Agricultural Change and Its Mechanism in the Bemba Villages of Northeastern Zambia

Abstract

The agricultural movement in the Bemba villages, which are located in the southwestern part of the Mpika District of Zambia, is examined. Villagers have begun to cultivate the permanent fields (called faamu in Bemba) of hybrid maize for a cash crop, using chemical fertilizer, while at the same time retaining their traditional way of cultivation, the citemene system. Faamu cultivation began to boom after 1982. To understand this phenomenon, the process of opening the faamu field was described, and the statistical trend of maize production since 1980 was analysed. Finally the mechanisms involved in the acceptance of increased faamu cultivation at the village level were revealed, focusing on the "leveling mechanism, " which sometimes both deters and promote changes.