Extraterritorial investments in agriculture in Africa: the perspectives of China and South Africa
Title | Extraterritorial investments in agriculture in Africa: the perspectives of China and South Africa PDF eBook |
Author | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |
Publisher | Food & Agriculture Org. |
Pages | 96 |
Release | 2020-11-30 |
Genre | Technology & Engineering |
ISBN | 9251333351 |
The 2008 global food price crisis, and the resurgence of food prices in 2010-2011, caused both widespread concern and expectations. On the one hand, countries whose food supply depends on procuring food from international markets saw food price spikes as threats to their national food security. On the other hand, investors saw in these price spikes an opportunity to make profitable investments in agriculture. Either as threat or opportunity, food price spikes raised interest in Africa, whose lands are fertile and have unrealised potential. Concerns of a possible land acquisitions in Africa, and in particular the impacts of Large-Scale Land-Based Investments in Agriculture (LSLBIA) on local communities, became prominent policy and academic themes. Unfortunately, quantifying the phenomenon has proved hard due to the difficulty of finding empirical evidence. As a result, debates are either theoretical or based on anecdotal evidence. This publication thus explores a different path, and explores the reasons why entities from China and South Africa were interested in investing in African agriculture. This publication examines the reasons why investors were interested in Africa, and the relationship that these bear to The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (the ‘Voluntary Guidelines’ or ‘VGGT’). While primarily aimed at governments, the VGGT also contain important provisions that are applicable to the private sector. They focus on helping investors pursue their projects in ways that recognise and respect legitimate tenure rights and human rights. In addition, the VGGT also contain provisions and encourages good practices for responsible investment in land, forests and fisheries. The VGGT are a valuable tool for helping investors minimise risk while also safeguarding the rights of local communities. China and South Africa represent important sources of LSLBIA in Africa, although the bulk of such investment comes from western countries. Their investment may intensify in the future for a variety of reasons. First, China has the third largest land area in the world but its expansion through additional land use is limited. Second, the dual agricultural economy of South Africa is preventing commercial farming located in well-endowed areas from expanding into remote, resource-poor areas where small-scale subsistence-based production is prevalent. This publication assesses the extent to which selected investors from China and South Africa and the governments of those countries have adopted the best practices represented by the VGGT in relation to LSLBIA in
China-Africa agricultural modernization cooperation: Situation, challenges and the path ahead
Title | China-Africa agricultural modernization cooperation: Situation, challenges and the path ahead PDF eBook |
Author | Chen, Kevin |
Publisher | Intl Food Policy Res Inst |
Pages | 76 |
Release | 2018-09-26 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN |
在新时期,为了更好应对这些挑战,实现中非农业合作的潜力,建议把中非农业合作制度化,并制定一个综合战略规划指导未来的中非农业现代化合作。该综合战略规划将有助于指导和协调中国对非的投资和援助,并在合作过程中与非盟成员国推动农业发展的关键努力相对接。 To address the challenges and fulfill the potential of China-Africa modernization agricultural cooperation in the new era, it is critical to formulate an integrated strategic plan to guide the future development of China-Africa agricultural modernization cooperation. Such a plan is expected to guide and align Chinese investments and collaborative activities with key development efforts of the African Union member states.
Agricultural Development in China and Africa
Title | Agricultural Development in China and Africa PDF eBook |
Author | Xiaoyun Li |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 330 |
Release | 2012 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 184971388X |
First Published in 2011. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The End of Development
Title | The End of Development PDF eBook |
Author | Andrew Brooks |
Publisher | Zed Books Ltd. |
Pages | 129 |
Release | 2017-05-15 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1786990229 |
Why did some countries grow rich while others remained poor? Human history unfolded differently across the globe. The world is separated in to places of poverty and prosperity. Tracing the long arc of human history from hunter gatherer societies to the early twenty first century in an argument grounded in a deep understanding of geography, Andrew Brooks rejects popular explanations for the divergence of nations. This accessible and illuminating volume shows how the wealth of ‘the West’ and poverty of ‘the rest’ stem not from environmental factors or some unique European cultural, social or technological qualities, but from the expansion of colonialism and the rise of America. Brooks puts the case that international inequality was moulded by capitalist development over the last 500 years. After the Second World War, international aid projects failed to close the gap between ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ nations and millions remain impoverished. Rather than address the root causes of inequality, overseas development assistance exacerbate the problems of an uneven world by imposing crippling debts and destructive neoliberal policies on poor countries. But this flawed form of development is now coming to an end, as the emerging economies of Asia and Africa begin to assert themselves on the world stage. The End of Development provides a compelling account of how human history unfolded differently in varied regions of the world. Brooks argues that we must now seize the opportunity afforded by today’s changing economic geography to transform attitudes towards inequality and to develop radical new approaches to addressing global poverty, as the alternative is to accept that impoverishment is somehow part of the natural order of things.
Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy
Title | Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy PDF eBook |
Author | Julien Chaisse |
Publisher | Springer |
Pages | 0 |
Release | 2021-08-17 |
Genre | Law |
ISBN | 9789811336140 |
The Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy is a one-stop reference source. This Handbook covers the main conceptual questions in a logical, scholarly yet easy to comprehend manner. It is based on a truly global vision insisting particularly on Global South related issues and developments. In this respect, the Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy provides an excellent modern treatment of international investment law which is one of the fastest growing areas of international economic law. Professor Julien Chaisse, Professor Leïla Choukroune, and Professor Sufian Jusoh are the editors-in-chief of the Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy, a 1,500-page reference book, which is anticipated becoming one of the most influenced reference books in the international economic law areas. This Handbook is a highly comprehensive set of four volumes of original materials designed to cover all facets of international investment law and policy. The chapters, written by world-leading experts, explore key ideas and debates in relation to: international investment substantive law (Volume I), Investor-state dispute settlement (Volume II); interaction between international investment law and other fields of international law (Volume III); and, the new trends and challenges for international investment law (Volume IV). The Handbook will feature more than 80 contributions from leading experts (academics, lawyers, government officials), including Vivienne Bath, M. Sornarajah, Mélida Hodgson, Rahul Donde, Roberto Echandi, Andrew Mitchell, Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, Christina L. Beharry, Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer, Leon Trakman, Prabhash Ranjan, Emmanuel Jacomy, Mariel Dimsey, Stavros Brekoulakis, Romesh Weeramantry, Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, David Collins, Damilola S. Olawuyi, Katia Fach Gomez, Jaemin Lee, Alejandro Carballo-Leyda, Patrick W. Pearsall, Mark Feldman, Surya Deva, Luke Nottage, Rafael Leal-Arcas, James Nedumpara, Rodrigo Polanco, etc. This Handbook will be an essential reference tool for students and scholars of international economic law. Policy makers and researchers alike will find the Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy useful for years to come.
Contemporary Migration to South Africa
Title | Contemporary Migration to South Africa PDF eBook |
Author | Aurelia Segatti |
Publisher | World Bank Publications |
Pages | 207 |
Release | 2011-08-23 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0821387677 |
Building on global interest in migration development, the volume draws attention to one of the most important migration systems in sub-Saharan Africa. It reviews South Africa’s approach to international migration in the post-apartheid period from a regional development perspective, highlighting key policy issues, debates, and consequences. The authors find at least three areas where migration is resulting in important development impacts. First, by offering options to those affected by conflict and crises in a region that has limited formal disaster management and social protection systems. Second, by mitigating shortcomings and distortions in regional labour markets. Third, by providing support to struggling rural economies and ever expanding urban areas in terms of livelihoods and social capital transfers. Chapter One consists of a study of the country’s historical experience of migration and, in particular, analyses the changes in official attitudes throughout the twentieth century, indicating the roots of contemporary ideas and policy dilemmas. Chapters Two, Three, Four and Five complement this analysis of the South African State’s capacity to reform and manage the South African migration situation by looking at often neglected dimensions: the first explores the question of skilled labour, a crucial question given the unbalanced structure of the South African labour market; the second examines the impact of migration on local government in South African cities and specifically implications for urban planning, service delivery, health, security, and political accountability; the third analyses the nature of undocumented migration to South Africa and the challenges it raises to both State and non-State actors; The book concludes with an examination of health as a critical issue when examining the relationship between migration and development in South Africa, in light of recent empirical data.
Development Centre Studies Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run
Title | Development Centre Studies Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run PDF eBook |
Author | Maddison Angus |
Publisher | OECD Publishing |
Pages | 196 |
Release | 1998-09-25 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 9264163557 |
The study provides a major reassessment of the scale and scope of China’s resurgence over the past half century, employing quantitative measurement techniques which are standard practice in OECD countries, but which have not hitherto been available for China.