South–South Cooperation in Africa: Historical, Geopolitical and Political Economy Dimensions of International Development

Abstract

This article examines how neoliberal reforms mediate and influence relationships between emergent powers and African nations centred on agricultural development. It investigates the impact of South–South relations on the nature of development and technical cooperation, aid and investment, and on the configuration of relations between states, farmers and the private sector. It examines the extent to which the experiences of China and Brazil in developing their agriculture result in qualitatively new paradigms for agricultural development, and whether they create new openings for a redefinition of development policy and practice. Moreover, the article assesses whether South–South development cooperation merely reinforces the drive to capital accumulation unleashed by global economic liberalisation, reflecting strategies by emergent powers to acquire new markets for agricultural technology, inputs, services and new sources of raw materials. In conclusion, the article questions the extent to which alternative paradigms for development cooperation can be created within the institutional framework created by neoliberal reform.