ʹPost-Feudalism’ and the changing structure of agricultural leasing

This paper examines the extent to which recent observations about the declining power of landowners signals the arrival of a post-feudal structure in world agriculture. Using the findings of a desk study of lease arrangements across four continents, the paper shows that, although there are substantial cultural and customary differences in the ways in which agricultural leases have developed, three broad systems can be delineated. These are characterised as: the `feudal’ system, in which landowners remain dominant; a neo-feudal system which, while underwriting private landowning, attempts to combine commercial agriculture with the maintenance of an open and vibrant lease sector; and a post-feudal system, based on improving the financial and technical efficiency of the farming industry. Using this classification, the paper explores the key determinants of the types of lease system which have emerged. It suggests that the suitability of any given system is a function of the overall policy objectives established for the sector. On this basis the paper rejects western constructs of a linear progression from feudalism to post-feudalism. Rather, it suggests that, as both extreme systems are open to exploitation, long-term stability and flexibility is most likely to occur under a neo-feudal regime in which government assumes a pivotal role in supporting both landowners and tenants.