Irna Hofman, J Agrarian Change, 2024, 24(2) e12581
https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12581
Abstract
China's nascent role in the global agrifood regime manifests itself in varied ways across the world, including in the rising spread of Chinese agricultural inputs in foreign markets. This article examines the character and dynamics of a Chinese seed company in Tajikistan, a country in which China's influence has grown substantially since the early 2010s. Focussing on Tajikistan's politicized cotton sector, I analyse the multiscalar and multiactor processes involved in the promotion of Chinese cotton seed and illuminate that Chinese seed breeders strategically tapped into Chinese state funds for their commercial seed business. However, Tajik actors as well as socio-economic, technical, and political factors have played a crucial role in mediating the Chinese presence and the commodification of seed. I contend that Tajik farmers' seed selection is not significantly influenced by, what could be called, grand politics. Furthermore, I demonstrate that, while the Chinese state plays a central role in the globalization of seed companies, the materialization of state capital has been shaped by private actors, who operate according to capitalist rationality.
Article pdf available here.
