Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands
Hybrid maize farming has boomed across upland Southeast Asia in the past three decades. Recent studies suggest that the boom has resulted in diverse outcomes across countries. In Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos, the introduction of hybrid maize has often initially been linked to rising incomes and livin...
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2022
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141301 |
| _version_ | 1855543043658088448 |
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| author | Belton, Ben Fang, Peixun |
| author_browse | Belton, Ben Fang, Peixun |
| author_facet | Belton, Ben Fang, Peixun |
| author_sort | Belton, Ben |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Hybrid maize farming has boomed across upland Southeast Asia in the past three decades. Recent studies suggest that the boom has resulted in diverse outcomes across countries. In Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos, the introduction of hybrid maize has often initially been linked to rising incomes and living standards, with little loss or concentration of landholdings. In contrast, recent studies from Myanmar argue that exploitative trader-farmer credit relations are driving rapid agrarian differentiation and dispossession. We analyze patterns of agrarian change associated with hybrid maize farming in southern Shan State, Myanmar, using data from a representative survey of 1562 rural households. Widespread farmer engagement in maize cultivation has contributed to deepening petty commodity production and some economic differentiation, but with little dispossession or negative impacts on food security. Credit provision by traders may benefit some larger farmers but does not actively penalize smaller producers. Hybrid maize is a ‘moderate risk, moderate reward’ crop that households integrate strategically into a broader patchwork of subsistence farming, higher risk cash crop production, and a growing mix of off-farm activities. Employment in non-farm enterprises, salaried work, and migration have significant potential to modify trajectories of differentiation associated with agriculture. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace141301 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1413012025-12-08T10:11:39Z Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands Belton, Ben Fang, Peixun income agrarian reform production landholding systems households hybrid maize living standards cash crops subsistence agriculture migration off-farm employment risk credit rural areas farming systems Hybrid maize farming has boomed across upland Southeast Asia in the past three decades. Recent studies suggest that the boom has resulted in diverse outcomes across countries. In Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos, the introduction of hybrid maize has often initially been linked to rising incomes and living standards, with little loss or concentration of landholdings. In contrast, recent studies from Myanmar argue that exploitative trader-farmer credit relations are driving rapid agrarian differentiation and dispossession. We analyze patterns of agrarian change associated with hybrid maize farming in southern Shan State, Myanmar, using data from a representative survey of 1562 rural households. Widespread farmer engagement in maize cultivation has contributed to deepening petty commodity production and some economic differentiation, but with little dispossession or negative impacts on food security. Credit provision by traders may benefit some larger farmers but does not actively penalize smaller producers. Hybrid maize is a ‘moderate risk, moderate reward’ crop that households integrate strategically into a broader patchwork of subsistence farming, higher risk cash crop production, and a growing mix of off-farm activities. Employment in non-farm enterprises, salaried work, and migration have significant potential to modify trajectories of differentiation associated with agriculture. 2022-10 2024-04-12T13:37:39Z 2024-04-12T13:37:39Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141301 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133972 Open Access Elsevier Belton, Ben; and Fang, Peixun. 2022. Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands. Journal of Rural Studies 95(October 2022): 521-532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.09.036 |
| spellingShingle | income agrarian reform production landholding systems households hybrid maize living standards cash crops subsistence agriculture migration off-farm employment risk credit rural areas farming systems Belton, Ben Fang, Peixun Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands |
| title | Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands |
| title_full | Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands |
| title_fullStr | Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands |
| title_short | Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands |
| title_sort | hybrid livelihoods maize and agrarian transformation in southeast asia s uplands |
| topic | income agrarian reform production landholding systems households hybrid maize living standards cash crops subsistence agriculture migration off-farm employment risk credit rural areas farming systems |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141301 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT beltonben hybridlivelihoodsmaizeandagrariantransformationinsoutheastasiasuplands AT fangpeixun hybridlivelihoodsmaizeandagrariantransformationinsoutheastasiasuplands |