China's Engagement in African Agriculture: “Down to the Countryside”

Abstract

Agriculture is a rapidly growing arena for China's economic engagement in Africa. Drawing on new field research in East and West Africa, and in Beijing and Baoding, China, as well as earlier archival research, this article investigates the dimensions of China's agricultural engagement, placing it in historical perspective. It traces the changes and continuities in China's policies in rural Africa since the 1960s, as Chinese policies moved from fraternal socialism to amicable capitalism. Beginning in the 1980s, the emphasis on aid as mutual benefit began to blur the lines between aid, south-south co-operation and investment. Today, Beijing has established at least 14 new agro-technical demonstration stations using an unusual public-private model that policy makers hope will assist sustainability. At the same time, a stirring of interest among land-scarce Chinese farmers and investors in developing farms in sub-Saharan Africa evokes a mix of anticipation and unease.

Creating a public tool to assess and promote transparency in global land deals: the experience of the Land Matrix

“…A more explicit case relates to Chinese investments. Well covered by the press, China's role in LSLA may be overestimated (Bräutigam and Xiaoyang 2009). However, less than 20% of the deals reported by the media (included in the unpublished LM database with reliability ranking 0) could be cross-referenced and elevated to reliability ranking 1 and thus considered 'more' reliable.…”

Feeding (On) Geopolitical Anxieties: Asian Appetites, News Media Framing and the 2007–2008 Food Crisis

“…Moreover, many publications maintain that despite such higher demand for food, China is self-sufficient in most major grains, 68 and that China's entrance into the world market can increase profits and trade in Africa. 69 Despite some recent sympathetic and favorable view of China's African expansion, 70 the discourse of 'China as a strange emerging super-power' still dominates much of the discussions in the international community, especially in the US foreign policy. 71 Overall the media construction of China as the 'villain' who inflicts pain on the 'victims' (consumers in the Global North and the poor in Africa) to a large extent reflects the 'us'/'them' and 'inside'/'outside' attitudes inherited from the cold war mentality and revitalized from recent anxieties about China's rise.…”

Foreign Demand on Land in Africa: Some Thoughts on Decision-making in the Central African Sub-region

“…According to Makki and Geisler (2011), European expansion overseas were historically related processes and their overall effect was to expand the productive base of capitalism, which meant that land could now be marketed for "higher use." This historical catalyst for African land grab is being emulated by emerging economic giants of China and Brazil (Alemu & Scoones, 2013;Hofman & Ho, 2012;Bräutigam & Tang, 2009 While foreign land acquisition is not a recent phenomenon, however, the current context is characterized by the advent of growing population, competition for land use, increased attention to good governance, flow of information, confidentiality and increased focus on potential risks to the environment (Robertson and Pinstrup-Anderson 2010;Bernstein 1996). In the recent times, (Hofman & Ho, 2012;Bräutigam, 2009).…”

“…This historical catalyst for African land grab is being emulated by emerging economic giants of China and Brazil (Alemu & Scoones, 2013;Hofman & Ho, 2012;Bräutigam & Tang, 2009 While foreign land acquisition is not a recent phenomenon, however, the current context is characterized by the advent of growing population, competition for land use, increased attention to good governance, flow of information, confidentiality and increased focus on potential risks to the environment (Robertson and Pinstrup-Anderson 2010;Bernstein 1996). In the recent times, (Hofman & Ho, 2012;Bräutigam, 2009). Bräutigam and Zhang (2013) note growing role for Chinese investors in Africa, whether state-owned or private, in promoting agricultural investment for commercial import substitution of rice, wheat, maize and vegetables, as well as industrial inputs and biofuel exports such as sisal, sugar and oil palm.…”