The illusion of local sustainability and self-sufficiency: famine in a border area of Northwestern Zambia
Hansen, A.
Human Organization 53(1): 11-20
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0018-7259 DOI: 10.17730/humo.53.1.r231271q4g4x777nDocument Number: 290873
Sustainability is a complex and sometimes fragile condition, as shown by this case study from Zambia's North-Western Province. The long-term evolution of a cassava-based agricultural system provided enough staple food for a rapidly growing population of immigrants and refugees, but a mealybug invasion in 1985-89 destroyed much of the cassava and triggered a famine for many people. The famine, caused by the interaction of ecological, political, and economic factors, demonstrated that locally self-sufficient sustainability was an illusion. Affected villagers tried to cope by growing maize and buying maize imported from other regions. But if they used only local resources, many people could not protect themselves, and they suffered severe food shortages. By 1989, the mealybug had apparently been controlled by a biological control programme that coordinated institutions on three continents. This case demonstrates that: resourceful villagers are an essential dynamic element in evolving food-production systems and in coping with famine; localities are ecologically, politically, and economically incorporated and vulnerable, rather than being isolated and self-sufficient; and biodiversity is essential in the world of not-yet-recognized pests (and diseases).