The literature of Africa is dominated by accounts of crisis and gloom. But Thomas Bassett, a distinguished American geographer well known in the field of development, tells an unusual story of the growth of the cotton economy of West Africa. One of the few long-running success stories in African development, change was brought about by tens of thousands of small-scale peasant farmers. While the introduction of new strains of cotton in French West Africa was in part a result of agronomic research by French scientists, supported by an unusually efficient marketing structure, this is not a case of triumphant top-down 'planification'. Employing the case of Côte d'Ivoire, Professor Bassett shows agricultural intensification to result from the cumulative effect of decades of incremental changes in farming techniques and social organization. A significant contribution to the literature, the book demonstrates the need to consider the local and temporal dimensions of agricultural innovations. It brings into question many key assumptions that have influenced development policies during the twentieth century.
| ISBN: | 9780521788830 |
| Publication date: | 30th March 2006 |
| Author: | Thomas J University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign Bassett |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 268 pages |
| Series: | African Studies |
| Genres: |
Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning |
The literature of Africa is dominated by accounts of crisis and gloom. But Thomas Bassett, a distinguished American geographer well known in the field of development, tells an unusual story of the growth of the cotton economy of West Africa. One of the few long-running success stories in African development, change was brought about by tens of thousands of small-scale peasant farmers. While the introduction of new strains of cotton in French West Africa was in part a result of agronomic research by French scientists, supported by an unusually efficient marketing structure, this is not a case of triumphant top-down 'planification'. Employing the case of Côte d'Ivoire, Professor Bassett shows agricultural intensification to result from the cumulative effect of decades of incremental changes in farming techniques and social organization. A significant contribution to the literature, the book demonstrates the need to consider the local and temporal dimensions of agricultural innovations. It brings into question many key assumptions that have influenced development policies during the twentieth century.
The Peasant Cotton Revolution in West Africa features in the following genres: Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning
The Peasant Cotton Revolution in West Africa is available in Paperback
The Peasant Cotton Revolution in West Africa was written by Thomas J University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign Bassett and published by Cambridge University Press
The Peasant Cotton Revolution in West Africa has 268 pages
Yes it is part of African Studies series