Article



Dados vol. 51 n. 2 Rio de Janeiro 2008

From hammers to blades: global dynamics and manufacturing policies in the cashew industry in Mozambique

Ribeiro, Fernando Bessa

Abstract

This article discusses how the main trends and impacts of capitalist dynamics are felt in Mozambique, based on a case study of the cashew industry, especially its industrial processing component. Having emerged in the colonial period, the cashew industry provides a practical example of Mozambique's integration in the world economy through the exploitation of natural resources and the local labor force to manufacture products for the main central markets. In order to better understand this industry's evolution and current situation, the author conducted his fieldwork in various places, especially in two cashew nut processing plants in the district of Manjacaze (Gaza Province). He thus adopted a methodological strategy based on a multilocal ethnography rather than a classical approach centered on the study of a single location or a supposedly isolated and autonomous community.

Keywords: Mozambique, cashew industry, manufacturing policies

DOI: 10.1590/S0011-52582008000200010

Full text

From hammers to blades: global dynamics and manufacturing policies in the cashew industry in Mozambique