Farming as Financial Asset: Global Finance and the Making of Institutional Landscapes

Since the global financial crisis, there has been a rise in financial investment in farming and agricultural production, leading to the "global land rush." Stefan Ouma's book "Financialization of Agriculture" explores the ethnographic journey through the agrifocused asset management industry, providing an analysis of case studies from New Zealand and Tanzania. It raises concerns about rising land prices, corporate enclosures, smallholder farmers' dispossession, and the expansion of large-scale industrial agriculture. The book concludes with a question for the Anthropocene: which form of finance for which kind of food future?

Format: Hardback
Length: 220 pages
Publication date: 21 December 2020
Publisher: Agenda Publishing

Since the onset of the global financial crisis, there has been a significant surge in financial investment in farming and agricultural production. Indeed, finance has been identified as a primary driver of the so-called "global land rush." In a world facing a rapidly growing population that requires sustenance, the financial returns from agriculture are perceived as safe bets. The ensuing debate has often been characterized by alarmist rhetoric, with financiers being blamed for escalating land prices, corporate enclosures, the displacement of smallholder farmers, and the expansion of large-scale industrial agriculture.

To address these concerns, Stefan Ouma undertakes an ethnographic exploration of the agrifocused asset management industry. Through his in-depth analysis of case studies drawn from New Zealand and Tanzania, he effectively places global finance "in context," unveiling the tangible institutions, interconnected social relations, everyday practices, and localized value conflicts that often fade into the background in broad narratives about the "financialization of agriculture." The book concludes with a thought-provoking question for the Anthropocene era: which form of finance will shape the future of food systems?

Weight: 490g
Dimension: 165 x 240 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781788211871