借力南南合作,加速非洲农业变革--简论中国、巴西、印度的投资和知识交流对非洲农业的积极影响

Catalyzing an agricultural revolution in Africa through South-South cooperation: The role of Chinese, Brazilian and Indian investments and knowledge exchange

外国对非洲农业的直接投资的增长,特别是来自印度、中国、巴西这三个新兴国家的直接投资的增长,是公民社会组织提出的很多批评的主题,这些组织错误地将这些外国直接投资与非洲本地居民土地被大量剥夺联系在一起。对于非洲国家政府与欧洲、亚洲的私人投资者已经达成的土地交易,必须认真审查,弄清这种交易对非洲的农民和游牧社群可能造成的下游效应,但是,全盘否定外国直接投资对于释放非洲农业生产潜力,从而推动其社会转型和工业化进程的潜在贡献,也是错误的。本文旨在批判性地考察中、印、巴三国的私人投资和主权投资能否为新技术、新知识的转移创造新机遇,能否促进当地能力建设,扭转非洲农业生产力持续下降的局面,以及能否为当地人民提供就业,确保粮食安全。

Increased foreign direct investment in African agriculture, particularly from emerging countries such as India, China and Brazil, has been the subject of much criticism from civil society organizations who erroneously associate these investments with widespread land dispossession of local populations. While the land deals that African governments have concluded with private investors from Europe and Asia must be interrogated carefully for their possible downstream impacts on African peasant farmers and pastoralist communities, it would be a mistake to dismiss the potential contributions of foreign direct investments for unleashing the productivity of African agriculture, which in turn will propel social transformation and industrialization. The aim of this article is, therefore, to examine critically whether private and sovereign investments from China, India and Brazil create new opportunities for the transfer of new technology and knowledge, build local capacity and reverse the persistence of productivity decline in African agriculture, generate local employment, and ensure food security.