Thandika Mkandawire reminded us during the 13th CODESRIA GA that land and the agrarian question were present in some way in all the nationalist movements, and liberation struggles the Mau Mau in Kenya, the FLN’s struggles in Algeria, the PAIGC in Guinea Bissau, other struggles in Zimbabwe, South Africa, etc. We know that apartheid South Africa was the story of dispossession—(Pheko)—the reversemovement in South Africa—re-distribution—is extremely slow.
So, land has been a very strategic issue, and it is still a very strategic issue.
There is currently what some have called a “grain rush”, as “wealthy, foodimporting countries and private investors are acquiring farmland overseas” (Michael Kugelman, 2010:1); something similar to what used to be called the “gold rush”. This is a phenomenon that one finds all across the global South, but Africa is where much of the rush is heading towards, which makes some people talk about a new “scramble “ for Africa—adding on to the struggle over mineral, FOREST, AND MARINE RESOURCES
