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A Plough in Field Arable: Western Agribusiness in Third World Agriculture. By Sarah Potts Voll. Hanover, New Hampshire, University Press of New England, 1980. Pp. x + 213. $12.00

This book addresses an issue important to developing country policymakers as well as to private international agribusiness managers: what are the key elements for successful large scale projects involving Western agribusiness enterprises. The author uses an inductive and historical approach examining ten projects in the colonial era (1900-1949) and five projects in the era of independence (1950-1980). All of the projects were in the Middle East and Africa (14 countries) and all involved Western Agribusiness companies and the host governments. Particular emphasis (one chapter) is devoted to the Gezira Scheme in the Sudan, which is cited as being very successful and as having served as a model for large scale projects in other countries. On the positive side, the book is well organized and very readable. The author provides a realistic inventory of problems facing large agricultural projects. She also presents a fair assessment of the potential benefits and limitations of using Western agribusiness in these projects. Her "success elements" are logically derived from the case study analyses and her conclusion that the Western companies "can provide a partial solution" is reasonable. First among the book's limitations is its geographical coverage. The author fails to recognize that the experiences in the Middle East and Africa and the lessons derived therefrom may not hold for other parts of the world. For example, many aspects of the evolution of the banana plantations in Latin America are different. The political, social, economic, and agronomic environments are important determinants of what types of strategies will work. The importance of such environmental diversity deserved at least a caveat by the author. A related point is the use of the Gezira Scheme as a success model. The relevance to present day policymakers of a project which was so clearly part of the colonial political and economic fabric is doubtful. The operating environments have changed too dramatically. In the final pages the author even questions Gezira's current applicability. Although Gezira is a fascinating case study, perhaps less space should have been devoted to it and more to the role of changing political and economic conditions. The guidance provided by the author's "success elements" is lessened because the distinction is not clearly made between those elements essentail to the project's success irrespective of the institutions involved and those essential to the effective use of the Western agribusinesses