Thesis Chapters by Mariasole Pepa
China's presence in Africa has gained growing attention at an international level in the last two... more China's presence in Africa has gained growing attention at an international level in the last two decades, especially since the 2007 food crisis, however China's presence in Africa is far from new. China can not been perceived as a new international actor, still its reemergence as a world's leading economic power needs to be reconsidered. China's presence in Africa has been generating a growing misunderstanding at a different level that Debora Brautigam clearly describes in her paper “China in Africa: seven myths”( Brautigam, 2011). Even if the presence of China in Africa has gained international and media attention predominantly in the last fifteen years, its presence has been constant since the 1950s/1960s. However, the growing debate over China's rising influence on Africa has been strongly related to the alarmism consequent to the 2007-2008 food crisis, especially when following the sharply increase of food prices China pushed the going global policy in agriculture.
Moreover, is also related to the rise of Chinese aid commitment and economic engagement since 2006. China has continued to strengthen its involvement in Africa through the Forum on China-Africa cooperation (FOCAC), in particular the year of 2006 was denominated by the Chinese governmentthe “Year of Africa”, and the result of the forum held in Beijing brought on the strengthening of ties(Alden, Large & De Oliveira, 2008:pp.3-4). The main objective of this dissertation is to challenge, through an accurate literature review, the robust myths and shared belief that following the food crisis have designed China as the biggest land grabber in Africa. Land grabbing is surely not a new phenomenon, indeed is something that have characterized history for century. However, the global food crisis that made headlines in 2008 and the subsequent rise in food prices have conducted both national governments and private sector to elaborate new strategies to face the problem, that have
been labeling as “land grabbing”. Therefore, is possible to distinguish land grabbing following two different paths. On the one hand, land grabs is strictly connected to food security as a part of public agenda. On the other hand, the private sector moved towards the acquisition of land abroad, as resulting of its financial returns. The phenomenon of Land grabbing as been used as theoretical instrument to guide the understanding of China's land acquisition in Africa. Furthermore, the purpose is to explore if land deals represents an already existing column of the “Going out” policies in agriculture in which China endorsed since 2001, or as its has been debated by several editorials, articles, statements if China is assuming the role of new colonialist power in Africa. Historical, political, and economic relations are firstly analyzed in order to understand the strong presence of China nearly everywhere in Africa. The background of the Sino-African relation represents the
cornerstone in the understanding of the actual volume of economic exchange. While during the colonialist period, China mainly supported socialist regimes, with the end of Cold War was already clear that China's interests in Africa were larger. Indeed, from a more ideological and political intervention the activities shifted onto a more focused economic and utilitarian approach(Van Dijk, M,2009:59). With the end of the Cold war, pragmatism piloted China's involvement in those African countries which were overlooked by the United States and the Soviet Union. The withdrawal of cold war nations from Africa during the 1980s, and the sharp decrease in development aid provided by Western countries, gave rise to the opportunity for China to foster its political agenda by strengthening contacts with African elites(Servant, 2005). Public diplomacy is an important tool in strengthening China's political agenda abroad, and the launched of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation(FOCAC) in 2000, has represented the strategic instruments in cultivating and enlarging contacts with African Elites(IdunArkhurst & Laing, 2014). China's aid involvement in foreign countries today is still based on Enlai eight principles expressed in 1964, which were mainly based on mutual benefit, equity, non-interference in the political sphere and free interests in economic loans. The West is concerned about China taking over Africa, and about the impact that China's engagement could have on the base of their principles of intervention. Above the different objectives for China's presence in Africa, relative is its need of obtaining land abroad for agricultural purpose. Since 2012 China has been declared as “food dependent” and surely his demands for supply will increase in the coming years on the base of its population growth and fast economic development. China's food problem is also strictly related to the actual status of its natural resource, for instance the inversion of agricultural land into industrial areas or the contamination of water have sharply reduced its production capacity. In 2016, China's arable land per capita was 0.086, which is a rate comparable to the one of Bangladesh. Africa has 60% of the total of arable land, nevertheless does not have the technologies to strongly develop the agricultural sector. Thus, is not surprising that China's interest in Africa agricultural land have sharply increased,
and that African government are willing to cooperate with China, to obtain advanced technologies.
However, China endorsed in the Going Global policies in agriculture already in 2001, long before the food crisis and there were no secrets that the going global would include overseas farming. The adoption of the Going global policy in 2001 which encouraged Chinese companies to establish business abroad, represented the turning point of China's engagement in Africa. Beijing encouraged Chinese companies to invest in the farming sector in Africa, however the production of food to be exported back to China does not represent the main objective. China is trying to enlarge its area of influence and enter new market, and African markets represent a good business. Chinese government never officially declared that agricultural investments in Africa represent a way to ensure food security in China, or at least not yet. Although, common perception is that China is supporting Chinese enterprises to acquire land abroad as part of a national food security strategy. According to
the top 20-reported “Chinese” farmland acquisitions in Africa between 2000-2014 published on Landmatrix, the total amount of land leased was around 5,566,960 hectares. However, field research have documented that the total amount lease in 2014 was 88,837 ha, due to the fact that the majority of investment were abandoned, not implemented by Chinese or still under discussion(Brautigam,2016). This is an example of how official data based on unchecked grounded research have created a robust myths around China's agricultural engagement in Africa. Obviously, the paucity of data increased the poorly understanding of the Sino-African relations. For instance, this dissertation presents and compare two different case studies respectively of the Hubei-Gaza friendship farm in
Mozambique, and of the ZTE corporation in Congo. Those projects have been featured as case of “land grabbing” in different list, and the analysis allow to explore how myths differ from reality. Agricultural investment in Africa are not easy to conclude as is shared believed. Investments can face local opposition and up rise of the farmers as it happened in the case of the Hubei-Gaza friendship farm. In conclusion, the common perception that China is supporting Chinese enterprises to acquire land abroad as part of a national food security strategy is not supported by grounded research. China's intention in Africa are still not clear, and the paucity of data impedes a correct understanding of the Sino-African relation. Clearly, China's involvement in African agriculture is increased and China is interested in invest in farmland abroad. Nevertheless, while the involvement of China in Africa has
been seen with suspicions by the West, African countries are willing to strengthen their relations with the Chinese government, especially for their principles of on non-intervention,mutual benefit, and equity. To some
extent, China has become an alternative cooperation partner at least as important as the EU for example in the case of Ethiopia and Angola. The presence of China in Africa is not going to slow down at any point in the future, however, the lack of grounded resource is a limit to a fully understanding of Chinese intention in Africa,that surely as assumed by the main researchers of this field new to be filled.
Papers by Mariasole Pepa
Third World Quarterly , 2024
This collaborative autoethnography, written by two researchers, one from Italy and one from Chad,... more This collaborative autoethnography, written by two researchers, one from Italy and one from Chad, explores the possibilities of alternative pathways to development theory. Through the intersection of personal, emotional, professional and academic experiences, the paper identifies the opportunities and challenges conceptually and practically intertwined with understanding epistemic freedom in Africa. Consequently, it explores the material difficulties of building alternative partnerships while still practicing research in a precarious, neoliberal academic world. These challenges, which impede the attempts to reframe the experience of development and marginalise local knowledge, constitute forms of epistemic erasure. Therefore, resisting epistemic erasure also requires a visibilisation of these challenges related to the re-centring geographies of knowledge producti
J-Reading, 2023
This article explores the process, also in emotional terms, of setting up a multi-site photograph... more This article explores the process, also in emotional terms, of setting up a multi-site photographic exhibition in Khartoum and Padua, in the context of the outbreak of the war in Sudan, as a creative way to promote research dissemination. The multi-site exhibition emerged from a long tradition of research, between geographers at the University of Khartoum and the University of Padua, on the reconfiguration of irrigation spaces in Sudan. An "exploration" of the exhibition is presented with a discussion of a few important themes that emerged from the fieldwork. The article examines multi-site visual dissemination as a useful tool to reduce proximities and create new connections between places. Moreover, it reflects on the potentiality of photo exhibitions as a creative way to make research findings more accessible to a nonacademic audience, and so to cross academic borders.
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Nov 27, 2023
Cuerpo-territorio is a method stemming from Latin American geogra-phy, which recognizes the centr... more Cuerpo-territorio is a method stemming from Latin American geogra-phy, which recognizes the centrality of situated and embodied experi-ences as a form of knowing. We engaged with this method in theclassroom to understand how students through their embodied andsituated experiences had absorbed a post-development geographiccourse content and how these notions had remained with them. Giventhat emotions, particularly when elicited by images play a major role inconsolidating knowledge, we asked students to explore their embo-died feelings related to the course content by reflecting and represent-ing them in a visual form on a poster. Through this paper, we aim tocontribute to the debate on the importance of applying decolonialstrategies in the classroom by widening the methodological toolbox ofour geography colleagues. We find that, given the diversity of thestudents’ population, working with a boundary object such as theposters helped students to relate to each other via the course content.Finally, reflecting and assimilating the course content through cuerpo -territorio, we argue, was conducive to consolidating learning outcomes,while students experienced knowledge co-creation with their peers.
Rivista Geografica Italiana, Sep 1, 2021
Parole chiave: cooperazione Sud-Sud, geografia dello sviluppo, Cina-Africa, cooperazione agricola... more Parole chiave: cooperazione Sud-Sud, geografia dello sviluppo, Cina-Africa, cooperazione agricola. Negli ultimi decenni i maggiori cambiamenti nella geografia dello sviluppo sono relativi all'ascesa dei paesi BRICS e in particolare alla Cina in Africa. L'articolo -servendosi dell'esempio fornito, attraverso una ricerca sul campo, dal Centro di dimostrazione tecnologica dell'agricoltura in Tanzania -si propone di esaminare l'evoluzione della cooperazione agricola Cina-Africa come rappresentativa di pratiche e modalità della cooperazione Sud-Sud. Il contributo interroga la presenza cinese in Africa come generatrice di relazioni di dipendenza e, allo stesso tempo, riflette sul ruolo della Cina come elemento di diversificazione della dipendenza africana. La ricerca condotta intende stimolare una riflessione critica sulla cooperazione agricola sino-africana, contribuendo al dibattito geografico circa lo sviluppo delle relazioni BRICS-Sud.
Afrika focus , 2020
This paper explores the Chinese agricultural technology demonstration centers (ATDCs) in Africa,
... more This paper explores the Chinese agricultural technology demonstration centers (ATDCs) in Africa,
a recent evolution of Chinese-African agricultural cooperation often recognized as a representative example of South-South cooperation. More specifically, the study observes the development of
the ATDCs in Africa, through a literature review, and indicates major limitations in ATDCs research. This paper proposes a new political economy approach that accounts for place and space, which are crucial lenses for the analysis of ATDCs in Africa. The reconsideration of spatial relations takes into account the importance of the local territory, where operations are based, as an active constituent in China-Africa agricultural cooperation
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Thesis Chapters by Mariasole Pepa
Moreover, is also related to the rise of Chinese aid commitment and economic engagement since 2006. China has continued to strengthen its involvement in Africa through the Forum on China-Africa cooperation (FOCAC), in particular the year of 2006 was denominated by the Chinese governmentthe “Year of Africa”, and the result of the forum held in Beijing brought on the strengthening of ties(Alden, Large & De Oliveira, 2008:pp.3-4). The main objective of this dissertation is to challenge, through an accurate literature review, the robust myths and shared belief that following the food crisis have designed China as the biggest land grabber in Africa. Land grabbing is surely not a new phenomenon, indeed is something that have characterized history for century. However, the global food crisis that made headlines in 2008 and the subsequent rise in food prices have conducted both national governments and private sector to elaborate new strategies to face the problem, that have
been labeling as “land grabbing”. Therefore, is possible to distinguish land grabbing following two different paths. On the one hand, land grabs is strictly connected to food security as a part of public agenda. On the other hand, the private sector moved towards the acquisition of land abroad, as resulting of its financial returns. The phenomenon of Land grabbing as been used as theoretical instrument to guide the understanding of China's land acquisition in Africa. Furthermore, the purpose is to explore if land deals represents an already existing column of the “Going out” policies in agriculture in which China endorsed since 2001, or as its has been debated by several editorials, articles, statements if China is assuming the role of new colonialist power in Africa. Historical, political, and economic relations are firstly analyzed in order to understand the strong presence of China nearly everywhere in Africa. The background of the Sino-African relation represents the
cornerstone in the understanding of the actual volume of economic exchange. While during the colonialist period, China mainly supported socialist regimes, with the end of Cold War was already clear that China's interests in Africa were larger. Indeed, from a more ideological and political intervention the activities shifted onto a more focused economic and utilitarian approach(Van Dijk, M,2009:59). With the end of the Cold war, pragmatism piloted China's involvement in those African countries which were overlooked by the United States and the Soviet Union. The withdrawal of cold war nations from Africa during the 1980s, and the sharp decrease in development aid provided by Western countries, gave rise to the opportunity for China to foster its political agenda by strengthening contacts with African elites(Servant, 2005). Public diplomacy is an important tool in strengthening China's political agenda abroad, and the launched of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation(FOCAC) in 2000, has represented the strategic instruments in cultivating and enlarging contacts with African Elites(IdunArkhurst & Laing, 2014). China's aid involvement in foreign countries today is still based on Enlai eight principles expressed in 1964, which were mainly based on mutual benefit, equity, non-interference in the political sphere and free interests in economic loans. The West is concerned about China taking over Africa, and about the impact that China's engagement could have on the base of their principles of intervention. Above the different objectives for China's presence in Africa, relative is its need of obtaining land abroad for agricultural purpose. Since 2012 China has been declared as “food dependent” and surely his demands for supply will increase in the coming years on the base of its population growth and fast economic development. China's food problem is also strictly related to the actual status of its natural resource, for instance the inversion of agricultural land into industrial areas or the contamination of water have sharply reduced its production capacity. In 2016, China's arable land per capita was 0.086, which is a rate comparable to the one of Bangladesh. Africa has 60% of the total of arable land, nevertheless does not have the technologies to strongly develop the agricultural sector. Thus, is not surprising that China's interest in Africa agricultural land have sharply increased,
and that African government are willing to cooperate with China, to obtain advanced technologies.
However, China endorsed in the Going Global policies in agriculture already in 2001, long before the food crisis and there were no secrets that the going global would include overseas farming. The adoption of the Going global policy in 2001 which encouraged Chinese companies to establish business abroad, represented the turning point of China's engagement in Africa. Beijing encouraged Chinese companies to invest in the farming sector in Africa, however the production of food to be exported back to China does not represent the main objective. China is trying to enlarge its area of influence and enter new market, and African markets represent a good business. Chinese government never officially declared that agricultural investments in Africa represent a way to ensure food security in China, or at least not yet. Although, common perception is that China is supporting Chinese enterprises to acquire land abroad as part of a national food security strategy. According to
the top 20-reported “Chinese” farmland acquisitions in Africa between 2000-2014 published on Landmatrix, the total amount of land leased was around 5,566,960 hectares. However, field research have documented that the total amount lease in 2014 was 88,837 ha, due to the fact that the majority of investment were abandoned, not implemented by Chinese or still under discussion(Brautigam,2016). This is an example of how official data based on unchecked grounded research have created a robust myths around China's agricultural engagement in Africa. Obviously, the paucity of data increased the poorly understanding of the Sino-African relations. For instance, this dissertation presents and compare two different case studies respectively of the Hubei-Gaza friendship farm in
Mozambique, and of the ZTE corporation in Congo. Those projects have been featured as case of “land grabbing” in different list, and the analysis allow to explore how myths differ from reality. Agricultural investment in Africa are not easy to conclude as is shared believed. Investments can face local opposition and up rise of the farmers as it happened in the case of the Hubei-Gaza friendship farm. In conclusion, the common perception that China is supporting Chinese enterprises to acquire land abroad as part of a national food security strategy is not supported by grounded research. China's intention in Africa are still not clear, and the paucity of data impedes a correct understanding of the Sino-African relation. Clearly, China's involvement in African agriculture is increased and China is interested in invest in farmland abroad. Nevertheless, while the involvement of China in Africa has
been seen with suspicions by the West, African countries are willing to strengthen their relations with the Chinese government, especially for their principles of on non-intervention,mutual benefit, and equity. To some
extent, China has become an alternative cooperation partner at least as important as the EU for example in the case of Ethiopia and Angola. The presence of China in Africa is not going to slow down at any point in the future, however, the lack of grounded resource is a limit to a fully understanding of Chinese intention in Africa,that surely as assumed by the main researchers of this field new to be filled.
Papers by Mariasole Pepa
a recent evolution of Chinese-African agricultural cooperation often recognized as a representative example of South-South cooperation. More specifically, the study observes the development of
the ATDCs in Africa, through a literature review, and indicates major limitations in ATDCs research. This paper proposes a new political economy approach that accounts for place and space, which are crucial lenses for the analysis of ATDCs in Africa. The reconsideration of spatial relations takes into account the importance of the local territory, where operations are based, as an active constituent in China-Africa agricultural cooperation
Moreover, is also related to the rise of Chinese aid commitment and economic engagement since 2006. China has continued to strengthen its involvement in Africa through the Forum on China-Africa cooperation (FOCAC), in particular the year of 2006 was denominated by the Chinese governmentthe “Year of Africa”, and the result of the forum held in Beijing brought on the strengthening of ties(Alden, Large & De Oliveira, 2008:pp.3-4). The main objective of this dissertation is to challenge, through an accurate literature review, the robust myths and shared belief that following the food crisis have designed China as the biggest land grabber in Africa. Land grabbing is surely not a new phenomenon, indeed is something that have characterized history for century. However, the global food crisis that made headlines in 2008 and the subsequent rise in food prices have conducted both national governments and private sector to elaborate new strategies to face the problem, that have
been labeling as “land grabbing”. Therefore, is possible to distinguish land grabbing following two different paths. On the one hand, land grabs is strictly connected to food security as a part of public agenda. On the other hand, the private sector moved towards the acquisition of land abroad, as resulting of its financial returns. The phenomenon of Land grabbing as been used as theoretical instrument to guide the understanding of China's land acquisition in Africa. Furthermore, the purpose is to explore if land deals represents an already existing column of the “Going out” policies in agriculture in which China endorsed since 2001, or as its has been debated by several editorials, articles, statements if China is assuming the role of new colonialist power in Africa. Historical, political, and economic relations are firstly analyzed in order to understand the strong presence of China nearly everywhere in Africa. The background of the Sino-African relation represents the
cornerstone in the understanding of the actual volume of economic exchange. While during the colonialist period, China mainly supported socialist regimes, with the end of Cold War was already clear that China's interests in Africa were larger. Indeed, from a more ideological and political intervention the activities shifted onto a more focused economic and utilitarian approach(Van Dijk, M,2009:59). With the end of the Cold war, pragmatism piloted China's involvement in those African countries which were overlooked by the United States and the Soviet Union. The withdrawal of cold war nations from Africa during the 1980s, and the sharp decrease in development aid provided by Western countries, gave rise to the opportunity for China to foster its political agenda by strengthening contacts with African elites(Servant, 2005). Public diplomacy is an important tool in strengthening China's political agenda abroad, and the launched of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation(FOCAC) in 2000, has represented the strategic instruments in cultivating and enlarging contacts with African Elites(IdunArkhurst & Laing, 2014). China's aid involvement in foreign countries today is still based on Enlai eight principles expressed in 1964, which were mainly based on mutual benefit, equity, non-interference in the political sphere and free interests in economic loans. The West is concerned about China taking over Africa, and about the impact that China's engagement could have on the base of their principles of intervention. Above the different objectives for China's presence in Africa, relative is its need of obtaining land abroad for agricultural purpose. Since 2012 China has been declared as “food dependent” and surely his demands for supply will increase in the coming years on the base of its population growth and fast economic development. China's food problem is also strictly related to the actual status of its natural resource, for instance the inversion of agricultural land into industrial areas or the contamination of water have sharply reduced its production capacity. In 2016, China's arable land per capita was 0.086, which is a rate comparable to the one of Bangladesh. Africa has 60% of the total of arable land, nevertheless does not have the technologies to strongly develop the agricultural sector. Thus, is not surprising that China's interest in Africa agricultural land have sharply increased,
and that African government are willing to cooperate with China, to obtain advanced technologies.
However, China endorsed in the Going Global policies in agriculture already in 2001, long before the food crisis and there were no secrets that the going global would include overseas farming. The adoption of the Going global policy in 2001 which encouraged Chinese companies to establish business abroad, represented the turning point of China's engagement in Africa. Beijing encouraged Chinese companies to invest in the farming sector in Africa, however the production of food to be exported back to China does not represent the main objective. China is trying to enlarge its area of influence and enter new market, and African markets represent a good business. Chinese government never officially declared that agricultural investments in Africa represent a way to ensure food security in China, or at least not yet. Although, common perception is that China is supporting Chinese enterprises to acquire land abroad as part of a national food security strategy. According to
the top 20-reported “Chinese” farmland acquisitions in Africa between 2000-2014 published on Landmatrix, the total amount of land leased was around 5,566,960 hectares. However, field research have documented that the total amount lease in 2014 was 88,837 ha, due to the fact that the majority of investment were abandoned, not implemented by Chinese or still under discussion(Brautigam,2016). This is an example of how official data based on unchecked grounded research have created a robust myths around China's agricultural engagement in Africa. Obviously, the paucity of data increased the poorly understanding of the Sino-African relations. For instance, this dissertation presents and compare two different case studies respectively of the Hubei-Gaza friendship farm in
Mozambique, and of the ZTE corporation in Congo. Those projects have been featured as case of “land grabbing” in different list, and the analysis allow to explore how myths differ from reality. Agricultural investment in Africa are not easy to conclude as is shared believed. Investments can face local opposition and up rise of the farmers as it happened in the case of the Hubei-Gaza friendship farm. In conclusion, the common perception that China is supporting Chinese enterprises to acquire land abroad as part of a national food security strategy is not supported by grounded research. China's intention in Africa are still not clear, and the paucity of data impedes a correct understanding of the Sino-African relation. Clearly, China's involvement in African agriculture is increased and China is interested in invest in farmland abroad. Nevertheless, while the involvement of China in Africa has
been seen with suspicions by the West, African countries are willing to strengthen their relations with the Chinese government, especially for their principles of on non-intervention,mutual benefit, and equity. To some
extent, China has become an alternative cooperation partner at least as important as the EU for example in the case of Ethiopia and Angola. The presence of China in Africa is not going to slow down at any point in the future, however, the lack of grounded resource is a limit to a fully understanding of Chinese intention in Africa,that surely as assumed by the main researchers of this field new to be filled.
a recent evolution of Chinese-African agricultural cooperation often recognized as a representative example of South-South cooperation. More specifically, the study observes the development of
the ATDCs in Africa, through a literature review, and indicates major limitations in ATDCs research. This paper proposes a new political economy approach that accounts for place and space, which are crucial lenses for the analysis of ATDCs in Africa. The reconsideration of spatial relations takes into account the importance of the local territory, where operations are based, as an active constituent in China-Africa agricultural cooperation