Is there a Chinese cooperation model in the agriculture sector in Sub-Saharan Africa? Jean-Jacques GABAS, CIRAD Brussels Briefings, ACP Secretariat, 27 October 2015

1. New donors and emerging countries
in agriculture in the ACP countries
Is there a Chinese cooperation model
in the agriculture sector in Sub-
Saharan Africa?
Jean-Jacques GABAS, CIRAD
Brussels Briefings, ACP Secretariat, 27 October 2015

2. I. Research methodology. Main results
II. Agricultural demonstration centres: a
cooperation model?
III. Implications for cooperation policy

3. I. Research methodology. Main results
Constructing analyses and drawing political
conclusions based on establishing the facts.
Partners:

4. 1) Creation of a database of more than 250 projects and
programmes actually implemented by Chinese public and
private actors in West and Southern Africa in the agricultural
sector
2) A series of monographs: South Africa, Benin, Cameroon,
Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Togo
3) An analysis of the foreign trade of the emerging countries
with Africa south of the Sahara
4) A synthesis of all work

5. a) Strong growth in total trade…
0
50
100
150
200
250
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
BillionsofUSD
Development of trade with SSA
Argentine
Brésil
Chine
Inde
Corée du Sud
Afrique du Sud
UE - 27
Etats-Unis

6. - Focusing on
a few countries: South Africa, Angola, Nigeria
a few products: petroleum, mining
- Little focus on agricultural products: agriculture accounts for just 9%
of its exports to SSA, and 4% of its imports from SSA.
-Chinese exports: processed cotton (46%), tomatoes (7%), wood (6%),
tractors (6%), fish (5%), green tea (5%).
-Chinese imports: wood (32%), raw cotton (19%), tobacco leaves
(14%), sesame seeds (14%) and wool (5%).
- Just 2.6% of China's agricultural imports come from Sub-Saharan
Africa.

7. -Europe remains the largest trading partner with SSA in the
agricultural sector, far ahead of China
What about tomorrow?? What trends are emerging in the
current economic and financial crisis in China?

8. b) Some general lessons learned from the database and field surveys
-More projects in West Africa than in Southern Africa
-Both private and public actors
-25 demonstration centres, more than 10 of which are active
- Low level of land acquisition compared with North American, European,
national and Gulf state investors
Gabas J.J. 2014, Is China making a land grab in Africa?, Revue Futuribles.
Available at:
https://www.futuribles.com/en/base/document/is-china-making-a-land-grab-in-
africa/

10. -Sub-sectors: rice, cotton, horticulture, viticulture,
livestock, fish-farming. Involvement in the cassava sector.
Important activity in the rubber and cocoa sectors.
-Food production primarily for domestic markets in Africa.
- Triangular cooperation is mainly constructed with
multilateral donors: FAO, IFAD, World Bank

12. c) Aid to agricultural sector hard to measure but fairly modest...
-According to the second White Paper of July 2014, US $7.7 billion of
Chinese aid was allocated to Africa in 2010-2012, or 52% of China's
total aid. Quite far behind the ODA of DAC/OECD countries.
- two main sectors:
. infrastructure, 45%
. social services, 28%
. agricultural sector receives just 2% of Chinese aid to Africa…

13. d) Strong growth in the exchange of ideas and
knowledge with Chinese researchers,
policymakers etc. close contacts, porosity
Numerous think tanks, internationally recognised
scientific publications

14. II. Agricultural demonstration centres: a cooperation
model?
-The 25 centres: state of progress
-Model
-Lessons learned

16. Example: the Centre for the Application of Agricultural
Techniques in Cameroon – CATAC (Nanga Eboko)
Period Activities
2009-2011 Construction of CATAC. No
trials.
DONATIONS from MOFCOM
2011-2014 First tests, no awareness-
raising, no training
Contract between MOFCOM
and the company Shanxi
Overseas Investment. Arrival
of experts
2015-2017 Experiments continued and
training launched
Financing in the form of
DONATIONS. Cost of
training shared with
MINADER
2018-2023 Experimentation, awareness-
raising
CATAC must be financially
self-sufficient
After 2023 CATAC handed over to the
Cameroonian authorities

17. Pronounced link between
-Donations from MOFCOM
-Passed on by provincial companies
-which will create commercial opportunities (inputs,
selected seeds)

18. Some early lessons:
- Model that plans for the cessation of aid
-'Green revolution' approach to agricultural development
- Experimentation stage on fairly small areas of land: a
few dozen hectares, more in Togo or Mozambique
- Little dialogue or scientific cooperation with national
and regional agricultural research centres
- Does the role of these centres go beyond their primary
function?

19. III. What are the implications for cooperation
policy?
- We must promote and pursue exchanges
between Chinese, African and European
researchers
- There is a need to monitor the cooperation
policies of the emerging countries, and their
investment and trade with the ACP countries in
general. Significant and rapid changes.

20. -Dialogue at global governance level on development funding
exists within the forums of the United Nations, OECD, etc.
- …which is not found in the ACP countries.
-Conditions of trust need to be created between the ACP states,
bilateral and multilateral donors and emerging donors: far too
many preconceptions on all sides….
Gabas J.J. Tang X., Chinese agricultural cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa.
Challenging preconceptions. Perspective No. 26, CIRAD, 2014 :
http://www.cirad.fr/en/news/all-news-items/articles/2014/ca-vient-de-
sortir/perspective-no.-26-chinese-agricultural-cooperation-in-sub-
saharan-africa

21. - consider meetings, seminars at which each party can talk
about its approach, its knowledge of development issues, the
ACP states' development policies, cooperation policies etc.
before the moment for triangular cooperation comes.
- the international agenda has been favourable to the
resumption of financing in the agricultural sector since the
2008 food crisis. The current momentum should be
continued, and the conditions for dialogue between the
emerging countries and the ACP states should be created.

22. Thank you for your time