Influencing China’s Investment in African Agriculture

We propose to develop a partnership among agricultural and sustainability scientists at Stanford University (Peter Vitousek and Pamela Matson), Kenyan scientists involved in agricultural development, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and China Agricultural University (CAU), with the initial goal of exploring the value that such a partnership could bring to sustainable agricultural development strategies in sub-Saharan African. We believe the engagement of our close colleagues who are highly recognized Chinese agricultural scientists and who have developed remarkable agricultural innovations in China could contribute to poverty reduction and sustainability in Africa. This partnership could contribute to Chinese investments in Africa that do not ignore either the need for sustainable agriculture approaches or the engagement of Africans in any decision making process - making them both more successful and more sustainable.