29 March 2023 – 13:00 – 14:00 CAT
Understanding South African Deagrarianisation: Analysing Smallholders’ Voices About The Abandonment Of Field Cultivation Through A Political-Historical Lens
Academic Seminar
In this talk, Prof. Klara Fischer will present findings from ethnographic field work in a group of villages outside Flagstaff in the Eastern Cape where she has worked since 2008. She draws on participant observation, interviews, focus group discussions and a household survey with the aim to understand the role (and diminishing importance) of farming for rural livelihoods. During the most recent period of field work Klara interviewed all (104) households in one of the villages about their experiences with the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on farming. She suggests in her presentation that it is helpful to understand the abandonment of field cultivation as a result of the loss of social cohesion in farming. She will propose some reasons this loss of social cohesion and will also describe how smallholders experienced that the pandemic affected their view of and engagement in farming.
Presenter
Prof. Klara Fischer, Associate Professor in Rural Development, works at the Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Chair
Prof. Andries Du Toit
Director, PLAAS, University of the Western Cape
Date: 29 March 2023
Date: 13:00 – 14:00 CAT
Venue: PLAAS boardroom, 2nd Floor Jakes Gerwel Hall (Formerly main hall), University of the Western Cape
Tel: 021 959 3733
Email: info@plaas.org.za
Prof. Klara Fischer
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Prof. Klara Fischer, Associate Professor in Rural Development, works at the Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Klara’s current research concerns how today’s sustainability challenges in food production and natural resource management are negotiated and turned into practice, in particular concerning the relations between agricultural policies and farmers’ practices.
