This paper analyzes Japan's role in offshore agricultural investment, based on the case study of ProSAVANA project. ProSAVANA is an ongoing trilateral Public Private Partnership (PPP) project between Brazil, Mozambique and Japan that aims to develop 14.5 million hectares of Northern Mozambique. This paper constitutes of two sections; the first section asks 'why' Japan got involved in offshore agricultural development investment. The second section asks 'how' their agro-food strategy appear on the ground, under the nexus of aid, changing food regime, and different agrarian context of partner countries. The paper argues that ‘aid,’ which was the very factor that created Japan’s dependency structure, became the tool for Japan to promote investment and to create new dependencies. During the postwar food regime, intersection of Japanese development scheme and US food aid created a condition where Japan had to achieve food security through trade. After the global food crises, the same ‘aid’ scheme served as a tool to bridge barriers for accumulation by facilitating and legitimizing ‘profitable’ investment.

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Borras, S.M.
hdl.handle.net/2105/17337
Agrarian and Environmental Studies (AES)
International Institute of Social Studies

Okada, Kana. (2014, December 12). Role of Japan in Offshore Agricultural Investment: Case of ProSAVANA Project in Mozambique. Agrarian and Environmental Studies (AES). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/17337