African Food Systems in Crisis

Originally published in 1991. Commissioned by the Task Force on African Famine of the American Anthropological Association, this the second part of a project examining the causes of food system failure in Africa and the effects of attempts to remedy the situation. It evaluates the often-retrogressive results of foreign aid to African nations and offers an anthropological perspective on how to reverse this trend. The contributors emphasize integrating all development programs with the regional customs and traditions already in place that have thus far allowed its people to cope with food and water shortages. In the past, various strategies have failed due to misunderstandings and incorrect assumptions concerning gender roles, food consumption habits, social relations, kinship networks, land use and government function. New understanding of the culture must be complemented with multifaceted programs incorporating education, a concern for grass-roots opinion and control, attention to production and consumption patterns, and various forms of broad-spectrum integrated development. The uniqueness research is recommended for all who are concerned about worldwide malnutrition and those who understand the need to recognize local traditions as resources that must be included in any successful development program.

Rebecca Huss-Ashmore, Solomon H Katz

Preface Part 1: Changing African Food Systems - Issues in Anthropology and Development 1. Donors and Deserts: The Political Ecology of Destructive Development in the Sahel Michael M. Horowitz 2. River Basin Development: Dilemmas for Peasants and Planners William Derman 3. Land Concentration, Existential Development, and Food in the Sahel Stephen P. Reyna 4. Gender, Land and Hunger in Eastern Zaire Brooke Grundfest Schoepf and Claude Schoepf 5. Profiles of Men and Women Smallholder Farmers in Malawi Anita Spring Part 2: Strategies for Increasing Food Security 6. Curriculum Development in the Study of African Food Issues at a US Land Grant University: A Case Study Della E. McMillan 7. Towards a Participatory Evaluation Methodology: The Southern African Pilot Learning Process Ann Seidman 8. Development Alternatives and the African Food Crisis David A. Cleveland 9. The Role of Cassava in African Famine Prevention Fatimah Linda C. Jackson and Robert T. Jackson 10. Seasonality of Vegetable Use and Production on Swazi Nation Land: Problems and Interventions John J. Curry, Rebecca Huss-Ashmore, Doyle Grenoble and Douglas Gama 11. The Lesson of Rwanda's Agricultural Crisis: Increase Productivity, Not Food Aid Edward Robins 12. Food, Farmers and Organizations in Africa: Anthropological Perspectives with Implications for Development Assistance Patrick Fleuret