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Posted By Edmund Downie
Friday, July 29, 2011 - 6:23 PM
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With east Africa in the grip of famine after its worst drought in 60 years, Germany's Africa policy coordinator has fingered an unlikely culprit: China. Agence France-Presse reports:
Guenter Nooke told the daily Frankfurter Rundschau it was clear that "this catastrophe is also man-made".
"In the case of Ethiopia there is a suspicion that the large-scale land purchases by foreign companies, or states such as China which want to carry out industrial agriculture there, are very attractive for a small (African) elite," he said.
"It would be of more use to the broader population if the government focused its efforts on building up its own farming system."
He said that the Chinese investments were focused on farming for export which he said can lead to "major social conflicts in Africa when small farmers have their land und thus their livelihoods taken away."
Today, a written statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry vehemently denied the allegations. "China has never had plans to buy land overseas, and China has never purchased land in Africa," the statement said, adding that Nooke's claims stemmed from "ulterior motives." The Foreign Ministry also announced today that it would provide $14 million in emergency food assistance to the Horn of Africa.
Beijing's protestations aside, Chinese investment in African farmland has ratcheted up significantly in recent years, as the government seeks to quell concerns about long-term food security. One estimate puts the number of Chinese farm workers in Africa at 1 million. Meanwhile, the Atlantic quotes a June 2009 report in the Chinese weekly Economic Observer that describes how Beijing "was planning to rent and buy land abroad" to deal with "increasing pressure on food security."
That said, it's worth noting that China is far from the only foreign investor with major land holdings in Africa today. Private and public investors from India, the United States, and the petrostates of the Middle East, to name a few, have taken their piece of the African land grab, which brought 15 to 20 million hectares of the continent under foreign investment between 2006 and mid-2009. By way of comparison, that's equal to the size of all the farmland in France. If Nooke is right about the connection between foreign investment and famine, seems like there's plenty of blame to go around.
Another new thing China will have to get used to
It's inevitable, as people increasingly recognize China as being extremely powerful, they will start blaming it for random things using crazy logic. Ahh, it's nice to be reminded that it doesn't only happen to us.
Another new thing China will have to get used to
It's inevitable, as people increasingly recognize China as being extremely powerful, they will start blaming it for random things using crazy logic. Ahh, it's nice to be reminded that it doesn't only happen to us.
By the same logic, any country is guilty if any of its citizen owns land in Africa. I am sure Germany is not an exception.
There is a difference between state sponsored mass purchasing of land and individual citizens purchasing it.
That said, the Germans would need some very strong evidence demonstrating how Chinese land purchasing in this area has caused this famine, because its a huge claim to make and doesn't sound very plausible at all to me. They would have had to buy massive areas of land in a relatively small area.
Well, the Chinese Foreign Ministry is lying
Or, to be polite, grossly mistaken. China is trying to buy interests in mining companies in foreign nations, and guess what? Buy a mining company, and you buy the land it owns. Whether such purchases extend beyond mining I do not know and cannot say. The Chinese FM can't stick with what it says, in any case, without some clarification.
I recognize the possibility that the Foreign Ministry is engaging in some letter-of-the-law lying in its statement: Saying "China has never had plans to buy land overseas, and China has never purchased land in Africa" says nothing at all about where Chinese corporations are buying foreign land and planning to buy more; such corporations being under a level of governmental control unknown to American corporations.
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Ethiopia Land Investment Report
this report was issued by US based thinktank Oakland Institute, which clearly shows that India and US companies are the biggest land investors in Ethiopia, which has the worst famine conditions
please see the following link,especially page 22 and 23 in the report
http://media.oaklandinstitute.org/understanding-land-investment-deals-africa-ethiopia
The way that they are starving i cant beleive we actually are investing in the land but not taking care of the people on the land. I fell that morally i cannot invest in a place where this type of stuff is happening. I run two funeral homes in cleveland ohio and i see the effects of a society going wrong every month. I would not be investing and not making sure the people were okay that's just my stance on the issue
As we shift all the blames left right and center we should seek to educate Africans on good governance as most problems facing the continent fabric blinds are due to corrupt leaders and lack of strong policies.
German official blames China for Somalia’s famine
Of course, it is simply childish to attack the credit agencies for doing their jobs now because they failed in the past. It is equally childish to expect that assessing sovereign credit risk can somehow exclude political assessments.
To be sure, the political judgment of Standard & Poors is not immune from legitimate questioning. For example, before the downgrade, IHS Global Insight Chief Economist Nariman Behravesh argued S&P was making unrealistic demands because lawmakers were unlikely to agree to a major deficit reduction package until after next year’s elections.
Lefty pundit Kevin Drum may quibble that S&P “shouldn’t be in the business of commenting on a country’s political spats unless they’ve been going on so long that they’re likely to have a real, concrete impact on the safety of a country’s bonds.
” The right may question whether S&P’s explanation over-emphasized the political conflict over taxes, in light of the fact that entitlements are the much larger problem (indeed, even Krugman concedes the real problem is health-care costs, though I suspect he differs with the right on the appropriate reforms necessary).
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Interesting article.
"One estimate puts the number of Chinese farm workers in Africa" Now that is interesting, I never saw one in Ghana, West Africa in my visits there.
The question is do will believe the Chinese Government
"If Nooke is right about the connection between foreign investment and famine, seems like there's plenty of blame to go around. "
They is always blame to go around no matter the issue
That is a huge question & all about nuclear weapon. If you have any question don't hesitate to contact through Skype (skypegovorun). rio sfr riginally I am from USSR..
Beijing's protestations aside, Chinese investment in African farmland has ratcheted up significantly in recent years, as the government seeks to quell concerns about long-term food security. One estimate puts the number of Chinese farm workers in Africa
love quotes
It would be of more use to the broader population if the government focused its efforts on building up its own farming system." HOTEL ALTO ADIGE
The situation of east Africa after drought is terrible, people are dying without food. There is nothing to survive upon really an unexpected truth.
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Furthermore, the article also points out that That said, it's worth noting that China is far from the only foreign investor with major land holdings in Africa and therefore it is simply a matter of China being late to the party. Jewellery Shops href="http://nowinnofeereviews.co.uk/no-win-no-fee-solicitors">No Win No Fee Solicitors irish heritage
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