Tubers and its Role in Decentralized Political Institutions in Africa

Obikili, Nonso (2022): Tubers and its Role in Decentralized Political Institutions in Africa.

Abstract

This paper examines the link between historical decentralized political institutions and the type of crops historically cultivated. I show that in sub-Saharan Africa, groups that cultivated tubers, specifically yams, were more likely to develop decentralized political institutions. Although both tubers and most cereals had a similar capacity to support population density, I find that, unlike cereal cultivators who tended toward centralization, tuber cultivators were more likely to have complex yet decentralized political institutions. Using crop suitability data and proximity to the area where yams were domesticated, I demonstrate that yam cultivation led to more decentralized political institutions. I argue that this is likely due to the biological properties of yams, which make them harder to expropriate and cause surpluses to remain local. The practice of keeping surpluses local is associated with historical and contemporary social norms and practices that oppose autocracy, the unitary accumulation of power, and direct tax payments to centralized states. These social norms illustrate the mechanism through which historical institutional structures persist into contemporary times.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Political Institutions; Agriculture; Social Norms; Africa
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D72 - Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior; N - Economic History > N4 - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation > N47 - Africa ; Oceania; N - Economic History > N5 - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries > N57 - Africa ; Oceania; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O10 - General

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