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In contrast to their sedentary image, farmers in Central and South Mali are surprisingly mobile. Many have settled in scattered farming hamlets where they are rapidly expanding the areas under agriculture. This study focuses on farmers’ mobility in relation to accessing land in two regions in Mali where farming conditions are very different regarding rainfall, population growth and opportunities for income generation. It is shown that differences in farming conditions in the two regions have shaped the different temporal and spatial dimensions of farmers’ mobility. This mobility is, however, not just a reaction to changing farming conditions but also part of local political processes, including conflict, that mediate farmers’ access to land. By highlighting the crucial role of farming conditions and farmers’ mobility in these political processes, this study adds a fresh geographical dimension to ways of thinking about access to land, land use and conflict in West Africa and beyond.

The articles in this special issue start from the premise that citizenship is more than the legal status of member of a national political community with certain rights and responsibilities (Marshall, 1983). We contend that citizenship is an important and helpful way of framing anthropological enquiry into politics. The authors ask how citizenship is experienced in any given context, and thereby explore how particular political communities and political agency are constituted.

This paper analyses the role of ‘clustering’ as a form of cooperative production to improve the environmental performance of shrimp farmers and facilitating them to upgrade their position in the global value chain. Comparing intensive and extensive shrimp farmer clusters in Ca Mau province, Vietnam, we explore how this form of cooperative production can enable small-holders to upgrade both functional and relational dimensions of production to meet new requirements for participation in the global shrimp value chain. The results show that by facilitating horizontal coordination between producers clusters can improve the management capacity of both intensive and extensive producers for meeting international production standards. However, the success of clusters also depends on the type and strength of vertical coordination with other actors along the value chain for both the provision of inputs and marketing of outputs. The paper concludes that for improved extensive shrimp farmer clusters to take further advantage of production-oriented quality standards the Vietnamese government needs to play a greater role in the development of production infrastructure and create a legal framework for private sector-led cluster formation.

In contrast to their sedentary image, farmers in Central and South Mali are surprisingly mobile. Many have settled in scattered farming hamlets where they are rapidly expanding the areas under agriculture. This study focuses on farmers’ mobility in relation to accessing land in two regions in Mali where farming conditions are very different regarding rainfall, population growth and opportunities for income generation. It is shown that differences in farming conditions in the two regions have shaped the different temporal and spatial dimensions of farmers’ mobility. This mobility is, however, not just a reaction to changing farming conditions but also part of local political processes, including conflict, that mediate farmers’ access to land. By highlighting the crucial role of farming conditions and farmers’ mobility in these political processes, this study adds a fresh geographical dimension to ways of thinking about access to land, land use and conflict in West Africa and beyond.

The farmer cooperative sector in China has experienced rapid development in the past two decades, in particular after the implementation of the Famer Cooperative Law in 2007. Farmer cooperatives are considered important to mediate between farmers and other actors in the wider social, economic and political environment. Farmer cooperatives also can provide relevant services to improve production and marketing and enhance agricultural and rural development. This thesis investigates how Chinese farmer cooperatives coordinate production and marketing activities of farmers and act as intermediaries in relation to external actors. Central to the research are both the processes and outcomes of intermediation.

This thesis deals with the politicized struggles for land in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. With land having been an essential part of colonial and apartheid segregation policies and practice – with 87% of land appropriated by whites –, a land reform programme was imperative after the African National Congress came to power in 1994. One of the three branches of the land reform programme, land restitution, is a key focus of this thesis. It is particular in its goal to do justice to victims of past land dispossessions who lost land rights as result of racially-discriminatory laws by compensating them for this past loss of land and livelihoods. Where compensation for lost rights involves the government buying and redistributing land to groups with historical rights to land, such land deals present particular challenges around the ideal of restorative justice and what is means to ‘bring the past into the present’.

Notions of land and agrarian reform are now well entrenched in post-apartheid South Africa. But what this reform actually means for everyday life is not clearly understood, nor the way it will impact on the political economy. In the Shadow of Policy explores the interface between the policy of land and agrarian reform and its implementation; and between the decisions of policy ‘experts’ and actual livelihood experiences in the fields and homesteads of land reform projects. Starting with an overview of the socio-historical context in which land and agrarian reform policy has evolved in South Africa, the volume presents empirical case studies of land reform projects in the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape provinces. These draw on multiple voices from various sectors and provide a rich source of material and critical reflections to inform future policy and research agendas. In the Shadow of Policy will be a key reference tool for those working in the area of development studies and land policy, and for civil society groups and NGOs involved in land restitution.

En las últimas décadas la desconstrucción del desarrollo, conocida como el 'postdesarrollismo', ha cobrado gran auge en las ciencias sociales. En Latino-américa el programa teórico denominado modernidad/colonialidad/descolonialidad (MCD) se propone descolonizar el pensamiento moderno re-escribiendo la historia global a partir de la experiencia colonial. Arturo Escobar, uno de los mayores teóricos del paradigma postdevelopmentalista se apoya en el proyecto MCD para pensar 'alternativas a la modernidad'(o transmodernidad). En este artículo propongo someter la perspectiva postdesarrollista y el proyecto MCD a un test etnográfico. Para eso me centro en las visiones y experiencias de Usibamba, una comunidad en los Andes Centrales Peruanos. La etnografía gira alrededor de la siguiente pregunta: ¿porqué los usibambinos, a pesar de todas sus experiencias negativas con el aparato del desarrollo, insisten en reivindicar la promesa del desarrollo? El programa de MCD nos permite entender el impasse de la comunidad en Usibamba? ¿Conceptos como pluriverso y transmodernidad nos permiten entender los deseos y aspiraciones de los usibambinos? Para responder a estas preguntas me apoyo en un análisis Žižekian que distingue entre 'lo actual', 'lo virtual', y lo 'Real'de la comunidad. In the last decades the deconstruction of development, also known as 'postdevelopmentalism', has grown in popularity within social sciences. In Latin America, the theoretical program called Modernity/Coloniality/Decoloniality (MCD) aims at decolonizing the modern thought by re-writing global history from the perspective of local histories. Arturo Escobar, one of the main theorists of the post-development paradigm, has adopted the MCD project in order to think about 'alternatives to modernity'(or trans-modernity). In this article I propose to submit the post-development and MCD programs to an empirical test. To that effect I centre on the visions and experiences of Usibamba, a community in the Central Andes of Peru. The ethnography is focused on the following question: why do usibambinos, in spite of all their negative experiences with the development apparatus, still insist on the promise of development? Does the MCD program enable us to understand the current impasse of community in Usibamba? Do concepts such as pluriverse and transmodernity enable us to understand the desires and aspirations of usibambinos? In order to respond to these queries I build upon a Žižekian analysis that distinguishes between 'the actual', 'the virtual', and 'the Real'of community.

Irrigation has a long history and important developmental role in India and Nepal. Even then it is faced with critical challenges as new scarcities and environmental stresses emerge, for which understanding technology and institutional choices is vital. Through case studies conducted in these two countries, this book explores the means of controlling water used in irrigation management, looking at the sources and technologies in practice, and the institutions evolving around them. This book shows the range of irrigation technologies developed in different agro-ecological zones-large-scale public canal systems; small-scale farmer-managed canal systems; ponds and tank irrigation systems; and groundwater-based and conjunctive use settings, including micro-hydel systems developed alongside irrigation.

Egypt's geography renders it vulnerable to water scarcity, but also enables it to control its inflow. After a run of high influx years from the Nile, Egypt embarked on a project to utilise the surplus water by planning a gigantic desert development project, Toshka, in the late 1990s. The present contribution argues that the project, even only as a dream, is instrumental to the control of the Egyptian population as well as Egypt's co-riparians on the river Nile. Rather than abandon the project, the post-revolutionary Egyptian government decided to push harder to make Toshka work. Three myths underlying the scheme (contribution to food security, solution to overpopulation and unlimited availability of water) however almost guarantee the scheme ending up another ‘white elephant’. Given the continuing disconnect between Egypt's government and population and Toshka's claim to boosting national greatness, I argue that, more than a river diversion plan, Toshka has turned out to be a political diversion plan from an enduring legitimacy deficit. The legitimacy base commanded by the newly elected president may obviate the need for such diversion in future.

European Environment Agency technical report, ETC-SIA. Available under the EIONET webpage: http://forum.eionet.europa.eu/etc-sia-consortium/library/2013_subvention/262_5_2_fragmentation

The farmer cooperative sector in China has experienced rapid development in the past two decades, in particular after the implementation of the Famer Cooperative Law in 2007. Farmer cooperatives are considered important to mediate between farmers and other actors in the wider social, economic and political environment. Farmer cooperatives also can provide relevant services to improve production and marketing and enhance agricultural and rural development. This thesis investigates how Chinese farmer cooperatives coordinate production and marketing activities of farmers and act as intermediaries in relation to external actors. Central to the research are both the processes and outcomes of intermediation.

Grants for agricultural innovation are common but grant funds specifically targeted to smallholder farmers remain relatively rare. Nevertheless, they are receiving increasing recognition as a promising venue for agricultural innovation. They stimulate smallholders to experiment with improved practices, to become proactive and to engage with research and extension providers. The systematic review covered three modalities of disbursing these grants to smallholder farmers and their organisations: vouchers, competitive grants and farmer-led innovation support funds. The synthesis covers, among others, innovation grant systems in Malawi (Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme), Latin America (several Challenge Funds for Farmer Groups), Uganda (National Agricultural Advisory Services ), and Colombia (Local Agricultural Research Committees - CIAL).

Grants for agricultural innovation are common but grant funds specifically targeted to smallholder farmers remain relatively rare. Nevertheless, they are receiving increasing recognition as a promising venue for agricultural innovation. They stimulate smallholders to experiment with improved practices, to become proactive and to engage with research and extension providers. The systematic review covered three modalities of disbursing these grants to smallholder farmers and their organisations: vouchers, competitive grants and farmer-led innovation support funds. The synthesis covers, among others, innovation grant systems in Malawi (Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme), Latin America (several Challenge Funds for Farmer Groups), Uganda (National Agricultural Advisory Services ), and Colombia (Local Agricultural Research Committees - CIAL).

Ajijic is a Mexican town that during the 1990s experienced its biggest social, economic, and physical transformation of the last 50 years. This transformation was mainly triggered by two factors: 1) a significant increase in the number of foreign retirees moving into Ajijic (effect of a global phenomenon identified as international retirement migration); and 2) the consequent increase in the construction of residential developments and infrastructure (mainly retiree-oriented). In this thesis the author argues that the international retirement migration phenomenon in Ajijic provoked the emergence of different projects of shaping the physical characteristics of this town. Through these projects, social actors shape Ajijic according to their different interpretations of what the town of Ajijic is, and what local development and modernisation mean to them. The transformation of the physical characteristics of Ajijic, through these projects, has also transformed the social life of this town.

Notions of land and agrarian reform are now well entrenched in post-apartheid South Africa. But what this reform actually means for everyday life is not clearly understood, nor the way it will impact on the political economy. In the Shadow of Policy explores the interface between the policy of land and agrarian reform and its implementation; and between the decisions of policy ‘experts’ and actual livelihood experiences in the fields and homesteads of land reform projects. Starting with an overview of the socio-historical context in which land and agrarian reform policy has evolved in South Africa, the volume presents empirical case studies of land reform projects in the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape provinces. These draw on multiple voices from various sectors and provide a rich source of material and critical reflections to inform future policy and research agendas. In the Shadow of Policy will be a key reference tool for those working in the area of development studies and land policy, and for civil society groups and NGOs involved in land restitution.

Ajijic is a Mexican town that during the 1990s experienced its biggest social, economic, and physical transformation of the last 50 years. This transformation was mainly triggered by two factors: 1) a significant increase in the number of foreign retirees moving into Ajijic (effect of a global phenomenon identified as international retirement migration); and 2) the consequent increase in the construction of residential developments and infrastructure (mainly retiree-oriented). In this thesis the author argues that the international retirement migration phenomenon in Ajijic provoked the emergence of different projects of shaping the physical characteristics of this town. Through these projects, social actors shape Ajijic according to their different interpretations of what the town of Ajijic is, and what local development and modernisation mean to them. The transformation of the physical characteristics of Ajijic, through these projects, has also transformed the social life of this town.

European Environment Agency technical report, ETC-SIA. Available under the EIONET webpage: http://forum.eionet.europa.eu/etc-sia-consortium/library/2013_subvention/262_5_2_fragmentation

This article addresses food quality standards. It suggests that writing on standards creates a flat view of the subject, failing to grasp the richness of the multiple self-organizing practices that shape quality within functioning markets. The article documents the social dimension of quality and the ‘quality strategies’ developed by fresh-food wholesalers, greengrocers and producers in the Buenos Aires Wholesale Central Market, Argentina. These strategies assemble the freshfood market and construct a representation of quality as an aspect of trade in places where food exchanges are conducted. Using a social interactionist approach, we propose that attention needs to be given to the settings in which food quality standards are negotiated and used by different actors. In so doing we suggest that studies that focus on the diffusion of ‘global’ quality standards should not omit consideration of differential responses to these standards, even if the conditions appear relatively homogeneous

This article is concerned with the multiple and contradictory effects of state development programmes. Special reference is made to the implementation of an Integrated Rural Development Programme in the Atlantic zone of Costa Rica. It is argued that development intervention entails the production, transformation and appropriation of particular models of intervention by which state functionaries conceive of their role as representatives of the state and as agents of development. The view is adopted that, rather than taking the rhetorics of planned development at face value, we have to study in detail how bureaucratic actors deploy discourses of intervention in social situations in which differing interests, views and commitments are at stake.