farmers’ markets, which were not
rigorous in their standardization of products. Thus, in addition to products
Fig. 1. A Traditional Japanese Bazaar.

for their home consumption, farmers’ wives began to sell these vegetables at
farmers’ markets. In recent years, because of competition with imported
food products in supermarkets, many large-scale specialized farmers have
also begun to sell their products at farmers’ market.
For older farmers, farmers’ wives, and newcomers, farmers’ markets are
relatively easy place to enter, because farmers who sell their products there
do not need large amounts of land, expensive machinery, or many workers.
These farms produce many kinds of products, but in small quantities.
The quality of these products, however, varies. Farmers’ markets collect
products and sell them to ensure a supply of agricultural products
throughout the year. Generally, these farmers produce many kinds of
vegetables, rice, flowers, and homemade foods.
Farmers’ markets also favor diversification of products. According to
recent governmental statistics (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries of Japan, 2007), there are almost 12,000 farmers’ markets in
Japan, but products sold at farmers’ markets account only a 10% share in
the distribution of all agricultural products. This share, however, has
increased to 30–40% in some regions; hence, the Japanese farmers’ market is
no longer marginal.
Japanese farmers’ markets have three characteristics: (1) it is open almost
every day; (2) it offers joint selling on commission (several farmers are in
charge of selling products on behalf of other farmers); and (3) it is generally
supported by a (quasi-)public sector. Japanese farmers’ markets are open an
average of 280 days a year, and over 70% of farmers’ markets are open for
more than 300 days.
Seventy percent of consumers who shop at farmers’ markets live within
the region where the markets are located, and the remaining 30% are
commuters or tourists. In mountain areas, half of the consumers are
tourists. Farmers’ markets in these areas sell regional products (such as wild
mushrooms and processed foods).
In the suburbs and lowlands, there are larger farmers’ markets, and
800,000 consumers visited at least one farmers’ market in 2006. These
consumers are price-conscious and sensitive to the freshness of vegetables. In
these areas, there is intense competition between farmers’ markets and super-
markets. Moreover, 64% of all farmers’ market sales and 70% of all
vegetables sold originate in the region where the farmers’ market is located.
Futamura (2007) described history of farmers’ markets in the United
States, in which the first major change in farmers’ markets occurred in the
late 1970s (Brown, 2001, 2002). He traced the emergence of food localism
after the restructuring tobacco production in the state of Kentucky.
Hinrichs (2000) described the farmers’ market as one of two forms of

alternative direct marketing (the other was CSA or consumer supported
agriculture).
Kirman (2004, 2006) proposed that the farmers’ market was an
alternative distribution system by referring to Actor-Network Theory
(ANT). Holloway and Kneafsey (2000) wrote that the farmers’ market was
a cognitive place for ‘‘nostalgia’’ for the ‘‘Golden Age’’ in the United
Kingdom. In this chapter, however, we demonstrate that it has not been
the case in Japan. Sakurai (2006) surveyed studies in Japan and stressed
the necessity of unifying the market-oriented and community-oriented
arguments about the ‘‘locally produced-locally consumed’’ movement.
FARMERS’ MARKET FOR FARMERS:

A CASE STUDY IN OKAYAMA PREFECTURE
In this chapter, we investigate the behavior of farmers at a farmers’ market by

describing a typical farmers’ market in one of Japan’s mountainous regions.
Okayama Prefecture is located in central-western Japan. We examined
‘‘Michi-no-Eki (Roadside Station) Kamogawa-Enjoh’’ that was located in
the center of Okayama Prefecture. It takes 30 minutes to get there from
Okayama City (capital of prefecture) by car.
This farmers’ market is open every day except Wednesday, and their
annual total sales are 100 million yen. Its main products are vegetables,
fruits, and processed foods. Two hundred farmers belong to the Michi-no-
Eki Kamogawa-Enjoh Farmers’ Market (hereafter Kamogawa-Enjoh
Market). We sent questionnaires to 72 farmers who were members of
Kamogawa-Enjoh Market in August 1998.
The questions asked about their income, production items, and the
advantages of shipment to Kamogawa-Enjoh Market compared to the
wholesale market (days that farmers sell their products at Kamogawa-Enjoh
Market are shown in Fig. 2).
This Kamogawa-Enjoh Market is open every day, but many farmers
attended fewer than 100 days per year. Each farmer’s sales at Kamogawa-
Enjoh Market are shown in Fig. 3. Fewer than half of farmers earned less
than 1 million yen, including sales at Kamogawa-Enjoh Market.
For many farmers, farmers’ market is not their main source of income.
Still, it is an important second or third source of income for elderly or small
farmers who find it difficult to ship their products to wholesale markets.
200
150- days
over
200 under
7%
14% 50
days
32%
100 -
150
17% 50-
100
30%
Fig. 2. Shipping days to the Farmers’ Market.
over 2
0.5 -1 under
million
million 0.1
yen
million
12% 15%
yen
23%
0.1 -0.2
14%
0.4 -0.5
12%
0.3 -0.4 0.2 -0.3
15% 9%
Fig. 3. Annual Sales in the Farmers’ Market.
Many farmers sell their surplus goods at Kamogawa-Enjoh Market, and

their main income comes from off-farm work. Farmers who sell vegetables
ship an average of 13 items. They have several criteria for shipping their
products to Kamogawa-Enjoh Market (Table 1): products must be
cultivated or grown in the local area; products must be not grown by
neighboring farmers; and shipment of products should include as many
varieties of vegetables as possible.
We find that, at Kamogawa-Enjoh Market, products that have not
been evaluated by modern distribution chains are desired by consumers.
In addition, traditional local products are highly valued by consumers.
The production and sale of these products at Kamogawa-Enjoh
Market maintain the diversity of local products and promote sustainable
development.
Table 1. Notes in the Case of Shipping.

(%)
Traditional products and kinds of lists that were adopted in the area 43.1
Rare lists of products that were not grown by other farmers 33.3
Shipping as many types of vegetables as possible 30.6
Do not use chemicals 26.4
Getting eager to sell processed food 25.0
Adjusting time to ship products before/after 25.0
Other 6.9
n ¼ 72.
Table 2. Merits of Shipping Farmers’ Market.

(%)
Free from standard and quantity 70.8

Possible to be set price by oneself 66.7
Easy to join for women and elderly people 63.9
Possible to sell surplus products 54.2
Interaction with farmers deepened 47.2
Possible to hear direct voices from consumers 43.1
Possible to sell processed foods by oneself 25.0
Easy to know the fact everyday 20.8
Possible to use fallow field 9.7
Make profits more than wholesale market shipping 4.2
Other 4.2
n ¼ 72.
Our question asked farmers about the advantages of shipping to

Kamogawa-Enjoh Market over wholesale shipping. Some responses from
farmers are given in Table 2: ‘‘reducing burden of standardization and
minimum quantity requirement’’ (when using wholesale shipping, farmers
must adjust to standard of products and meet the minimum amount of
shipping); ‘‘availability to set price by themselves’’; ‘‘frequent communica-
tion between farmers’’; and ‘‘direct transfer of consumers’ voices to
farmers.’’
In a word, farmers appreciate farmers’ market for the following reasons:
(1) each farmer can decide the amounts to be shipped and their price; (2)
nonprofessional farmers have access to the farmers’ market; and (3) direct
interaction can be ensured between consumers and farmers.
FARMERS’ MARKETS FOR CONSUMERS

We interviewed 500 customers at Kamogawa-Enjoh Market in September
1998. We asked what they had bought, the purpose and frequency of their
visits, the amount of their purchase, and the advantage of shopping at
farmers’ market over the supermarket.
Approximately 17.7% of customers lived within 20 km from Kamogawa-
Enjoh Market. However, 60% lived within 20–40 km, most of which lived
in an hour away in Okayama City. As for the purposes of coming to
Kamogawa-Enjoh Market, 34% came for Kamogawa-Enjoh Market itself,
but 39.6% of the customers stopped there on their way to sightseeing.
The average spending per customer was 2,058 yen, which is higher
than average purchase (about 1,500 yen) at the Japanese farmers’ market
(Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, 2007). More than
half of customers had visited this market for the ‘‘first time’’ or ‘‘several
times per year.’’ About 15%, however, was ‘‘repeaters’’ who visited more
than once a week. Additionally, when we asked the advantages that they
find in products at Kamogawa-Enjoh Market, more than half replied,
‘‘freshness of the products’’ and ‘‘price’’ (Table 3).
As our research has shown, customers at Kamogawa-Enjoh Market are
price-conscious. However, we also found many types of customers at other
farmers’ markets, and some of them are particular about the authenticity
and come from far cities to buy these authentic products (Iizaka, 1999).
Table 3. Merits of Enjoh-Farmers’ Market for Consumers.

(%)
Freshness of the products 57

Saving the commodity price 54
Availability of toilets 45
Parking lot is large 37
Atmosphere of the Farmers’ Market is peaceful 36
Local products can be purchased 33
Food tastes good 29
Availability of talking with the farmers 28
Commodities are safe 22
Stock of commodities is satisfactory 13
Rare products can be purchased 13
Other 4
n ¼ 500.
Point of Sales (Barcode System) as a Compromising Device
Japanese farmers’ markets are characterized by joint selling on commission.

In a case like this, it is difficult to keep accounts after the market closes
every evening. Larger farmers’ markets have therefore introduced Point of
Sales (POS, barcode system) like supermarkets. It has long been thought
that the cost of introducing POS must be prohibitive and that the system
must have been difficult for older farmers to learn. Thus, we examined
a PC-POS (Fig. 4) operated by a home computer and introduced it at a
farmers’ market in Sera County, Hiroshima Prefecture.
One hundred farmers over 60 years old belonged to this farmers’ market
and sold more than 70 kinds of fruits, vegetables, and homemade foods.
After its introduction, sales doubled or tripled because farmers could send
fresh products to the market all day long. Farmers received sales data every
several hours by mobile telephone, and they could supply their products just
in time. Before introducing POS, farmers had to write checking papers for
every shipment, but after its introduction, they only had to care about
shipping products; therefore, their workload was significantly reduced. They
also spent less time on recordkeeping. Every participant was satisfied with
the use of POS. Moreover, because POS reduced the number of mistakes
at cash register, customers were also satisfied with shorter waiting in line and
Fig. 4. PC-POS (Barcode System).

were able to have a conversation with the farmers. It was easier to tell
consumers about their products by introducing POS.
POS, therefore, made just-in-time shipping possible and ensured the
freshness of the products. It was also the device that promoted communica-
tion with farmers and consumers. These conversations between customers
and farmers helped farmers to discover what their consumers want to eat and
what kind of crops farmers should grow. These conversations are very
informative (Iizaka, 2007). Many consumers want to learn as much as they
can from farmers about where and how the products were grown and how to
prepare and serve them. This information is difficult to get from modern
supermarkets.
As noted above, the consignment sales method has been adopted in
Japanese farmers’ markets. In the individual face-to-face selling method
adopted in farmers’ markets in Europe and the United States, farmers can
see the responses of clients and communicate with them. In the Japanese
style, however, as long as farmers do not sell their products in a face-to-face
manner, farmers cannot get access to these responses. Therefore, farmers
have to come to see how their own products and competitors sell.
This distinguishes Japanese farmers’ markets from European or American
farmers’ markets.
Farmers’ Markets as Qualification Devices
Kirman (2004) explained that farmers’ markets in the United Kingdom

are a reaction to the increasing distance customers perceive from the
decreasing number of knowledgeable venders and to the increasing amounts
of processed food, the raw materials of which come from other regions or
even other countries.
However, at several farmers’ markets in Japan, traditional vegetables and
fruits unsuited for long-distance shipment have been rediscovered by older
farmers. For example, at another farmers’ market near Kamogawa-Enjoh
Market, local varieties of grapes too fragile for long-distance shipment have
gained considerable popularity. As a result, farmers now sell them not only
at the market but also over the Internet.
In Baba-Nasu (Fig. 5), a local variety of traditional eggplant, which
had been largely neglected by the large-scale distribution system, gained
popularity among older consumers near Osaka City. In Osaka Prefecture’s
Sen-shu region, another eggplant called Mizu-Nasu has been grown since
the seventeenth century. According to research conducted by the Osaka
Fig. 5. Baba-Nasu (Left) and Mizu-Nasu (Right, Eggplants).
Prefectural Agricultural Center in 1952, there were once more than 20

varieties of Mizu-Nasu in that region.
These local varieties disappeared because of competition with modern
varieties that were better suited to mass production and long-distance
distribution. In recent years, however, these local varieties have made a
comeback of sorts and are now sold at farmers’ markets from June to
September.
Similarly, in a region following the monoculture of spinach, a fungus
destroyed the ecosystem supporting spinach production; eventually, in this
region, other crops and vegetables began to be grown for sale in farmers’
markets. Several farmers’ markets have their own certification systems for
their organic foods. Farmers’ markets can therefore be considered as devices
for alternative and sustainable agricultural systems.
As the result of dealings by the provided-price, provided-time, and
provided-amount to which farm products were steady all over the year,
Japanese agricultural product marketing set its sights on large-scale
circulation. Cultivation has tended toward mono-cultivation and mass
production.
While the approaches mentioned above have a relatively insignificant
economic effect, the possibility certainly exists for an environmentally
harmonized agricultural industry or the restructuring of the rural lifestyle.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

In this section, we examine the farmers’ market in terms of developing
compromising or qualification devices.
In recent years, there has been intense competition between farmers’
markets and big supermarkets. It can be said that in the wake of food
adulteration issues, most supermarkets are sensitive to the safety and
freshness of their products; therefore, they prefer to grow vegetables in their
own farms.
Farmers’ markets and supermarkets compete for farmers in their
neighborhood who are able to supply vegetables. Supermarkets are eager
to build a reputation for selling safe and fresh produce; thus, they employ
marketing practices such as establishing themselves in proximity to the
farmers and selling authentic produce.
Customers who frequent farmers’ markets are interested in both
inexpensive and fresh products; in this sense, farmers’ markets can be
considered as ‘‘compromising devices’’ for market logics and other logics
of justifications (domestic, civic; Boltanski & Thevenot, 1991). In this
competition with supermarkets, POS systems make it possible for farmers’
markets to supply fresh vegetables.
In a post-Fordist immaterial accumulation regime, economic agents
create differences by incorporating values. Farmers’ markets are devices for
making products authentic due to the presence of farmers and the collection
of local varieties and traditional products.
Farmers’ markets function as coordination devices among farmers who
are in competition and cooperation. In planning year-round cultivation,
farmers coordinate their activities with each other, exchanging knowledge
about growing vegetables or processing foods. The older generation of
farmers helps the younger generation grow local varieties of vegetables.
Consumers also reveal their preferences for these traditional varieties or
novel vegetables (e.g., herbs like basil or lavender). Thus, farmers’ markets
promote bottom-up innovation. At farmers’ markets, consumers are able to
obtain information on the provenance of the products, neighboring tourist
sites, and local recipes. Farmers’ markets develop sustainable agricultural
systems by safeguarding cultivated biodiversity.
It can be seen that a local variety of grapes has been reevaluated by
consumers at one particular farmers’ market. Similarly, small-scale farmers
have revitalized land that was exhausted by the spinach monoculture by
growing many varieties of vegetables. There have also been revivals of local
varieties of vegetables such as the Baba-Nasu eggplant. Thus, Japanese

farmers’ markets are compromising the domestic logic and sustainability
logic, civic (local development).
Citing Holloway and Kneafsey (2000), Sakurai (2006) claims that
farmers’ markets have some affinity with conservatism, nationalism, or
nostalgia. This is not the case with Japanese farmers’ markets. However, we
agree with Sakurai’s (2006) argument that farmers’ markets have lately been
reevaluated as a means of developing local food chains and as being central
to the ‘‘locally produced-locally consumed’’ movement that has recently
gained popularity in Japan.
Farmers’ markets define consumers as lovers of the rural lifestyle and
classify the products sold therein as ‘‘authentic.’’ In addition, several
farmers’ markets organize and train younger farmers and newcomers
who can provide standardized products for the wholesale market. In this
sense, farmers’ markets function as qualification devices for channeling
their products into the local distribution networks or industrial mass
production and long-distance distribution systems depending on the
farmers’ competencies.
Thus, the Japanese farmers’ markets combine multiple logics. Several
farmers’ markets in rural areas have moved to urban areas or even into
supermarkets in response to customers’ demands. Several other markets are
bases of rural tourism. In a mountainous region in Kyoto, 700,000 tourists
annually visit the hamlet in which a farmers’ market is situated, and the
farmers there provide traditional products for tourists.
Buttel (2006) discussed the path to achieving sustainable agriculture in the
‘‘Handbook of Rural Studies’’ (2006), quoting American cases, while doing it
about ‘‘sustainability of agriculture,’’ there was the room for the argument
and explained ‘‘localization’’ (foodshed strategies) in a beginning of the
road. Farmers’ market includes not only the agricultural production but
also the sustainability of rural and, about the sustainability of agriculture,
gives some opportunities to reconsider and to rebuild current agro-food
systems in not only Europe and America but also Japan (maybe Asia and
Africa).
There is not as strong a connection between farmers and consumers in
Japanese farmers’ markets as there is in the United Kingdom or the United
States. Nonetheless, Japanese farmers’ markets have ceased to exist on the
fringes and are now seen as loci of the alternative agro-food movement,
having developed the capability to compete with large-scale agricultural
companies.
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Brown, A. (2001). Counting farmers’ markets. Geographical Review, 91(4), 655–674.
Brown, A. (2002). Farmers’ market research 1940–2000: An inventory and review. American
Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 17(4), 167–176.
Buttel, F. H. (2006). Sustaining the unsustainable: Agro-food systems and environment in
the modern world. In: E. Cloke, E. Marsden, & E. Mooney (Eds.), Handbook of Rural
Studies (pp. 213–239). London: Sage.
Callon, M. (2006). What does it mean to say that economics is performative? CSI Working
Papers Series, 5. Centre de Sociologie de l’Innovation. Ecole des Mines de Paris, France.
Cohoy, F. (2002). Figures du Client, Lecons du Marche. Sciences de la Societe, 4, 245–261.
Dubuisson-Quellier, S. (2003). Gouts des Produits et des Consommateurs: La Pluralite des
Epreuves de Qualification dans la Mise en Marche des Produits Alimentaires. In:
S. Dubuisson-Quellier & J. P. Neuville (Eds), Juger pour changer (pp. 47–74). Paris,
France: Maison des Sciences de l’homme.
Futamura, T. (2007). Toward the construction of ‘Kentucky food’ in the twenty-first century:
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restructuring, 1990–2006. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Lexington, KY: Depart-
ment of Geography, University of Kentucky.
Hinrichs, C. C. (2000). Embeddedness and local food systems: Notes on two types of direct
market. Journal of Rural Studies, 16, 295–303.
Holloway, L., & Kneafsey, M. (2000). Reading the space of the farmers’ market: A preliminary
investigation from the UK. Sociologia Ruralis, 40, 285–299.
Iizaka, T. (1999). A comparison of consumers’ buying behavior at the ‘Michi-no-Eki’ Farmers’
market between seasons. Journal of Rural Economics, Special Issue, 181–184.
Iizaka, T. (2007). The strategy of information and development activity for farmers market.
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Kirman, J. (2004). Alternative strategies in the UK agro-food system: Interrogating the alterity
of farmers’ markets. Sociologia Ruralis, 44, 395–415.
Kirman, J. (2006). The interpersonal world of direct marketing: Examining conventions of
quality at UK farmers’ markets. Journal of Rural Studies, 22, 301–312.
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CHAPTER 13
DIRECT SALES SUIT

PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS’
INTERESTS IN VIETNAM
Paule Moustier and Thi Tan Loc Nguyen
ABSTRACT
Direct farmer–consumer relationships have been mostly described in the
Western world. They are reviewed as efficient forms of resistance to global
distribution chains, in particular as regards farmer incomes, consumer
trust in product safety, and solidarity between farmers and consumers.
Research was carried out in Vietnam to measure the importance of this
type of sales in the vegetable sector and how farmers and consumers
perceive it relative to other forms of supply. Consumer surveys and focus
groups were conducted as well as inventories of vegetable retail point of
sales and a case study of a farmer group based on in-depth interviews with
group leaders. Consumers buying directly from farmers desire product
freshness and the ability to receive specific information relative to product
origin and safety. Farmers value direct retail sales because it enables
higher incomes. Yet, only the wealthiest farmers have access to this type of
sales as it requires renting their own outlet shops or market stalls. Direct
farmer to consumer sales in Vietnam may be viewed as a first step toward
an interpersonal food distribution system providing an alternative to
faceless mass chain-market distribution.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016016
185
186 PAULE MOUSTIER AND THI TAN LOC NGUYEN
INTRODUCTION
Vietnam is a country praised for its quick agricultural development, with a
growth rate of 4 percent per year since the agrarian and economic reforms of
1988 and 1989 (Dao, Vu, & Le, 2003). Yet, farmers typically complain of
market instability, reflected by price variations and lack of regular buyers
(Mai, Ali, Hoang, & To, 2004). At the same time, consumers express their
dissatisfaction relative to the quality of the food they purchase (Figuié,
Bricas, Vu, & Nguyen, 2004).
In some developed countries, direct sales to consumers are perceived by
farmer groups as the key for a more secure and profitable access to the
marketplace as well as reassuring consumers about the quality of food. In
this chapter, we investigate if there are similar benefits to direct farmer–
consumer linkages in other contexts.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Direct sales from farmers to consumers take various forms in terms of
location and method of transaction, including farmers’ markets, home-to-
home delivery, and at-farm purchases (Cadilhon, 2007). Community-
supported agriculture (CSA) emerged in the mid-1960s, approximately at
the same time in Japan and Germany, mostly in reaction to food industry
scandals (Roos, Terragni, & Torjusen, 2007). In CSA, consumers agree to
prepay a certain amount of money to the producers, or to invest in the
production system directly, in exchange for receiving fresh produce at their
door or at a designated delivery station during the harvest season.
The benefits of direct sales have especially been analyzed in developed
countries. First, direct sales bring economic benefits to both farmers and
consumers. As the usual market intermediaries are bypassed, and high-
quality products become recognized by the end-user (a point developed
further in this section), farmers can benefit from increased resale prices
(Marsden, Banks, & Bristow, 2000; Hinrichs, 2000).
Direct sales reduce marketing risks for both sides: risks for farmers not to
find buyers, and risks for customers not to find the suppliers they are
looking for. These risks are especially important in the case of perishable
products. Consumers may also expect quality characteristics that are
difficult to visibly observe, such as nonuse of pesticides and cleanliness
during processing and packaging. The building of regular, personal
Direct Sales Suit Producers and Consumers’ Interests in Vietnam 187
relationships, based on the seller’s reputation and buyers’ trust, can be

termed as a ‘‘domestic convention,’’ enabling consumers to feel more
reassured (Eymard-Duvernay, 1989). The farmer–producer relationship is
an opportunity to exchange knowledge on production methods, which
fulfills consumers’ needs for reassurance, as producers are perceived as the
most competent persons to give this information. Reciprocally, direct
farmer–consumer exchanges enable farmers to have a better appreciation of
consumers’ demands (Prigent-Simonin & Hérault-Fournier, 2005).
Another dimension of quality that is valued by consumers is freshness.
This is an advantage of farmers’ direct sales relative to more long-distance
trade (Hinrichs, 2000).
Direct sales have also been described as a way to develop the solidarity
between farmers and consumers. Numerous advocates of ‘‘alternative
distribution food chains’’ claim that citizens should be able to access
local neighborhood small-scale retail points – if possible, run directly by
farmers – rather than mass-scale, monopolistic, and production-centered
distribution that disconnects agricultural output from its natural conditions
of production (Morgan, Marsden, & Murdoch, 2006; Friedmann, 1994).
Kirwan (2004) refers to social connectivity, reciprocity, and trust as
dominant drivers of British consumers buying from farmers’ markets.
‘‘Forums where producers and consumers can come together to solidify
bonds of community’’ (Lyson, 2000, p. 44) define civic agriculture, where
producers are not only responding to wants expressed by consumers but
also sharing the sense of inhabiting the same place with resulting joint
opportunities as well as constraints and responsibilities (DeLind, 2002).
According to Hinrichs (2000), it is not necessarily easy to disaggregate the
market interests gained by farmers and consumers through direct transac-
tions, from more social and civic interests, as all are embedded.
In developing countries, the prevalence and benefits of direct sales
are much less analyzed than in the developed world. However,
relational proximity is described as a common feature of food transactions,
but mostly between farmers and traders rather than between farmers and
consumers (see Lyon, 2000; Cadilhon, Fearne, Phan, Moustier, & Poole,
2006).
In this chapter, we would like to determine if the benefits found for direct
sales in developed countries also apply to Vietnam. These potential benefits
relate to decrease of risks of losses and increased added value for farmers,
freshness and trust in quality for consumers, and solidarity between
consumers and farmers.
METHODOLOGY
The chapter combines different sources of information gathered by our
research group at the consumption, marketing, and production stages. Data
on the number and locations of vegetable shops was gathered from the
Department of Trade, plus direct inventories in the city districts. Then
phone interviews were carried out to determine whether farmers managed
the shop and to get other summary information on the status of shop
property. This data was then cross-checked with an inventory of safe
vegetable groups who had been interviewed regarding the nature of output
marketing. To estimate the percentage of produce sold by the vegetable
shops surveyed, compared to the total amount of vegetables sold in Hanoi,
we used the results of a survey conducted by our research group in 2006 on
vegetable retail distribution (Moustier et al., 2006).
Various consumer surveys have been conducted to assess the preferred
supply mode for consumers and on what wins their trust as far as product
quality is concerned. Four focus groups were conducted in 2004 with 10
consumers in each (Figuié et al., 2004), and in 2006, we conducted a meeting
and detailed interviews with the chairperson along with three members of
the Women’s Consumer Club. Then a case study was conducted on a
vegetable group selling through shops, that is, Dang Xa Cooperative in Gia
Lam district. The case study involved in-depth interviews with the leaders of
the Cooperative in May 2007 and June 2008 and also quick interviews in
June 2008 of 32 consumers buying from one of the two Cooperative’s stalls.
RESULTS
Limited but Increasing Importance of Farmer Direct Sales
Short marketing chains are typical for vegetables produced in peri-urban

areas. In Hanoi, more than 40 percent of all wholesale market sellers are
also producers; this percentage goes up to 100 percent for water
convolvulus. This is partly explained by the small scale of production and
low final prices, making it attractive for producers to spend some hours in
transportation to get as much of the final price as possible (Moustier,
Vagneron, & Bui Thi Thai, 2004). For traditionally produced vegetables,
the product is rarely sold retail directly by farmers, who rather sell through
collectors, wholesalers, and retailers. Direct sales are more commonly
observed for vegetables labeled as ‘‘safe vegetables.’’
In 1995, public interest in the safety of vegetables led the Vietnamese

Ministry of Agriculture to implement an ambitious program called ‘‘safe
vegetables.’’ In 2001, it covered an agricultural area measuring a total of
2,250 hectares (equivalent to 30 percent of the vegetable production area of
Hanoi municipality). The program educated farmers in the reasonable use
of fertilizer and pesticides, as well as the use of water from wells and
nonpolluted rivers. It was conducted in tandem with training actions on
Integrated Pest Management by various international organizations,
including ADDA (Agricultural Development Denmark Asia). Certificates
of safe vegetable production were awarded by the Department of Science
and Technology to the cooperatives involved in the program (replaced in
2006 by the Plant Protection Department). Furthermore, a network of ‘‘safe
vegetable’’ stores was established for the distribution of vegetables produced
by these cooperatives. There is no strict corollary between the production of
vegetables according to ‘‘safe’’ protocols and the marketing of vegetables
labeled as ‘‘safe,’’ because a considerable volume of ‘‘safe vegetables’’ is sold
in ordinary chains without any labeling or pricing difference.
In 2002, 10 market stalls and 12 shops were listed based on official
statistics from the Department of Trade (recording only outlets with a
certificate), 9 of them belonging to joint stock companies (former state
companies), and 13 (60 percent) to private actors, including five managed by
farmer cooperatives. In 2004, after the survey of retailing outlets in two
selected districts, a total of 24 shops were estimated, plus 126 market stalls,
both formal and informal. Out of a total of 232 tons of vegetables
distributed per day, safe vegetable outlets would account for 14 tons, that is,
6 percent of the total. Eighty percent of vegetables labeled as safe are sold
through shops or stalls, the rest in supermarkets.
In 2008, we listed 54 safe vegetable stalls or shops (more than twice the
number as six years before). Out of these, 38, that is, 70 percent, are rented
by safe vegetable cooperatives (while the percentage was only 20 percent in
2002 out of a total of 22 safe vegetable retailing outlets). We can estimate the
share of direct sales as 60 percent of total safe vegetable sales, representing
around 130 tons of vegetables per day (45,000 tons per year) while it is less
than 10 per cent for conventional vegetables.
Consumers Value Direct Sales
A recent survey, conducted in 2005 on 800 consumers (500 in Hanoi and 300
in Haiphong) shows that 75 percent of consumers are extremely concerned
with the safety of food and 88 percent get information about food safety
through the media (Luu et al., 2005). There is no significant difference in
concerns for food safety shown by consumers of varying education or income.
For 57 percent of consumers, problems of safety mostly relate to the presence
of chemical residues in or on food. Food safety is of primary importance in
vegetables, fruit, and meat, together with the freshness of these products. The
most important strategy that gives consumers a guarantee about food safety is
to purchase foodstuffs from traders they know.
In the focus groups conducted in 2004, consumers made a high number
of associations between vegetable safety and sales people they knew, or
purchases from a specific shop or supermarket (Figuié et al., 2004). Thus,
the point of sale also has an impact on consumer trust. A survey of 707
consumers in 2006 showed that the perceived ‘‘safeness’’ of vegetables
increased depending on the location from which consumers purchased their
vegetables. The least ‘‘safe’’ was a spontaneous purchase at an unknown
market. Trust in ‘‘safeness’’ increased beginning with official markets, safe
vegetable stalls and shops, and finally, supermarkets (Mayer, 2007).
In her thesis on consumer access to vegetables in Hanoi, Meg Hiesinger
(2006, p. 7) quotes the reason given by her neighbor to take her to a particular
market to buy food: ‘‘Because this is where farmers come to sell directly.’’
Also, consumers classified as poor in Quynh Mai district were found to prefer
buying from street vendors in the morning because they are generally farmers
who sell fresh produce at a low price and who can give assurance regarding
the safety of produce (Figuié, Bricas, Vu, & Nguyen, 2006).
All the interviewed consumers buying from Dang Xa stalls are regular
ones, and nine of them (20 percent) come every day. All mention safety as
the reason for going to these places. Other reasons include freshness
(21 percent), acquaintance and trust (13 percent), and reasonable price
(21 percent). Vegetable safety refers to chemical residues for 70 percent of
the respondents. The purchasers feel reassured regarding vegetable safety
because of information displayed at the shop, including the certificate and
the place of production and information given by the sellers (26 percent),
because of trust in the sellers, which is strengthened due to the fact that they
are farmers (26 percent), and no health problems were experienced after
consuming the purchased vegetables (44 percent). When asked if they have
contacts with Dang Xa farmers outside of the retailing locations, all the
respondents, except two, say they do not because the area is too far away or
they are too busy.
Meetings with the Women’s Consumer Club confirmed the importance of
dealing with traders one is familiar with and purchasing product at fixed sale
locations. These factors help build a feeling of reassurance about food

safety, along with being able to confirm the origin of the vegetables. It is
most reassuring if the origin is the place of production as stated by the
management of the retailing outlet.
In summary, this section shows that freshness, affordable price, and trust
in quality are key advantages valued by consumers buying directly from
farmers, which is in line with what is found in the literature for western
countries. However, the sense of solidarity and social proximity are not
stated as key determinants for a reason to purchase from farmers. Indeed,
contact between farmers and consumers is limited to the point of sale.
Farmers Value Direct Sales
We develop below the example of the Dang Xa Cooperative to present

farmer strategies and incentives as regards direct retail sales.
In 2003, the Farmer Association of Dang Xa commune, with the help of
the Hanoi Plant Protection Department, established three selling outlets for
safe vegetables. Ngoc Lam and Duc Hoa shops sell an average of 90 tons per
year, whereas May 10 sells 180 tons. This accounts for approximately 20
percent of the production of the association, the rest being sold to canteens
or through collectors. Each shop is run by two farmers (wife–husband for
Ngoc Lam and May 10), who sell what they produce and also what they buy
from their neighbors. On the basis of the available vegetables and demand
from various canteens, purchasing plans are developed, that is, vegetables
will be purchased from the local farming households the evening before,
according to appropriate vegetable type and quantity for delivery the next
day, according to the results of the past day.
These three selling locations received assistance from the Department of
Plant Protection of Hanoi, that is, VND 100,000/selling location/month
over six months (i.e., 37 USD). Such support is aimed to assist these
households during the early stage of the operation when limited buyers are
found. It is limited, that is, equal to 12 percent of the capital required
from each of the couples by the market management, that is, VND 5 million
(310 USD) to have a retail selling outlet.
Currently, the farmers involved earn approximately VND 30 million/year
(1,875 USD), or 80,000 VND/day (5 USD), whereas the daily salary of an
agricultural worker is 30,000 VND (2 USD). The main advantages mentioned
by the head of the cooperative relate to the increase in the number of
customers and increase in prices. Customers ask questions about the safety of
products, and the sellers are able to reassure them by explaining the location
of production, the production protocol, and the control exercised by the
Department of Plant Protection. Farmers recognize the needs of buyers in
terms of types of vegetables and modify their production accordingly. These
economic and marketing benefits, based on exchange of information and
development of trust between farmers and consumers, have also been stated
for western countries as outlined in the section ‘‘Literature Review.’’
The price advantages are clear for farmers who sell at retail stalls. For
instance, they get a price of 8000 VND/kilogram when selling retail, instead
of 5,000 VND/kilogram when selling produce to a collector (i.e., 60 percent
more), which far exceeds the cost of overhead for the shop and duly
compensates labor costs. On the contrary, farmers selling to the Cooperative
do not get higher prices than when they sell to collectors. Selling to the
Cooperative, however, has an advantage in that they purchase product daily
on a regular basis. In contrast, sales to collectors are much more irregular and
they are choosier with regard to the appearance of the vegetables they buy.
DISCUSSION
Our results show advantages for farmers and consumers in terms of direct
sales, in line with the literature review. This point is developed in the
conclusion. Yet, we saw that farmer direct sales are still quite limited,
although increasing. Some reasons are provided below.
The major constraint is a financial one. Renting a shop costs around
10 million VND (600 USD) as an initial lump sum, then around 1 million
VND per month (60 USD). Another constraint is the lack of regularity and
variety of supply if the shop only sells the produce from one farmer group.
We also notice that farmers do not take full advantage of opportunities as
direct suppliers to consumers. The retail consumers interviewed in Dang Xa
locations stated that they have little time to visit the farms and discuss
vegetable issues with the farmers. What seems more important to them is to
have a guarantee from the place of purchase regarding the product’s origin
and certification of being ‘‘safe’’ issued by a public body as well as long-time
interaction with the sellers in the shops – be they producers or not. The
farmers may have to further promote the specific advantages they bring to
consumers, compared to traders, who may more easily mix vegetables from
various undisclosed origins. Also, individual farmer identity could be made
visible in the stalls, including the name, profession and address of vendors,
and pictures of the farms.
Moreover, the advantage of selling retail to consumers is not evenly

distributed among the members of the farming groups. In fact, the main
beneficiaries are the farmers who are also vendors in the shops, as they give
preference to selling their produce. There is certainly a lack of a real
collective nature in the matter of group sales. The other alternative would be
to pay a sales commission on product sold covering their costs to those
operating the retail shop, rather than them buying and reselling the products
as ordinary collectors do.
CONCLUSIONS
The research conducted in Vietnam illustrates and confirms much of the
information contained in literature on direct sales available from western
countries. Direct sales provide economic benefits to farmers, which translates
into higher income, because they are able to better promote the high quality
of their vegetables, especially as it relates to safety. Food safety generates a
number of information deficiencies and opportunism risks that are reduced by
cutting intermediary stages between farmers and consumers. This likewise
benefits consumers who are reassured in terms of the way food is produced, in
addition to getting access to fresher and more affordable food.
Yet, one additional benefit mentioned in the section ‘‘Literature Review,’’
that of social connectivity and solidarity, goes unnoticed in the Vietnamese
context. This may illustrate that Vietnamese society has yet to reach the
stage of postmaterialist values, including concerns for ethics, which are
typical in affluent societies (Inglehart, 1977). In a situation of difficult
economic conditions, farmers and consumers may be drawn more by pursuit
of individual interests, rather than by values of solidarity that benefit
everyone. Even in Western contexts, ‘‘civic’’ values are indeed difficult to
emerge, and ‘‘farmers’ markets remain fundamentally rooted in commodity
relations’’ (Hinrichs, 2000, p. 295). Direct farmer–consumer relationships in
Vietnam may actually be viewed in a positive way as the first step toward an
increased solidarity between farmers and urban consumers. CSA could be
tested in Vietnam as a way for farmers and urban consumers to become
partners in a joint endeavor, not only producing safe food but also ensuring
the long-term sustainability of a farming community.1
The chapter points out other specific features of vegetable direct sales in
Vietnam compared with other countries. Selling though shops or market
stalls rented by farmer groups is more commonplace than home deliveries or
weekly farmer markets. This characteristic is linked with the concerns of
Vietnamese consumers for freshness and diversity of vegetables, hence their

day-by-day purchases.
Yet, this type of sales displays some fragility. First, it implies high
investments by farmers, and excludes smaller farmers from access to the final
consumers. In this sense, direct sales in Vietnam differ from the situation of
Western countries where direct sales enable underprivileged farmers to find
outlets other than from modern distribution methods from which they may
be excluded. In Vietnam, at the moment, the government shows a clear
orientation toward the support of modern distribution with high private,
local, and international investments, rather than to small-scale distribution
benefiting the poor. In a situation of rising cost of urban space, it is more and
more difficult for the urban poor to get access to a place to sell.
Hence, we recommend that the initiatives of the farmers’ direct sales
benefit more from the support of public authorities. Preferential credit could
be given to farmer groups for investments in retailing locations. Some areas
of the city could be reserved for farmers’ markets, with collection of daily
fees of a reduced amount compared with the other retail market places. This
has been successfully done in Vientiane, Laos, where space near Thatluang
temple has been allocated, by the urban authorities, for organic farm
produce sales (Profil, 2007).
Second, a more rigorous control of the origin and certification of
vegetables sold in ‘‘safe vegetable’’ stalls and shops should be exerted.
Finally, more should be done to advertise places where vegetables sold
directly by farmers can be found, and farmers should also be more involved
in the communication with consumers on the specific advantages of buying
from farmer groups.
This preliminary research also opens up new questions for further
investigation. We need a more thorough comparison of the financial costs
and benefits of direct retail sales relative to other types of sales, for example,
through collectors or supermarkets. We also need to know more about the
internal mechanics of the collective action taken by farmers to appraise how
the benefits of direct sales are distributed within the group relative to the
respective power basis of each member. Finally, as stated earlier, we need
to make investigation regarding possible further involvement of consumers
in the support of local sustainable agriculture, featuring programs of
community involvement. Then, we will be able to conclude if present farmer
direct sales in Vietnam are actually seeds for future alternative agri-food
systems, in a world of rapid changes in food distribution where impersonal,
commodity-driven mass distribution tries to dominate the scene (Bonanno
& Constance, 2007).
NOTE
1. The second author of the chapter supports two farmers in peri-urban Hanoi, by
financing a drainage system, agricultural inputs, and technical support. In return, she
receives produce for which she pays more stable prices than the regular market prices.
In cases of harvest losses, she lends some money so that the farmer can start the
growing season again. This is still an individual initiative, but it could be easily
transformed into a more collective scheme. Moreover, since 2008, the NGO ‘‘Action
for the City’’ has supported a group of 10 organic vegetable growers in Soc Son district
to organize home deliveries in Hanoi. One hundred and seventy consumers have now
subscribed, and they pay for packs of vegetables delivered weekly at stable prices.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The MALICA group (Markets and Agriculture Linkages for Cities in Asia;
http://www.malica-asia.org) based in Hanoi, Vietnam, conducted various
projects on vegetable marketing, from which the research presented here
draws some of its sources. From 2002 to 2006, we were involved in a project
on peri-urban agriculture (SUSPER) funded by the French Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, where we analyzed vegetable consumption and also the
organization of vegetable chains supplying Hanoi. In 2005, we participated
in a FAO study supported by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) on
Public-Private Partnerships in rural infrastructure aimed at promoting
market-oriented agricultural production, for which we prepared a case study
on Dang Xa cooperative investment in shops. In 2006, we were involved in a
study on participatory quality guarantee systems funded by the ADB/DFID
project, Making Markets Work Better for the Poor, from which we drew the
results relative to the women’s consumer club.
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aof.revues.org/index489.html. Retrieved on July 22, 2010.
CHAPTER 14
PARTICIPATION OF THE STATE

IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD
TO URBAN AREAS AND
POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS
FOR THE VENEZUELAN
AGRO FOOD SECTOR
Agustı́n Morales
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study is to analyze the current situation and
the prospects of the food distribution system as a result of the State
participation in this system by the state firms called Mercal and PDVal.
As a mean to achieve this objective, it was necessary to review, as a
starting point, the historical situation in which these Venezuelan state
firms appeared. Next, the transformations in that distribution system are
studied and an interpretation of the Mercal phenomenon is proposed.
Furthermore, the potential implications and prospects of the State
participation in food distribution to urban areas are explained. Finally,
an analysis of the probable implications of this participation upon the
Venezuelan agricultural and food sector was conducted.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016017
199
200 AGUSTÍN MORALES
INTRODUCTION
During the past years, the referred structure has suffered important changes
due to the founding of the firm Mercal C.A. This state owned company
created to attend the needs of the less-favored sectors of society, since its
foundation on April 16, 2003, has shown important dynamism (Ministerio
de Alimentación, 2005). Regarding this, it is mentioned that on January 4,
2007, the results of a study were published (related to the impact of the
15 social programs carried out by the Venezuelan government) done
by a renowned and prestigious surveyor, concluded that Mercal had the
most acceptance among socioeconomic sectors D and E (highlight is ours),
with a 50.8% and 64.4% penetration, respectively (Universidad Central
deVenezuela, Facultad de Agronomı́a, 2007).
This important dynamism and level of acceptance, as of January 2007
until February 2008, has shown signs of weakening because it was in no
condition to continually attend the growing demand of consumers, who
have seen their income grow from among other sources, the different social
programs enforced by the State, in view of the extraordinary expansion of
the oil income, noticeably increasing public spending.
As of the first days of March 2008, the distribution of food seemed to
recover in all the urban distribution structure of food. As for the programs
displayed by the State in terms of food, it is not difficult to see the interest
there is in solving this situation, since in addition to the operations of
Mercal are those of PDVal (another State-owned company financed with
the resources of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., PDVSA). Both form what is
called by the government the ‘‘executing arms of the food policy.’’ This way
Mercal distributes food to the less-favored sectors with subsidized prices,
and PDVal distributes basic food to other segments of the Venezuelan
society with prices regulated and enforced in the Official Gazette.
Taking this context into consideration and the enforcement of food
distribution policies, greatly financed by the State, it does not constitute an
unprecedented success in the country if we take into consideration the
history that surrounds the functioning and final destiny of the Agriculture
Marketing Corporation (Corpomercadeo).1 The purpose of this work is to
analyze the current situation and perspectives of the structure of the urban
distribution of foods as a consequence of the decision of the State to
participate directly in said structure.
In accordance with the methodological process we used, this work has
been structured as follows: after this introduction, the first part establishes
the historical coordinates within which Mercal and PDVal appeared; this
Participation of the State in the Distribution of Food to Urban Areas 201
way, it determines the origins of the object being studied. In the second part,
we propose an interpretation of the phenomenon, developing all the aspects
that compose this investigation, as are: conceptualization, verification, and
inference. This way, our intention was to formulate a deductive reasoning
with most attention on the probable implications of this phenomenon on the
structure and functioning of the Venezuelan Agricultural and Food Sector if
the conditions that allowed for the founding and further development of
said ‘‘executing arms of the food policy’’ consolidate and prevail.
THE STRUCTURE OF URBAN DISTRIBUTION OF

FOOD BEFORE THE FOUNDING OF MERCAL
The urban distribution structure of foods started to change importantly
since the opening of the first facilities of Makro Comercializadora S.A.
in 1992 in the city of Caracas. This company appeared on May 18, 1990,
as a result of the association between Empresas Polar with the Dutch
company known with the initials SHV (Steenklen Handles Verreniging).
This association became Makro Automercados Mayoristas S.A. After this,
according to the Constitutive Act located in the Commerce Registry of
the Federal District and State of Miranda (UCV, Facultad de Agronomı́a,
1994), on March 18, 1992, it was decided the company would be named
Makro Comercializadora, S.A.
The presence of Makro, with many of the peculiarities that characterize
the so-called hypermarkets in Europe, meant a very important transforma-
tion in the urban distribution system of food (Morales, 1996). Such a change
was specially important because the initial plan barely considered the
opening of five facilities in Caracas, Valencia, Maracaibo, and Barquisimeto
(Grupo Editorial Producto, 2005, p. 57), and practically overflowed as
the number reached no less than 20 facilities located in the most important
regions and cities of the country, a significant number to consider these as
part of an accelerated process of transformation of the structure of urban
distribution of food, particularly in this historical period of time.
Later, CATIVEN, a consortium integrated by the French CASINO group
(with 50% of stock ownership), ÉXITO-CADENALCO from Colombia
(with 28% of the package) and the Polar group of Venezuela (with 22%),
assumed total control of the Supermaxy’s operation. In its first stage, in
1995, the consortium, only with the presence of Makro, acquired the CADA
supermarkets and Maxy’s stores, and this way, it started an aggressive
Table 1. Quantitative Transformation and Percentage Variation

Observed in the Urban Distribution System of Food in the 1990–2002
Period.
Distributors Years Variation %
2002/1990
1990 1995 2002
Small groceries 55.966 37.941 38.927 30.0

Independent supermarkets 1.362 1.441 1.025 25.0
Supermarket chains 234 265 200 14.5
Hypermarkets 12 25 þ108.0
Source: Prepared personally on the basis of the information provided by the company Datos
(UCV, Facultad de Agronomı́a, 2003).
modernization program of these establishments that started to be called

CADA 2000.
A rough quantification of this process and the significant growth of the
so-called hypermarkets can be verified in Table 1.
As this development process of the GD appeared and the power of the
mentioned companies increased, not only most of the retailers were being
slowly substituted, but the group of economic agents that participated
within the agro food sector would start to bear with the consequences of the
process (Morales 1996; UCV Facultad de Agronomı́a, 2004-2008). Under
these conditions, it was not difficult to foresee that the concentration would
continue its rapid course, and it would consequently result complicated to
work under the ‘‘laws of the market.’’
Taking into consideration the facts mentioned earlier, we conclude this
point sustaining that the historical conditions that made it possible to
conceptualize and explain the structure and functioning of the Venezuelan
Agrofood Sector (VAS) up to the founding of the GD in the country, was
significantly modified. Hence, the concepts and proposals current until the
presence of the GD could not remain unchanged. Therefore, we consider an
important change has occurred in the structure because the core (Núcleo in
Spanish) that defines it and allows for the reproduction of most of the agro
industry complexes (Complejos Agroindustriales in Spanish) that operate in
the country started to show significant changes. What in most of the
Sectorial Complexes (Complejos Sectoriales in Spanish; commonly know as
‘‘agro industry complexes’’) founded in the country had been designed
around the agrofood industry, and decisions were made that guaranteed and
ensured the reproduction of said complexes, which slowly started to lose this
capability. This capability started to surround the Great Distribution,

which started to show its hegemony and reveal its capacity to establish
hierarchies, organize, and direct the dynamics of the ‘‘agrofood system.’’ In
these conditions, the details of how this core works would have significant
consequences in the evolution of all the stages (Etapas in Spanish) that form
the ‘‘agro industry complexes’’ that operate in Venezuela, being that there
are good reasons to consider that the decisions will irradiate from this new
core that will guarantee and ensure the reproduction of the economical and
social bases of these complexes. This ability that the Great Distribution has
to ensure the reproduction of these complexes derives from its economic,
technological independence, as well as its sufficiency to hold a relative
conditioning over the rest of the production stages that form the mentioned
agro industry complexes.
Such were in synthesis, the characteristics and interpretation of the
events that preceded the apparition of Mercal C.A. as has been presented
and reiterated, this company emerged in a context of an accelerated growth
of the so-called Great Distribution.
Later, as has also been mentioned, PDVal comes into the seen and is
characterized by a serious supply problem. Both events will be presented in
the next point.
THE SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT IN WHICH

MERCAL AND PDVAL EMERGED
In December 1998, Hugo Chávez Frı́as was elected by a vast majority

as president of the Republic. Upon assuming power, he summoned a
Constitutional Assembly to re-found the republic. This assembly produced
a project for Constitution in three months, which was ratified in a popular
election on December 15, 1999, with 70% of votes in favor. From the
moment the referendum to approve the new constitution was summoned,
the main business organization, Fedecámaras, decided to recommend a
negative vote, as they considered that the constitutional text would have
fatal consequences for the country.
In what does this new constitution differ from the revoked Constitution
of 1961? Taking into consideration that there are many different aspects,
for the purposes of this chapter, we highlight the socioeconomic aspects.
On the one hand, these are clearly outlined in the Constitution of 1999,
in contrast to the 1961 Constitution (which lacked a general title for this
subject) (Viciano, 2004, p. 59). On the other hand, the economic model
contemplated in the 1999 Constitution counts with some supports con-
sidered basic for the type of society and State that was envisioned. Among
those supports the following are highlighted: the principle of food safety
for the people (highlighted because it represents a major element within the
context from which Mercal appeared), the promotion of rural development
and the struggle against large estates (Latifundios in Spanish).
After the new Constitution is enforced, a governability crisis emerges
that derived primarily from the approval and application of 49 law decrees
with which the government pretended to advance with what was called
the ‘‘revolutionary process.’’ The general strike of December 10, 2001, that
marked the beginning of the political crisis, became a general movement
against this group of law decrees.
Some time after overcoming the rupture of the constitutional thread that
occurred on April 11, 2002, an ‘‘economic strike’’ occurred, in which many
companies decided to stop their production. But this was not all, a few days
after this event, the employees of the country’s main oil company, Petróleos
de Venezuela (PDVSA), decided to go on strike as well. The analysis of these
events would require a space we do not have; instead, we point out that once
these events were overcome, the current government applied the following
measures, among other: (a) exchange and price control; (b) the decision to
participate in the direct importation of goods; (c) increase of minimum
wages; (d) the enforcement of the value added and bank debit tax, as well as
taxes to business assets; a group of measures that favored what the govern-
ment called the ‘‘Endogenous Development Plan’’ to guide its economic
policy. According to the most important representatives of the government,
it would mean a vision of ‘‘inward development’’ that would prioritize
domestic production, supported by the exchange and price controls as
instruments for industrial incentives. Thus, it would try to strengthen the
participation of the State in the economy group and particularly, in the
processes of production, transformation, distribution, and consumption of
agriculture food goods.
In summary, we can say that Mercal shows up in a political scenario
characterized by great uncertainty, a scenario in which the guarantee of
‘‘food safety’’ for the people with lower income (according to government
representatives) was practically a need that could no longer be postponed
due to the elevated unemployment rates and a worrying decrease of the
purchase capacity of salaries (Banco Central de Venezuela, varios años-a,
varios años-b, varios años-c, varios años-d), factors that made the food and
nutritional situation of less favored sectors of the Venezuelan society even

more difficult (Landaeta, 2005, p. 274).
The important dynamics and level of acceptance mentioned in the
introduction of this chapter, from January 2007 to February 2008, has
shown signs of weakening because it was in no condition to attend the
growing demands of consumers, who saw their income grow from,
among other sources, the different social programs enforced by the State,
which, in view of the significant expansion of its oil income, increased
public spending. In reference to this, it is mentioned that despite that
in 2007 the food demand had increased to over 30% in 2006; the market
did not register a similar offer that was able to satisfy said increase.
Therefore, along with the food shortage observed both in Mercal as well as
in supermarkets and hypermarkets, the prices of food has increased
significantly.
From the first day in March 2008, a recovery of the food supplies started
to show in all the urban distribution structure of food. As for the programs
displayed by the State in terms of food (as has been described in part of
this chapter), a manifested interest in solving this situation can be seen
because the operations developed by Mercal have been summed up to those
of PDVal.
To solve the mentioned situation, the State has undertaken the following
specific actions: (a) the relaunch of the Food Mission by creating Communal
Markets managed by members of the communities that are benefited from
the so-called Food Mission, (b) the restriction of exportation to bordering
countries, (c) the enforcement of measures to avoid the so-called extraction
smuggling, and (d) the significant increase of imports.
From the group of actions previously mentioned, it is convenient to
highlight those related to importations that undoubtedly consume more
and more US currency coming from the sale of oil. In this respect, it is said
that the Commission for the Administration of Currency (CADIVI) has
authorized during the first months of 2008 more than 704 million US dollars
(UCV, Facultad de Agronomı́a, 2008) to import food. This amount
represents approximately one-fourth of all the currency approved by this
government entity between January 1 and March 5, 2008. Besides, we need
to mention the fact regarding the subscription of agreements on food and
energy between Venezuela and the Republic of Argentina, among which we
should highlight the agreement between the Venezuelan Producer and
Distributer of Food (PDVal) and the company Coto-Cicsa for the supply
of food to Venezuela.
PROPOSALS FOR THE INTERPRETATION

OF THE PHENOMENON
Theoretical – Conceptual Aspects
In the first place, the aspects to be considered are related to the concepts
of ‘‘Sectorial Complex’’ and ‘‘Sectorial Complex Core,’’ as well as those
related to the ‘‘bi-univocal’’ correspondence between the transformation and
property process structures, which have been analyzed and discussed in an
article previous to this one (Morales, 2000).
The other theoretical aspect to be considered is the one related to the
institutions. It is mentioned that the so-called New Institutional Economy
(NIE) or ‘‘institutionalism’’ has derived from a series of ‘‘macroeconomic
theories’’ that question the basis over which the neoclassic paradigm rests.
These ‘‘theories’’ are inscribed within what is generally known with the
name of ‘‘New Institutional Economy.’’ One of the authors that most
emphasizes the privileges of the State institutional and organizational
structure as a major factor for growth and efficiency of the economies and
societies is Douglas North (1984, 1989, 1993).
A considerable amount of works have been published on the NIE.
Without wanting to judge the proposals in this abundant bibliography, we
opt for highlighting the main aspects, that to our judgment, are the keystone
of the Neoinstitutionalist Theory, these are: limited rationality (Simon,
1984), opportunistic behavior (Aguiar, 1996), asymmetric information, risk,
property rights, transaction costs (Coase, 1937; Williamson, 1975, 1985), as
well as organizational and institutional solutions different to those of the
market (Caballero, 2004; Powell & Dimaggio, 1999).
Regarding the institutions (North, 1994), it is mentioned that they are a set
of rules and restrictions that have a decisive influence in the interchange,
election, and behavior of the economic agents, the economic organization,
the costs of transactions, and the economic performance. Without these, the
interchange would be a costly process, dominated by social conflicts and
distribution struggles that could arise from differences of economic interests.
Within the same order of ideas, it adds that if no institutions existed,
the egoism and maximizing conduct of economic agents would inevitably
make specialization, cooperation, and the establishment of an economic
coordination impossible. To summarize, without the presence of the above,
it would be impossible to attenuate the opportunistic behavior of individuals
and make specialization feasible, because it would be impossible to organize
the interchange in such a way to harmonize the potentially conflicting

interests between the parts.
On the contrary, it points out that the organizations (North, 1993)
constitute a group of individuals searching for similar objectives and
deliberate purposes. These groups simultaneously form agents of institu-
tional change, and therefore, it is important to establish the relationship
that forms between the institutions and the organizations, whether these are
formal or informal.
To end this part dedicated to the revision of aspects that have been
considered the keystone of the Neoinstitutionalist Theory, we deem
convenient to briefly refer to the so-called institutional change, conceived
as the rupture of the balance in power and the factor that would provoke
a transformation process in the structure of society and the behavior of its
members, who will finally induce the change of attitude, values, norms, and
conventions.
The historical conditions and the theoretical aspects examined up to
this part of the chapter allow us to make the following proposal, among
other: In the case that the conditions that allowed for the founding and
further development of Mercal and PDVal were to consolidate and prevail,
these state-owned companies would favor or be able to share with the GD
the ability to determine hierarchies and progressively direct the dynamics of
all the agricultural food sector of the country. In other words, participate
and become an important part of the Core from which decisions would
irradiate to guarantee and ensure the reproduction of the economic and
social bases of the different complexes that form the so-called Venezuelan
agro food system.
VERIFICATION OF THE PROPOSALS

In second place, it corresponds to the verification process, through which
the validity or not of the proposals that were drawn are determined.
This verification is sustained (besides from the quantitative information
provided by official entities, which were mentioned in the previous point) by
the uncontroversial facts expressed by academics, businessmen linked to
the agro food industry and company executives, which were mentioned by
Morales (2007).
As of the following paragraph, some of those facts will be referred to as
well as those that have been occurring during the first months of 2008, which
have been widely distributed through different communications media and

are part of the documentary support of the Project called Venezuelan
Agro Food System executed by the Agro Food Research Unit of the UCV.
(UCV Facultad de Agronomı́a, 2004–2008). Said facts are the following:
(a) According to a professor of Instituto de Estudios Superiores de

Administración (IESA) in 18 months Mercal changed the food
distribution structure (Boza, 2005) and constitutes an opportunity
(highlight is ours) for the big product companies of massive consumption.
(b) The declarations of the president of Conindustria, who recognized that
Mercal sells ‘‘low cost products to 40% of consumers.’’ With the
purpose of complementing the previously noted declarations, on our
behalf we present Table 2.
(c) The recognition of the dimension and the roll of Mercal by the general
manager of Sales and Distribution of Cargill Foods Venezuela
(Fuenmayor, 2005).
(d) To consider Mercal as something more than a social program
(Datanálisis, 2006) and the declarations of the director of one of the
most important poll companies (Datanálisis) who affirmed ‘‘Mercal is
actually the most successful mission (highlight is ours) of Government’’
(Datareport, 2006).
(e) The explanation of the Service Group to Trade coordinator of Datos
Company on the strength of the sale points of Mercal (Fuenmayor,
2005).
Table 2. Prices Valid in Mercal and Supermarket Chains (Average Price

per Category) and Percentual Variations Observed During October 2004.
Products Prices in Mercal Prices in Supermarket Chains Percentual Variation
Rice 990 1,268 22

Pasta (spaghetti) 1,100 1,578 30
Sugar 740 1,047 30
Cooking oil 2,240 2,731 18
Sardines 420 495 15
Powdered milk 4,700 5,846 20
Corn flour 890 1,005 12
Tuna 850 1,022 17
Coffee 750 885 15
Source: Our own elaboration on the basis of information provided by the company DATOS i.r.,
‘‘Trade Realities,’’ March 2005 (UCV, Facultad deAgronomı́a, 2005).
Table 3. Type and Number of Establishments Installed by Mercal up to

February 2006.
Type of Establishment Number of Establishments
Mobile Mercalitos 273

Mercal type I 210
Mercal type II 867
Mercalitos 13,285
Supermercal 32
Storage centers (Centros de Acopio in Spanish) 110
Total 14,778
Source: Our own elaboration on the basis of information provided by Mercal, C.A. (UCV,
Facultad de Agronomı́a, 2006).
(f) The numbers of Table 3, in which the increase of the sale points can be
observed.
(g) The press release from Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. from which it can be
inferred that it is possible that PDVal will continue extending and
consolidating its distribution network during the months following
February 2008.
(h) The press declarations on behalf of the vice-president of operations of
Pdval who said: ‘‘We are dedicating to certain basic items to defeat the
shortage because we share the objective of building a network that covers
all the country’’ (UCV, Facultad de Agronomı́a, 2008; highlight is ours).
In February 2006, in the 14,778 facilities founded by this state-owned

company, 5,530 metric tons were sold daily to more that 13.8 million
beneficiaries and to that same date there were 499 suppliers incorporated
into the supply chain for Mercal.
These and other events make us formulate a preliminary thesis in the
following terms: the substantiveness of Mercal produced a major
reconfiguration in the structure of the urban distribution of food that was
happening in the country until this state-owned company was founded.
How the state-owned companies studied in this chapter gained an
important share of the market (maybe due to the subsidies assigned with
the huge financial resources available, at the price level they operate, the
so-called unfair competition, tax exonerations, support from CADIVI,
the structure that supports them, and probably the low operating costs of
the sales points) allows us to corroborate the proposal presented in point
3.1, regarding the possibility to share with the GD, the ability to establish a
hierarchy and progressively direct the dynamics of all the agro food sector of
the country; in other words, participate and be an important part of the
Core from which decisions irradiate that will guarantee and ensure the
reproduction of the economic and social bases of the different complexes
that form the so-called Venezuelan agro food system.
INFERENCE
Taking into account the considerations presented up to this point, during

the third stage we propose to formulate a deductive reasoning that will allow
us to foresee the repercussions that may derive from this phenomenon. Two
scenarios are established therefore: The first, that because of its nature
would not require further comments nor a study as we propose, is related
to the fact that it is impossible for the state to continue supporting this
initiative (for fiscal and other reasons as those related to its efficiency);
especially if during the period of its operations this company does not
organize an adequate logistic management and consolidates a financial
situation that will allow for its sustainability, and some other aspects
could be added as corruption, probable loss of financial resources, the
confrontation with companies that have traditionally been in charge of the
manufacturing and distribution of food, as well as the presumable increase
in bureaucracy, among other things.
The second scenario includes the probable repercussions that may derive
from the studied phenomenon in the case that the conditions that allowed
for the founding and further development of these companies prevail; this
scenario will be treated (obviously at a high level of abstraction) as follows:
If our aspiration is to make a reasonable evaluation of the implications of
the phenomenon being analyzed, we should start by admitting that since the
approval and application of the new Constitution, it is possible to perceive
the transformation in the economy, which shows relevant mutations in the
exchange and conduct of the economic agents on a daily basis, as well as the
performance of the markets, to quote just some of them.
Now that this premise has been described, we stress that the creation
and functioning of Mercal is supported in articles 226 and 305 of the
Constitution of the Republic, in accordance with articles 101 of the Organic
Lay of Public Administration, 155 of the Law of Lands and agriculture
Development, and 1, 11, and 14 of the Law of Agriculture Marketing.
Therefore, as long as the international reserves were high, the exchange
control was in force, there was no possible perspective of a drastic
devaluation and the exchange rate was convenient for the purposes of the
Government, the survival of this company was ensured at least until 2008,
year in which this study was concluded. Nevertheless, it is considered
advisable to refer, next, to the last measures adopted by the government to
confront the fiscal urgencies derived from the strong reduction of oil prices.
Although everything made to predict that the government would resort to
a monetary devaluation, significantly increase the IVA tax, apply taxes
to financial transactions and decide on a drastic cut of the government
expending, nothing of this happened and on the very contrary, the measures
announced by the government in March 2009 consisted of an increase of
wages by 20% and a decision to not trim the social cost, mainly the one
related to the programs that guarantee the food security of the people.
For all this, the government has decided to increase public credit for the
operations necessary to guarantee ‘‘nourishing sovereignty’’ and to preserve
the social investment (UCV, Facultad de Agronomı́a, 2009).
Under these conditions, Mercal and PDVal could become an important
part (together with those companies that form the ‘‘Great Distribution’’) of
the Core from which decisions irradiate that guarantee and ensure the
reproduction of the economic and social bases of the different agro industry
complexes that form the Venezuelan Agro Food Sector. This way we would
also witness a change in the power relationships that were being established
as a consequence of the formation of the GD up to before the founding
of Mercal. For this reason, the economic importance and power of the
different socioeconomic agents that operate within the Agro Food Sector
would tend to change, and we would witness a reordering of the social
relations and the corresponding power structures.
Next, we will dedicate the last paragraphs to those aspects regarding the
costs of transactions for the beneficiary agents of this social program.
The fact that the main ‘‘selling points’’ operate with reduced ‘‘operating
costs’’ shows a very high penetration in the most remote places, and they
have been able to ‘‘go up the slum areas’’ to get as close as possible to the
consumers (and that there is the possibility to offer credits to have larger
spaces in the selling points and acquire refrigerating equipment) means
in practical terms a significant decrease in the purchase price as these
consumers will not only find products at more attractive prices but also
that their transaction costs will be reduced significantly. Under these
circumstances, the expansion of Mercal will become greater because it will
have been able to attract more clients and as a consequence, it will tend
to displace its ‘‘competitors,’’ among which are the food processing
companies and those that were able to form what we have been calling
the Great Distribution. These, not to loose a greater market segment, would
be forced to negotiate with Mercal.
If, as it has been announced, the purchasing mechanisms implemented
by Mercal would adjust to the principles of the economy, transparency,
honesty, efficiency, equality, competition, and publicity that should govern
all quotation procedures, the economic risk and the uncertainty and,
consequently, the transaction costs of the ‘‘competitors’’ and small and
medium enterprises that produce food would also decrease. The reduction
in the transaction costs would also stimulate investments, savings, jobs,
technological innovation, and in general, the organization of complex
collective actions. This is because with the purchase by the government
(that would require an efficient supervisory system that would knock down
any hint of corruption), a new space would open for national production
within the new scheme that could imply ‘‘the development of inter-industrial
relations ruled by a system of solidarity, explained in specific rules,
established in a contract’’ (Green & Rocha dos Santos, 1992), similar to the
one being observed in numerous regions of developed countries. Differently
put, it would mean the achievement, on the one hand, of the configuration
of a new socio productive scheme that would imply the incorporation of
small and medium national food producers as suppliers for Mercal C.A.
and, on the other hand, the development of regional economies with
favorable conditions for this growth.
By reducing transaction costs for the consumers, for ‘‘competitors’’ and
for the small and medium food companies, the possibility to have access to
more favorable prices for consumers would be easy to predict. This success
that could be qualified as the configuration of a ‘‘virtuous circle’’ and would
allow low-income consumers (who destine a high percentage of their income
to purchase food) to destine this ‘‘saved’’ part to satisfying other urgent
needs and consequently stimulate the production of goods and services
required to satisfy those basic needs. This ‘‘saved’’ part would be significant
if we take into consideration only three aspects: (a) The so-called price prime
of food for the city of Caracas at the time Mercal was being created was
between 20 and 100 percent, including products regulated in the basic
basked (Boza, 2005, p. 24); a conservative figure registered by Datos in 2004
indicated that class E had increased its purchasing power in more than 50%
in nominal terms (Fuenmayor, 2005). (b) For low income families (who
purchase foods more frequently because of liquidity, transportation, and
storage capacity), the transportation cost of going to a distant establishment
was very high in relation with the amount paid for the basic basket. (c) If the
distance were not important, it would mean that the consumer would not
care for the time of transportation; hence, the opportunity cost of time for
this agent would equal zero, a fact that does not adjust to reality (Castillo &
Morales, 2004, p. 65).
Taking into account that there are not invariable facts, much less
consummated, we conclude this chapter pointing out that the phenomenon
being analyzed has been treated as a process considering it as the highly
branched out mediation between present, a past that has not ended, and
above all, a possible future.
NOTE
1. A marketing company of agro food goods created with the financial help of the
State on August 21, 1970, and then liquidated after experiencing a severe crisis that
reached its peak in the year 1981. In accordance with its financial statements, it
experimented loses for more than half of its managed resources. These losses,
according to reports filed in their archives, represent per se transfers on behalf of the
State to the agriculture industry. Actually, the direct and indirect subsidies provided
by the State and that were probably addressed to benefit the consumers were not
perceived by the latter. The numbers reviewed (Morales, 1992) indicate that it was not
the consumers who benefited from the subsidy policy. This mechanism used by the
State that consisted in selling to the agriculture food industry goods at prices lower
than purchasing them in the international market motivated the increase of imported
supplies of these goods by the food processing industry, which due to its high
concentration index (Morales, 1985) did not allow these subsidies to be captured and
transferred to the end products. Quite on the contrary, during the mentioned years, it
started an alarming price increase of foods (Morales, 1992, p. 287).
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contracting. New York: The Free Press.
PART IV
NATURAL RESOURCES AND
RURAL WOMEN
CHAPTER 15
CAPACITY BUILDING FOR

THE ENVIRONMENT: FOREST
POLICY AND MANAGEMENT
IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE$
Sabine Weiland
ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the building of environmental governance in two
post-socialist countries of Southeastern Europe, Albania, and Croatia,
with a focus on forest policy reforms. After the end of the socialist era,
the countries have rapidly adopted new policies and legislation directed
at sustainable forest management. The main driver of policy reform is
the European and international influence. Yet the developments in
the countries cannot be adequately described as a mere adoption of
Western-style methods and solutions, as suggested in arguments on the
catch-up development of transition states. The capacities needed in post-
socialist countries to deal with environmental issues differ from those in
industrial societies. On the contrary, there is no essentialistic link between
environmental problems and solutions to these problems in post-socialist
countries. The outline of the policy reforms in Croatia and Albania
$
This research was conducted under the project ‘‘Biodiversity Governance and Global Public
Goods’’, as part of the EU-FP6-project ‘‘Reflexive governance in the public interest (Refgov)’’.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016018
219
220 SABINE WEILAND
reveals very different approaches to sustainable forest management and

different paths in the post-socialist transition process. It is argued that
capacity development in forestry in transition states needs to be based
on country-specific socio-political, economic, and cultural features to be
successful.
INTRODUCTION
The building of environmental governance is one of the key challenges in the
transition process of the post-socialist countries in Southeastern Europe. This
holds true for the forest sector as well. Since the early 1990s, the transition
countries in the region have rapidly adopted new forest policy and legislation.
The perceived need for reforms has been related to new regulations in the
area of land tenure, mainly the recognition of private property rights, and
followed on the heels of legal reforms aimed at privatizing various aspects of
the economy. Sustainable development of forests is generally an express
objective of the new policy. The past emphasis on economic values in forestry
has been replaced by a broader outlook that recognizes also environmental
and social functions of the forest (Schmithüsen, Iselin, & Le Master, 2002;
Jansky, Nevenic, Tikkanen, & Pajari, 2004).
The main driver of policy reform is the European and international
influence. Membership in the European Union is connected with the
obligation to implement the EU regulatory regime, and this is a powerful
incentive for these countries to accept the environmental conditionality of
the Union. Harmonization of forest legislation of the transition countries
with EU requirements is however not necessary since forest policy is not
a formalized policy area of the Union. Nevertheless, there exist European
policy initiatives, such as the Resolution on a EU Forestry Strategy adopted
in 1998, which emphasizes the multi-functional role of forests and the
importance of sustainable forest management (Hogl, 2007). In addition,
since the 1990s, a forest regime has evolved on the international level.
Both the United Nations’ international arrangements on forests (IAF)
and the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe
(MCPFE) were directed at the promotion of sustainable forest management
(Tikkanen, 2007). International donor organizations also work to develop
environmental governance capacities, as part of poverty reduction strategies
in developing and transition countries. All these developments influence and
shape the national forest policies in the countries of Southeastern Europe.
Capacity Building for the Environment 221
Despite the surprising speed of the reforms, it should not be overlooked

that legal reforms and the introduction of new policy approaches do not
automatically imply changes in the actual management practices. What is
crucial is the building of capacities to put new policy approaches into
practice. The initial assumption after the collapse of state socialism in
Europe that economic liberalization and democratization of the post-
socialist countries would almost automatically alleviate environmental
problems has proven too simplistic, though. It became clear that these
proposed solutions too closely reflected Western European conceptions of
environmental quality and democracy, rather than the concerns of the local
population (Herrschel & Forsyth, 2001). The resulting question that this
article addresses is twofold: What forms of environmental governance need
to be built in the transition countries of Southeastern Europe? What kind
of capacities is required for this task?
Capacity building in forestry is not only an issue in the post-socialist
countries of Southeastern Europe. Sustainable forest management is an
important objective in all transition countries. About one-fourth of the
world’s forests are located in transition countries, and in most countries
forests constitute an important sector of the economies and often are critical
for the livelihood of the people (Pachova, Tikkanen, Pajari, & Nevenic,
2004, p. 1). Effective strategies have to be developed to reconcile sustainable
forest management and sustainable economic and human development in
these countries. Hence, the importance of capacity building for these tasks
also goes beyond the Southeastern European region.
The chapter is organized as follows: In the subsequent section, the
theoretical framework of the study, the concept of capacity building for
the environment, is presented. The section ‘‘Forest Policy, Management,
and Forest Policy Reforms in Southeastern Europe’’ outlines the current
developments in forest policy and management in Southeastern Europe.
Country studies on Croatia and Albania serve as illustrations of the develop-
ment paths in different countries. The final section addresses the question
of capacity building in forestry. It also draws some general conclusions for
environmental capacity building in transition countries.
CAPACITY BUILDING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

The concept of capacity for the environment is broadly defined by the
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) as ‘‘a
society’s ability to identify and solve environmental problems’’ (OECD,
222 SABINE WEILAND
1994, p. 8). Capacity is determined and shaped by political actors and their
decisions, the dimensions and appropriateness of policy, availability of
technical knowledge and expertise. Capacity-building, in turn, refers to
efforts and strategies intended to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and
responsiveness of a society’s performance in environmental matters.
Capacity-building has been a key concept in the development studies
literature since the 1950s. Since the mid-1990s, the concept has become
linked to the efforts of the World Bank, the IMF and other international
donor organizations to develop ‘‘good governance,’’ with the aim to reduce
poverty in the poorest countries of the world. In terms of practical
intervention, the building of capacity, as defined by international donors,
includes various aspects of institution-building, development of state func-
tions and the interactions between state, market, and civil society (Grindle,
2004, p. 526). The more specific notion of ‘‘environmental capacity-
building’’ gained momentum after the UN Conference on Environment
and Development in Rio 1992 and is now deployed more generally around
discussions of sustainability and globalization.
In developing and transition countries, a lack of capacity might include
insufficient monitoring and reporting capacities, underdeveloped democratic
structures and processes, as well as deficient implementation capacities.
Such deficits produce insufficient policy outcomes in various environmental
fields. It is however not only developing countries but also advanced nations
that face difficulties with regard to environmental capacities (Weidner &
Jänicke, 2002). The assumption of a catch-up development that transition
countries would just need to follow the predetermined path of the advanced
nations is therefore mistaken. This also applies to the situation in post-
socialist societies. In the same way as environmental degradation is not
endemic to socialist regimes, post-socialism cannot be understood as
synonym for new market liberalism and democracy without any environ-
mental problems. Also the capacities needed in post-socialist countries to
deal with environmental issues might differ from those in industrial societies.
Our aim is to argue against generalizing interpolations of Western
experience and to make an attempt to appreciate different, and more
local, approaches to the environment in the former socialist countries.
In international policy initiatives, capacity-building has often become the
code for the transformation of local knowledge, the disregard of existing
capacities and the importation of rationalities based on Western discourses
(Fagin, 2008). Yet the virtue of the capacity concept is the stress placed
on the preconditions for successful policy intervention and thus on the
objective limitations of policy success. Analysis of capacity must look not
just at the strengths and weaknesses of institutions, but also at the causes of
(in)capacity. This opens up the view for a differentiated account of societal
developing paths.
FOREST POLICY, MANAGEMENT, AND FOREST

POLICY REFORMS IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
Forests play an important role in the countries of Southeastern Europe.

Most countries have a long tradition in forest management that dates back
to the 19th century. During the socialist period, however, forest resources
were heavily exploited. After the end of the regimes the countries face the
challenge to adapt to the changes that occur from the political and economic
transition that have a large impact also on the forest sector. This section
outlines the changes in forest policy in the post-socialist countries in
Southeastern Europe since the early 1990s. After a general overview, closer
attention is paid to two countries in the region: Croatia and Albania, as
examples to illustrate the differences in the transition paths of the countries.
The outline is based on a review of existing literature as well as on interviews
with forest actors in the countries that the author conducted.1
Since the early 1990s, the countries of Southeastern Europe have set out
on a journey to transform their central planning regimes to open market
economies and democracy. This resulted in policy reforms and the adoption
of new legislation in forestry and in other areas of natural resource
management. The aim was to establish a policy framework that effectively
balances the economic, ecological, and social functions of natural resources.
Given the emphasis placed on development of the economic values of forests
in the past, the acknowledgement of the environmental and social functions
of forests in these states required particular attention. As a consequence,
sustainable use of forests is an express objective of all new forest laws.
Forest management has traditionally been envisaged as a technical
discipline exclusively within the competence of professional foresters.
Management plans were usually prepared in a scientific manner by the
administration and applied to their relative areas. This attitude continues to
be reflected in the new management planning provisions. The preparation of
forest management plans is explicitly required and the issuing of harvesting
authorizations is tied to the existence of a plan. Furthermore, at least basic
requirements were established for the harvesting of resources (Mekouar &
Castelein, 2002, pp. 6–7). This is an appropriate means of ensuring
224 SABINE WEILAND
sustainable exploitation of timber resources. Yet from the point of view of

integration of forestry with related sectors and with regard to public
participation, the technocratic management approach may be inadequate.
Citizens in many countries increasingly demand the consideration of other
public values related to forest management, such as values associated with
local needs, recreation, tourism, and biodiversity. As a rule, however, the
new forest laws do not provide for public participation or the involvement
of civil society in decision-making processes. The administrative bodies in
the post-socialist countries do not yet seem to have recognized the potential
benefits of participatory management, and the value of reaching a broad
consensus among affected parties as a means of facilitating implementation
of decisions. The new provisions also remain silent on another component
of public participation, the access to relevant information that may be
available to the authorities. The tradition of paternalistic forest manage-
ment is still prevailing (Mekouar & Castelein, 2002, pp. 14–15). As for the
integration of forestry with related sectors such as agriculture, grazing,
tourism, and wildlife, this has not been addressed in most of the forest policy
reforms. Forest administrations continue to follow a narrow approach
focusing on technical forest management. Yet the integration of forest-
related activities such as agriculture and grazing would all the more be
important as they already put the forests under strong pressures in some
of the countries (ibid., p. 16).
The major reform issue in the post-socialist states has been the
‘‘privatization’’ of the forest sector. Typically, this has included a number
of strategies, which have been pursued to different extents in the countries of
the region: restitution of forest land to former owners and establishment
of a regime for private forest management; harvesting of trees carried
out by private entities; transformation of State enterprises carrying out
forestry works; and liberalization of forest produce prices (Mekouar &
Castelein, 2002, pp. 8–14; Herbst, 2002, pp. 108–110). Yet the transfer of
ownership and management tasks to private hands alone does not lead to
a revitalization of the economy. All the above strategies require an adequate
legal regime and institutions to safeguard sustainable management and
public interest. Given the lack of professional experience and sometimes of
financial capacity of many new forest owners, forestry administrations claim
that appropriate management cannot be carried out by entities other than
themselves. Excessively stringent rules such as the imposition of detailed
management plans prepared by the administration may however discourage
private activities and be difficult to implement. Hence, it is crucial to strike
an appropriate balance between governmental control and encouragement
of private initiative. Furthermore, private forest holdings are often very

small, and efficient and sustainable management is difficult. In organization
terms, it is therefore important to encourage the establishment of
associations among forest owners.
Some specific capacity needs for forest policy development in the
transition states of Southeastern Europe follow from the outlined reforms.
Public awareness of the multiple functions of the forests and their cross-
sectoral linkages is an important driver in the attainment of sustainable
forest management. Measures to foster such awareness are therefore of
vital importance. In addition, the ability to monitor and assess the multiple
functions of forests should be improved. In the context of open market
structures particular attention should be paid to a better understanding
of the forest policy implications of public and private forest ownership
since this is crucial for the success of the reforms. This also applies to the
acquaintance with forest policy tools of self-financed forest management
(Pachova et al., 2004, p. 10).
The establishment of provisions for sustainable forest management
and the privatization of the forest sector have been the major topics in
forest policy reforms in the transition countries of Southeastern Europe.
The topics are not specific to this region though. Other countries of the
former Eastern bloc in Central Europe (e.g., Poland, Hungary, Czech
Republic), in Eastern Europe (e.g., Russia, Ukraine), as well as transition
states in the Caucasus and Central Asia (e.g., Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan) have
had similar experiences on their transition paths (Jansky et al., 2004;
Nilsson, 2005). Nevertheless differences exist related to significant physical
and structural diversity. The forest resources, the type of forest cover,
landscape, and biodiversity shape the country-specific priorities that
forest policy has to address. The level of economic development and the
socio-political and institutional structures in a state determine the level of
existing capacities for developing and implementing the necessary forest
policies. These two types of characteristics are correlated to a certain extent
in the transition countries of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe
(Pachova et al., 2004).
Rather than focusing on the common features of transition countries in
their forest policy reforms, we want to emphasize the existing differences
though. The transition countries of the former Eastern Bloc are not a
homogenous category. For this reason, we now zoom in on the forest policy
reforms of two countries of Southeastern Europe, Croatia and Albania,
which presumably reveal numerous similarities regarding their forest
reforms. Despite that it will be shown that broad differences still exist.
226 SABINE WEILAND
CROATIA
In the first half of the 1990s, numerous pieces of legislation were passed that
deal with forest regulation, as well as sustainability and biological diversity
of the Croatian forests. The most important act is the Law on Forests from
1990 that aims at the sustainable management of the Croatian forests,
through enhancement of multipurpose and economically sustainable use
of forests, and through protection of forests. The forests are subject to forest
management plans that are to be approved by the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Water Management.
In 2003, the Croatian government launched the National Forest Policy
and Strategy (NFPS). It was part of a series of strategies and legal amend-
ments in the area of environmental, agricultural, and regional planning
within the process of adjustment for the accession to the European Union.
The NFPS contains more than 100 strategic activities that are crucial for
adjustment of the sector to conditions in European countries, among others
regarding the economic viability and competitiveness of the forestry sector.
Forest Management
At present, the state owns 78% of the Croatian forests, 22% of forests are
private-owned. Whereas the private woodlots are under the responsibility of
the respective owners, the state forest is managed by a Forest Enterprise,
called ‘‘Hrvatske Šume.’’
The State Forest Enterprise was founded in 1991 as a public company.
Later the enterprise was restructured from a public company into a Limited
Trading Company, founded by the Republic of Croatia (Posavec & Vuletić,
2004, p. 211). Hrvatske Sˇume Ltd. is organized as follows: Apart from the
direction in Zagreb, the Enterprise operates 16 regional forest administra-
tions and 169 forest offices. In addition, 14 forest companies (mostly
for forest works that require larger and special equipment) belong to the
organization (Hrvatske Šume, 2008).
The regional branches are the most important level of forest management.
Here the management plans for each of the 650 management units
are prepared, which then need to be approved by the Ministry. Each
management plan covers a 10-year period. They are translated into annual
operational plans, prescribing for example the amount of wood for cutting
and the necessary silvicultural works. Moreover, a business plan for each
unit is set up. In general, the implementation of the management plans is
high. Departures from the plans mostly result from unexpected events such
as storms and forest fires. Compliance with the management plans is
supervised by the Forestry Inspection, a body attached to the Ministry,
through a system of internal as well as public control.
The administration of the Croatian state forests follows the so-called
model of self-financing forestry (Martinić, 2000, p. 87). Administration
tasks are performed by a company that is engaged not only in forest
works but also in the marketing of the timber and timber products.
The transformation of the Enterprise into a Limited Trading Company was
an attempt to transfer a post-socialist State enterprise into a commercial
enterprise. Hrvatske Sˇume Ltd. hence pursues a double objective: to
successfully manage the state-owned forests as well as to conduct an
economically sound business (Posavec & Vuletić, 2004, pp. 213–214).
The economic performance of the Forest Enterprise is considered
satisfactory. About three-quarters of the business income stem from sales
of wood assortments (Posavec & Vuletić, 2004, p. 220). However, the selling
of the wood is, for the most part, carried out under non-market conditions
at administratively regulated fixed prices. Buying rights for wood are
distributed according to certain criteria and by applying a pricelist,
approved by the Ministry of Economy. The wood price is fixed annually,
depending on factors such as the volume and structure of the wood
production and quality parameters (ibid.). As a consequence, the Forest
Enterprise is hardly able to adapt to a constantly changing market. The
fact that the production is largely determined by the legal regulations on
forest management does not make it any easier. On the contrary, the Forest
Enterprise was able to take advantage of the sustainable management
practices as quality standards. In 2002, Hrvatske Sˇume Ltd. received the
Forest Stewardship Council certificate for the forests under its management.
Currently, national forests certification standards are in process of
development.
About one-fifth of the Croatian forests are in private ownership.
Presently, the number of private owners is nearly 600,000, and the average
size of the private holdings is 0.7 ha. In many cases, these forests are highly
degraded due to over-cutting, with a growing stock that is considerably
lower than in state forests. According to the Law on Forests, the private
owners are required to manage their forest properties sustainable. They are
also obliged to provide for protection and reforestation measures. If the
private owners do not carry out the appropriate measures and activities,
the Forest Enterprise becomes responsible for the implementation of these
measures. However, due to a lack of funding and financial supports, an
228 SABINE WEILAND
estimated 95% of the private forests do not have any management plan at
all (Martinić, 2000, p. 84).
For that reason, the Forest Extension Service was established in 2006, a
public institution that deals with private forests in Croatia. Organization
building was driven by a public debate in the course of the passage of the
National Forest Strategy and the new process of certification in the state
forests. Demands by the private forest owners, among them a number of
owners of larger properties (e.g., the church), were to increase the activities
in their forests, for example, with regard to the opportunities for private
owners to market timber and other products.
The overall objective of the new institution is to improve the management
of the private forests, through organizing the development of management
plans and through giving advice and professional education to the forest
owners. The Service also performs administrative tasks, such as selection of
trees for felling and providing the necessary documentation. Finally, the
Service also organizes the selling of wood through tenders.
One of the main obstacles to sustainable forest management in the
private Croatian forests is the small size of the woodlots, resulting from
the fragmented ownership structure. The plots needed to be integrated into
larger units to ensure a sustainable management. The Forest Extension
Service therefore aims to foster the organization of the private owners.
Until the end of 2007, 17 associations of private owners were founded, and
the establishment of a national association of private owners is planned.
For the Forest Extension Service, the associations are the most important
partners for co-operation, and the Service tries to establish good working
relations with them.
Toward Sustainable Forestry?
The outline of the Croatian forest policy developments revealed the sector’s
position half way between a socialist-style planning approach and a market
approach. Sustainable management practices are achieved through state
regulation and a well-functioning administration. The rigidity of the forest
management planning system demands strict adherence to the plan and
does not leave room for any learning or reflexivity at the lower levels.
The economic orientation that came with the conversion of the Forest
Enterprise into a Limited Trading Company is not fully realized yet. Here
might be some potential for learning processes (when using the market
mechanism in favor of sustainability goals, e.g., with the FSC certificate).
Yet the marketization can also have the reverse effect: the subordination
of environmental goals to economic interests. The situation gets difficult
however when it comes to private forests. A wide lack of forest management
raises the question of capacity building from scratch. How can sustainable
forest management be organized in private forests? What kind of incentives,
for example, subsidies, would be needed to foster good management
practices? Under which conditions could learning processes be initiated –
among the forest owners, and their associations, as well as other
stakeholders?
ALBANIA
Forest resources in Albania have been heavily exploited in the past decades.
A considerable loss of forest area already took place in the 1960s, as a
result of the government decision to clear forest for the creation of
agriculture land. Forest depletion has continued since then, mainly because
of persistent poverty in rural areas. Since 1990 Albanian society has
undergone a fundamental transition, marked by changes in production
structures, high unemployment, and unprecedented emigration. The forest
sector has suffered much more from this transition than other sectors. The
level of resource exploitation and the minimal investment into the sector
have left the resource base in a very vulnerable condition. At the same time,
the state of the forests is closely linked with the socio-economic well-being of
the Albanian people. Therefore, and also under pressure of international
political and donor organizations, the Albanian government was urged to
take action to halt forest degradation.
The main piece of legislation to achieve the sustainable management of
the country’s forest resources is the ‘‘Law on Forests and the Forest Police’’
from 2005, which aims at ‘‘environmental conservation and the production
of wood material and other forest products’’ (Agalliu, Decka, Dedej, &
Ramaj, 2007, p. 19). On the basis of the poor condition of the forests,
the Albanian government designed a strategy for the forest and pasture
sector (Directorate General of Forests and Pastures [DGFP], 2005), which
aims to ensure ‘‘the management, [and] sustainable and multifunctional
development of forestry and pasture resources’’ (ibid., p. 7). Several priority
objectives for the next 10 years were outlined, including the halt of all
commercial logging for a period of at least 10 years; protection and
rehabilitation of forests and pastures through the increase of investments
and incentives of private and collective initiatives; and further attention to
230 SABINE WEILAND
other socio-economic functions and services and the multiple use of

forest and pasture (ibid., pp. 14–15). One consequence of the strategy is the
limited possibility for timber production. The Albanian forest economy will
therefore not be able to contribute much to the development of the wood
processing industry, at least for the next 10–20 years. The restoration of the
ecological functionality of the forests is given priority.
Forest Management
Approximately 50% of the population live in rural areas, and this fact
has created strong relations between the local communities and forests.
For long, forests have been the main source of community employment and
incomes. At the same time, however, this has put great pressure on forests,
which have suffered from degradation, resulting from unregulated and
intense wood-harvesting to satisfy household needs for fuel, timber, and
livestock fodder. For that reason, the areas close to rural communities are
particularly degraded.
In 1994, the World Bank has launched a project to support better
resources management, monitoring, and control (World Bank, 2004).
Significant investments were made to improve the infrastructure of the
Forestry Service through community participation. The Albanian Forestry
Project aims at achieving a sustainable increase in the productivity of forests
and pastures and at empowering local governments. Poverty reduction,
through improvement of forests to generate incomes from natural resources
and employment, is the overriding objective of the project.
Evaluation of the World Bank project revealed a positive impact on
poverty alleviation. The communal forest and pasture management
component in particular, with its targeted interventions in rural areas,
has contributed significantly to reduce poverty in vulnerable areas (World
Bank, 2004, pp. 7, 11–12). This success has set off broader policy reforms
by the Albanian government to decentralize forest management tasks and
responsibilities (see later in text).
A further objective of the project, to take the initial steps in the transition
of the forestry sector to a market economy turned out to be less successful.
The initial privatization of harvesting and wood processing enterprises
proved difficult since the majority of private companies owned minimal and
outdated equipment. Meanwhile, a system of issuing licenses to private
companies undertaking activities in the sector of forests and pastures exist.
Most of the licensed companies employ a small number of people and
possess some equipment that used to belong to state forest harvesting

enterprises. In addition, the World Bank project was able to introduce a
number of market-based mechanisms, such as wood-auctions (World Bank,
2004, p. 7). The largest challenge for the establishment of a market for forest
products and work processes however is the substantial reduction of illegal
logging activities. For that reason, the decentralization of forest manage-
ment is regarded as key to improve forest governance. A new World Bank
project was launched in 2004 to develop and expand the community-based
approach to forest and pasture management.
Decentralization and Devolution
Before 1992, all Albanian forests and pastures were state property. The
restitution to previous owners began in 1996. In 2001, 81% of the forest
land was state-owned, 18% was community-owned, and only 1% was in
private ownership (Dida, 2003, sec. 6.2). Traditionally the concept of land
ownership played only a minor role. Forests and pastures were normally
used on the basis of common law, that is, the user rights were with the
families and were inherited over generations. Like this, the Albanian
situation differs significantly from the ownership structures in other
countries in the region, including Croatia. This is also the reason why the
communities play such important role in forest management in Albania.
After the success the Communal Forest component of the World Bank
project, an official decision was made to continue the transfer of state forests
to the local governments, as new policy approach to sustainable forest
management. The decentralization process aims to accomplish the transfer
of forests and pastures in use to 218 communities and municipalities,
accounting for 40% of the Albanian forests. Until 2002, the transfer already
included 56 communities. Management plans have been worked out for all
communities involved. The transfer of forests to the rest of the communities
was officially approved in February 2008.
The process of transferring forest management to the communities
is conceived as a procedure to increase awareness and responsibility of
the local actors. Community boards have been installed, composed of
representatives of the local government, stakeholders (user associations,
local people), and the forest service. They collectively deal with the
formulation of management plans and make the necessary decisions.
The World Bank, as the international donor organization, accompanies the
transfer process. One obstacle however is the lack of a developed
232 SABINE WEILAND
participation culture in Albania (Prifti & Hasko, 2003, p. 248). For that
reason NGOs, such as the Netherlands Development Organisation SNV,
also support the capacity building in the local government.
At this point, the transfer process is underway, with still many unresolved
questions. Considerable debate is about how far the devolution process
should go. Is the transfer of user rights to the communities, which deal
with the allocation of rights and duties, the best way to secure sustainable
management? Or should property rights also be given to the communities
and eventually to the local people? It is argued that private ownership is
be the best way to increase the individual interest in natural resources
management and to induce sustainable income generation activities. Others
however argue that private ownership leads to a fragmentation of the forests
that contradicts sustainable management. Therefore, as is argued, collective
ownership at community level with individually granted user rights is the
better alternative.
Overall, the crucial question is whether it will be possible to establish local
governance to manage the community forest. The potential for learning
processes among the local government and the stakeholders exists. The
difficulty however is the enormous pressure to succeed. This in turn might
produce also counter-productive results, such as an opportunistic attitude
vis-à-vis the international donors, for example, the establishment of pseudo
organizations. Like this, the building of capacities for forest management
would not be achieved.
CONCLUSIONS
This chapter reviewed the current developments in forest policy and
management in Southeastern Europe. In the broader context of forest policy
development, the specific challenges these post-socialist countries face in
the transition of their natural resource policies were revealed. The countries
have important commonalities in their socio-economic, political, and
institutional structures, in existing or inherited policies of natural resource
management. The adoption of Western-style methods and solutions,
suggested in arguments on the catch-up development of transition
states, fail to acknowledge the diversity and specificity of the post-socialist
societies. On the contrary, there is no essentialistic link between environ-
mental problems and solutions to these problems in post-socialist countries.
The outline of the policy reforms in Croatia and Albania revealed very
different approaches in the pursuit of sustainable forest management and
different paths in the post-socialist transition process, resulting from

country-specific socio-political, economic, and cultural features. Hence,
despite existing commonalities, capacity needs for forest policy development
in the transition states differ in terms of both nature and scope. To be
successful, capacity development initiatives need to be situated at the
interface of both.
NOTE
1. Semi-structured interviews of normally 90 minutes. The interviewees were
either political actors (from the responsible ministries, administrative bodies,
extension services, stakeholders, such as forest owners associations, international
donor organizations) or academics who work on forest topics. The interviews were
conducted in February and March 2008.
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CHAPTER 16
HISTORIES AND CONTINUITIES

OF WATER GOVERNANCE IN
NORTHERN GHANA
Jennifer Hauck and Eva Youkhana
ABSTRACT
To counteract low water productivity in many developing countries,

international donors promote community-based management. This
practice was meant to replace top-down governmental approaches. In
Ghana, the water sector came under review in the 1990s. Institutions have
been decentralized, and management tasks transferred to communities,
associations, and private-sector entities. While assigning ownership and
responsibilities to communities is feasible for rural water management,
the chapter shows that policy makers and practitioners tend to ignore the
historical background of existing structures and antagonisms of tradi-
tional and present management systems. Implementation strategies are
therefore prone to failure. The chapter analyzes the administrative history
of water governance in Ghana and related problems to date. The case
study on fisheries management has its setting in the Upper East Region of
Ghana, where people use reservoirs to improve their livelihoods through
irrigation, cattle watering, and fisheries. In the course of rehabilitation
projects, rights and responsibilities of management have been handed
over to user groups or associations and village committees. Clashing
traditional, governmental, and participatory management strategies
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016019
235
236 JENNIFER HAUCK AND EVA YOUKHANA
overtax communities to cope with responsibilities. Conflicts, mistrust, and

overexploitation are some of the consequences.
INTRODUCTION
Participatory decision-making and community-based management, prac-
tices that are theoretically well established in the western world, comprise
basic components associated with sustainable development. Although there
is little doubt that development efforts should encourage participation and
decision making from below, it is not possible to do so effectively without
taking into consideration the complex socio-political and cultural histories.
The implementation of new water governance strategies in Ghana, and
northern Ghana in particular, failed for many reasons that can be explained
by looking at the historical coherences. History connects water-related
issues to political contexts and social conditions and reveals antagonisms of
traditional and present management structures. Considering that history has
a tendency to repeat itself and that water is a highly political and politicized
tool (Turton, 2005; Mollinga, Meinzen-Dick, & Merrey, 2007), it is of major
importance to pay attention to pitfalls of the past to improve implementa-
tion of future reforms.
The first part of this chapter contains some theoretical considerations,
the methodological approach and a short introduction to the Upper East
Region (UER) of Ghana. Afterwards, the legal and administrative history
of water governance in Ghana, as well as related problems to date are
examined and complemented by a case study of local fisheries management
in the UER. The chapter concludes with problems arising from the historical
backgrounds and ideas about how to put them into practice.
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Community participation and community-based management, accompany-
ing administrative decentralization processes, have become the dominant
strategy for reforming inefficient rural water allocation in developing
countries. Unfortunately, these strategies have not always led to more
sustainable management systems as described in detail regarding the example
of rural water supplies in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g., Schouten & Moriarty,
2003; Harvey & Reed, 2006). Reasons for failures are, for example, according
to Botes and van Rensberg (2000) and Njoh (2002), paternalistic postures of
Histories and Continuities of Water Governance in Northern Ghana 237
authorities and/or development professionals, as well as local interest groups

such as elders, or gate keeping practices by local elites.
Harvey and Reed (2006) further criticize that community members
are often incorporated in voluntary work that lacks long-term incentives
for individuals. Likewise, a lack of transparency and accountability,
community coherence and leadership may affect and constrain community
participation.
Cleaver (2001) points out that participatory approaches linked to
institutional reforms do not acknowledge the fact that many decisions are
negotiated and made outside formal organizations, during daily interactions
that dominate social exchange and political decisions. Saravanan (2008,
p. 11) adds that ‘‘decision-making processes do not represent commu-
nicative and consensual partnerships or strategic actions, but rather
combines diverse social communicative skills over a period, making water
management a socio-political process.’’ Mollinga et al. (2007) point out
the importance of context specificity and processes for institutional reform
and underline the path dependency of institutional change. In contrast,
‘‘social engineering approaches’’ and blueprints with a general set of
solutions are applied by development practitioners, who oversee the
socio-political and cultural embeddedness of water management systems.
They suggest a strategic approach to water management around the
notions ‘‘problemshed’’ and ‘‘issue network’’ rather than a single purposive
watershed perspective (Mollinga et al., 2007).
Another set of issues revolves around the question of what is understood
by the term ‘‘community.’’ Agrawal and Gibson (1999) as well as Lund
(2003) criticize that there is neither a common understanding of the
terminology ‘‘population/local people,’’ nor a precise idea of the model of
participatory collaboration or cooperation. Schouten and Moriarty (2003)
add that many water development projects tend to homogenize the target
group by pretending that conditions are the same everywhere.
It seems that participation has turned out to be an indispensable but not
reflected ingredient for development projects. However, the redistribution of
property rights, transfer of authority, as well as the reallocation of resources
may also lead to a reassertion of powerful interest groups and to resource
capture by elites, as Kothari (2001) points out.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
The underlying study of this chapter is part of the GLOWA Volta research
project (2000–2009), which was funded by the German Federal Ministry
of Education and Research and the state North Rhine Westphalia. Overall
project objective was to design and implement a Decision Support System
(DSS) for the sustainable allocation and management of water resources in
the West-African Volta river basin under global climate change conditions.
The UER was one focus area as its population is highly vulnerable to
environmental change.
The research agenda of this study was driven by an interest in the
impact of historically derived water governance structures for today’s rural
water sector. Additionally, problems related to participatory approaches
and community-based water management strategies are put into focus.
The historical part of the study is largely based on a review of relevant
literature on the topic. The case study on rural fisheries is predominantly
based on empirical data collected between February and August 2007.
The data collection focused on two reservoirs and associated user
communities in the UER. The reservoirs were selected because the two
user communities Kajelo and Binduri had at least rudiments of a fishermen
organization.
The investigations comprised group discussions with fishermen and
fishmongers, semi-structured and open-ended interviews with fisheries
scientists, staff members of the Ministry of Fisheries (MoFi), fishermen,
and traditional authorities in the villages. A number of cattle owners, Water
User Association (WUA) executives, NGO staff, and teachers provided
an external view on the development of fisheries activities. In total 16
Net-Maps (Schiffer, 2007) were drawn. Net-Map is an interview-based
network-mapping tool that helps people understand, visualize, discuss, and
improve situations in which many different actors influence outcomes.
Information derived from interviews was triangulated with extensive
observations and field notes taken during an eight-month stay in the
village as well as with the literature from other research conducted in
the area (Roncoli, 1994; Lund, 2006; Hesselberg & Yaro, 2006; Laube, 2007;
Eguavoen, 2008).
All data contributed to an analysis that follows a process tracing
procedure described by George and Bennett (2005) and Bennett and Elman
(2006). Both emphasize the concept of path dependence and its elements of
causal possibility, contingency, closure of alternatives, and constraints to
the current path. Both stress the importance of comparative case studies for
the analysis of complex causal relations. Following these suggestions,
chronicles for each village are presented and compared to filter the causes of
management failures.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT

THE UPPER EAST REGION IN GHANA
The UER occupies the north-eastern part of Ghana and remains one of the
most vulnerable and poor areas, characterized by environmental changes
and unreliable rainfall patterns (Rodgers et al., 2007). During the rainy
season, water is abundant and feeds a large number of shallow water bodies
that dry up during the prolonged dry season.
The area is rather densely populated, even though migration to the
resource rich and industrialized south seems to regulate the comparatively
high birth rates in the region (Bacho & Bonye, 2006; Laube, 2007). The
population lives on rain-fed subsistence agriculture, livestock rearing, and to
some extent, fisheries and dry season gardening. This is possible due to more
than 200 multipurpose reservoirs that were built over the past five decades
to store rainwater.
Owing to historical patterns of immigration over hundreds of years, the
region is home to a number of ethnic groups organized in different social
systems, mainly segmented social groups and/or centralized political
structures (Crook, 2005; Laube, 2007). This complex situation is aggravated
by conflicts over scarce natural resources, creating disputes and warfare
between families, clans, and different kinds of invaders (Massing, 1994;
Lund, 2003; Bacho & Bonye, 2006; Kusimi, Fobil, Atuguba, Erawoc, &
Oduro, 2006; Laube, 2007).
HISTORY OF RURAL WATER GOVERNANCE

IN NORTH GHANA – FROM CUSTOMARY
LAY TO WATER USER ASSOCIATIONS
To understand the ambiguity of local natural resources regimes better, it is
necessary to describe briefly how customary laws, colonial legacy, and
reforms after the formation of the nation state have influenced current land
and water governance in northern Ghana. The advent of different water
governance structures also portrays how public participation and admin-
istrative involvement of the population in the study area has evolved in the
face of historical developments, and why traditional governance structures
could partly persist.
Pre-Colonial Times
Before colonization, the main actors in customary land and water

governance were earth priests, or so called tendanas, descendants of
the first settlers of an area (Adjewodah & Beier, 2004; Lund, 2006;
Opoku-Ankomah, Ampomah, & Somé, 2006;). They perform specific
rituals and sacrifices to ensure the responsible use of natural resources
(Opoku-Agyemang, 2005; Kusimi et al., 2006; Laube, 2007). Chieftaincy,
a more political manifestation of control over natural resources, became
important with the ongoing settlement of people from ‘‘outside’’ the region
(Lund, 2006; Laube, 2007).
To protect the earth and to regulate the use of natural resources, priests
and chiefs enforced a set of rules, including the imposition of sanctions
and taboos on land and water use (Adjewodah & Beier, 2004). Water was
publicly available and could be used for free (Opoku-Ankomah et al., 2006;
Sarpong, undated, after Boateng, 1977; Lautze, Barry, & Youkhana, 2008).
Pre-colonial tenure arrangements formed complex indigenous systems,
managing traditional practices of subsistence farming, cattle herding (Lentz,
2006), and, to a minor extent, fishing.
Under Colonial Rule
After the Congo Conference in 1885, the Europeans colonized and regulated
trade in Africa. As a British colony, the Gold Coast was subject to a common
law legal system, and power was exercised with the assistance of the chiefs
as local authorities (Cooke, 2004; Laube, 2007). In this process, the political
authority of chiefs increased (Crook, 2005) and that of the tendanas was
marginalized. This applies especially to northern Ghana, where colonial
legislation often led to the ignorance of traditional land tenure regimes and
the misappropriation of land (Roncoli, 1994, Akrong, 2006).
Although earth priests lost much of their power, traditional land and
water management practices could partly persist under colonial rule since
landholdings were not necessarily linked to political jurisdiction, but to
lineages (Lund, 2006).
In the course of water conservation programs, initiated in the northern
regions of the country by the colonial administration in the 1940s, reservoirs
and dugouts were built to provide water for humans and livestock, as well as
for irrigated crop production and fish (MacPherson & Agyenim-Boateng,
1991). The ownership of these reservoirs remained unclear, but tasks such as
water and land distribution, dam maintenance or measures to prevent soil

erosion were originally retained by the local communities and put into effect
through traditional local authorities (MacPherson & Agyenim-Boateng,
1991). Apart from the half-hearted infrastructural and institutional
developments, the British had only little interest in developing these vast
and low resource regions.
Post-Independent Developments
After independence in 1957, natural resources management regimes under-

went major changes. Many water management institutions were created,
such as the Volta River Authority (VRA) in 1961, the Ghana Water and
Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) in 1965, and the Irrigation Development
Authority (IDA) in 1977. Although the Department of Fisheries existed
already, major changes took place in fisheries management. Responsibilities
for fisheries administration, development, and regulation were formally
handed over to the government (MacPherson & Agyenim-Boateng, 1991).
In contrast, many governing instruments were carried over from colonial
times. The first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, retained political
power by cooperating with local chiefs. Misappropriation of land, which
started during colonial administration, was not repealed but replaced by
the State Property and Contracts Act of 1960. The act allowed political
patronage, dominated Nkrumah’s pragmatic, and opportunistic strategies
to maintain control over land and related resources and allocate them to
his political supporters (Laube, 2007). Despite this drawback, a significant
number of small-scale irrigation schemes were developed throughout
the North, which at least partly improved the situation in the respective
communities.
REFORM PROCESSES AND LAND

WATER GOVERNANCE TODAY
Under President Rawlings, the constitution of the Provisional National

Defence Council (PNDC) was put in place and decentralization and political
participation became an outspoken subject in governance during the 1980s.
By declaring the Local Government Law in 1988, district, municipal,
and metropolitan assemblies were created with deliberative, legislative, and
executive powers. Chiefs and traditional rulers had no seats in new local
government system (Buah, 1998). Although political power was shared

through decentralization, funds remained in the hands of the central
government (Holtkamp, 1994; Massing, 1994). Decentralization efforts were
extended to include the rural water sector in Ghana in the early 1990s.
As a cornerstone of the water sector reforms, carried out under the
auspices of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
the Water Resources Commission (WRC Act 522) was created in 1996.
The WRC is composed as an umbrella organization, linking different
user groups and stakeholders, including traditional authorities into its
organizational structure. By that means, more public participation in water
governance is targeted (van Edig, Engel, & Laube, 2002; Laube & van de
Giesen, 2005).
Reforms also encompassed the fisheries sector, and fisheries and
agricultural service provision was put together at the beginning of the
1990s (Kapetsky, 1991). All fisheries offices were closed down, and officers
were either transferred to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) or
retired. In 2005, when the Department of Fisheries was transformed again
into a separate MoFi, both the number of staff and funds remained limited.
Rural water governance experienced significant changes when rights
and responsibilities for the operation and maintenance of small-scale
irrigation schemes, fish stocks, and reservoirs were transferred to WUAs.
International donor directives suggested that increased community partici-
pation in decision-making processes would result in a ‘‘sense of ownership’’
(International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD], 2001). In
the UER, the WUAs were developed under projects such as the Land
Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation Projects (LACOSREP)
I (1994–1998) and II (2000–2006) initiated by the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The long-term aim for the WUAs is to ensure participatory, sustainable
management of established and rehabilitated infrastructure, and thereby
enhance the livelihoods of the WUA members (IFAD, 2001). In fact, the
participatory conception of resources management contradicts the hier-
archical/paternalistic traditional governance of resources, as well as the
top-down approaches carried out during the first decades following Ghana’s
independence. Furthermore, WUAs did not receive any district level
backing, such as bye-laws (van Edig et al., 2002), that would enable them
to enforce management rules.
The legal framework for the enforcement of fisheries management rules
is rather weak too. Although there was a new fisheries Act (Act 625) in the
year 2002, it mainly focuses on marine fisheries and aquaculture issues.
THE CASE OF FISHERIES IN

THE UPPER EAST REGION
In-depth studies of two reservoirs and attached communities in the UER
provide some insights into how fisheries management, as one aspect of water
governance, developed. Thereby fishery is understood as a livelihood strategy
devoted to catching fish to generate income, as well as for home consumption.
Historical Development of Fisheries Management in Reservoirs
Binduri
The Binduri reservoir was not used for fishing after its construction in the
early 1950s because the right gear and skills were not available for fishing
in deeper bodies of water. The Department of Fisheries (DoF) opened a
training camp in the late 1960s and introduced new, modern fishing gear and
methods. According to old fishermen, many villagers showed interest in the
new activity; however, the DoF limited fishing to men who had successfully
completed the training and knew how to fish in a sustainable way.
In the course of decentralization, the training camp closed down. The
fishermen groups split up under different chief fishermen, management
collapsed, and fish catches declined. Retired DoF staff explained that the
formation of groups that could take over management was never a priority.
Fishermen stated that they felt abandoned by the state, which was supposed
to be responsible for the reservoir. At that time fishing was open to
everybody who could buy gear henceforward available in the markets. The
rising number of fishermen and inappropriate fishing gear led to over-
exploitation. The earth priest realized this, but, as described earlier, he lost
his authority and had no influence on the fishing activities.
The current extension officer reported that he tried to reform a fishermen
association after the reservoir was rehabilitated under LACOSREP I in the
1990s. He urged the fishermen to save some money, asked them to elect one
chief fisherman, have regular meetings to discuss management rules, and
enforce them. The group, and thus the management rules, failed soon after
the contributed money was embezzled by the treasurer. The fishermen gave a
number of reasons why the person responsible was not held accountable.
Most important were the close kinship ties in the village. One fisherman put
it in a nutshell: ‘‘He is a close relative. If I am bringing him to jail I am also
the one to bail him out.’’ Another reason was the fishermen’s inability
to keep and monitor account books.
Other reasons given by fishermen for group formation failure were the
inappropriate behavior of the extension officer. He only dealt with the chief
fisherman, who, although officially elected, was not fully accepted by the
others. Since the officer hardly made an appearance in the village he was
also perceived as a man who did not fulfill his duties.
The conflicts between the young and the old fishermen and the lack of
legitimate leadership led to a situation where high fishing pressure and open
access to the reservoir depleted the fish stock significantly (Hauck, 2008).
Kajelo
One of the few customary principles in Kajelo is the strict taboo to hunt
crocodiles as they are seen to be hosts of the ancestors. The enforcement of
this taboo is the responsibility of the local chief and not, as in other villages,
that of the earth priest. Further, in Kajelo community every sub-village has
an elder who has only some of the rights and duties of a tendana, such as
conflict mediation or sacrifices.
In 1969 a DoF training camp opened in Kajelo, and villagers picked up
the new fishing methods quickly. Implemented restrictions on fisheries
activities were accepted even by the local authorities, since these regulations
led to high catches per day. As in Binduri, the DoF extension staff did not
pay attention to the positive effects of the joint management. After the DoF
withdrew from the village the fishermen group spilt up again.
A new extension officer who entered the village in 2004 during the dam
rehabilitation under LACOSREP II tried to revive the fishermen’s group
in the Kajelo community. As in Binduri, the attempts to rehabilitate
the fisheries management failed because of the discrepancies in handling
financial contributions and the disagreement among fishermen about
the choice of their leader. According to the fishermen interviewed, another
reason for failure was the disagreement about what to do with those who
violated the management rules. Most fishermen expected the extension
officer to assist in enforcing rules by sanctioning violators. Actually they had
neither the standing nor the means to do so.
Apart from the conflicts about leadership, a loose group of young
fishermen formed. This group, so the complaints of the older fishermen and
elders, refused to observe any management rule, refused to pay their
contribution, and could not even be disciplined by traditional authorities.
The young fishermen argued that the elders tried to stop them, without
giving a proper explanation or providing them with income alternatives.
Furthermore, the young fishermen accused the older ones of breaking
their own rules and embezzling the contributed money. As a result of

these conflicts, the reservoir is now accessible to everybody and subject to
over-exploitation (Hauck, 2008).
COMPARING SUMMARY OF THE TWO CASES

In both villages fishermen were familiar with gear constraints, recovery
periods, and other passive management strategies, yet they were not
implemented. Local authorities have lost their influence, especially on
younger fishermen, due to the paternalistic posture of the DoF extension
agents, who tried to replace existing management structures. Moreover, the
top-down approach of the extension staff prevented the formation of a
participatory, self-governing fishermen group from the beginning.
Chances to make a difference in fisheries management emerged in the last
10 years from the LACOSREP projects and from the new MoFi. However,
the reformation of the fishermen groups, where participatory decision
making was envisaged, turned out to have little impact on management
structures. First, fishing developed into a viable income source in the past 50
years (Hauck, 2008), and alternatives are still rare. It is therefore difficult to
stop people from earning an income with fishing, even for short periods of
time. Second, the extension officers treated the fishermen group as a
homogenous entity, being led by a single person. In fact several fishermen
groups and leaders did exist. By favoring one fishermen group, the extension
officer actually increased conflict potentials. For that reason communication
among fishermen broke down.
The fact that saving started without having opened an account or having
agreed on certain transparency rules led to mistrust among the fishermen.
Weak, unaccountable leaders, who were breaking the rules and embezzled
money, did not provide incentives for others to participate in management.
The lack of financial means and the assumption that people volunteer for
management tasks created a situation in which finally no one felt responsible
for the resources.
CONCLUSIONS
The analysis of the historical process of rural water and fisheries governance
in northern Ghana provides evidence for the gap between theory and
practice of community-based, participatory management. Attempts of

different external agents to transform the historically derived, complex
institutional landscape by establishing user-based management failed for a
number of reasons. After decades of top-down paternalism, water users
were unable to realize the new idea of participatory decision making
and establish legitimate leadership without intensive assistance. Poorly
trained extension staff worsened the situation by ignoring the heterogeneity
of the user communities. Their top-down behavior increased conflicts
and resistance to change. Apart from that the communities, standing at the
bottom of governmental assignations and programs, were often over-
stretched with the rather difficult nature of the personally unrewarding
management tasks assigned to them.
However, extension agents only enforce the development policies that
are designed by external actors. In Ghana, colonial rulers, state authorities,
and development experts have tried to reform water governance structures
often without understanding existing decision-making processes and path
dependent structures.
We do agree with Mollinga et al. (2007) that much too simplified
approaches that are applied to all, without considering the socio-political
complexity, are actually responsible for the drawbacks of progress.
Recognizing participatory and community-based management as an
additional burden rather than a remedy leads to the conclusion that
communities at least need enough means and specialized technical assistance
to meet the imposed requirements. Development practitioners providing
encouragement and motivation, capacity building, and training should also
enhance communication and accompany group formation, processes that
are rarely considered.
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CHAPTER 17
GENDER, BODIES AND ETHNICITY

IN RURAL PLACES: SETTLEMENT
EXPERIENCES OF IMMIGRANT
WOMEN IN RURAL VICTORIA
Gayle Farnsworth
ABSTRACT
From a post-colonial feminist perspective, this chapter explores how

themes of gender and ethnicity combine to produce an embodied narrative
of the everyday lived experience of one immigrant woman in a small
country town. Her story was told to me as part of an interpretive study via
a face to face interview. Her personal history of trauma and dislocation
influenced by the wider cultural frameworks and expectations that inform
her way of doing gender and ethnicity shape the way she experiences the
pleasures and pains of a rural life. In this rural place, she finds that her
embodied narrative does not conform to the set of socially constructed
meanings that lead to inclusion so her body is reconstructed as ‘‘other’’
and as such is subjected to covert and overt practices that exclude and
marginalize her. The discussion is situated within the field of rural studies
as the settlement of immigrant women in rural places is seen as a process
of social restructuring contextualized and influenced by the social and
cultural meanings attached to those places.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016020
251
252 GAYLE FARNSWORTH
INTRODUCTION
In recent years economic and social change has been at the forefront of the
change panorama in rural areas of Australia. As a result of unbalanced
reporting on some of these changes, a perception that rural areas of
Australia are in crisis has developed (Lockie & Bourke, 2001). It is against
this backdrop of perceived crisis that Australia’s previous Liberal
government introduced a policy initiative designed to encourage immigrants
to settle in rural areas of Australia [Department of Immigration, Multi-
culturalism and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA), 2003a, 2005b]. This initiative
included mechanisms such as a two-year waiting period before immigrants
on a family visa could claim social security benefits, funding, and support
for community-based relocation of humanitarian entrants to rural areas,
and a wide range of fast tracking residency strategies that would encourage
skilled immigrants to settle in rural places. The settlement of immigrant
women in rural places through any of these mechanisms is a social
restructuring process that ignores the embodied stories of the immigrant
women who find themselves in these places.
As a result of these mechanisms some rural places have experienced an
influx of immigrants in recent years. Not that the settlement of immigrants is
new to horticultural regions in Australia. Post–World War II immigrants,
particularly southern Italian immigrants, chose to settle in rural places so
they could re-establish their horticultural roots.
However, immigration occurs in a different context today and is impacted
on by a totally new and diverse range of push and pull factors. Research into
the settlement experiences of immigrant women in northwest Victoria was
driven by a need to inform policy makers and local settlement workers of
how immigrant women today engage and constitute expressively the
character of the rural place surrounding them and how this influences their
settlement outcomes. This chapter presents three core themes emerging from
analysis of one interview collected as part of a larger PhD study; the body
and work, the mothering body, and the other body.
METHODS
This study is designed using a socially constructed view of rurality. This
allows for the narratives of immigrant women to be examined in light of the
structural influences associated with the rural place in which they are
attempting to settle. Cloke (2006) calls this the ‘‘outside looking in.’’
Gender, Bodies, and Ethnicity in Rural Places 253
Furthermore, this view allows for the narratives of immigrant women to be

examined from the ‘‘inside looking out,’’ thus accounting for difference,
identity, and embodiment (Cloke, 2006). Socially constructed views of gender
and ethnicity are also used in this study as they allow for the inter-subjective
nature of immigrant women’s everyday lived experiences in rural places to be
accounted for. Employing such a lens on analysis of data shows how the
interplay between the characteristics of the rural place and the fluid nature of
the identities of the immigrant women lead to the construction of new
identities in new places (Lorber, 1994).
Also used in this study is a socially constructed view of gender and
ethnicity that incorporates aspects of place. McDowell (1999, p. 2) describes
this view in terms of ‘‘narratives that are situated’’ explaining how this takes
‘‘conceptualizations of gender and ethnicity as complex and shifting social
constructs beyond a consideration of social relations alone to a considera-
tion of social relations across space.’’
My own invisible yet culturally dominant practices need to be acknowl-
edged when interpreting answers to questions about how immigrant women
embody the rural otherwise I risk representing their differences as a deviance,
a strongly contested implication in research that links it with a deficit model.
Albet-Mas and Nogue-Font (1998) warn that western women may construct
themselves as the normative referent and represent immigrant women as other.
Connotations of otherness are also likely to occur when definitions of ethnicity
that coalesce all minority groups are used. Otherness is described as a feeling
of difference associated with social isolation and marginalization. Although
ethnicity creates a feeling of belonging, its counter position to the norm
positions it as a state of otherness (McDowell, 1999; Spickard & Burroughs,
2000). In traditionally Anglo-centric rural places differences may be perceived
as intimidating or threatening by members of the dominant culture.
Furthermore, this study is designed so that the reshaping of immigrant
women’s biographies in rural places can be explored. These biographies,
shaped by wider cultural frameworks and expectations, define how women
in a particular culture must experience something (Morgan, Brandth, &
Kvande, 2005, p. 5). In a new culture, women may be expected to experience
the same thing in a different way that they may not necessarily understand.
For instance, in a study of Ethiopian women’s settlement in Israel, Fenster
(1998) found that Ethiopian women who experienced menstruation
differently to Israeli women could not bear the shame associated with the
absence of menstruation huts. Awareness of their own bodies determined
that they should experience menstruation as shameful, whereas in the case of
Israeli women, awareness of their bodies determined that they experience it
as a sign of normal healthy functioning. This example shows that only

research and reports that focus attention on the influence of the setting and
the way it interacts with themes of gender and ethnicity can produce an
embodied narrative of being an immigrant woman in a rural place.
Finally, disembodied stories arose as an issue in this study as a result of
applying a post colonial feminist lens to a reading of other accounts of
settlement. Stories told in government research and reports ignored the
everyday lived experience of immigrant women in rural places. Reports on
government-sponsored research into the settlement outcomes of immigrants
to Australia conclude that immigrants are generally very satisfied with life in
Australia (DIMIA, 2003b). Criticism of these reports though highlights their
preoccupation with economic practicalities and their failure to recognize the
importance of social outcomes (Jupp, 2002). Large longitudinal surveys such
as the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (DIMIA, 2005a)
measure immigrant’s satisfaction with housing, employment, income, etc.
but pay little or fairly obscure attention to immigrant’s participation in civic
society or sense of belonging or their progress toward achievement of
personal goals. Most importantly though, no importance is attributed in the
research to where immigrants have settled. Without due attention to this
critical fact, the reporting of settlement outcomes is disembodied.
In an attempt to turn around disembodied accounts of the way immigrant
women experience life in a rural setting, I interviewed 20 immigrant women
across three sites in rural northwest Victoria. They were selected using
purposeful sampling and interviewed using semi-structured face to face
interview techniques. The interview discussed in this chapter took place in
the smallest of the three sites. 2006 Census data show this small rural district
with a population of just under 4,000 as being characterized by a complex
mix of cultural and linguistic diversity, low incomes, low levels of
educational achievement, and insecure, seasonal underemployment. It is
also a place isolated by some distance from both its local and its state
governments, which means that it is not well serviced. A few services such as
job network agencies, schools, health service, banks, and basic shopping are
available full time, other services such as Centrelink (government social
security agency), Vicroads (government roads regulatory authority), and
adult education are available on a visiting or outreach basis, while others
such as legal aid, drug and alcohol services, relationship services,
community care services, public transport within the local district, and
migrant resource services are not available at all.
Themes emerging from the data so far suggest that there are multiple
aspects of embodiment being played out by immigrant women in rural
places today. Factors affecting the way these aspects of embodiment are
experienced and expressed include the push/pull factors that have
encouraged immigrant women to relocate and how well the characteristics
of the place match their needs and expectations.
THE BODY AND WORK

Most refugees come to a new country as a result of a push factor. Their
expectations regarding their new country at the time of arrival may be little
more than day to day survival. This was the case for Eva when she arrived in
Australia; however, five years later she found herself in a small country town
in northwest Victoria with expectations that now went beyond daily survival.
In her new town she wanted employment, a secure home, education for
herself and her children, lifestyle opportunities, and friendship.
Q. What would your ideal place to live and work look like?
More eschools, more bus transfers, more hospital, more people to work, more
jobs
Q. Why are these things (hospitals, schools, transport, jobs) important to
you?
Not get eschool, you not understand something, if you not understand – me
not understand, is same, you can’t help me, can’t help me
Eva had been living in Darwin following her arrival in Australia. After
seeing an ad on TV, she packed up her children and caught a bus, 3,000
kilometers to Grapeville believing that because of her knowledge of
vegetable growing in Haiti, she would be able to do farm work without
having to know how to speak, read, and write English.
Q. Tell me your story of how you came to be in Grapeville?
I jus live there in Darwin, jus go eschool in Darwin. Sometime me go me see
other children, I see e children writing, me not understand, I say oh me try
writing but sometime I jus go home, me sit down crying, I think oh me
maybe not understand at all. I see on the TV get job in Grapeville, I say oh
maybe I go to Grapeville because I say in Haiti I work in garden, I think
they jus tell me what to do, I think in the garden maybe not hard for me
Eva quickly learnt though that her ‘‘inside looking out’’ was at odds with
opportunities available to her in this rural place. In the rural subsistence
lifestyle of her past, Eva knew her body as it related to her ability to work.
Hers was the body of a strong and proud agricultural worker.
Q. When did you start working in the garden?

About 5, 6 years old cos when mum and my dad work too hard my mum and
my dad growing banana and potato, different potato, and taro, in my
language it y . Not taro, coffee and corn. My dad growing rice some for
market some for eat you have to grow some for market get money for some
things, mmm very hard, yeah you have to work every day, you just take weed
out of garden clean garden
But on arrival in Grapeville she found that lack of public transport within
the farming district made her plan to work on farms impossible.
me thinking maybe when we go somewhere okay no problem is easy like Darwin because
in Darwin when you want go somewhere you not need people to help you, you go you
take bus, but here not same, not same, you have to have someone help you. In Darwin
you get too many bus, you come, you go back, you come, you go back. In here you have
to get car to go work
The capacity of her body to work forms part of her self-esteem, and as
a single parent she wants to accept full responsibility for the financial well
being of her children. However, covertly, she is denied the opportunity to
participate in this important activity and fulfill this responsibility. Eva
understands that her body is for work and is shamed by her enforced idleness.
I stay home, I not work, I hear on TV they say ooh many work in Grapeville in farm,
I think is easy cos in Haiti I work in garden, but when I come here y is not easy
You get bored sometime, is really important. In Haiti is different, in Haiti you not get
money from government, you have to work to get money
Lack of public transport is a political problem that Eva is powerless

to change. In this sense Eva is the embodiment of ‘‘the somatic society –
a society in which major political and personal problems are both
problematized in the body and expressed through it’’ (Turner, 1994, p. 1).
At a personal level, language and literacy issues make getting a license and
thus having independent transport difficult. She cannot attend language and
literacy classes as in this rural place there are only limited classes available at
night and she would need transport to get there. Again, covertly in this rural
place she is denied the opportunity to participate in an activity that would
improve and extend her employment opportunities.
In Haiti if you want sew clothes you go you stay with someone for one, maybe two years,
you watch how they do it, you don’t need read and write, you just watch and do it
together, then you come back home, you do it yourself
Language and literacy skills are basic requirements in almost any type of
employment today. Cleaners, kitchen hands, and in some cases even
volunteers need to read job sheets or safety procedures or fill out time sheets
or incident reports. Because building those skills is so difficult for Eva in this
rural place, she will never be able to do any work other than seasonal
manual farm labor.
THE MOTHERING BODY

Eva experiences her body as being fundamental to her capacity to nurture
her children. Nurturing her children is important to her because it is a
function of her body associated with her gendered and culturally mediated
self-esteem and sense of purpose.
I think I get job in Grapeville because in Haiti you have children, you look after children,
eh your family look after children. In Australia, government look after children, is not
like for me, for me family look after children
But the ability of her body to nurture her children is threatened in this
rural place by covert practices and experiences that exclude and marginalize.
For instance, limited, non-existent, or culturally inappropriate service
provision in this rural place means that she is denied access to information
and social support. She is denied informed choice when it comes to making
decisions about her children’s lives.
Q. Is this the kind of lifestyle that you want for your children?
No, is not good, I want find better for my children
Q. Is there anything about Grapeville that makes it hard for you to get the
lifestyle choices that you would like for your children?
Like me, me not speaking good English, me not writing me not read, in my
country if you not understand you ask somebody, you work together,
you understand, here you not understand you can’t ask anybody, Sophia
[15 year old daughter] help me sometime
The greatest threat, however, to the capacity of her body to nurture her
children is illness. When she is sick she worries that she will die and her
children will be orphaned. There are no structures in this rural place, either
formally as government funded services or informally as ethnically based
community support groups, to help her deal with these issues.
In Grapeville I like to get more hospital, if you get too sick they can’t help you here, you
have to go to [larger town]. No-one look after my children, oh I scared
Eva is alone in this rural place. There are only two other adults sharing her
ethnicity in town, and they are male. She has no group power, and she is
bereft of gendered solidarity. Current research concludes that social isolation
is a contributing factor to ill-health (Kakakaios, 2003). Relocation to this
rural place signifies a disruption to Eva’s balance of life creating a sense of
illness even in the absence of disease (Emami, Benner, Lipson, & Ekman,
2000). Eva experiences rurality as discontinuity and imbalance of life.
In my country you even when you go get water, you go someone’s house, you say you go
get water, they say yes you go together, you go get water together you talk. Even when
you go shopping you say your friend, you not go shopping, okay you give me your
money I go shopping for you. Here I jus stay home, no friend, no people to talk
THE OTHER BODY

The specific features of Eva’s body are crucial to her everyday recognition and
identification (Turner, 1994, p. 79). Her skin color and her hair are the
physical features that represent connection to an ethnic history. Yet they have
led to overt practices and experiences that exclude, marginalize, and ‘‘other’’
her. White Australian-born mothers have challenged her ability to fulfill the
commitments associated with enrolling her child in a ballet class because they
have made assumptions about her lifestyle practices based on the color of her
skin. Cresswell (1996) speaks of this lack of understanding of how things are
done in terms of doxa conformity, the unspoken rules about how one should
behave in a particular place, and how if you do not conform to the rules then
you are excluded from the inner circle. A number of Australian studies on the
settlement of immigrants in rural places have shown that this leads to
patronizing treatment and a sense of being just tolerated as opposed to being
included (Regional Women’s Advisory Council, 2004; Madden, 2004; Taylor
& Stanovic, 2005).
Q. Can you describe interactions that you have with members of the
community other than members of your own ethnic community?
Yes when I take Julia to ballet, some mother talk to me, other mother not
talk, I jus sit with babby and when is time for her go up she go. We jus sit
not talk, no talk, no talk, nobody talk to me.
Q. Tell me about the feelings you get from your interactions with people in
Grapeville?
When I talking to people in Grapeville I thinking maybe I see everybody
together, I thinking maybe no get too many people from my country living,
maybe you thinking me not good, I thinking I see everybody together, with
best friends, me no same no same for me
Q. So you feel different?
Yes, different. If my children get sick I have to ring the ambulance; you ring
the taxi you wait five hours for taxi to come, no good
Data collected in this interview suggest that this rural place exploits Eva’s
situation, erodes her confidence and self-esteem, and isolates her. She cannot
enjoy the ‘‘covert prestige that symbolizes and enacts rural gendered group
identity as she doesn’t share the linguistic or cultural constructs through which
that social identity is mediated’’ (Emami et al., 2000, p. 1). It deserves therefore
to be reiterated that only conceptualizations of ‘‘the rural’’ that focus attention
on how everyday lived experiences are contextualized and influenced by the
social and cultural meanings attached to rural places can produce an
embodied narrative of being an immigrant woman in a rural place.
Only socially constructed views that account for structuring influences as
well as for difference, identity, and embodiment can focus attention on the way
the characteristics of the rural setting interact with themes of gender and
ethnicity.
As feminist researchers, Eva’s story shows us how constructions of rural
community as white need to be challenged more rigorously than they
currently are in literature around social policy and the implementation and
evaluation of government settlement support services. Indeed Eva’s story
must help us advocate for ways of defining ‘‘the rural’’ that resist Anglo-
centric or normative connotations and instead are inclusive of the many
diverse and individual narratives that are today ‘‘the rural.’’
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author acknowledges the assistance of Professor Lia Bryant and the
generosity of the Hawke Institute.
REFERENCES
Albet-Mas, A., & Nogue-Font, J. (1998). Voices from the margins: Gendered images of
‘‘otherness’’ in colonial morocco. Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist
Geography, 5(3), 229–241.
Cloke, P. (2006). Rurality and racialized others: Out of place in the countryside. In: P. Cloke,
T. Marsden & P. H. Mooney (Eds), Handbook of rural studies (pp. 379–387). Lodon/
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Cresswell, T. (1996). In place, out of place: Geography, ideology and transgression. Minneapolis,
MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Department of Immigration, Multiculturalism and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). (2003a).
Multicultural Australia: United in diversity-updating the 1999 news agenda for
multicultural Australia: Strategic directions for 2003–2006 DIMIA homepage. Available
at http://www.immi.gov.au. Retrieved on June 2008.
Department of Immigration, Multiculturalism and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). (2003b).
Report on the review of the settlement of immigrant and humanitarianism entrants to
Australia Commonwealth Government of Australia. Available at http://www.immi.
gov.au.
Department of Immigration, Multiculturalism and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). (2005a).
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research. Available at http://www.immi.gov.au. Retrieved on June 2008.
Department of Immigration, Multiculturalism and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). (2005b).
Policy documents DIMIA homepage. Available at http://www.immi.gov.au. Retrieved
on June 2008.
Emami, A., Benner, P. E., Lipson, J. G., & Ekman, S. (2000). Health as continuity and balance
in life source. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 22(7), 812–825.
Fenster, T. (1998). Ethnicity, citizenship, planning and gender: The case of Ethiopian immigrant
women in Israel. Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 5(2),
177–195.
Jupp, J. (2002). From white Australia to Woomera. New York and Port Melbourne, VIC:
Cambridge University Press.
Kakakaios, M. (2003). Social determinants of health in a multicultural society. Australian
Mosaic (Spring), 7–9.
Lockie, S., & Bourke, L. (2001). Rurality bites, the social and environmental transformation of
rural Australia. Annandale, NSW: Pluto Press Australia Pty Ltd.
Lorber, J. (1994). Paradoxes of gender. Binghamton, NY: Vail-Ballou Press.
Madden, K. (2004). Dangling the carrot: Analysis and discussion of immigration to regional
Australia. Canberra, ACT: Australian Population Institute.
McDowell, L. (1999). Gender, identity and place understanding feminist geographies. Cambridge,
UK: Polity Press.
Morgan, D., Brandth, B., & Kvande, E. (2005). Thinking about gender, bodies and work. In:
D. Morgan, B. Brandth & Elin (Eds), Gender, bodies and work (pp. 1–18). Hampshire,
UK/Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Regional Women’s Advisory Council. (2004). Improving regional welcoming strategies RWAC
homepage. Available at http://www.dotars.gov.au/regional/rwac. Retrieved on June,
2005.
Spickard, P., & Burroughs, W. J. (2000). We are a people, narrative and multiplicity in
constructing ethnic identity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Taylor, J., & Stanovic, D. (2005). Refugees and regional settlement: Balancing priorities.
Australia: Brotherhood of St. Laurence.
Turner, B. S. (1994). Embodiment. Centre for the Body and Society, Deakin University,
Geelong, Vic.
CHAPTER 18
WOMEN FARMERS’ NETWORKING

IN JAPAN: A CASE STUDY OF
A PIONEERING NETWORK
Juri Hara-Fukuyo
ABSTRACT
After World War II, many types of organizations were established in
rural areas and that enabled women farmers to form networks. Most of
these organizations, however, were clearly divided into those for women
and those for men: a situation that still currently persists. Since the 1980s,
the networking of women farmers for the development of personal
networks increased and some nationwide network organizations were
established. Through an analysis of the case of the ‘‘Rural Heroines
Exciting Network’’ – one of the first networks of Japanese women
farmers – the chapter points out the significance of networking.
Networking is relevant because (1) it allows women to connect among
themselves and as individuals with the outside world. In this way, women
gain confidence. (2) Through the network, members get expressive
support and information. (3) The common values at the network level
play a balancing role in regard to the norms dominant at the local
community. Those characteristics have some similarities with those of
the ‘‘women in agriculture’’ movement that gained popularity in 1990s
worldwide.
ISSN: 1057-1922/doi:10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016021
261
262 JURI HARA-FUKUYO
INTRODUCTION
Women farmers’ personal network or social capital is one of the critical
factors for developing their abilities and improving their status in farm
management and in local society (Baylina & Bock, 2004). Since the 1990s,
there has been the emergence of a wealth of collective movements in many
countries such as Australia, Canada, and Ireland. Together, these episodes
allowed observers to speak about ‘‘the women in agriculture movement.’’
This movement promoted the recognition and participation of women
in agriculture (Shortall, 1994; Liepins, 1998; Pini, Panelli, & Dale-Hallett,
2007). Researches have analyzed its characteristics and impact at the
personal but also social and political levels. Liepins states that the ‘‘women
in agriculture movement’’ generated important results such as growth in
women’s confidence, pride of being seen as farmers, and greater participa-
tion in farming at the personal level. Also the movement has been viewed as
a factor that increased sensitivity to women’s involvement in farming and
decision making at the social level (Liepins, 1998, p. 152).
Employing a network analysis, in this chapter, I report a case of a women
farmer network in Japan that is similar to the aforementioned movement.
I examine the case of a pioneering network organization in Japan, ‘‘Inakano
Heroine Wakuwaku Network,’’ which can be translated as ‘‘Rural Heroines
Exciting Network.’’1 How it was formed and what impact it has had will
be discussed. The meaning of their networking as well as its effects on
farm management will be pointed out, in an attempt to clarify what function
the personal networking performs in developing women farmers’ abilities
and improving their status. With these results, I compare the Japanese
experience with the ‘‘women in agriculture’’ movement.
RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC

Women farmers’ networking is being encouraged as a policy in Japan,2 and
it is already considered a fact that networking helps women farmers improve
their status in the industry and in the region, and it is viewed as a factor
that revitalizes local areas. There have been some case studies on networking
organizations of women farmers, and their significance has been debated
(Abe, 2000). However, because of the ambiguity of the word ‘‘network,’’
their nature, working, and process of growth country-wide have not been
fully sorted out.
Women Farmers’ Networking in Japan 263
The following is my basic perspective and the method of analysis for

networks. The personal network research is defined as an attempt to explain
activities and consciousness of an individual through putting the whole
personal relationships into perspective and analyzing their characteristics
(Morioka, 2000). Such personal networks include those that are ‘‘assigned’’
to the individual and those that he/she joins voluntarily. One of the
characteristics of the personal network research is that it can focus not only
on relatively given networks of families and neighbors but also on networks
formed by an individual’s choice (Fischer, 1982). In this sense, forming or
joining a networking organization can be considered one of the opportu-
nities to voluntarily create a new network.
What functions does a personal network have from the subject’s point of
view? They can be roughly classified into social integration, access to various
resources (support, information, etc.), and authority on norms (Yasuda,
1997). Namely, a personal network plays a role of interface that connects
an individual with society, through which he or she gains various social
supports, and such interaction provides the authority on norms. These
social supports can be classified into instrumental support and expressive
support. The former includes material aids, substantive services, and
information, whereas the latter includes intimate interaction, assurance of
values, and self-evaluation. Gaining these supports provides motivation for
establishing a personal network.
THE SITUATION OF RURAL WOMEN

NETWORK AND RESEARCH METHOD
The personal network research has mainly focused on urban society and has
rarely dealt with women in rural areas. But a few previous pieces of research
on personal networks of women and residents in rural areas with little
urbanization demonstrated that they are small-scaled, dense, confined in
a small area, and homogeneous with higher ratios of families and neighbors
(Fischer, 1982; Nobe, 1991; Hara-Fukuyo, 1995). These results suggest that
personal networks of rural women are more given than chosen, individual
social relation resources are homogeneous, and the networks have strong
influences in terms of norms.3 Empirical studies on networks of rural women
in Japan show that friend networks are actually being formed by choice, but
their geographical coverage and opportunities to form relationships are
both limited (Nobe, 1991; Hara-Fukuyo, 1995).
One of the opportunities to form relationships is to join an organization.

There has long been a tradition in rural Japan where participation of the
entire household or the head of the family was a general rule. After WWII,
various organizations were born in rural areas that allowed women to join.
But the aforementioned tradition persisted, and the organizations that women
could join were often limited and different from that for men (Nakamichi,
2000). Home life improvement practice group and the women’s department at
the agricultural cooperative are cases in point. The former is a group for
women only, and it was formed with the support of the government following
American model (Ichida, 2000). Agricultural cooperatives were composed of
farm managers who owned farm land, and women could only participate in
women’s department as women members, which did not have right to vote.
At present, agricultural cooperatives encourage participation of more than
one person from each household, but women’s participation is still low, about
16% of all regular members, and there are very few women executives.4
Gender inequality in networking still remains today.
After the International Women’s Year (1975), the Japanese government
was faced with the necessity to promote gender equality in rural areas.
Home life improvement practice groups became important media for the
government to promote equal participation in management and in rural
communities, and the government urged to increase the number of the
women members in agricultural cooperatives and other decision-making
organizations (Ichida, 2000). Thus, women farmers had already had access
to other women farmers or extension advisors in local communities, when
many women farmers started to try to network more freely in various parts
of Japan in the 1980s. Their movement has brought about some nationwide
network organizations.
Then, what is it that women farmers try to gain by establishing their
own networks? This will be investigated during the case study on the ‘‘Rural
Heroines Exciting Network’’ (‘‘Rural Heroines’’) from the perspective of
a personal network.
I study the characteristics of ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ by surveying its history
and also through interviews conducted with the members of Ibaraki Branch
of ‘‘Rural Heroines.’’
HISTORY OF ‘‘RURAL HEROINES’’
‘‘Rural Heroines’’ is the oldest and best-known nationwide network

organization for rural women in Japan. It was first established in 1994
when a national exchange convention was held (Yamazaki, 2004). Yoko

Yamazaki, one of the central figures, had published a book ‘‘Warera Inaka
no Hiroin Tachi (Our Rural Heroines)’’ (Yamazaki, 1988), a report on the
study tour on farming in Europe that she took with her colleagues. Because
of the book, she was asked to give lectures at meetings of women farmers all
over the country, which gave her the opportunity to meet many women.
Some of them took the initiative and organized a national convention for
nationwide networking (Yamazaki, 2004).
The first national convention started at noon and lasted until noon
of the following day in Tokyo with 263 participants. There were sessions
such as panel discussions, relay speeches, and group discussions. The vitality
and good management of the organizers and speakers impressed many
participants (Yamazaki, 2004 and ‘‘Heroine News’’).5 Later, it was held
approximately once every three years. With some variations in the content,
it was continued to the sixth convention in 2008 with total of more than
1,200 women participated. It provided an opportunity to meet, to speak up,
and to send out messages to the urbanized society and the male-dominated
society.
Other activities include publishing the non-regular ‘‘Heroine News’’ and
miscellanies, organizing local seminars and lectures, and exchanging their
own produce. Motivated individuals take initiatives and others participate
on their own account. In 2000, they bought in Snow Brand Milk Products
that caused the well-publicized food poisoning incident, seeking a way to get
involved rather than simply criticize (Yamazaki, Sakakida, Oishi, & Kishi,
2004). In January 2003, they sought and gained an approval as a not-for-
profit organization to clarify their position.
Table 1 shows the history of ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ along with women
farmer–related measures and other organizations. It clearly indicates ‘‘Rural
Heroines’’ was a pioneer movement, formed before the Ministry’s programs
for women networking that were introduced based on the ministry’s basic
vision for rural women reported in 1992.
The trend of the times was to support rural women’s social participation
and empowerment, and discussions on measures and policies were
becoming livelier6. ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ captured the attention of the
media and the public as an actual case of networking by women farmers.
They encouraged many other networking organizations for women
farmers to come into existence. There were branch networks of ‘‘Rural
Heroines’’ for each prefecture such as in Ibaraki. But the establishment of
‘‘Rural Heroines’’ influenced the movement of women farmers networking
itself.
266
Table 1. The History of Rural Women Network Organizations and Measures Related in Japan.
Measures Related Rural Heroines Rural Heroines Other Women’s
National-Wide in Ibaraki Network Organizations
1985 Law on securing, etc. of equal

opportunity and treatment
between men and women in
employment
1987 Ms. Yamazaki’s travel to
Europe
1988 Publication of the first Lecture of Ms. Yamazaki in
book of Ms. Yamazaki Ibaraki prefecture
1990 (Ibaraki prefecture ‘‘female
farmers’ leaders’’
qualification started)
1992 The Vision report:
mid-to long- tem perspectives
on women in the new
agricultural, forest and
fishing communities toward
2001
1994 The first national convention Rural Heroine’s Ibraki
branch ‘‘Hibari network’’
JURI HARA-FUKUYO
established
1995 Promotion of family ‘‘Japan Female Farm
management agreement Managers Council’’
established
1996 The second national
convention
1999 Basic law for a gender-equal The third national convention
society
Basic law on food, agriculture
and rural areas
2000 Buying in activity for Snow
Brand Milk Product
2002 The fourth national
convention
Women Farmers’ Networking in Japan
2003 Certified as a Not-for-Profit

Organization by the local
government
2005 The fifth national convention The inauguration of The ‘‘Yamato Rinrin Agri-N et’’
Frozen Dessert Study established
Group of Hibari Network
2006 ‘‘Japan Stock Raising Ikiiki
Network’’ established
2008 The sixth national convention
267
CHARACTERISTICS OF ‘‘RURAL HEROINES’’

‘‘Rural Heroines’’ is a network organization that is very open. No
qualification is required to participate, there is no seniority system, and
each participant stands on the even ground. By letting individuals take
initiatives, their personal choices and judgment are respected. These
characteristics can be attributed to the thoughts of Ms. Yamazaki and the
process of formation of the network.
Ms. and Mr. Yamazaki did not have any farming background7. She
graduated from a university in Tokyo and was working for a company when
she married. She reclaimed land with her husband in Fukui Prefecture, and
after 13 years, she decided to travel to Europe to inspect their farming, hoping
to find answers to the questions that came up while working as a farmer,
especially about the richness of farming life and sexual division of labor.
Accepting her husband’s suggestion that it is better to learn about different
values with her friends, she invited the members of a young wives’ group to
the trip to Europe, which was realized only after studying English and world
affairs intensively, gaining grants through the agricultural improvement and
extension center, and persuading their families. During the two-week trip to
Denmark, Germany, and some other countries, each participant had
opportunities to learn about farming in Europe and to experience the
simple but rich farming life. They observed how family members discussed
until all were satisfied, how the husband and wife cooperated, and how
independent each generation was. From these, they had a chance to reflect on
their farming life: its strengths and limitations in Japan, where economic goals
are valued too highly, implicit communication is common in stem family. Ms.
Yamazaki’s (1988) first book gives a vivid account of this.
Let us list up the stimulating messages this book gave to women
farmers all over the country: (a) It introduced the idea of overseas study
tours for farming women; (b) it showed an attitude of retaining one’s
own opinions and beliefs against the government’s rigidity during the
process of gaining public grants; (c) it advocated that women should be
more assertive and persuasive in their families; and from the actual
experiences of the trip, it conveyed that (d) richness of farming life does not
depend solely on economic factors; and (e) there were things only farmers
could understand each other despite the difference in nationality or culture.
Thus, the book made an appeal of uniqueness and strength of women
farmers.
It is inferred that these messages led women farmers to realize and become
proud of their potential abilities. They also prompted the women to become
aware that they needed to make efforts to bring out and nurture their
potential abilities.
‘‘Rural Heroines’’ made it into holding a national convention with
the help of the above inspirations from Ms. Yamazaki’s book. As a
consequence, the women gathered had some idea about Ms. Yamazaki’s
values, her personal history, and her managing style. They either identified
with her or aspired to be like her. In a way, this national network started
with sharing the values, which is the most remarkable characteristic of
‘‘Rural Heroines.’’ At each national convention, participants invited more
new people, trying to create a network with a respect toward an individual’s
humanity and will. Through this, ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ has maintained its
characteristic of a value-sharing network.
From this ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ sprung up many branch networks in various
regions. The Hibari Network in Ibaraki prefecture is one of them. Although
the national convention has been held every three years, many members
wished to meet more often but with less hassle. They wished they could
expand their circle of friends. There were also requests from members for
opportunities to exchange information within the local prefecture. These led
to form local networks and local meetings.
ACTIVITIES AND THE MEMBERS

OF IBARAKI BRANCH
What it signifies to participate in ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ will be investigated
through a questionnaire by mail and interviews to the Ibaraki
branch ‘‘Hibari Network’’ members. The questionnaire was sent to all the
36 members in 2007, and 20 responded. Additionally we carried out in-depth
interviews with six members.
The Hibari Network was established by some of the 13 people
who participated in the first national convention. They held their first
local meeting in the same year and have remained active since then.
Ms. Utsugizaki, the head of the network, publishes the ‘‘Hibari News’’ three
or four times a year and has held a meeting almost every year in one form or
another, such as classes on produce processing, as well as study tours to
visit ‘‘Heroines’’ farms in other prefectures. They recruit people other
than the national convention participants, providing opportunities for
women farmers in Ibaraki to interact. One of their activities is the product
development of frozen desserts with their produce such as pear, blueberry,
chestnuts, milk, spinach, and so on. It has yet to turn a profit, but some
members started to use it as their own gift, and it is also used in the food and
farming education program (Hara-Fukuyo, 2007).
The members’ living places cover nine municipalities spreading almost the
entire prefecture within a 50-km radius. Their age ranges from 39 to 64,
many of them in their 50s. What they produce is of great variety: meat, fruits,
flowers, and seeds, many conducting mixed farming. The family workforce is
from one to four persons, two being the most common, in eight households.
Two respondents are the manager themselves, and many say that they co-
manage with their husband and/or children. They take partial charge of such
tasks as bookkeeping and accounting, fattening management, labor manage-
ment, and sales. Because the majority is in their 50s, almost all play a central
role in management. Some said that the severity of their responsibility
prevents them from participating in the organizational activities.
The respondents participate actively in anywhere between one and
seven organizations besides ‘‘Rural Heroines.’’ Those include community,
municipal, prefectural, and national level organizations. Their activities
range from produce processing, direct sales, promotion of gender equality,
and making recommendations to the government. Many are women-only
organizations. Activities that involve practical affairs such as processing
and direct sales mostly belong to municipal-level organizations. Many of the
respondents have experiences as an executive in these organizations.
Nine are certified farmers, one has been a board member at Agriculture
Cooperative and many are considered a local woman leader. Most
respondents first joined a community-level organization and have expanded
their area of activities. After gaining knowledge, presentation skills, and
self-confidence as a farmer through ‘‘Rural Heroines,’’ some of them got
involved in local activities in decision making.
SIGNIFICANCE OF ‘‘RURAL HEROINES’’

FOR THE MEMBERS
I asked in the questionnaire what kind of interaction a member has had with
other members of ‘‘Rural Heroines.’’ I prepared eight items for multiple
answers. In those items, ‘‘exchange information’’ was the top choice of
12 respondents, followed by ‘‘learn the other’s activities in newspapers
and magazines (11)’’ and ‘‘exchange produce as gifts (9).’’ Other answers
were ‘‘invitation to events (6),’’ ‘‘visit to farm (5),’’ ‘‘exchange produce for
sale or for processing(4),’’ ‘‘exchange letters or e-mail (3),’’ and ‘‘introduce
friends or children (2).’’
The information in this case regards the know-how of presentation and

event holding, and general information such as farming conditions and
government handling in other areas, rather than specific information for
solving certain problems. The next common form of interaction ‘‘learn the
other’s activities in newspapers and magazines’’ is about the same personal
interactions that can provide an example to follow in order to improve
oneself. To ‘‘exchange the produce as a gift’’ is to exchange the sense of
intimacy as a form of socialization, and it is also to confirm one’s own sense
of value as a farmer. These results suggest that they are seeking expressive
support rather than instrumental support. They want to learn about other
women’s activities and their know-how, and they want to confirm their self-
confidence as a farmer.
The main appeal of ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ according to respondents was
‘‘many inspiring members (8),’’ followed by ‘‘easy enrollment and with-
drawal (7),’’ and ‘‘no ties to the government (7).’’ Other items I had
prepared were ‘‘non-farming members (6),’’ ‘‘I can participate in only what
I’m interested in (5),’’ and ‘‘I can operate independently of my husband and
our farm management (4).’’ In the comments column, one wrote,
Not quite like the people in my everyday life, some members are looking ahead. Meeting
such people is very inspiring.
Another wrote,
It is encouraging and motivating to think about the fellow hardworking farmers all over
the country.
Thus, interaction itself seems to be the main appeal. Others also wrote,
I learned that anybody can come forward and participate if they want to,
and
It is wonderful that so many of us gather from all over the country to talk about our own
dreams, our children, and our farming, and we give presentations, exchange our ideas y
Members seem to consider expressing their opinions and improving

presentation skills also to be positive characteristics of ‘‘Rural Heroines.’’
Others still wrote,
Because there is no influence from the government, we can act and talk freely,
and
I really like the fact that we can make friends of everyone regardless of their positions.
Thus, members give their support because this is a network organiza-

tion created by women farmers’ themselves with almost no help from the
government, and it allows free interactions among members regardless of
their positions in other organizations or the scale of their family farms that
are often important in government-related organizations.
Interactions among ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ members are not recognized
to have had economic effects on farm management. But some answered
that interaction gave them good motivation on farm management. There
are also some examples that a member learned a new way of cultivation
from another member and adopted it to her management, or a member
introduced a good nursery garden to another who began to deal with it.
These examples show that networking of women bring their farm manage-
ment new information from their own source of knowledge. By bringing
new information, women farmers gain certain power on their management.
DISCUSSION
The aforementioned text is the report on the history and activities of ‘‘Rural
Heroines’’ and its Ibaraki branch and also how the members evaluate it.
What this network signifies is discussed along with the three functions
of a personal network: social integration, access to various resources, and
authority on norms.
First, let us consider social integration from a subject’s point of view.
By joining ‘‘Rural Heroines,’’ a woman farmer becomes able to interact with
outstanding women farmers from all over the country. Their accessibility
expands because of the name list, which becomes an asset for these women.
Making friends nationwide gives them an uplifting feeling. It becomes
possible to gain access to a foreign country, government, mass media, and
corporations through network members. This is indicated by the result of
the survey that the main appeal of ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ was ‘‘Many inspiring
members,’’ the source of their motivation. Through participating in the
networking organization, how women connect with society changes. By
connecting themselves as an individual with the outside world without being
confined in the frameworks of the household or the region, the women are
gaining new confidence and responsibility.
Next, let us focus on the access to the resources. Few women join this
network seeking for instrumental support regarding management. As I
observed in its history, this network organization was formed on the
foundation of sharing certain values. The survey result shows that expressive
support is more important to members. There is not much expectation of

instrumental support to improve their farm management. However, some
members are utilizing the agricultural technology that they have learned
through this network in their own farm management, which is how they
gain information resources and mobilize them to empower themselves.
Last, how can a personal network be the authority on norms? All the
six points of ‘‘Rural Heroines’’’ appeal (‘‘many inspiring members,’’ ‘‘easy
enrollment and withdrawal,’’ etc.) are related to a set of norms different from
the one that is given within the social relationships of the community. Each
point of appeal can be translated into interaction with like-minded people,
good relationships regardless of the length of time, freedom from the govern-
ment, the world beyond farming, self-assertion, and relationships outside the
household principle, all suggesting a set of norms different from the ones in the
community. As a previous study indicates that a dispersed network guarantees
an ‘‘escape’’ from the pressure of norms (Nozawa, 1995), it is inferred that the
common values at ‘‘Rural Heroines’’ (emphasis on farming life, doubts toward
the attitude that puts economy ahead of all else, denial of blind obedience
toward the old authority, equal relationship with the government, etc.) play a
balancing role in regard with the dominant norms in a narrow community.
CONCLUSIONS
As indicated earlier, through ‘‘Rural Heroines Exciting Network,’’ women
farmers formed their personal networks that are not available in their local
groups. I pointed out the significance of networking for each member from
the perspective of social network analysis.
The case of ‘‘Rural Heroine’’ seems to be similar with the ‘‘women in
agriculture’’ movement. As for the impact on personal level, Japanese
women farmers also gained self-confidence, insistence on being seen as
farmers, and greater participation in farming. In terms of social level,
however, it looks different as the movement for equal participation in
decision making is rather week in this Japanese movement. That is partly
because the Japanese government has promoted gender equality in rural
areas, preventing voluntary movements to become active. Accordingly,
‘‘Rural Heroines’’ has not been involved in collective actions to realize equal
participation politically. However, it has supported some members who
became involved politically at the local level. This behavior achieved some
tactical advantages as it avoided attacks from the local establishment, not as
reported in some countries’ experience (Pini, 2008), and allowed more
women to participate in a context in which social change is difficult due to

the role played by the family and traditional organizations. Further
examination of the common points between the ‘‘women in agriculture’’
movement and the case examined here is left to future studies.
NOTES
1. The translations of the names of network organizations in this chapter are by
the author and are not authorized by the network organizations.
2. In the ‘‘Measures for Sustainable Development of Agriculture’’ issued in March
2005 as a part of the Basic Plans for Food, Agriculture, and Rural Areas,
‘‘networking by women farmers’’ was encouraged to increase women’s participation
in farm management and a local community, along with providing seminars for
starting a business related to farming.
3. A network’s high density is supposed to be an index closely related to the
strength of norms.
4. Refer to the page of gender equality in the web site of Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries: http://www.maff.go.jp/j/keiei/kourei/danzyo/index.html
(mainly in Japanese).
5. I have participated in the first, the fifth, and the sixth convention.
6. Regarding recent change of women farmes’ situation in Japan, refer to Kawate
(2010).
7. They are regarded as New Famers. Female new farmers with non-agricultural
backgroud tend to have network outside farming and community (Hara-Fukuyo,
2010). That applies to Ms.Yamazaki’s case.
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What is the book about?

What is the book about?

What topics are discussed in Part I of the book?

What topics are discussed in Part I of the book?

FROM COMMUNITY TO

CONSUMPTION: NEW AND

United Kingdom – North America – Japan

First edition 2010

Copyright r 2010 Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Reprints and permission service

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Emerald Group Publishing

PART I: SOCIOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE

CHAPTER 1 I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE,

CHAPTER 2 NEW PEASANTRIES AND

CHAPTER 3 THE DEVELOPMENT OF

CHAPTER 4 THE ROLE AND POSSIBILITIES

CHAPTER 5 THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE

CHAPTER 6 STUDYING FERTILITY BEHAVIOR

PART II: DEVELOPMENT, RURAL,

CHAPTER 7 STATE AND MARKET: THE

CHAPTER 8 WITHOUT CATEGORIES AND

CHAPTER 9 RURAL COMMUNITY IN A

CHAPTER 10 ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS

CHAPTER 11 THE REGENERATIVE POWER

PART III: CONSUMPTION

CHAPTER 12 MAKING DEVICE FOR

CHAPTER 13 DIRECT SALES SUIT

CHAPTER 14 PARTICIPATION OF THE STATE

PART IV: NATURAL RESOURCES AND

CHAPTER 15 CAPACITY BUILDING FOR

CHAPTER 16 HISTORIES AND CONTINUITIES

CHAPTER 17 GENDER, BODIES AND

CHAPTER 18 WOMEN FARMERS’

Gilberto Aboites is a researcher at the Center of Socioeconomic Research at

Douglas H. Constance is professor of sociology at Sam Houston State

Kayo Murakami is a honorary research fellow at Centre for Rural Economy

by attention to the new topics of food consumption, natural resources, and

and the sharing of knowledge. Subsistence farming, therefore, occupies a

international policies had on forest management in two Southeastern

I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE, AND

successful in Norway? One main explanation is the difference between

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

betterment of consumers; less efﬁcient farmers would quit the business,

On this basis, the following questions are posed:

NORWEGIAN DAIRY FARMING AT A GLANCE

JOINT FARMING IN NORWAY

commodities does concentration occur?’’ (Friedland et al., 1991, p. 22).

JOINT ‘‘FARMERS’’: WHO ARE THEY

Table 1. Reasons Cited for Entering a Joint Farming Arrangement,

Notes: More than one answer was possible. Percent. N ¼ 284.

As we have seen from the Norwegian dairy regime, a third option is

in the chain of production and distribution y does concentration occur?’’

NEW PEASANTRIES AND

peasant principle, according to which the socioeconomic project of the

CONCEPTUALIZING NEW PEASANTRIES

small-scale farming, as in the pattern that emerged from the impact of

of production. As a consequence, repeasantization can be understood as an

A NEW FOUNDATION FOR AGRO-FOOD SYSTEMS

In France, the case of Re´seau Semences Paysannes (RSP) can serve as