Armed capitalism and livelihood insecurity of Kachin sugarcane contract farmers in the liminal zone of Kachin-China border

Abstract

Sugarcane contract farming is widely cultivated in Mai Ja Yang, a Kachin-China border town fully controlled by the ethnic armed group Kachin Independent Organization’s (KIO) 3rd Brigade with its governance structure. As part of China’s opium substitution program, sugarcane contract farming has been the main livelihood for the local people for over three decades. Chinese company investors, local Kachin farmers, and the KIO as the mediator participate in this agro-business.

This qualitative study investigated and found the KIO has deployed armed capitalism as political, military, and economic strategies to facilitate cross-border sugarcane contract farming. Through the mechanism of the Sugarcane Committee and taxation, the KIO’s mediator role authorized its rebel governance while promoting Kachin sugarcane farmers’ livelihood. Armed capitalism cultivated in the context of sugarcane contract farming countered the Burmese state’s ceasefire capitalism militarization into the ethnic rebel-controlled areas. The KIO steadily occupies sugarcane-cultivated villages, land, and people through applying land usage system and taxation under its Environmental and Forest Conservation Department, and the positioning of civic services including education, administration, and healthcare in the villages.

Different social actors’ interests intersected in Mai Ja Yang, the liminal zone of the Kachin-China border. The interests of the KIO, the Chinese government and companies, and the Burmese state - and their relations have thus shaped and been shaped by the liminality of the border. Meanwhile, information on successful sugarcane growing has been transferred through the cross-border kinship network to local Kachin farmers in Mai Ja Yang facing the decline in the production of other crops including rice, Shamu, and oil seeds, who have since chosen sugarcane contract farming as their main livelihood source. Consequently, sugarcane contract farming brought better changes in the social and economic conditions of the sugarcane growers who gained higher income to support their children’s education with the largest portion. Furthermore, they have obtained skills in managing sugarcane, building household networks and contributing to the social communities. However, sugarcane farming also exposed growers to environmental, social, and health hazards. Sugarcane farming’s massive use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers led to health problems and mysterious illnesses among the local farmers as well as causing land acidification, environmental degradation, and decreased productivity due to infertile soil. This led to local people’s insecure livelihoods. The Sugarcane growers are currently facing a dilemma in growing sugarcane. While they acknowledged that negative impacts outweigh positive socio-economic benefits, no other livelihood opportunity is available. This study contributes to the comprehension of armed capitalism as deployed by the KIO not only as a tool to promote Kachin farmers’ livelihoods, but also to legitimize its political authority over its territory, through the provision of education, and health services to civilians. The KIO’s role as a mediator in sugarcane contract farming further enhances its governance and sovereignty, while also helping reconstruct the Kachin kinship in the liminal, border space. However, the stressor the sugarcane farming created for local farmers necessitates the KIO to negotiate more with Chinese companies, closely cooperate with the health department, and better re-arrange the contract to find sustainable ways of livelihood improvement for Kachin civilians.