"I was in Ethiopia for a week a year ago. We went out deep in to the mountains, and everywhere we went we saw Chinese people and Chinese funded projects. Looking at the land, my main thoughts were that if Netafim (Israeli drip irrigation pioneer) was in Ethiopia the place could feed the entire population plus a few million. and guess what, on further investigation, they are there, the Chinese are looking at putting in huge farms. They are also putting in the infrastructure of highways and trains. The Chinese are way ahead of us."

Eoin Treacy's view
Email of the day (1) - on Chinese involvement in Africa:

"I was in Ethiopia for a week a year ago. We went out deep in to the mountains, and everywhere we went we saw Chinese people and Chinese funded projects. Looking at the land, my main thoughts were that if Netafim (Israeli drip irrigation pioneer) was in Ethiopia the place could feed the entire population plus a few million. and guess what, on further investigation, they are there, the Chinese are looking at putting in huge farms. They are also putting in the infrastructure of highways and trains. The Chinese are way ahead of us."

My comment - Thank you for these interesting observations which gels with widespread reports of Chinese participation in just about all facets of Africa's slowly evolving development. Thanks also for these two additional articles:

Africa to exploit palm oil potential - at last
North Korea in talks to farm large area of Russia


Agriculture has been a major Supply Inelasticity Meets Rising Demand theme for the last decade. The fall of the USSR, changes to the EU's farm subsidies, and US ethanol production among other reasons conspired to remove a great deal of supply from the food chain when the spending power of millions of newly minted middle class consumers was increasing to a level where they could consume as many calories as they want.

The supply response has been slow to evolve, but significantly higher food prices sustained for a number of years have an important motivating effect. When one looks at which countries have excess uncultivated land Russia and a number in African nations crop up. China is way ahead of the curve with its investments in Africa. Its "don't ask, don't tell" policy of political engagement coupled with investment has proved lucrative at a time when most Western countries have refused to engage.

China's stated aim of moving up the value chain in terms of manufacturing is predicated on its ability to source the raw materials to achieve this goal. Agriculture is as important as industrial commodities when it comes to looking after the welfare of a billion people.