This study examines the extent of deagrarianization in North Shoa, one of the most impoverished regions of Ethiopia. It describes the role and trend of farm activities and output, the trends in... Show moreThis study examines the extent of deagrarianization in North Shoa, one of the most impoverished regions of Ethiopia. It describes the role and trend of farm activities and output, the trends in income diversification and the historical evolution of non-farm activities, and the relationship between farm and non-farm activities with particular focus on the extent to which income diversification is associated with an increase or decrease in agricultural productivity and income. It identifies the major constraints to non-farm activities and suggests a policy framework for their development. It is based on primary survey data collected in North Shoa between February and April 1995. Show less
This paper examines the strategies applied by elite women in Brazzaville, Congo, to achieve lifelong financial security and independence for themselves and their children. Amongst these strategies... Show moreThis paper examines the strategies applied by elite women in Brazzaville, Congo, to achieve lifelong financial security and independence for themselves and their children. Amongst these strategies are a woman's position in the household and women's ways of identifying themselves socially. Women's empowerment has led to specific changes, such as the emergence of the 'deuxième bureau' (unmarried women having an intimate relationship with a married man) among the well educated. New lifestyle patterns emphasize the privatization of the family and promote considerable changes in gender relations, with significant implications for relationships between elite women and the extended family. The women in the study are between 30 and 40 years old and are all civil servants in Brazzavillian government departments. Data were collected during fieldwork in 1989-1990. Show less
The author concentrates on virtuality, which he has come to regard as one of the key concepts for characterizing and understanding the forms of globalization in Africa. Chapters 1 and 2 define... Show moreThe author concentrates on virtuality, which he has come to regard as one of the key concepts for characterizing and understanding the forms of globalization in Africa. Chapters 1 and 2 define virtuality and globalization and provisionally indicate their theoretical relationship. The problematic heritage of an anthropological tradition obsessed with locality provides the analytical framework within which virtuality makes an inspiring topic, as argued in Ch. 3. Ch. 4 offers a transition from theory to empirical case studies by examining the problem of meaning in the African urban environment. Ch. 5 evokes an ethnographic situation (urban puberty rites in present-day Zambia) that illustrates particular forms of virtuality as part of the globalization process. Ch. 6 applies the emerging insights into virtuality and the virtual village to Ren‚ Devisch's notion of villagization as a major process of societal transformation in the Zairian capital, Kinshasa. Ch. 7 explores the applicability of the same concepts to recent patterns of witchcraft and healing as studied, at the national level in Cameroon and Malawi, by Peter Geschiere and Matthew Schoffeleers respectively. The author's own earlier work on the Kazanga festival as an instance of virtuality in the rural context of western central Zambia is summarized in Ch. 8, after which a conclusion rounds off the argument. Show less
This paper examines the interaction of agricultural and nonagricultural activities in Mutoko communal area, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe. It looks at three particular issues arising from... Show moreThis paper examines the interaction of agricultural and nonagricultural activities in Mutoko communal area, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe. It looks at three particular issues arising from the interaction of farming households' agricultural and nonagricultural activities. First, how do farm households value different kinds of activities and what dilemmas do they face when choosing occupations? Second, how do historical and cultural institutions and values affect the economic behaviour of farm households in communal areas? Third, how does household income diversification influence productivity? The paper looks especially at aspects of agricultural productivity. By relating present household food insecurity and poverty in communal areas to the national goal of increasing agricultural exports, the author hopes that the answers to these questions may offer insights into microlevel and macrolevel costs and the benefits of household income diversification. Show less
