Outgrower schemes and sugar value-chains in Zambia: Rethinking determinants of rural inclusion and exclusion

Integration of smallholders in outgrower schemes has been advanced as a strategy for poverty reduction in the global south, but how terms and conditions of inclusion and exclusion shape divergent outcomes, and processes underpinning these local dynamics remain an under-researched area. This study, set in Zambia’s southern ‘sugarbelt’ region of Mazabuka, draws on two contrasting outgrower schemes to examine determinants of smallholder inclusion in sugar value-chains, and consider how various terms and conditions underpining inclusion shape various interests, reactions and pathways for value capture among different local groups. Our study reaveals terms and conditions are important in shaping divergent outcomes for smallholders included in sugar value-chains. It shows determinants of inclusion and exclusion are complex and go beyond market imperatives that are production related (structural) to include social-cultural dynamics (non-structural). The centrality of the paper points to lived realities and experiences for different groups and political reactions from below, underlining how socially contested intersection of global–local value-chain produces diverse but interdependent hierarchies of inclusion and exclusion. For an early stage in planning of outgrower schemes by state and non-state actors, recognition of the various social groups and their complex engagement and reactions to changes in land-use and land control will not only expose competing interests but should inform polices, institutions and investments to improve value-chain impacts. This paper hopes to contribute towards a more nuanced understanding of the complex engagement of smallholders in changes in land use and land control in developing countries in the era of land-grabbing.