The 1980s have seen the issue of agricultural development take on a new urgency in Africa as agricultural production has gone into decline. The essays in this volume examine the political economy of change in African agriculture by exploring the local, national, and transnational dimensions of the politics of agriculture in historical depth as well as in current situations. The belief is that obstacles to the improvement of the living conditions of low income Africans are found at all three levels of study and that obstacles at different levels may reinforce one another to restrict development. The case studies of countries or institutions presented in this volume share the common task of analyzing the interaction of politics and production in concrete and specific circumstances. Each study explores several aspects of agricultural change: the growing vulnerability of peasant producers to exploitation; the capacity of capital to derive more surplus from agriculture; and the ability of peasants to resist exploitation both politically and economically. The result sheds light on the future for the African economy, rural populations, trade, and growth.