Land concentration and rural household welfare in Africa

Medium- and large-scale farms are acquiring substantial amounts of land in Africa, changing the farm structure of many rural areas in the continent. How do these changes affect the welfare of smallholder households and rural communities? On one hand, households operating smaller farms are more likely to spend their revenues in the local economy, stimulating growth linkages between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. On the other hand, larger farms can attract investments that improve local access to markets and services. Ultimately, whether the local presence of larger farms is beneficial or detrimental to rural households (and thus conducive to an inclusive rural transformation) is an open question. In this webinar, Jordan Chamberlin will try to address this question on the basis recent evidence from Tanzania. Through an analysis based on different rounds of nationally representative surveys, he will show how different forms of farmland structure affect the welfare of neighbouring rural smallholder households. He will discuss the diversity of impacts across poor and non-poor households and on different types of income (from own farm, agricultural wage, and non-farm activities). He will use this study to motivate an empirical research agenda and discuss some of the data reforms required to engage such an agenda.

SPEAKER:

Jordan Chamberlin is a Spatial Economist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), based in Kenya, where he conducts applied research on smallholder farm households, rural development, and policies designed to promote welfare and productivity improvements. Prior to joining the CIMMYT, Dr. Chamberlin was assistant professor in international development at Michigan State University. He also worked at the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI, Zambia) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University and an MA in Geography from Arizona State University.

Webcast