University of Groningen
China's relationships with Africa re-appraised
Jiang, Bin
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Jiang, B. (2019). China's relationships with Africa re-appraised: the lense of domestic experiences in agricultural technology extension and its reflection in China's foreign policy towards Africa. University of Groningen.
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CHAPTER 1
1. Background to Sino-African agricultural development cooperation The development cooperation of China and Africa can be dated back to the 1950s, which was in the early stage of Chinese foreign assistance to other countries. In this early period of Chinese foreign aid to other countries, consideration on ideology is a key element. China embarked on a programme of giving foreign aid to other countries in the 1950s, starting with providing material assistance to Korea and Vietnam.
As the Chinese foreign relations improved, and following the Asian-African Conference held in Bandung in 1955, the range of China’s foreign aid expanded from socialist countries to other developing countries (Wang, 2008) and, specifically, assistance to African countries started in 1956. In 1964, the Chinese Government announced the Eight Principles of Foreign Economic and Technical Assistance, at the core of which is the precepts of equality, mutual benefits and non-conditions. These Eight Principles established the basic policy of Chinese foreign aid (China’s African Policy File, 2006).
Sino-African development cooperation gradually became a core content in this time period. In October 1971, with the support of many developing countries, especially African countries, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was admitted to the United Nations. This is a result of the consistent Chinese foreign aid to African countries. After 1971, China had established relations of economic and technical cooperation with an increasing number of developing countries, especially in Africa. China helped to build a large number of major infrastructures, including the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (China’s African Policy File, 2006). During this period, China overcame its own difficulties and provided maximum support to help other developing countries fight for national independence and to develop national economies. This assistance formed the foundation of long-term and friendly cooperation between China and the majority of developing countries (China’s Foreign Aid, 2011).Consequently, the friendship between China and Africa is of great importance to Chinese foreign relations, because African countries comprise the majority of developing countries to which China provides foreign aid.
In foreign relations, foreign policies are important reflections. The Chinese foreign policy towards Africa after 1949 can be divided into four phases, in accordance with Chinese domestic economic reform. The first phase is from 1949 to 1978. The main characteristic of this phase is the
influence of ideological and political factors on Chinese foreign policy. The second phase is from 1979 to 1988. This was a phase of the concentration of reforms in China, which, in turn, influenced Chinese foreign policy towards Africa. The third phase, a transitional phase following the Cold War, is from 1989 to 2004; and the fourth phase, from 2005 to date, is one of comprehensive cooperation (Li, Qi & Tang, 2010). Chapter 3 and Chapter 6 offer a more specific discussion of the Chinese foreign policy towards Africa and these four phases.
Agricultural development cooperation has always been a core factor in China’s African policy. The agricultural development cooperation between China and Africa has been developing for more than five decades. In particular, agricultural science and technology are important elements in the successful experience of Chinese agricultural development (Li, Qi & Tang, 2010). This can be seen in the agricultural sector in relation to China’s recent Africa policy.1
Since 2000, every document produced for the Ministerial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation presents the agricultural cooperation between China and Africa as a key sector of Sino-Africa cooperation programmes, specifically the Cooperation Agenda of China-Africa Economic and Social Development (2000); the 2nd Ministerial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation – Addis Ababa Action Plan (2004-2006); the 3rd Ministerial Conference in Beijing Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation – Beijing Action Plan (2007-2009); the 4th Ministerial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation – Sharm El Sheikh Action Plan (2010-2012); and the 5th Ministerial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation – Beijing Action Plan (2013-2015). Both China and Africa understand that the issue of food security is a challenge for African countries. The above-mentioned policies play a large role in agricultural development, which is crucial to maintaining food security on the continent.
Given the aforementioned policy files, this study considers that China’s Africa policy in relation to agriculture can be summarized into three major foci: Firstly, the sending of agricultural experts to Africa and the construction of agricultural demonstration centres. Secondly, encouragement
1
In Chapter 3, there will be more specific discussion and analysis on the recent Chinese African policy in relation to the agricultural sector.
and support for Chinese enterprises to expand investment in African agriculture; to further participate in the construction of African agricultural infrastructure, agricultural production and agro-industry. And, thirdly, offering financial support under the framework of the Special Programme for Food Security (hereafter, SPFS) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (hereafter, FAO).
As the start of this book, this section had provided background information on Sino-African agricultural development, which included Chinese foreign policy towards Africa and agricultural development cooperation in China’s African policy. In the next section, debates and discussions on China-Africa development cooperation will demonstrate to the readers.
2. China-Africa development cooperation: a neorealist perspective Due to the rapid development of the Chinese domestic economy and China’s enhanced international influence, the PRC continues to be a major donor in the area of international assistance. Additionally, China profiles itself at an international level in the area of development cooperation, especially vis-à-vis Africa (China’s Foreign Aid, 2011). While scholars that focused on Sino-African relationships used to apply neorealism quite often, some views were held to criticize the implementation in interpreting Sino-African development cooperation.
From a neorealist, or structural realist, perspective, the structure of international relations is the result of the distribution of power. Countries are the main actors in international relations, but, in the conceptual framework of structural realism, there are no differences between national functions. Rather, different countries’ foreign policies can be distinguished in terms of the position of the country in the international structure (Waltz, 1979).
The cooperative Sino-African relationship has played a crucial and supportive role in terms of China achieving international political influence since the 1950s (Zhang, 2013). According to neorealism, the international discussions and debates on Sino-African development cooperation are mainly based on the different perspectives of China’s assistance to Africa. But nowadays, neorealist have a dilemma in explaining multilateral cooperation, like some projects have already taken place under the Sino-African collaboration framework (He,2008).
Firstly, according to China’s Foreign Aid White Paper (2011), the principle of Chinese foreign assistance is one with no political conditions. This principle shows China’s current concept of foreign aid is guided by five main ideas: helping recipient countries to improve their capacity for self-development; adhering to a policy without any political conditions; adhering to a policy guided by equality and mutual benefit, i.e. common development; exercising China’s capabilities and best efforts; and striving to remain current and innovative. A diversity of views has been put forward under the aegis of this principle (China’s Foreign Aid, 2011).
According to Zhang and Huang (2012), Chinese foreign aid is mainly formed from prior development experiences and, indeed, its experience as a recipient of assistance. At the core of this principle is mutual respect for sovereignty and, as a result of China’s domestic development experiences, it believes that every country has its own path and right to development. Taylor (1998) claims that China’s no political conditions principle is, in fact, based on its international political support for African countries who are at odds with Western powers. Moreover, this Chinese principle is not economically based and therefore may mean China’s ability to promote African development is limited. Former President of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano claims the previous system of aid to Africa administered by Western countries devoted too much attention to political reform for Africa, which resulted in pressure on African states. Liberia’s former Finance Minister, Sayeh, posited that African countries could learn from Chinese poverty reduction achievements (Bautigam, 2009).
These views are focused on the no political conditions aspect of Chinese foreign aid to Africa. This study aims to show the historical background that has influenced China’s decision to adopt and operate this principle; specifically, the facts that China used to be a semi-colonial country, the majority of people are living below the poverty line and after independence in 1949, China experienced rapid development. Thus, based on its own experiences, China believes that mutual respect for sovereignty should be a fundamental principle of foreign assistance.
Secondly, this study will discuss the aims of Chinese aid to Africa. On the one hand, Bosshard (2007) demonstrates that China has a preference for loans to assist African countries to develop. He argues that this allows China to achieve its political goals by using these loans to recipient countries as leverage. A report in the Economist (2008) suggests that the main reason
behind China’s construction of various infrastructures in African countries is to assist Chinese enterprises in obtaining natural resources. In addition, in a report by the World Bank (2008), Foster, ct.al. declare that most of the Chinese government programmes which started in sub-Saharan countries are aimed at facilitating the export of natural resources to China. Moreover, Eigen (2012) indicates that critics are saying that China’s strategy with regard to Africa is self-promotional; that is to say, the main goal is to gain access to Africa’s mineral resources. This study argues that these viewpoints are primarily based on a neorealist perspective, i.e. that national interests are a core element for international cooperation. While this study will use development cooperation related perspectives in additional to the previous neorealist analyses on Sino-African agricultural development cooperation.
On the other hand, He (2007) has indicated that China only emerged as an energy importer from 1993, while the cooperation between China and Africa dates back to 1949, and, moreover, the relationship with African countries is not limited to those rich in natural resources. In addition, Brautigam (2009) points out that China has made great efforts to improve African development, and Chinese people are trying to offer assistance that takes a different form than that implemented by Western developed countries. Numerous African countries benefit from these Chinese efforts. Li, Qi and Tang (2010) demonstrate that, by the end of 2005, China had implemented 145 agricultural projects in Africa, including demonstration farms, irrigation facilities, agriculture and technical services, agricultural machinery processing, livestock and poultry breeding. For instance, the Tanzanian Demonstration Centre for Agricultural Technologies is one of the most important agricultural projects that China has brought to Africa since 2000.
These discussions focus primarily on the motivation behind China’s assistance to Africa and the benefits for both sides. On one side is the view that China’s assistance to Africa is about obtaining natural resources and that there are few benefits for African countries. On the other side is the view that Chinese assistance provides numerous benefits to African states and, therefore, this form of development cooperation is of great significance to both China and Africa.
Aside from the aforementioned views about Sino-African development cooperation, there are also discussions on the rise of Sino-African agricultural cooperation. Fan, Nestorova, and Olofinbiyi (2010) have indicate that the Chinese experience of high economic growth and poverty
reduction in recent decades provide valuable lessons for African countries. They also point out that China has achieved rapid economic growth and that the population living below the poverty line has decreased significantly in recent decades. The elements that have resulted in these achievements are: evidence-based policymaking, policies aimed at the poor, and institutional and capacity building. Ravallion (2009: 306) claims that “it would be naïve to assume that all Africa needs to do are copy China’s specific policies to achieve China’s success.” This is because China and Africa have different local situations. He also indicates that Chinese success in poverty reduction is mainly due to a combination of two important ingredients – an efficient policy making process and strong state institutions. Therefore, the most important lesson for Africa to learn from China is to implement institutional construction based on local African contexts. Moreover, Buckley (2013) suggests that Chinese leaders have always had confidence in their approach to agricultural modernization. In addition, these leaders believe that food self-sufficiency in Africa is a way of maintaining food security on the continent, which, in turn, can contribute to solve the global food security issue. Zhang (2013) concludes that Sino-African agricultural development cooperation is a kind of development-led assistance cooperation model. In this model, China is a leading example, helping African countries to enter a higher level of agricultural development in order to, in particular, ensure food security.
According to official Chinese statistics, since 2009, general Foreign Direct Investment (hereafter, FDI) in Africa has decreased, but the FDI from China to Africa has increased rapidly. Between 2009 and 2012, the FDI from China to Africa rose from 1.44 billion dollars to 2.52 billion dollars. The trade of agricultural products is developing at a high speed as well. Between 2009 and 2012, China’s exports of agricultural products to Africa grew from 1.58 billion dollars to 2.49 billion dollars; China’s imports of agricultural products from Africa increased from 1.16 billion dollars to 2.86 billion dollars (White Paper, 2013: 5-9). Moreover, as of 2006, China has built 15 agricultural technology demonstration centres, based on a major domestic development project initiated by China and it has sent hundreds of agricultural experts to Africa to train local farmers. This policy mirrors one that has long been implemented domestically in China, which includes a
perspective of farmer participation2. Therefore, it can be argued that China is transplanting its domestic development experiences (with a focus on value chain development) in agricultural development for the benefits of food security and the reduction of poverty in Africa (Li, Qi& Tang, 2010). These statistics show that African countries clearly obtain a number of benefits from Chinese-African development cooperation.
On the other hand, this study argues that agricultural development in Africa cannot be introduced by simply copying what has been done before in China. Rather, these experiences should be adapted to local African contexts. This is because Africa is a continent made up of more than 50 countries, each with very distinct situations. On the other hand, China is a unified country. Hence, it would be prudent for African countries to learn from and embrace the results and tools of Chinese agricultural domestic experiences, while also considering local African social, political, economic and cultural contexts in order to improve its approaches to agricultural development. 3. Sino-African agricultural development and agricultural technology transfer & other major donor countries’ experiences and lessons of cooperation with Africa
Agricultural technology assistance is a typical example of long-term Chinese aid to Africa. Africa is a vast territory, and swathes of African land is not being developed and utilized. Moreover, with a number of indigenous agricultural products, such as coffee, cocoa, cotton and so on, which rely on Africa’s special geographic environment and climate, Africa has great potential for development (Li, Qi& Tang, 2010). However, a lack of funding and technology has meant that, to date, African agricultural development has remained at a relatively low level (Zhang, 2013).
This study argues that the first issue that Africa needs to resolve is that of agricultural development, as this influences the development of Africa as a whole, furthermore, food security is a core problem that needs to be addressed. Li, Qi and Tang (2010) believe that Chinese experiences in agricultural development provide suitable references for ensuring African food security and reducing poverty. Jiang, Zhen and Liu (2014) indicate that, following Africa’s independence, some countries’ government are occupied with issues of corruption, ineffective policy, as well as neglect of agricultural
food production, and these problems mean that many African countries rely heavily on food imports. Thus, increasing the level of and access to agricultural technology with a view to increasing food production is an important measure for solving the problem of food insecurity in Africa.
However, Zhou, Chang and Xiao (2011) point out that there are issues related to the transfer of technology in Sino-African agricultural programmes. The current cooperation between the Chinese and African governments is only based on the highlighting of technological innovation lacks of institutional innovation (especially without concerning value chains and farmer participation views), which leads to inefficiency of administrative implementations of local governments concerning to agricultural extension. This kind of cooperation will limit the effects of the cooperation between China and Africa and is not sustainable in the long-term. Therefore, this study claims that there is a need for research that focuses on technological assistance in Sino-African agricultural programmes and, more specifically, it believes that agricultural technology has an important role to play in both Chinese domestic agricultural development and China-Africa agricultural cooperation programmes. This will provide better solutions for solving issues that exist both in China domestically and in Sino-African agricultural development collaboration.
Before the rise of Sino-African development cooperation, European countries and the United States were the traditional donor countries to Africa. During the Cold War, the former Soviet Union also gave foreign assistance to African countries in order to compete with America (Zhang, 2012). An analysis of the experiences of these donor countries and understanding the lessons learned from their cooperation with Africa undoubtedly benefits not only future Sino-African cooperation, but also other donor countries’ development cooperation with Africa. Moreover, such information may help to develop a more inclusive and effective method (that include the concerning of agricultural value chain and farmer participation) of development cooperation with African countries.
In Chapter 3, the experiences and lessons of European programmes of foreign aid to Africa (on a national and an EU level), as well as the United States’ and Russia’s policies of foreign aid to Africa, will be examined in tandem with historical perspectives with the aim of understanding the achievements and dilemmas of these donor countries in this regard. This will help us to understand the implications for other countries of further
development cooperation with African states. In addition, by using these analyses, this study sorting the experiences of the traditional donor countries and Africa, so as to search for ways of making foreign assistance to Africa more effective and inclusive.
4. Chinese agricultural development experiences, value chains, and farmer participation
Within the sphere of Chinese agricultural development experiences, this study will focus mainly on value chain and farmer participation. Therefore, this section will provide a brief description of and summarize discussions on Chinese agricultural development experiences with regard to value chain and farmer participation perspectives.
4.1 Chinese agricultural development after 1950
After 1949, the People’s Republic of China was established in Beijing. Since then, Chinese agricultural development has entered a new stage (Zhang, 2014). This study believes that, after 1949, the agricultural development of China can be divided into two phases. During the first phase, from 1949 to 1978, Chinese agricultural development was confronted with and, indeed, overcame numerous obstacles (Zhang, 2014). During the second phase, from 1978 to date, reforms have been implemented by the Chinese government that focuses on improving value chains and increasing farmer participation. Consequently, Chinese agricultural development has achieved a number of successful outcomes despite Chinese agricultural development being largely based on small holder operations (Li, Qi& Tang, 2010).
1949 to 1978: During this phase, Chinese people, living in a newly independent country, felt the importance of development for their nation. China had become a major agricultural country and therefore, agricultural development was of great importance. However, this phase was also marked by numerous obstacles to agricultural development in China (Gong, 2009). For example, from 1952 to 1958, the gross agriculture production increased; however, due to improper reforms by the central government3, gross agricultural production later decreased in 1961 and 1962. Subsequently, after 1962, the gross agricultural production slowly increased until 1978 (Zhang, 2014).
1978 to now: Since 1978, the reforms implemented by the Chinese central government have prioritized putting the first national goal of economic development. In addition, the Chinese government has realized the important position of technology and science in agricultural development. Thus, this phase is characterized by rapid agricultural development. Moreover, the Chinese government has put agricultural development at the heart of its programme for the comprehensive development of the country, based on the goals of improved food production and poverty reduction. It should be noted that China has committed to the reduction of poverty on both a national and an international level (Gong, 2009). Two important lessons that can be learnt from Chinese agricultural development are the need to pay significant attention to the value chain development and farmer participation. For instance, the Chinese government believes that agricultural technology is of great significance in the food production value chain. As a result, China launched a complete agricultural technology promotion system (Li, Tang& Xu, 2013). Government agencies were established to promote agricultural technology and, along with civic organizations, the private sector and agricultural research institutions, adopted a multifunctional, multi-level promotion system for agricultural technology. This system was supported by state funds and facilities for the transmission of modern agricultural technology were constructed. Consequently, the ability to promote agricultural technology was significantly enhanced (Zhang, 2013).
However, alongside the achievements of Chinese agricultural development that were presented to the world, came criticism with respect to over-cultivation and climate and environmental issues, including problems that arose as a result of certain uses of land, water and other resources (Li, Qi & Tang, 2010). Moreover, some critics point to the improper implementation of some agricultural-related policy, including a lack of farmer participation and the apparent overlooking of the fact that different areas have their own situations. These critics even went so far as to suggest that these improper efforts had made no contribution to the development of agriculture (Li, Guo & Wu, 2011). Therefore, this study argues that the challenges and dilemmas of Chinese agricultural development should be addressed via the Chinese agricultural development value chain and farmer participation. Firstly, environmental elements are crucial to agricultural production value chains and ignoring this aspect can have severe consequences. Secondly, more effective participation from local farmers will, in turn, improve the
effectiveness of the policy making process and policy implementation in specific local situations. Chapters 2, 4 and 5 will provide more detailed analysis based on the above-mentioned points.
4.2 Value chain and farmer participation in Chinese agricultural development
The concept of value chain was first posited by Porter in 1985. He defined a value chain as all those activities undertaken competitively in specific industries. As this idea developed, scholars discovered that value chains are inter-changeable in any business and are used to create more value and meet customers’ needs (Schroeder, 1994). Consequently, analysing value chains has become an effective approach in economic development, (Walters& Lancaster, 2000). In the context of this study, the agricultural value chain can be defined as a chain that consists of agricultural production, processing, packaging, transportation, marketing and the ultimate goal is meeting the consumers’ demands in order to maximize the value.
The concept of the value chain is closely related to Chinese agricultural development (Tu, 2010). On one side, the rapid development of Chinese agriculture is related to the achievements of value chain development in Chinese food production and poverty reduction, in particular, the focus on developing agricultural technology and science (Jiang, 2014). Food production improved enormously following the implementation of new technology and science, which also helps to reduce poverty (Zhao, 2013). We can therefore say that technology and science are core elements in the Chinese agricultural value chain.
On the other side, there are a number of negative aspects to the current Chinese agricultural value chain, including the unreasonable supply chain and the distribution of labour (Zhang, 2013). Another issue is the weak position of small holder farmers in China’s agricultural production value chain. Consequently, small holder farmers have been disadvantaged in terms of competition and always have more production expenses than, say, factory producers (Jiang, 2014). Thus, there are both good experiences and lessons to be learnt in the process of improving the Chinese agricultural value chain. In this study, there will be a specific focus on the role of agricultural technology in the agriculture value chain development process and, specifically, Chapter 2 will provide more specific analyses of the close relationship between the agricultural value chain and technology.
The importance of farmer participation has been acknowledged by many agricultural development researchers. Ye and Lu (2002) claim that the notion of participation is often misunderstood as being the same as presence. Instead, they argue, participation should be treated as a good measure of development or the basis of empowerment, good governance, democracy, innovation and capacity building. Therefore, farmer participation should be given an important role in rural development.
In addition, farmer participation can improve research methodologies for rural development. Zuo, Qi and Zhong (2003) demonstrate the need for improvements in research methods in rural development. Traditional research methods, carried out in laboratories or at research stations should be transferred to on-farm research, e.g. farming system research, adaptive research, participation action research, etc. Agricultural extension methods need to be creative, as demonstrated by, for example, participation extension, farmer field schools and so on.
Recently, however, some scholars have called for the use of farmer participation in the area of rural development to be reassessed. Guo (2010) illustrates how rural participation appraisal is a good method for rural development, but in some research, researchers have applied this method theoretically and do not connect it to the actual situation of the communities that are being invested in. The use of ‘participation’ working methods and philosophy without reference to a community’s actual situation produces incomplete research. This phenomenon also ignores the more intricate, traditional culture network structure behind the word ‘participation’.
Measuring the extent of farmer participation in Chinese agricultural development is meaningful for analysing Chinese domestic agricultural development issues and it can also have implications for Sino-African agricultural development cooperation programs (Gao, 2004). In sum, farmer participation perspectives will be used dialectically in this study and will play a supporting role in analysing issues in the Chinese agricultural extension system. This study use farmer-centred perspectives to investigate the actual situation. More detailed discussions of farmer participation and agricultural development will be explored in the theoretical framework chapter.
5. Africa agricultural development experiences and issues after 1950 Africa is abundant in energy resources and raw materials. There are more than 800 million hectares of arable land available on the continent, 680 million hectares of forest area, 890 million hectares of grassland pastures and more than 30,000 kilometers of coastline. Africa has rich offshore fishery resources and a large inland water fishery. Cotton, banana, oil palm, cocoa, coffee and date palms are all indigenous to Africa and the continent’s major food crops include corn, wheat, sorghum and cassava. (Yao, 2002). Together, the production of coffee and peanuts in Africa accounts for about 25% of the entire global output. Africa’s cocoa, cloves, palm oil and palm kernel harvests contribute between 50 to 80% of the world’s production for each of these crops. However, the favourable natural conditions and the rich agricultural resources have not been effectively utilized (Tang, Wu, Li, 2011: 51-56).
Following the opening of the ‘New Route’ in the 15th
century, Africa has suffered the pain of colonial domination. Moreover, the path to African agricultural development was fundamentally destroyed by colonization and the brutal behaviour of Western countries (Tang, Wu & Li, 2011). Yao (2002) demonstrates how the colonial domination of Western countries negatively influenced the African agricultural planting structure, which became reliant on the mass production of a single crop. Moreover, this so-called plantation economy, designed to meet the needs of Western markets, made African domestic agricultural production unstable and resulted in a shortage of food crops.
Wang (2008) claims that the rapid growth of the African population, which goes hand in hand with constant urbanization, demands ever more food and agricultural production. Furthermore, Lui, Rosengren and Roquefeuil (2013) describe a number of factors that restrict African agricultural development, such as frequent natural disasters, lack of agricultural infrastructure, low educational level of the population and the failure to breed fine agricultural varieties. In addition, the obstacles to accessing markets and protectionist trade policies of Western countries are important reasons why African agricultural development has proceeded so slowly (Yao, 2002).
In the era of economic globalization, Africa is home to between 70 to 80% of the world’s poor, who are dependent on the agricultural sector for their
livelihoods (Wang, 2008: 35-36). The sustainable development of Africa’s societies and economies must form the basis of the development of their agricultural sectors. The development of Africa is of utmost importance not only for the continent itself, but also for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and even for the harmonious development of the world (Li, Qi& Tang, 2010).
Two thirds of the income of African agricultural exports comes primarily from six types of economic crops: cocoa, coffee, cotton, sugar, tobacco and tea (Plessis, 2001). At the turn of the century, however, there was a trend for prices of cocoa, coffee and other economic crops in the international market to decrease. In the first quarter of 2000, the price of cocoa fell to its lowest point for 30 years, to just one third of the price in early 1999. Likewise, the price of coffee fell consistently throughout the whole of 2001 (Li, Tang & Xu, 2013).
On 16 April 2001, the average future price of coffee in the New York Market was 56.6 cents per pound, hitting its lowest point since 1993. This seriously affected the export income of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and other countries. In addition, the share of the world market occupied by the exports of the economic crops of African countries also decreased significantly. Cocoa beans decreased from 80% in 1970 to 65% in 1989; at the same time, peanuts decreased from 71% to 6.4 % and rubber decreased from 7.5% to 5.3%. And today, Malaysia and Indonesia have usurped Tanzania and Kenya as the world’s main source of sisal. Latin American countries have also narrowed the gap with Africa in the production and export of coffee and cocoa (Li, Qi & Tang, 2011: 13-16).
The continued deterioration of African agriculture is the combined result by many factors. Tang, Wu and Li (2011) demonstrate the main problems of agricultural development in Africa are: low level growth in the productivity of agriculture; the lack of supporting infrastructure and relatively low investment. China already has a system of agricultural technology and management, which is characterized by intensive cultivation, a strong capacity for disaster reduction and sufficient use of natural resources (Li, Guo & Wu, 2011). Despite huge industrialization in the development process of Chinese agriculture, agricultural production is still consistently supported by government investment and a parallel marketization process. Chinese farmers have optimistically absorbed and integrated both the essence of modern agricultural technology and inherited
historical experience and knowledge of farming. These absorptions are especially reflected in the acceptance of fertilizers, pesticides and improved varieties and the adoption of technologies such as mulch film, mechanical sowing, harvesting and mechanical irrigation (Li, Qi & Tang, 2010).
6. Research design
In this section, the research design of this study is outlined. This consists of the research goal, research questions, research hypotheses, research framework, research methodology and a description of the fieldwork sites. 6.1 Research goal
As in the discussions on Sino-African relationship above, the relationship of China and Africa has a relatively inconclusive status. Scholars’ views are divided on the nature of Sino-African development cooperation. With these different points of view in mind, this study employs two case studies based on relatively objective fieldwork in order to analyse the Sino-African relationship.
The ultimate aim of this research is to map the inclusion of Chinese domestic agricultural technology extension development experiences in Chinese-African development cooperation to see the reflection on Chinese foreign policy to Africa . It also aims to analyse the nature of the Sino-African relationship with neorealism in order to develop a more inclusive way of combining value chains and farmer participation together that, in turn, will make supplements for neorealism for globalisation era and increase the effectiveness of future agricultural development programmes.
In addition, the intention is to develop a better understanding of Chinese approaches to addressing sustainable agricultural development outside the domestic context. It also aims to develop a more inclusive institutional framework that has the potential to inform relevant policy. Finally, this study contributes to a better understanding of Chinese experiences and lessons with implications for Africa’s development and the engagements of China, Africa and other donor countries, with a view to more effective development cooperation in Africa in an era of globalization.
This study consists of three parts. Firstly, it provides an analysis of domestic Chinese agricultural development, with a particular focus on the extension of technology in development experiences and lessons learnt.
Secondly, there is an analysis of Chinese programmes (with a specific focus on the agricultural demonstration technology extension system in China’s Hunan province) in Africa (with a special focus on projects in Tanzania, a pioneer in Sino-African agricultural cooperation) in terms of inclusion of the lessons from Chinese experiences with the base of Chinese foreign policy goals. Finally, it will detail the rationale and motivations behind Chinese development programs in Africa by a combination with neorealism, value chain and farmer participation.
6.2 Research questions, hypothesis and research framework
The main research question in this study is: What are the experiences and lessons that China has implemented domestically and in Africa on agriculture and agricultural technology extension, to what extent Sino– African agricultural development cooperation is reflected in the Chinese foreign policy goals from the perspective that consist with value chain and farmer participation, which differs from the traditional neorealist perspective?
The sub-questions are: 1) What is the role of Chinese foreign policy towards Africa in the China-Africa relationship? 2) What are Chinese agricultural development experiences and lessons learnt? 3) What Chinese agricultural experiences applied in Africa? 4) What is the nature of Sino-African agricultural development cooperation? 5) How Sino-African agricultural development cooperation reflected in Chinese foreign policy goals, offers a new perspective on this relationship?
In this research, based on a literature review and second-hand data analysis, there are four hypotheses, which are constructed as follows:
1) Neorealism cannot fully explain China and Africa relations, and in the area of agricultural development cooperation, which is based on the principle of mutual reciprocity and mutual benefit.
According to China’s African policy and literature, a key principle of the China-Africa relationship is mutual reciprocity and mutual benefit. But in a neorealist perspective, a powerful or large country will always have a leading position in the international system of foreign relations. Therefore, this study wants to test whether neorealism’s views can fully explain Sino-African agricultural development cooperation, and whether this
cooperation is based on the principle of mutual reciprocity and mutual benefit.
2) The main reason for China transferring agricultural technology to Africa is because it believes it is urgently needed for African agricultural development and a leading element in the agricultural value chain.
Technology transfer is a regular and important element of China-Africa agricultural collaboration programmes. In this hypothesis, agricultural technology is considered as an urgent need for African agricultural development need. Furthermore, agricultural technology plays a leading role in the agricultural value chain.
3) The Chinese-built agricultural technology demonstration centre is based on successful experiences in Chinese domestic agricultural technology extension (concerning value chain and farmer participation views) and is partially meeting local farmers’ requirements and participation in Africa.
Since 2006, China has built 15 agricultural technology demonstration centres in sub-Saharan Africa (White Paper, 2013). The aim of these centres is to introduce new agricultural technology to the countries in question, in order to enhance agricultural production and local people’s living standards (Li, Qi & Tang, 2010). According to the literature, agricultural technology extension has played an important role in the Chinese agricultural development process and in China’s domestic experiences.
4) The Chinese domestic development experiences in agriculture can only be partially implemented in Sino-African agricultural collaborative programmes, because national conditions play an important role.
China’s rapidly growing development experiences have attracted the world’s attention. Agriculture is the fundamental industry of Chinese development. However, in addition to great achievements, there are still a number of issues that need to be addressed in relation to Chinese agriculture and its value chains. In Sino-African agricultural cooperation programmes, the concentration on infrastructure construction and technology extension mirrors what China has implemented domestically. However, Africa is a continent with multiple sovereign states and China is one sovereign state. Also, the national conditions in China and those of African countries are very different. Therefore, it is not possible or desirable to apply all of China’s experiences to Sino-African development collaborations. Thus, hypothesis 4 is formed on the basis of different national conditions, and
Chinese domestic development experiences in agriculture can be only partially implemented in Sino-African agricultural collaborative programmes.
Figure1-1: Research framework of the study
Figure 1-1 illustrates the framework of this study and explains that the two major parts to this research are Chinese agricultural development and Sino-African agricultural development. In the Chinese part, the analysis of domestic agricultural development will lead us to the experiences and lessons learnt in China’s agricultural development process. A core element of the Chinese agricultural value chain is technology and so agricultural extension has a key position in agricultural development.
and farmer-led agricultural extension means. The government-led agricultural extension means can be divided into agricultural extension stations and agricultural demonstration centres. The farmer-led agricultural extension means are being constructed with farmer cooperatives and agricultural demonstration centres. Since technology and science are effectively influencing the production part of the agricultural value chain, we can therefore say that the Chinese agricultural extension is a crucial factor that influences Chinese agricultural development. Given the scope of this study, it is hard to assess the situation regarding agricultural extension for all of China. For this reason, Hunan, a major agricultural province with an average development level within whole China, has been selected as representative.
On the other side, the development process of African agriculture also has its experiences and lessons learnt from cooperation with China. In this regard, agricultural demonstration centres are important projects within Sino-African agricultural development cooperation and involve agricultural technology extension. Here, too, it is not possible to investigate the situation for the whole African continent so Tanzania, as a pioneer in Sino-African and is one of the earliest countries that have development cooperation, has been selected as a case study and representative of the continent as a whole.
Africa’s agricultural extension system is being constructed with donor-led agricultural extension means, government-led agricultural extension means and social-led agricultural extension means. The Chinese demonstration centres and agricultural experimental stations are typical of such donor-led actions and an important project within the China-Africa agricultural cooperation. Therefore, this study will provide an analysis of Chinese foreign policy towards Africa in order to understand the China-Africa agricultural cooperation properly. Indeed, given the importance of technology in agricultural value chains, we can say that the African agricultural extension system is of crucial importance to African agricultural development.
At the same level, the motivation for China-Africa agricultural development cooperation is a key concern of this study. An analysis of this factor will provide clarity regarding China’s African policy and measure the extent of the policy’s implementation.
neorealism on China’s foreign policy towards Africa and its motivations. Secondly, given neorealist’s lack of attention to economic factors in forming international politics and power distributions, this study will analyse the involvement of value chain perspectives in the two selected case studies. Thirdly, small holder farming is a major form of production in both Chinese and African agriculture, and this study shed light on the importance of farmer participation in small scale farming in both Chinese and African agricultural extension processes, which are key to agricultural development. 6.3 Research methodology
Qualitative and quantitative approaches will be used in this study, especially in the field investigation in Hunan province, China. A quantitative method is also implemented via questionnaires. The main methods utilized in this study are detailed in Table 1.
This study employs three main techniques to analyse the research questions: literature review, and field investigations.
Table 1-1: Research methodology
1) Literature review: By reviewing the literature of previous scholars, it is possible to obtain a summary of their research on value chain development
Main contents
Main investigation and research methods
Data resource
Agricultural development, farmer participation and value chain elements (case: agricultural demonstration centres)
Literature review Books, reports, journals Field investigation –
qualitative and quantitative approaches (in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observations, questionnaires)
In Africa (Tanzania) and China (Hunan)
and farmer participation in order to analyse Chinese and African sustainable agricultural development in the context of China-Africa development cooperation.
2) Field investigations (Table 1-2): This research is based on field investigations in both China and Africa (Hunan province in China, Tanzania). During this fieldwork, a mixed method was used to collect first-hand data; both qualitative and quantitative methods (SPSS) have been used to collect data implemented: in-depth interview, focus group discussions, and questionnaires. In addition, a qualitative Participation Rural Appraisal was implemented in the field investigations to make a SWOT4 Analysis. Tanzania was selected as the site for field investigations in Africa; this is because of its role as a pioneer in Sino-African agricultural cooperation and because Tanzania already has a number of agricultural demonstration centres constructed as a result of Sino-Africa agricultural cooperation programmes in the Morogoro region.
Location Methods Data collected Usage
China, Hunan province: Gaoguang village, Dongyuan village, Jinxing village, Shilong village, Changsha county national modern agricultural demonstration centre, Lianyuan county national modern agricultural demonstration centre, etc. Questionnaires, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observations. 107 valid questionnaires from four villages; 50 interviews conducted with villagers, village leaders, agricultural department officers, employees and chiefs from several local agricultural companies; H-shape evaluation map, etc.
To analyse the current status (achievements and issues) of agricultural
development in Hunan province; to analyse the experiences and lessons learnt in Hunan’s agricultural extension process.
Tanzania, Morogoro region, Mgeta village
In-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observations. 12 interviews conducted with villagers and village leaders, problem tree, ranking map, etc.
To analyse the current status (achievements and issues) of agricultural
development in Mgeta. Table 1-2: Field investigation data collection
6.4 Introduction to fieldwork sites and their selection 1) Hunan province, China
Hunan province, which is located in central-southern China, is a major agricultural province. Since ancient times, this province has been talked of as ‘an abundant place’. The total population of this province was 65.7 million in 2012 and the total output from forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries is 490.41 billion RMB per annum (Li, Yin, 2014:3).
The reasons for choosing Hunan province as the field investigation sites are as follows: First, Hunan is a major agricultural province and a centre of rice production as the main food staple. Its agricultural development has a crucial influence on the comprehensive development of the whole province (Li& Yin, 2014).Therefore; an examination of agricultural development in this province will reveal clues regarding the function of agricultural development in economic development.
Second, agricultural demonstration centres are an important implementation applied by the Chinese government not only domestically, but also in China-Africa agricultural development cooperation programmes. The demonstration centres reflect the agricultural technology extension, which is a core aspect of the production value chain in agriculture and is also an important focus for the Chinese government. The demonstration centres also represent the participation of local farmers, embodied in the agricultural cooperatives that are part of the demonstration centres (Chen, Liu & Qu, 2002). Thus, an analysis of value chain and farmer participation perspectives can demonstrate key points of Chinese agricultural development experience and illustrate the lessons learnt.
Third, there are currently six national standard agricultural demonstration centres in Hunan5. Hunan provincial government aimed to build 1,000 province standard agricultural demonstration centers as of 2014 (Hunan government announcement No. 5, 2014:5). Clearly, agricultural demonstration centres are vital to Hunan agricultural production and
5
There is a total of283 national standard agricultural demonstration centres in China. Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China,
http://www.moa.gov.cn/zwllm/ghjh/201502/t20150204_4395843.htm (Accessed on : 2016-3-19).
development; this is another reason to choose Hunan as this study’s research site.
In sum, this study chose this province as a typical case of Chinese domestic agricultural development. By analysing the role of agricultural technology extension and farmer participation in the agricultural value chain, we can understand the agricultural development experiences and problems that still need to be addressed in Hunan. Also, this study has established that agricultural demonstration centres are crucial to Hunan’s agricultural production and development. By investigating the operating status and the influencing factors of the agricultural demonstrations of this province, we can discover the Chinese experiences and lessons learnt in the agricultural development process, in particular in terms of the agricultural extension system.
2) Tanzania
Tanzania is one of the world’s least developed countries, according to the United Nations (Yao, 2002). Agriculture dominates the economy of this country and Tanzania has low industrial production technology and has to import many consumer goods to meet the needs of its population. Agricultural development is the core theme in Tanzanian development. The main food crops grown in the country are: corn, wheat, rice, sorghum, millet and cassava. The main commercial crops are: coffee, cotton, sisal, cashew nuts, cloves, tea, tobacco, etc. Over 90% of the population is engaged in agriculture, and agricultural output accounts for about 50% of the gross domestic product (China News, 2013:1).
Tanzania has seven agro-ecological zones, each ecological region has its own advantages in terms of crops, but all the agro-ecological zones are used for planting major food crops. According to the classification of Tanzanian planting crops, there are three major categories: food crops, traditional export crops and non-traditional export crops (People News, 2006). Food crops are further divided into three categories: the main staple food crop, drought-resistant crops and other staple crops. The main staple crops including maize, rice and wheat. Other staple crops include Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas, plantains and sugar cane. The drought-resistant crops include cassava, sorghum and millet. The main traditional crops for exports are coffee, cotton, cashew nuts, tobacco, tea, sisal, pyrethrum and
cloves. Various types of non-traditional export crops include oil crops, beans, spices, cocoa and decorative flowers (China News, 2013).
There are multiple challenges to Tanzanian agricultural development, the first of which is that a low level of awareness means many farmers are unwilling to expand their agricultural production (Zhou, Chang, Xiao, 2011). Second is the low levels of agricultural technology, which results in low levels of agricultural production (Jiang, Zhen & Liu, 2014). Third, Tanzanian agriculture is vulnerable to climate change which is exacerbating food security issues and the country’s future development (Arndt, Farmer, Strzepek & Thurlow, 2012).
Since 1964, China has provided various kinds of assistance to Tanzania, often in the form of major reconstruction projects such as TAZARA6, Friendship Textile Mill 7. This China-Tanzanian mutually beneficial cooperation began in 1981 and there are currently more than 40 Chinese companies with labour contracts and services in Tanzania (Zhang, 2013). There has been a growth in cooperation between China and Tanzania in the area of agriculture in recent years. In March 2012, a Chinese government economic and trade delegation visited Tanzania and the two countries signed an economic and technical cooperation agreement. In September 2012, Chinese vice Premier Hui Liangyu visited Tanzania and, again, the two sides signed a number of documents on cooperation in the areas of agriculture, energy and infrastructure construction. In March 2013, Chairman Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Tanzania and further agreements were concluded on infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, agriculture, investment and financing, as well as imported goods quarantine enterprises and financial institutions files (Zhang, 2015).
The Chinese-built agricultural technology demonstration centre in Tanzania is one of 14 such institutions in Africa. The initiative is based on the commitment made at the FOCAC Beijing Summit in 2006 to the Eight Measures of Assistance to Africa8. This particular centre is located in the Morogoro region of Tanzania and covers an area of 62 hectares. Its facilities include an office and training area, display area, production testing and
6
TAZARA: The Tanzania Zambia Railway, was built by Chinese from 1970 to 1975.
7
Friendship Textile Mill was built by Chinese government in 1968 in Dar es salaam, Tanzania.
demonstration areas. The construction started in October 2009 and was completed in September 2010. In April 2011, the centre was officially handed over to Tanzania.
Therefore, the main reasons for selecting Tanzania as one of the field investigation sites for this study are as follows: First, Tanzania is one of the most important and earliest African countries to cooperate with and receive assistance from China. Second, the Chinese-built agricultural technology demonstration centre in Tanzania has been a key initiative in Sino-African agricultural cooperation since 2000. These factors make Tanzania an appropriate site for this research. By analyzing the case studies using neorealist, value chain and farmer participation perspectives, this study will better understand how these demonstration centres operate and what lessons the Chinese have learnt and what experience they have gained from their implementation.
7. The significance of this Study
Numerous agricultural projects are taking place in the African continent within the framework of China’s development support. The Chinese assistance programmes raise the question about whether the experiences in Chinese agricultural development can be translated into development activities in Africa as a whole (Li, Guo & Wu, 2011). This study specifically investigates this translation process with regard to Sino-African agricultural development support programmes.
Firstly, this study focuses on China’s foreign policy towards Africa and uses an neorealism perspective to elicit whether the Chinese policy goals are reflected in Sino-African agricultural development cooperation. As agriculture is a major factor in economic development and, as we have established, neorealism lacks consideration for economic elements, this study also makes use of a value chain perspective to analyse the economic elements of Sino-African agricultural collaborations.
Due to the fact that agriculture in both China and most African countries is characterized by a small holder farming model, the participation of farmers is a major factor in the agricultural value chain. Therefore, a farmer participation perspective is also applied in this study.
As mentioned, among the many aspects of Chinese agricultural development, such as productivity, environment, food safety, etc., the present
study gives special attention to the inclusion of farmer participation and value chains. On the one hand, in the African context, farmer-centred development strategies have been advocated as the only route to achieving poverty reduction, social-cultural stability (such as limiting the rural-urban exodus), and environmental sustainability (Li, Qi & Tang, 2010). From this perspective, a holistic approach is required that includes attention for farmer participation, their knowledge base, value systems and specific natural resources.
On the other hand, an agricultural value chain perspective will be used to analyse aspects of both Chinese and African agricultural development in this study. In the Chinese context, the extension of agricultural technology is a core factor in the Chinese agricultural value chain (Zhang, 2013). In turn, the agricultural technology extension station, the main function of which is to be a direct link with the farmer, is an important part of this extension system.
An agricultural extension station is a place to promote new technologies, new products, to guide farmers, to increase farmers’ incomes, to develop agricultural production and revitalize the rural economy (Wang, 2003).There are a number of administrative levels of agricultural extension station, including the national agricultural technology extension station, which is affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (Yu, 2012).
The previously mentioned agricultural demonstration centre has been another important part of Chinese agricultural extension in the past three decades. The demonstration centres, which were introduced two decades ago, are a relatively new programme in Sino-African agricultural development cooperation. As mentioned, this study will use two case studies (Hunan and Tanzania) to make a comparative analysis and establish what China’s experiences have been in implementing Sino-African agricultural collaboration programmes, based around agricultural demonstration centres.
In general, previous studies in this area have been on the political perspectives of China-Africa agricultural collaboration. In contrast, this study considers the challenges and dilemmas for both China and Africa in terms of agricultural development (as detailed in Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7).. This study focuses, in particular, on two important perspectives: value chains and farmer participation, which is used to be a supplement to neorealist approach to analyse Sino-African agricultural collaboration projects. The
aim of this study is finding a more inclusive way to progress Sino-African development cooperation.
8. Book structure
The book is constructed with seven chapters. In order to give the readers a comprehensive overview of the book, this section introduces the main contents of each chapter. Chapter 2 provides the theoretical framework of this study. Firstly, the role of neorealism in analysing Sino-African relations, and, in particular, China’s African policy, will be discussed. Secondly, the role of agricultural technology in value chain development will be examined. Thirdly, examples of farmer participation and agricultural development will be introduced in this chapter in order to highlight existing issues in the Chinese domestic agricultural extension system.
Chapter 3 is about Chinese foreign policy towards Africa since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Four phases of China’s foreign policy will be examined and demonstrated to readers. Additionally, this chapter will illustrate other major donor countries’ experiences and lessons from development cooperation with Africa. It also focuses on analysing the agricultural aspect of China’s Africa policy in order to uncover the political rationale behind China’s involvements in African agriculture development.
Chapter 4 is about Chinese agricultural development trajectories since 1950. This chapter will discuss the status and problems of Chinese agricultural development and the factors that influence it. It will also focus on the administrative agricultural extension system in China and the operation of agricultural demonstration centres.
In Chapter 5, the operation of agricultural technology extension in Hunan province will be demonstrated based on a two-month field investigation. In this chapter, the current status of the agricultural development and the agricultural extension system will be illustrated, and current issues in agriculture development and administrative extension system will be discussed based on influencing factors. This analysis will be used to understand the achievements and dilemmas of the current agricultural technology extension of Hunan.
Chapter 6 is about Chinese agricultural development programmes in Africa. In this chapter, based on African agricultural development
experiences and Sino-African agricultural development cooperation, there is a discussion about the current status of the Chinese agricultural technology demonstration centre in Tanzania and its influencing factors in relation to the value chain and farmer participation perspectives.
Chapter 7 aims to answer the question: Why is China in favour of transferring agricultural technology to Africa? It focuses on the case studies, based on empirical research: the Hunan demonstration farms in China and the Tanzanian agricultural technology demonstration centre built as a result of the China-Africa agricultural cooperation programme. This chapter also discusses the agricultural extension systems of both China and Africa. It analyses the similarities and the differences between the demonstration centres established by China domestically and in Africa. It goes on to examine the role of agricultural technology in Sino-African agricultural collaboration programmes. It will also establish which experiences, gained in a domestic setting, the Chinese brought to agricultural projects in Africa. Finally, this chapter will make analyses based on the theoretical framework and case studies in order to establish whether the research hypotheses are tenable or not, also draw conclusions on and discuss strategies for agricultural technology extension development. It presents Chinese experiences and lessons for future China-Africa collaboration programmes.
