Official Development Assistance

This book investigates China’s contemporary development cooperation mentality and modality through the case of its agricultural engagement with Africa. It identifies three models, namely traditional agro-aid, innovative agro-aid and agribusiness models, of Chinese current agro-development cooperation with Africa, and unpacks the different models by tracing their historical origins and examining the actual practice based on project-level fieldwork conducted in Mozambique and South Africa.

The end of the Cold War has prompted many donors of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to fundamentally realign their global aid and trade relations.

The report recommends that it transform today’s fragmented approach – in which numerous organisations are involved – to one in which a single main player manages a smaller number of larger projects.

The report suggests that New Zealand could renew efforts to maintain development expertise and grant more authority to country offices. It is encouraged to clarify and better communicate its strategic vision, incorporating the environmental and social dimensions of sustainable economic development.

Five different member countries are peer reviewed each year. The aim is to assess the extent to which the development policies, strategies and activities of the reviewed country meet the standards set by the DAC. Members provide constructive criticism and recommendations based on a report that touches on aid policies, volumes, institutions and field operations.