Debt and commercial exchange relations in the rice sector in northern Uganda

This paper explores how credit structures the relation between local rice millers and rice farmers in and around Gulu in northern Uganda. Rice millers in Gulu compete over rice supply from farmers, and therefore offer various types of inputs and services to attract farmers. Some of the services are provided for free, while some are provided on credit or combined with credit. Credit is the only way for the millers to tie the farmers to their mill, but it is also risky, since the farmers might take the rice to another miller, thus defaulting on the credit. Some farmers accept the credit offered, while others choose not to. This paper uses Graeber’s (2011) view of debt as an exchange relation that has not been brought to conclusion, in analysing how the introduction of credit changes and structures the relation between millers and farmers. The paper shows how the rice millers’ attempt to tie rice farmers in a commercial exchange relation does not fully succeed due to the relationships’ lingering embeddedness in other moralities. The study is based on qualitative interviews with both millers and farmers.