4 - Numbers: what we know (and do not know) about finance-gone-farming

Summary

In 2013 I travelled to a large farm comprising several thousand hectares in northern Tanzania that was part of an agriculturally themed fund set up by a leading European bank. After obtaining a local research permit, asking my way around, introducing myself to the relevant authorities and making an appointment with the farm management, my Tanzanian colleague, Mangasini Katundu, and I finally managed to speak to the farm manager and minority shareholder. We had a pleasant chat. Some weeks later I met the asset managers entrusted with the bank's fund management at an investment conference in south-east Asia. Personal contacts helped me forge a link with one senior manager, with whom an interview had been planned after the conference. At the event itself I accidentally bumped into another senior manager of the firm. We also had a pleasant chat, until I mentioned that I had visited the firm's Tanzanian asset a few weeks beforehand. He was not pleased, telling me that I should have asked the company head office for permission. It dawned on me that I had been rather naive. From previous research projects in Ghana and Kenya, I had become accustomed to knocking at farm gates to learn more about what went on there (Ouma 2015a). Getting access to and producing knowledge about farms backed by institutional investors was a different story, however. Whereas, in the past, you could normally carry out research on farms (or agribusiness companies) if the local managers approved, you now needed to get clearance from head offices in London, Singapore and the like. This was not without reason, as the general partners entrusted with managing the farms on behalf of limited partners could be accused of creating undue risk. After all, “financial instruments are … legal contracts” (Knorr-Cetina 2010: 334), so when a third party enters a farm without the consent of the GP/ asset manager, one is in fact interfering with this legal relationship by introducing an element that may put value at risk. With all the controversy surrounding land grabbing in Africa, and the associated risks to reputation, it turned out to be rather difficult to gain access to some of the institutional landscapes in Tanzania and acquire knowledge about them.