Tokyo, Japan: “Will Africa Feed China?: Rumors and Realities” by SAIS Professor Deborah Bräutigam

SAIS Event

Is China building a new empire in rural Africa? Few development topics are as controversial and emotionally charged as the belief that the Chinese government is aggressively buying up huge tracts of prime African land to grow food to ship back to China. In Will Africa Feed China? Deborah Bräutigam, one of the world's leading experts on China and Africa, probes the myths and realities behind the media headlines. Chinese farming investments are in fact surprisingly limited, and land acquisitions modest. Defying expectations, China actually exports more food to Africa than it imports. Why is the reality of Chinese investment so different from the headlines? Is this picture likely to change? What role will China play as rural Africa moves from subsistence to commercial agriculture, and China builds a portfolio of tools to allow its agribusiness firms to “go global”? Will Africa Feed China? answers these questions as it sheds new light on China's evolving global quest for food security and Africa's possibilities for structural transformation. This event is hosted by and will take place at the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), 3-2-2 Wakaba, Mihama-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba, 261-8545.

R.S.V.P. to Junko Maejima at junko_maejima@ide.go.jp