FAC Working Paper 52. Chinese and Brazilian Cooperation with African Agriculture: The Case of Ghana
Abstract
This paper explores the differences in Brazilian and Chinese investments in Ghana. It examines the extent to which the framework of South-South cooperation illuminates or masks these changing relationships and their political economy dimensions. The process of economic restructuring has involved changing alignments between the state and private sectors. As such, the relationship between state and private sector foreign investments by these rising powers must be examined within the context of the Ghanaian and global rise of agribusiness, as well as government support for such agribusiness based on food value chain analysis and support for the concept of market governance. These developments are placed within a long-term framework for the changing agrarian political economy of Ghana and the impact of economic liberalisation on the Ghanaian agricultural economy. The paper also addresses the social vision of development embedded in these frameworks of South-South cooperation and whether they harmonise with Ghanaian agrarian sector visions and societal developments.
The first section examines the extent, framing and structure of Chinese and Brazilian investments in Ghana. The second section outlines the changing political economy of the agrarian sector within Ghana as well as the changing framework of agrarian policy in the context of market liberalisation and rise of agribusiness. The third section examines the specificities of Chinese agricultural investments in Ghana in relation to its wider investments and interests in Ghana. The fourth section examines Brazilian investments within the Ghanaian agricultural sector in relation to the expansion of Brazilian agribusiness and its integration into the global economy. Lastly, the final section deliberates on the impact of such developments on Ghanaian agriculture and society.
This FAC Working Paper is an output of the \"China and Brazil in African Agriculture” (CBAA) project, funded by ESRC Grant ES/J013420/1.
Citation
Amanor, K.S. FAC Working Paper 52. Chinese and Brazilian Cooperation with African Agriculture:The Case of Ghana. Future Agricultures Consortium, Brighton, UK (2013) 14 pp.
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