Rice, Tobacco, and Agricultural Globalization: Exploring the Narrative of the Chinese Agricultural Colony in Sub-Saharan Africa

Authors

Hunter Bradley, Macalester College

Document Type

Honors Project - Open Access

Abstract

According to media outlets, China's involvement in the Sub-Saharan African agricultural sector is part of a colonial land grab to meet the needs of a modernizing China. This paper challenges this narrative by examining the two constituent narrative elements: 1) China actively purchases land or land rights to meet the food needs at home and 2) that this process has led to decreased food security for African states. Using Zimbabwe and Mozambique as cases, this paper demonstrates China's participation is not part of a long-term food security strategy and is better understood in light of the "Go Out Policy." However, this paper concludes that such interactions do have potentially deleterious consequences for food security of partner states.

Recommended Citation

Bradley, Hunter, "Rice, Tobacco, and Agricultural Globalization: Exploring the Narrative of the Chinese Agricultural Colony in Sub-Saharan Africa" (2013). Geography Honors Projects. 39.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/geography_honors/39