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Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I will discuss interactions between the temporalities of global finance, critics, local residents and authorities in the case of a large-scale (agricultural) land investment in Zambia. This will provide additional insights into the impact and development of resource extraction.

Paper long abstract:

Off the main road from Lusaka to the west of Zambia, a large-scale agricultural investment appears in between scattered settlements after a two-hours ride from the regional capital. It is the fruit of European investors, who started the project in 2012. They hoped to make a profit, alike many financiers who turned to investing in land, particularly also on the African continent, after the global financial and food crises in 2008.

Ten years later, it is evident that the investment has not lived up to its promises – both in financial terms and regarding the alleged benefits local residents would gain from it. To better understand the discrepancies between initial expectations and developments later in time, this paper will analyse various temporalities. It will show that there are not only tensions between temporal dimensions of finance and agriculture, but also that other actors (indirectly) involved operate according to particular temporal dynamics. For example, the attention of NGOs and media devoted to the investment has fluctuated over time, while (local) stakeholders, including neighbouring rural residents and state institutions, do also not follow a unilinear path of involvement – and refrain, for instance, from enforcing the agribusiness to honour agreements along the line. Through analysing these temporalities over time, this paper aims to contribute to an understanding of the impact and trajectories of resource extraction. Accordingly, broader lessons can be drawn about the ambiguous potential for mitigating negative effects of large-scale land acquisitions – and corporate practices more generally.