Resilience and sustainability of tobacco co-operatives in southern Africa

Abstract

Farmers in Africa, in their quest to walk away from poverty, have been observed to work jointly through agricultural and marketing co-operatives societies (AMCOS). Despite these efforts, the situation on the ground is not that rosy. Innumerable factors have been reported to haunt, weaken and fail co-operative movements in Africa, tobacco co-operatives inclusive. The states have of recently been less involving themselves if not disengaging from providing inputs, credit, extension services, and price supports for several reasons. This seems to have left a room to fill, where private firms have been considered to have the potential to take up similar roles, and in a more efficient manner. In such mishaps, be it climate related, economic or political, and social, understanding the way (how) people and institutions could become much more resilient becomes vital towards the promotion of well-being. Resilience building supports people and institutions in dealing with changes and adapting to some new circumstances hence achieving sustainability. Contract farming (CF) is an approach that has the potential whereby the private sector has been expected to create win-win arrangements with smallholder farmers. Tobacco farmers have been observed to be involved in CF arrangement through AMCOS which is expected to lead to resilience and sustainability. While it has been anticipated that contract farming carries the potential which can substitute the state in the wake of the agrarian sector reforms, very little empirical evidence exists on how resilient and sustainable the Tobacco Co-operatives in Southern Africa are in the face of CF. It is against this background that this article analyses the resilience and sustainability of Tobacco Co-operatives in the tobacco sub-sector in Tanzania, Malawi, and Zimbabwe using A documentary research method (documentary analysis). In this article, resilience has been analysed based on networks, innovation, and the role of the state.