In the About page of this blog, I wrote that there is “an important role for non-theoretical descriptive economics, as a preliminary to theorising and policy analysis”. In this post I stretch the idea of descriptive economics quite a long way by presenting my short story Subira’s Venture. The justification for posting it here is that it has considerable environmental and economic content, though inevitably in attempting to portray believable situations and characters it addresses other themes as well. Readers, whatever they may think of its merits as a work of literature, may wish to bear features from the story in mind as perhaps an aid in broadening their thinking about environmental and economic issues. Here is the beginning:
This is Mary, long-handle hoe in hand, struggling to bring order to our family maize plot. My youngest is with me, observing my slow advance against the stubborn resistance of the weeds, and making valiant efforts to assist with the aid of a crudely fashioned stick. Every few minutes she scampers towards a flock of birds searching for worms in patches of freshly disturbed, damp soil, shrieking with childish delight as they take to the air. It could be any day in the rainy season, except that while working I’m mulling over the unexpected events of last night, and asking myself whether I could have intervened more effectively to save my friend from her foolishness …
To download the full story:
Listed below are a variety of sources on themes addressed in the story. Initial asterisks identify works I had read before writing Subira’s Venture and which contributed to its inspiration.
On social capital and related concepts
Bhandari H & Yasunobu K (2009) What is social capital? A comprehensive review of the concept, Asian Journal of Social Science 37(3) (especially section on Types of social capital and Conclusion) www.researchgate.net/publication/233546004
Mbaya H (2011) Social capital and the imperatives of the concept and life of Ubuntu in the South African context, Scriptura Vol 106 pp 1-8 https://scriptura.journals.ac.za/pub/issue/view/14
*Wrightson K (2002) Earthly necessities: economic lives in early modern Britain 1470-1750, Penguin Books pp 75-78
On land rights in poor societies
*De Soto, H (2000) The Mystery of Capital: Why capitalism triumphs in the west and fails evrywhere else. New York, Basic Books (especially Ch 2 The mystery of missing information)
Krantz L (2015) Securing customary land rights in Sub-Saharn Africa, Working Papers in Human Geography, Department of Economy and Society, University of Gothenburg https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/43558179.pdf
Woodruff C (2001) Review of De Soto’s The Mystery of Capital, Journal of Economic Literature Vol XXXIX (Dec 2001) pp 1215-1223 https://chriswoodruff.qeh.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/de-soto-JEL.pdf
On water management in poor societies
*Palanisami K (2009) Water markets as a demand management option: potentials, problems and prospects, Book Chapters, International Water Management Institute https://ideas.repec.org/h/ags/iwmibc/127980.html
*Van Koppen B, Giordano M, Butterworth J & Mapedza E (2007) Chapter 1 of Community-based water law and water resource management reform in developing countries, CAB International https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254426161_Community-based_water_law_and_water_resource_management_reform_in_developing_countries
On fishing as a contributor to rural incomes in poor societies
*Smith L E D, Nguyen Khoa S & Lorenzen K (2005) Livelihood functions of inland fisheries: policy implications in developing countries, Water Policy 7(4) pp 359-383
On attitudes to and management of risk in poor agrarian societies
Perdana A A (2005) Risk management for the poor and vulnerable, CSIS Working Paper Series WPE 093 https://ideas.repec.org/p/eab/microe/22005.html
Portass R (2023) Peasant proprietors, social mobility and risk aversion in the early Middle Ages: an Iberian case study, Social History Vol 48(2) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03071022.2023.2179742
On the role of women in tropical agriculture
Haug R, Mwaseba D L et al (2021) Feminization of African agriculture and the meaning of decision-making for empowerment and sustainability, Sustainability 2021, 13, 8993 https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/8993
Palacios-Lopez A, Christiansen L & Kilic T (2015) How much of the labor in African agriculture is provided by women? World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper No. 7282 https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/5061d17f-6329-583b-ba8f-13f4baab4670
On agriculture in hot, arid regions
Davis M (2022) Pastoralism, farming and a changing climate in the Sahel region, Stockholm Environment Institute https://www.sei.org/features/pastoralism-farming-climate-in-sahel/#:~:text=Scant%20and%20unreliable%20rainfall%20and,allow%20the%20land%20to%20recover.
Rindap M R (2015) The impact of climate change on human security in the Sahel region of Africa, Donnish Journal of African Studies and Development https://www.donnishjournals.org/djasd/content/2015/april/april-content.php
Economic Droplets 