This is the first in a series of weekly posts from the China and Brazil in African Agriculture (CBAA) project. Every week, we will be posting selected news and comment from around the web on the impacts of Chinese and Brazilian co-operation on African agriculture.
To find out about more about the project, visit the CBAA project homepage.
Li Keqiang Promoting Agricultural Modernisation in China
China's new Premier, Li Keqiang, highlights the PRC's new drive for agricultural modernisation involving larg-scale farming initiatives in a trip to the Yangtze River area. This is in line with the policy recommendations published in China's No.1 Policy Document in January this year. (The No.1 Policy Document is the first policy document to be published each year and this is the 10th consecutive year for it to focus on rural issues)- Li Keqiang's visit: Xinhuanet.com article
- 2013 No. 1 Policy Document
The 6th Joint Annual Meeting of the African Union’s ministers of finance, planning and economic development called for a focus on industrialisation and discussed means to bring this about. Agriculture was discussed briefly as part of this agenda with the view that it should be modernised.
- News summary (AllAfrica.com)
- AU Media Communiqué
CBAA researcher Lidia Cabral writes about the experience of Brazilian agriculture and their potential value for African contexts, and examines the questions of transferability and the nature of those engagements so far.
What can DFID learn from Chinese and Brazilian aid programmes?
Henry Tugendhat, CBAA researcher, writes for the From Poverty to Power blog about DFID’s new plans of leveraging UK businesses towards development objectives, and what they could learn from China and Brazil’s endeavours in the context of agriculture.
Other news, blogs and more
The South China Morning Post highlights the limited amount of Chinese agricultural investments in Africa, despite Chinese state interests for greater involvements.Another Chinese investor, Zhu Zhangjin, has been encouraging compatriots to invest abroad to ensure greater food safety. An article on farmlandgrab.org talks of his investments, particularly in Brazil, and the challenges Chinese investors face abroad including language and perceptions.
BRICS Policy Centre meeting on China in Africa
April 11: Dr He Wenping is to host a conference on ‘China in Africa: Past, Present and Future’ at the BRICS Policy Centre. The conference will be hosted in English.
Rural China under new leadership
April 11-13: The 11th European Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development in China will be taking place in Wuerzburg, Germany. The conference will also include a talk given by CBAA researcher Lu Jixia on the subject of “Pathways for Environmental Health in Transitional China: Moving Between Formality and Informality”
