share-cropping

A type of farming whereby the tenant pays his rent to the landowner in produce rather than in cash. The landlord often provides seeds, stock, and equipment in return for a fixed proportion of the output. Share-cropping usually shows low yields in comparison with owner-occupied farms or cash tenancies since the incentives are less.

In the United States, share-cropping replaced the plantation system after the Civil War. Farm labourers, usually black, were allocated land in return for a share of the cash crop. Economic control was maintained by creating a class of landless tenants, by keeping the ‘share’ retained at subsistence level, and by encouraging indebtedness through company stores; social control took the form of segregation, violence, and paternalism.