According to analysts, both China and Brazil are well positioned to boost agriculture in Africa. Both countries have previously been involved in projects in Africa, in Mozambique for example, but there is still potential for further cooperation and expansion.
An article published last week by the Institute for Development Studies gave the recent opening of the Novo Banco de Desenvolvimento bank’s Johannesburg office as an example of the “increasing influence of China and Brazil in Africa”.
Agriculture, the article said, is a “major area of involvement for China and Brazil in the continent,” and both countries are “particularly well placed to help African countries develop their agricultural sectors.”
“China provides favourable partnerships for both sides with unparalleled pragmatism, which are very well received as an alternative to an increasingly obsolete aid industry. Brazil offers tropical technology, which is reputed to be well adapted to the climates and soils of Africa,” it said.
The involvement of both countries in Mozambique has been extensively studied, given the importance of some of the support provided – a soft loan of USD50 million (2010) for construction of three processing plants (cotton, rice and corn) and a long-term credit line from the Export and Import Bank of China (Exim – $60 million dollars, 2012) for a farming complex in Chokwe district.
According to the researchers, Chinese cooperation uses “two avenues” – the Umbelúzi Centre for Research and Transfer of Agricultural Technology (CITTAU), created in 2011, which tests and adapts seeds, as well as providing training and supply contracts between Chinese companies and local farmers.
“Based on long-term involvement, cooperation for development and agro-industrial investment in Mozambique has expanded in recent years. Taking care of old state farms, encouraging planting of various crops, to address local food shortages, is a priority. This has had strong Chinese support and the expansion “should continue'' said the researchers Kojo Amanor and Sergio Chichava in an article published in February.
The Brazilian initiatives in Mozambique, as in Ghana, are “structured around social protection, technology transfer and export of Brazilian agro-industrial products.”
Source: macaudailytimes.com.mo
