Open AccessAssessing China's Rural Reform Programs and the Lessons for Africa's Agriculture Development. A Review
Author(s) -
Thomas Bilaliib Udimal,
Jincai Zhuang,
Henry Asante Antwi,
Cong Chen,
Owusu Samuel Mensah
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of agricultural studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2166-0379
DOI - 10.5296/jas.v5i3.11806
Subject(s) - china , poverty , agrarian society , economic growth , rural poverty , agriculture , development economics , agrarian reform , productivity , agricultural productivity , land reform , economics , investment (military) , political science , geography , politics , archaeology , law
Since the 2008 global financial crisis, many African governments are now turning to China for the much needed loans and technical expertise to undertake developmental projects. Meanwhile China and Africa exhibited similar socio-economic conditions some three decades ago; high poverty rates and agrarian dominated economies with very low per capita incomes. However, in the past few years, even as Africa remains at the bottom of global economic rankings, China is progressively emerging as the world’s economic powerhouse. This paper examines the literature on how China’s rural reforms program facilitated the country’s fast economic transformation. The reforms process brought about institutional reforms that brought immense changes in the agriculture sector. The institutional reforms led to an increase in public investment in the area of R & D, irrigation, rural education, road, and electricity, which contributed to the growth in agricultural productivity and rural poverty reduction. It is these interventions brought in by the reforms that resulted in the miracle growth experienced by China.