How China's 'trade not aid' strategy became construed as charitable help: deconstructing the 'touching' idyll of Li Li's investment in Africa
In recent years, China has increased investments in Africa and its “Trade Not Aid” model appears to be the best delivery of sustainable assistance. By reviewing the history of Chinese aid to Africa, examining race-relations literature, and deconstructing contemporary models of aid, the author argues that, at least in terms of agricultural endeavors, China’s current approach resembles the colonialism that it once sought to disassemble. T have been many arguments against traditional patterns of aid to Africa. In 2009, Dambisa Moyo provided one of the most recent and prominent rationales, asserting that trade-based economic relationships encourage investment, production, as well as technical knowledge exchange, which therefore provides the effectiveness and sustainability that are lacking in traditional aid projects.1 This “ Trade Not Aid ” approach has become synonymous with contemporary China-Africa economic relations, and as it enhances its investments in Africa, China is also winning Moyo’s praise as Africa’s best friend.2 Nonetheless, a closer inspection of their relationship reveals that, at least in terms of agricultural investment, China’s strategy is not as radical of a departure from colonialism as the existing literature would suggest. This paper takes Li Li’s Jonken Farm situated in Moyo’s home — Zambia — as a case study to explore the dichotomy between perceptions of aid providers and recipients. Li and her husband Wang Chi built Jonken Farm in 1992. Their story first became known in a 2004 television interview,3 and after 2 How China’s “ Trade Not Aid ” Strategy Became Construed As Charitable Help Li assumed the management of the 3573-hectare farm when Wang passed away in 2005, she became a national celebrity in China. Beijing crowned Li with titles such as “the Chinese who touches Africa the most”, “National Heroine”, and “Distinguished Communist.” She was also mentioned in two important English-language publications on the Sino-African relationship. Basing herself on Jonken, Deborah Brautigam concludes that Li’s private investment generates profit as well as employment opportunities for locals.4 Serge Michel and Michel Beuret add that trade-based relationships buffer interracial discontent in ways aid does not; despite recent anti-Chinese revolts in Zambia, they find that Jonken is described as “a perfect example of the cooperation between China and Zambia”5. I deconstruct the Jonken story in the context of Beijing’s agricultural endeavors in Africa since 1960. Chinese assistance to Africa began with altruistic roots, but these have been lost over time even though Chinese media frames investments as “help” to its former aid recipients so it appears that China has not discontinued any aid. While Chinese perceive the contemporary business relationships as assistance, however, “aid” recipients often do not; while Beijing paints Li as a national hero, Zambians find her a bigoted and harsh. Despite investments being more efficient than traditional forms of aid, the racism that has accompanied the capitalism foretells grave risks in the future of Sino-African relations.
Chinese aid and African development: exporting Green Revolution.
List of Tables, Figures and Maps Abbreviations Preface Introduction Development and Foreign Aid: Theory and Practice Chinese Development Aid in Africa The State and Agriculture in West Africa Exporting Green Revolution: Ideology, Politics and Technology Project Governance: Implementation and Institutions Exporting Ideology Conclusion Appendix Bibliography Index
On the validity of area-based income measures to proxy household income
BackgroundThis paper assesses the agreement between household-level income data and an area-based income measure, and whether or not discrepancies create meaningful differences when applied in regression equations estimating total household prescription drug expenditures.MethodsUsing administrative data files for the population of BC, Canada, we calculate income deciles from both area-based census data and Canada Revenue Agency validated household-level data. These deciles are then compared for misclassification. Spearman's correlation, kappa coefficients and weighted kappa coefficients are all calculated. We then assess the validity of using the area-based income measure as a proxy for household income in regression equations explaining socio-economic inequalities in total prescription drug expenditures.ResultsThe variability between household-level income and area-based income is large. Only 37% of households are classified by area-based measures to be within one decile of the classification based on household-level incomes. Statistical evidence of the disagreement between income measures also indicates substantial misclassification, with Spearman's correlations, kappa coefficients and weighted kappa coefficients all indicating little agreement. The regression results show that the size of the coefficients changes considerably when area-based measures are used instead of household-level measures, and that use of area-based measures smooths out important variation across the income distribution.ConclusionThese results suggest that, in some contexts, the choice of area-based versus household-level income can drive conclusions in an important way. Access to reliable household-level income/socio-economic data such as the tax-validated data used in this study would unambiguously improve health research and therefore the evidence on which health and social policy would ideally rest.