Corporate agricultural production, smallholder farming, and the sustainability of food systems in Ghana

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorDzorka, Gifty
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeJohnson, Derek (Anthropology)
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeDesmarais, Annette (Sociology and Criminology)
dc.contributor.guestmembersSchnurr, Matthew (Dalhousie University)
dc.contributor.supervisorLi, Fabiana
dc.date.accessioned2024-12-18T14:27:27Z
dc.date.available2024-12-18T14:27:27Z
dc.date.issued2024-12-12
dc.date.submitted2024-12-12T20:36:48Zen_US
dc.date.submitted2024-12-17T15:19:09Zen_US
dc.degree.disciplineAnthropology
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
dc.description.abstractIn Ghana, smallholder farmers are at the forefront of domestic food production. This study examined how the introduction of corporate large-scale rice production (specifically the GADCO-Fievie rice project) in a predominantly maize-producing and consuming society in Ghana interacts with the existing food system. The project, a partnership between a transnational company (GADCO) and the Fievie Traditional Area, is examined in light of international and national policies indirectly facilitating its implementation. I further examined how the Fievie community’s participation in the joint-venture addresses farmers’ autonomy, inclusion, historical exclusion, and inequality based on the intersection of political organization, gender, and native identity. The study employs three frameworks of analysis: food systems approach, political ecology, and food sovereignty. It addresses two main issues in the Ghanaian agrarian economy: the influence of corporate food production on smallholder farmers, and the potential benefits of shifting from a food security to a food sovereignty paradigm (or the integration of both). Based on 12 months ethnographic fieldwork involving interviews, life histories, participant observation and surveys, the findings indicate that while the GADCO-Fievie rice project enhanced domestic rice production, Fievie maintains a cultural preference for maize. Notably, farmers’ participation in the project was limited to those with land resource entitlement, rice production knowledge and political connections, thereby undermining farmers’ autonomy and control over production decisions. I argue that while the GADCO-Fievie partnership is significant in controlling land grabs and improving domestic rice production, it is a complex configuration of capitalism due to inequitable benefits distribution and profit maximization. Therefore, it is essential to recognize power relations in commercialized farming, anthropological understandings of culturally appropriate foods, and the embeddedness of agricultural projects in local economies. I conclude that commercialized large-scale rice production can be culturally and economically viable if local political institutions are understood and local food systems are sustained and prioritized.
dc.description.noteFebruary 2025
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/38718
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectSmallholder farming
dc.subjectCorporate agricultural production
dc.subjectFarmers' autonomy
dc.subjectAgency
dc.subjectPower relations in farming communities
dc.subjectGhana
dc.subjectVolta region
dc.subjectFievie
dc.subjectFood and identity
dc.subjectSustainable food systems
dc.subjectFood sovereignty
dc.subjectFood security
dc.subjectFood systems approach
dc.subjectSouth Tongu district
dc.subjectAfrica
dc.titleCorporate agricultural production, smallholder farming, and the sustainability of food systems in Ghana
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
local.subject.manitobano
oaire.awardNumber109120-010
oaire.awardTitleIDRC Doctoral Research Award
project.funder.identifier501100000193
project.funder.nameInternational Development Centre
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
GiftyDzorka_Thesis_17December2024.pdf
Size:
2.73 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
To safeguard the research findings from unauthorized use or reproduction, enabling the future submission of its contents for peer-reviewed articles or books without conflicts, since many academic journals and publishers have strict policies against accepting previously published content.
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
770 B
Format:
Item-specific license agreed to upon submission
Description:
Download
Collections
FGS - Electronic Theses and Practica