Snyder and Cullen give an overview of some of the issues of agricultural intensification in Africa. While many projects have ostensibly moved away from a top-down approach and towards “sustainable” intensification they still operate under Western ideas of progress and productivity, assuming a linear model of development from traditional and unproductive to modern and efficient. Because of this their interventions are justified as Westerners are needed to bring knowledge and technology to less industrialized countries. As the authors point out this view ignores local knowledge as well as social and cultural realities, falsely treating development as merely a technical, not political, issue.
One of the main weaknesses in current development projects is that they are designed by outsiders without a clear understanding of local issues and household dynamics. This lack of understanding of societal and cultural issues leads to projects such as an introduction of fish farming in an area where consumption of fish is forbidden. Snyder and Cullen compare household and land tenure dynamics in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Ghana to iterate this point.
The article shows the problems involved in Western development projects. Social practices vary widely and international groups cannot have the necessary cultural understanding.
The authors end by calling for an increased participation by anthropologists in development projects. As it now stands most people involved are economists, etc. without a good understanding of cultural issues. While they acknowledge a reluctance to get involved both because of anthropology’s past as well as instances when anthropologists’ help has been co-opted they argue that staying “objective” is not an option.
- Snyder, Katherine A., and Beth Cullen. “Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: Anthropological perspectives.” (2014).