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.
