杂志汇中国与非洲

By Zhang Chuanhong and Jiang Zhida

China has always attached great importance to stable and friendly relations with Africa. Their bilateral agricultural cooperation now stands at a new starting point.

On his visit to Africa in 2013, President Xi Jinping put forth the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith to guide China-Africa relations. China will continue to uphold the guidelines of its Africa policy and work toward win-win cooperation with African countries for common development within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

During his trip to the United States in September 2015, President Xi announced China would set up a 20-billion-yuan ($3.1 billion) China South-South Climate Cooperation Fund to help developing countries tackle climate change. By 2020, China will provide supports for 100 new poverty reduction projects, 100 agricultural projects, 100 trade projects, 100 projects on ecological preservation and climate change, 100 new hospitals and clinics, and 100 schools and vocational training centers in developing countries. Poverty alleviation will be a major part of China’s post2015 agenda.

It indicates China will continue helping Africa develop its rural areas and agriculture, eradicate poverty, and support Africa’s development.

African countries have been paying more attention to agricultural development as the continent entered a period of fast growth with an average annual rate of 5.5 percent. Africa is the world’s second fastestgrowing economic region. Agriculture was high on the priority list of the founders of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), an economic development program of the African Union (AU).

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program, established as part of the NEPAD in 2003, has an agricultural growth target of 6 percent and requires member countries to allocate at least 10 percent of their national budget to the agricultural sector.

The AU’s programs in Agenda 2063, its blueprint for Africa’s development, are also very clear: to diversify economies and industrialize; have a skills and entrepreneurship revolution; unleash the creativity of youth; and transform agriculture.

Against this background, an increasing number of African countries have stepped up investment in agriculture in terms of rural infrastructure, irrigation, introducing quality seeds, and promoting mechanized farming for agricultural diversification. They have implemented agricultural reforms, increasing food production and incomes. A series of policies has been formulated, such as tax incentives for importing agricultural equipment.

The latest report by the Standard Chartered Banksays Africa would need about $100 billion annually for infrastructure construction, but governments can provide only $53 billion. On the continent, only 33 percent of the rural population has access to paved roads, and only 5 percent of rural land comes under irrigation. Poor infrastructure hinders the continent’s trade growth.

In 2014, China decided to provide an additional $10-billion credit line to African countries for mutually agreed-upon infrastructure projects, raising the total amount of promised credit to $30 billion. China also worked with the African Development Bank to establish a joint financing fund and build a trilateral cooperation platform for Africa’s infrastructural development, including regional aviation and high-speed railway networks.

China will raise its direct investment in Africa to $100 billion by 2020. Infrastructure construction is one of the key areas of bilateral cooperation.

China-Africa cooperation in infrastructure and connectivity has reduced the bottlenecks in Africa’s agricultural development. China-Africa agricultural cooperation can usher in a golden period of growth. Therefore, it is necessary to deepen bilateral agricultural cooperation and expand investment in Africa’s agricultural sector.

Bilateral agricultural cooperation is expected to optimize the agro-industrial chain. It includes investment in agricultural production and processing, warehousing and logistics. African countries also need to improve their soft infrastructure - policy stability, degree of market liberalization and preferential tax policies.

China has made proactive efforts to help African countries raise their agricultural productivity. It has established agricultural technology demonstration centers and is sending agricultural experts and technicians to provide consultations. China is also training technical and managerial personnel. Though the initiative has been welcomed by African countries, how to keep the demonstration centers running smoothly after the project contracts end is a problem.

Therefore, there should be volunteering programs run by the government or NGOs. The programs would send Chinese agricultural technicians abroad to help local farmers solve technological problems. The Chinese technicians, who would be encouraged to be based in Africa, would contribute to local agricultural development. Some agricultural projects could begin to operate in a more market-oriented way.

Sino-African agricultural cooperation should pay more attention to localization. For many years, China has assisted in the construction of local roads, water conservancy and irrigation projects and other agri-cultural infrastructure. This has played an important role in improving African agricultural production capacity.

However, some Chinese companies have come under criticism for not better fulfilling their social responsibilities in Africa. Some Chinese agricultural enterprises follow Chinese management practices. On the other hand, most African countries fix their minimum wage and normal working hours according to their own labor laws. So, cultural differences often trigger labor disputes.

However, with China-Africa cooperation in infrastructure and industry in full swing, Chinese agricultural enterprises are expanding their global business, and thereby accelerating their internationalization. China will further localize its agro-industrial chain in terms of personnel, raw materials, markets, and technology research and development to better help economic transformation and revitalization in Africa.

(Zhang Chuanhong is an associate professor at China Agricultural University; Jiang Zhida is an associate research fellow at China Institute of International Studies)