Tomatoes, land and hearsay: Property and history in asante in the time of structural adjustment

After a decade of advocating market-based solutions to poverty and underdevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa, policy analysts have begun to reexamine the actual and potential role of African states and institutions in promoting sustainable development. While stressing the importance of flexibility, in policies and institutions, much of this debate rests on ahistorical approaches to understanding African institutions which portray them as inflexible and fragile, beleaguered by economic and political change rather than contributing to it. After reviewing some of the assumptions which inform recent debates, this essay argues for a more processual approach, which takes account of the negotiability and ambiguity of many institutional arrangements, drawing on a case study of recent changes in land rights and agricultural practices in a rural community in Ghana.