How China’s $50b boost could transform agriculture in Africa

Amid Africa’s food insecurity and $60 billion in imports, collaboration with China presents a solution. Hamond Motsi, a Stellenbosch University PhD student, highlights leveraging China’s agricultural advancements to boost productivity and independence.

While the spring season has commenced in most regions of the continent, geopolitically, the “All Africa Leaders Summits” season has also begun. In September, the Indonesia-Africa Summit took place, which was immediately followed by the China-Africa Summit.

The latter, which took place from 4-6 September in Beijing, is of particular interest given the complex historical and solidarity relationships between the two parties. China pledged to invest about US$ 50 billion over the next three years in various strategic sectors, including transportation and logistics, energy, industry and commerce, trade, healthcare, agriculture, military and security, and infrastructure development.

Here we isolate agriculture and discuss potential benefits for Africa resulting from collaboration with China in this sector.

Hamond Motsi is a scholar interested in sustainable agricultural management practices. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Firstly, it is essential to examine China’s impressive agricultural anatomy and food security dynamics. China’s rise to prominence was primarily attributed to its ability to elevate approximately 800 million people from poverty within four decades through economic reforms centred on agricultural productivity, increasing incomes for farmers and households, and subsequently expanding to various sectors of the economy.

Currently, China’s agriculture value chain contributes approximately US$ 3 trillion, with a GDP share of about 16% to its economy. Notably, the populations of China and Africa are nearly equivalent, approximating 1.4 billion people. However, Africa possesses an advantage in terms of land mass, being three times larger than China.

Yet, Africa remains the most food-insecure region, with over US$ 60 billion in food imports annually due to inefficient utilisation of its agricultural land. Indeed, the African continent has a lot to learn and benefit from in the agricultural sector from its relationship with China, particularly if African leaders take this relationship seriously.

China’s agricultural expertise: A model for Africa

China recognises the importance of enhancing Africa’s agricultural development for economic emancipation. During the summit, China committed to establishing approximately 6 670 hectares of agricultural demonstration centres and providing 500 agricultural experts to create a China-Africa agricultural science and technology innovation alliance.

This initiative will be crucial for Africa to comprehend Chinese agricultural practices and adapt them for local benefits. Notably, Chinese agriculture has become modernised, featuring sophisticated machinery, advanced precision technology, high-yielding crop varieties, and an educated extension services network which has been central to its high productivity.

Moreover, these research engagements should incorporate local universities and agricultural colleges, enabling young people to acquire skills at an earlier stage. Demonstration centres should be farm-centric, and conducted in collaboration with farmers and researchers to facilitate quick and effective understanding by farmers.

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Consequently, understanding the nitty-gritty of Chinese agriculture in this symbiotic relationship would be essential for facilitating agricultural development through skills transfer on the African continent.

Already China has established its agricultural collaboration footprint in Africa through agrarian development programmes in different countries, spanning from 2001 through Sino-African agricultural cooperation.

For instance, the exchange of experience and agricultural aid primarily focused on the cultivation of crops like hybrid rice, wheat, maize, soybeans, sugar, cassava, potatoes, and cotton; livestock such as pigs, cows, chickens, and freshwater species; and agricultural infrastructure, irrigation, mechanisation, and water conservation technologies, in more than 25 countries.

However, despite the significance of these collaborations, they have not alleviated the food security crisis of the continent, and if the current pledge is utilised judiciously, it can make a substantial impact in this sector.

China’s investment in infrastructure

Despite the direct pledge, other commitments made by China could also be crucial in facilitating agricultural development on the continent. China committed to further advancing its transport and logistics connectivity projects in Africa by enhancing intra-African connectivity through land, sea, and air links.

China-Africa cooperation in infrastructure has already contributed significantly to transforming the continent’s landscape with the construction of railways, roads, ports, and airports. It has a positive impact on the economic growth in Africa, regional integration, and the free movement of people and goods.

This connectivity aligns effectively with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) where agricultural trade is central, given the continent’s diversified nature and substantial reliance on agricultural production.

China also articulated its commitment to fostering industrial growth through in-depth China-Africa economic and trade cooperation and the initiation of an “African SMEs empowerment programme.”

Africa should prioritise agro-processing industries which will add value to agricultural produce while creating employment opportunities.

As agriculture is one of the major thriving sectors on the continent, numerous critical cash crops are exported in raw forms, where they are processed into value-added materials outside the continent.

These include cocoa in Ghana and Ivory Coast, tobacco in Zimbabwe, and tea in Kenya and Ethiopia. The full potential of these cash crops’ contribution will be realised through their secondary processing, and China could assist in investing in such agro-processing industries.

Furthermore, other infrastructure necessary for the agricultural industry will need to be prioritised, such as warehouses, cold storage facilities, and digital infrastructure, particularly in rural regions.

Expanding market access for African agricultural products

Lastly, and of significant interest, is the voluntary and unilateral opening of China’s markets with zero-tariff treatment for 100% of tariff lines to African countries. China intends to expand market access for African agricultural products and enhance cooperation with Africa in e-commerce.

Currently, South Africa is the African country that benefits most from access to the Chinese agricultural market, followed to a lesser extent by countries such as Zimbabwe with its tobacco exports. In fact, the primary reason for this trade deficit is that Africa has limited export capacity and when exports occur, they predominantly consist of raw materials with minimal value addition.

Thus, if Africa focuses on enhancing its agricultural production, its surplus produce will likely find a ready market. China is the largest importer of general products in Africa, and it would be advantageous for Africa to recognise this potential and capitalise on it to reduce the trade deficit gap.

The trade deficit concern was raised by the President of South Africa, but Africa cannot justifiably express significant concern about the trade deficit while its production output remains limited.

In conclusion, African countries need to approach China-Africa collaborations with serious consideration, as they are crucial in improving sectors such as agriculture. Factors including climate change and geopolitical instability continue to pose significant challenges and undermine food security independence on the African continent.

The broader socioeconomic development of the continent must be achieved after Africa addresses its fundamental stomach infrastructure.

• Hamond Motsi is a PhD student at the faculty of agrisciences, Stellenbosch University interested in sustainable agriculture and agricultural development in Africa. He holds an MSc in agronomy (cum laude) from Stellenbosch University, BSc Hons in crop science, and BSc in crop and soil science (cum laude), both from the University of Fort Hare. You can contact him at onehammond2@gmail.com. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Food For Mzansi.

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