Fathers Work for Their Sons - by Sara Berry (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This book delves into the dynamic changes in Nigeria's economy, particularly focusing on the intersection of agricultural development and the burgeoning petroleum industry in the 1970s. The study centers on Yoruba cocoa farmers in Oy State, offering a detailed analysis of how the cocoa-producing sector shaped regional political economies and social mobility. While oil wealth overshadowed agriculture as the dominant economic driver, the book emphasizes the lasting importance of cocoa farming in rural communities. It explores how farmers navigated economic shifts, including the rising dominance of the oil sector, which exposed deep-rooted tensions and challenges, especially in terms of agricultural stagnation and growing inequality. Through a case study of farmers' use of agricultural surplus and social strategies, the book sheds light on how accumulation patterns influenced class formation, rural poverty, and political participation.

The author examines how Yoruba farmers' reliance on traditional kinship structures and seniority to access resources influenced their involvement in both agricultural and commercial activities. Rather than fitting neatly into Marxist or neoliberal frameworks, the study uncovers how farming families and their descendants maneuvered through political and economic landscapes shaped by patronage, state policies, and opportunities for social mobility. Education is highlighted as a key avenue for upward mobility, allowing the children of cocoa farmers to transition into urban professions and business. By following individual life histories and the broader regional political context, the book provides a rich narrative of how social, economic, and political processes interwove to shape class structures, inequalities, and collective action within western Nigeria's evolving economy.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1985.