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INTRODUCTORY NOTE
When Emile Vercruijsse died at a lamentably early age in July 1982 he left
behind two manuscripts. One was complete and being edited and eventually
appeared as The Penetration of Capitalism: A West African Case Study
(London, Zed Books on behalf of the Institute of Social Studies, 1984).
This was a study of canoe-fishing in Southern Ghana. The second manuscript,
the basis of what is now being published, was a study of peasant
farmers in the same region. Both were the products of the author's very
extensive fieldwork and subsequent theoretical reflection.
As will readily be apparent to the reader, what follows is far from
complete in coverage (as can be seen from the list of questions raised on the
third page of Ch. III) and very much a first draft. Inevitably, then, one may
ask why it should be judged worthy of publication? In taking its decision,
the Publications C()mmittee of the Institute of Social Studies was swayed
by two main arguments. Firstly, we sought to draw attention to the contribution
which Emile would have made to our knowledge of Africa had he
lived. Committed as he was to the true development of people in that
continent, he had already - some years before the massive world attention
began in late-1984 - perceived the growing food crisis there and set out to
explain it, the necessary preliminary to finding a real solution. In setting
himselfthis task, he also intended to develop further his contribution to
theory, already begun in the above mentioned book. We feel that this
discussion should be more generally available. Secondly, what we have here
is, in our judgement, an important contribution to the history and contemporary
analysis ofland tenure in Southern Ghana, and this material
should be made available to interested persons.
A further explanation and a more personal note are also necessary.
As Emile acknowledged in a generous comment in the Preface to his book
on canoe-fishing, I had played some part in bringing it into final form. In
his last days he sent me a message asking if I would undertake to finish the
present work for him. After long reflection I decided I could not, above all
because I do not have the necessary empirical knowledge of Southern
Ghanaian agriculture which would be required. What I have done is some
minimal work on the continuity between chapters and also a certain degree
of re-ordering of material in Chapter III. Any additions by me have been
placed in square brackets to make them readily distinguishable.
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