News headlines have trumpeted announcements of big Chinese agricultural land grabs in Africa, which Beijing denies despite the Western media’s claims that it’s a growing problem.
The author of a recent paper on the issue is one of the very few non-Chinese experts who disagrees with the popular version, and defends there is no data to back up claims of a state-sanctioned land-grabbing policy by China in Africa.
Deborah Brautigam, professor of international development and comparative politics at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, has conducted an extensive review of media announcements about Chinese land acquisitions and investments approved by Beijing.