THE CITEMENE SYSTEM, SOCIAL LEVELING MECHANISM, AND AGRARIAN CHANGES IN THE BEMBA VILLAGES OF NORTHERN ZAMBIA: AN OVERVIEW OF 23 YEARS OF "FIXED-POINT" RESEARCH

Abstract

This article examines the social processes and mechanisms of agrarian changes based on a 23-year (1983?2006) case study of Bemba villages in northern Zambia. The Bemba have engaged in a unique shifting cultivation system called the "citemene" system in miombo woodlands. Villagers have sustained a citemene system that does not greatly exceed the amount required for subsistence. They have also maintained a leveling mechanism of distribution and consumption that promotes equity among the people, which could at times deter innovative changes. Beginning in the mid-1980s, semi-permanent maize cultivation with the use of chemical fertilizers quickly spread and expanded in the villages due to agricultural policies. However, in the mid-1990s, market liberalization led by the Structural Adjustment Program brought about a decline in maize production, and villagers returned to depend more on the citemene system. Around 2000, the Resettlement Project implemented by the government expelled villagers and citemene cultivation from parts of the miombo woodland. The villagers are currently searching for a new livelihood strategy. We classify these rapid changes in the villages into five periods and argue that the leveling mechanism could in fact promote agrarian change under some circumstances.