Production grabbing et la transnationalisation de l’agriculture (sud-) africaine
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Date
Authors
Ducastel, Antoine
Anseeuw, Ward, 1974-
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
CIRAD
Abstract
Au lendemain de l’apartheid, le secteur agricole sud-africain a connu un processus de
dérégulation sans précédent, rompant ainsi avec le paternalisme étatique du régime précédent.
Cette libéralisation agricole va se traduire par la montée en puissance de « macro-acteurs »,
entre autres des grandes banques commerciales sud-africaines, sociétés d’ingénierie agricole
et fonds d’investissement, comme acteurs moteurs du secteur. Celles-ci vont progressivement
renforcer leur participation au sein des filières, et particulièrement dans le segment de la
production primaire agricole. De nouveaux modèles de production et de financement (ex. :
« pre-crop contract ») apparaissent dans lesquels ces acteurs contrôlent la totalité des filières
où ils sont engagés. Il apparaît ainsi une mainmise par quelques macro-acteurs (souvent
non-agricoles, à structures capitalistes) sur la production agricole, considérée comme une
denrée de spéculation sur les marchés financiers (Safex à Johannesbourg, marché à termes de
Chicago). Si d’une part cela pose des questions sur le statut des producteurs (qui deviennent
des rentiers voire des salariés des établissements, ne possédant plus leur récolte, et ne
sont pas impliqués dans le processus de prise de décision, constituant ainsi un nouveau
« prolétariat agricole »), d’autre part ces nouvelles pratiques remettent en avant les questions
de souveraineté alimentaire et de régulation agricole. Ces questions sont primordiales vu qu’en
l’absence d’un modèle alternatif, cette conception du développement agricole devient à présent
le paradigme de référence, en Afrique du Sud mais également en Afrique. Il est en effet adopté
par les agences publiques de développement (Nouveau partenariat pour le développement
de l’Afrique : NEPAD, Banque africaine de développement : AfDB) et est exporté par ces
« macro-acteurs » dans le cadre de leur expansion économique sur le continent.
Since the end of apartheid, the South African farming sector has been characterized by an unprecedented deregulation process, ending the state paternalism regime of the previous era. The related agricultural liberalization resulted into the engagement of “macro-actors”, including South Africa’s commercial banks, asset management companies and investment funds, as driving force of the sector. These actors gradually strengthened their participation within several agricultural value-chains, particularly in the primary agricultural production segment. New models of agricultural production and financing (eg “pre-crop contract”) are presently mushrooming, in which these actors control the totality of the value-chain they’re engaged in. These macro-actors (often non-agricultural, capitalist structures) tend to seize control over the agricultural production, considered as speculative commodities hedged on financial markets (Safex in Johannesburg, futures markets in Chicago). If these evolutions question the status of the producers (who become rent-seekers or even employees of the investing institutions and who are not possessing their harvest any more, nor are involved in the decision-making processes, constituting subsequently a new “agricultural proletariat”), they also bring to the fore issues related to food sovereignty and agricultural regulation. These issues are essential considering that in the absence of alternative development models, this conception of agricultural development presently becomes the reference paradigm, in South Africa but also on the continent. It is indeed adopted by public development agencies (NEPAD, AfDB) and is exported by these “macro-actors” within the framework of their economic expansion on the African continent.
Since the end of apartheid, the South African farming sector has been characterized by an unprecedented deregulation process, ending the state paternalism regime of the previous era. The related agricultural liberalization resulted into the engagement of “macro-actors”, including South Africa’s commercial banks, asset management companies and investment funds, as driving force of the sector. These actors gradually strengthened their participation within several agricultural value-chains, particularly in the primary agricultural production segment. New models of agricultural production and financing (eg “pre-crop contract”) are presently mushrooming, in which these actors control the totality of the value-chain they’re engaged in. These macro-actors (often non-agricultural, capitalist structures) tend to seize control over the agricultural production, considered as speculative commodities hedged on financial markets (Safex in Johannesburg, futures markets in Chicago). If these evolutions question the status of the producers (who become rent-seekers or even employees of the investing institutions and who are not possessing their harvest any more, nor are involved in the decision-making processes, constituting subsequently a new “agricultural proletariat”), they also bring to the fore issues related to food sovereignty and agricultural regulation. These issues are essential considering that in the absence of alternative development models, this conception of agricultural development presently becomes the reference paradigm, in South Africa but also on the continent. It is indeed adopted by public development agencies (NEPAD, AfDB) and is exported by these “macro-actors” within the framework of their economic expansion on the African continent.
Description
Keywords
Finance value-chain, Agricultural production economics
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Antoine Ducastel et Ward Anseeuw, « Le « production grabbing » et la transnationalisation de l’agriculture (sud-) africaine », Transcontinentales [En ligne], 10/11 | 2011, document 3, mis en ligne le 19 octobre 2011. URL : http://transcontinentales.revues.org/1080