Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Complexities Arising from the Role of Chinese Firms in the Renaissance of the Tobacco Industry in Zimbabwe

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Chinese Investment in Africa

Part of the book series: Economic Geography ((ECOGEO))

  • 42 Accesses

Abstract

China’s role in Zimbabwe dates back to the liberation struggle in the 1970s when it supported the armed struggle against white minority rule. Despite this, Anglo-American capital prevailed during the first two decades of postcolonial Zimbabwe. The implementation of the radical Fast-Track Land Reform Programme in 2000 reconfigured Zimbabwe’s trade relations as Western capital ‘went on strike’, leading to Zimbabwe’s ‘Look East Policy’ and the involvement of Chinese state enterprises and companies in resuscitating the country’s national economy. This chapter examines the role played by a particular Chinese firm in the revival of the tobacco industry through contract farming in Zimbabwe. Specifically, it focuses on the character of the relations between the Chinese firm (Tian Ze), Zimbabwean state and black tobacco farmers. It advances the argument that Chinese capital has provided the Zimbabwean state and local tobacco farmers with room to manoeuvre, contrary to the widespread view that China is by necessity anti-developmentalist and a new ‘coloniser’. At the same time, the chapter brings to the fore the asymmetries existing in the relation between China on the one hand and the Zimbabwean state and farmers on the other.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alao C (2014) China and Zimbabwe: the context and contents of a complex relationship. In: SIIA occasional paper, 202. Global Powers and Africa Programme, Pretoria

    Google Scholar 

  • Alden C, Jiang L (2019) Brave new world: debt, industrialization and security in China-Africa relations. Int Aff 95:641–657. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiz083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Appau A, Drope J, Goma F (2019) Explaining why farmers grow tobacco: evidence from Malawi, Kenya, and Zambia. Nicotine Tob Res 27

    Google Scholar 

  • Binswanger-Mkhize H, Moyo S (2012) Zimbabwe: from economic rebound to sustained growth: growth recovery notes. World Bank, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Brautigam D (2011) Aid ‘with Chinese characteristics’: Chinese foreign aid and development finance meet the OECD-DAC aid regime. J Int Dev 23:752–764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brautigam D, Tang X (2009) China’s engagement in African agriculture: ‘down to the countryside’. China Q 199:686–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambati W, Mazwi F (2022) Contract farming in Zimbabwe: review of issues, debates and practices with special reference to cotton, tobacco and sugar. In: Jha P, Yeros P, Chambati W, Mazwi F (eds) Farming and working under contract. Peasants and workers in global agricultural value system. Tulika Books, New Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen K, Badian O, Zhang L, Collins J, Zhou Y (2018) China-Africa agricultural modernization cooperation: situation, challenges and the path ahead. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Chingosho R, Dare C, van Walbeek C (2020) Tobacco farming and current debt status among smallholder farmers in Manicaland province in Zimbabwe. Tob Control 30:610–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chintu N, Williamson PT (2013) Chinese state-owned enterprises in Africa: myths and realities. Ivey Bus J 2

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark M, Magati P, Drope J (2020) Understanding alternatives to tobacco production in Kenya: a qualitative analysis at the sub-national level. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17:2033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang J, Smith J (2019) Should tobacco play a role in China’s development model? East Asia Forum. https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/08/23/should-tobacco-play-a-role-in-chinas-international-development-model/. Accessed 16 Jan 2022

    Google Scholar 

  • Fang J, De Souza L, Smith J, Lee K (2020) “All weather friends”: how China transformed Zimbabwe’s tobacco sector. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17(723):1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2020) Countries by commodity, 2020. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/countries_by_commodity. Accessed 5 Mar 2022

  • Goma F, Jeffrey D, Zulu R (2017) The economics of tobacco farming in Zambia (revised version). University of Zambia School of Medicine and the American Cancer Society

    Google Scholar 

  • Guillon M, Mathonnat J (2019) What can we learn on Chinese aid allocation motivations from available data? A sectorial analysis of Chinese aid to African countries. China Econ Rev 60:101265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2019.01.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodzi O, Hartwell L, Jager N (2012) ‘Unconditional aid’: assessing the impact of China’s development assistance to Zimbabwe. S Afr J Int Aff 19(1):79–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu T-w, Lee AH (2015) Commentary: tobacco control and tobacco farming in African countries. J Public Health Policy 36:41–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irwin B, Haley SD, Chishakwe NE, Vitoria B, Kudonhi S (2012) Building agricultural markets: constraints and opportunities in contract farming for smallholder agricultural economy in Zimbabwe. Final report prepared for the Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund, Agribusiness Systems International, Harare

    Google Scholar 

  • Jha P, Yeros P (2019) Global agricultural value systems and the south: some critical issues at the current juncture. Agrar South J Polit Econ 8(1–2):14–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Karp PE (2009) China’s engagement in Africa increases – and so does the debate around it. Available online: https://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/chinas-engagement-in-africa-increases-and-so-does-the-debate-around-it. Accessed 8 June 2022

  • Kenkel DS, Schmeiser MD, Urban C (2014) Is smoking inferior? Evidence from variation in the earned income tax credit. J Hum Resour 49:1094–1120

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostova D, Tesche J, Perucic AM (2014) Exploring the relationship between cigarette prices and smoking among adults: a cross-country study of low- and middle-income nations. NICTOB 16:10–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leppan W, Lecours N, Buckles D (2014) Tobacco control and tobacco farming: separating myth from reality. Anthem Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Li C (2019) The political mapping of China’s tobacco industry and anti-smoking campaign. Brookings, Washington, BC

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazwi F (2022) The political economy of contract farming in Zimbabwe. HSRC Press, Cape Town

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazwi F, Chambati W (2022) Economic sanctions in Zimbabwe and their implications. Agrar South Res Bull XVI. http://www.agrariansouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ASN_RB_Sep-Dec_04_01_23.pdf. Accessed 15 Feb 2023

  • Mazwi F, Chambati W, Mudimu GT (2020) Tobacco contract farming in Zimbabwe: power dynamics, accumulation trajectories, land use patterns and livelihoods. J Contemp Afr Stud 38(1):55–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development (MAMID) (2012) Second round crop assessment report. Government Printers, Harare

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Finance (2009) The 2010 national budget statement. Ministry of Finance, Harare

    Google Scholar 

  • Mkodzongi G, Lawrence P (2019) The fast-track land reform and agrarian change in Zimbabwe. Rev Afr Polit Econ 46:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moyo S, Nyoni N (2013) Changing Agrarian relations after redistributive land reform in Zimbabwe. In: Moyo S, Chambati W (eds) Land and agrarian reform in Zimbabwe: beyond white settler capitalism. CODESRIA, Dakar

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Moyo S, Chambati W, Murisa T, Siziba D, Dangwa C, Mujeyi K, Nyoni N (2009) Fast track land reform baseline survey in Zimbabwe: trends and tendencies, 2005/06. AIAS Monograph, Harare

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukwereza L (2013) Reviving Zimbabwe’s agriculture: the role of China and Brazil. IDS Bull 44:4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mukwereza L (2015) Situating Tian Ze’s role in reviving Zimbabwe’s Flue-Cured Tobacco sector in the wider discourse on Zimbabwe-China cooperation: will the scorecard remain Win-Win? CBAA Working Paper 115. Future Agricultures. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a08991e5274a31e0000156/WP115_FAC.pdf. Accessed 20 May 2023

  • New Zimbabwe.com (2023) Tian Ze rapped for ‘blood-sucking’ tobacco farming contract scheme as media tour turns nasty. New Zimbabwe. https://www.newzimbabwe.com/tian-ze-rapped-for-blood-sucking-tobacco-farming-contract-scheme-as-media-tour-turns-nasty/

  • Reuters (2007) Zimbabwe gets farm machinery worth US$25 million. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/zimbabwe-china-idINL2154251920070421

    Google Scholar 

  • Sachikonye L (1989) The state and agribusiness in Zimbabwe: plantations and contract farming. In: Leeds southern agrarian studies, vol 13. African Studies Unit, University of Leeds

    Google Scholar 

  • Sachikonye L (2016) Old wine in new bottles? Revisiting contract farming after agrarian reform in Zimbabwe. Rev Afr Polit Econ 43(51):86–98

    Google Scholar 

  • SADC (2011). Food security early warning system - Food Security Update. October 2011. https://www.sadc.int/sites/default/files/2021-08/SADC_Food_Security_Update_October2011.pdf. Accessed 10 Dec 2022

  • Sakata Y (2017) International and contract farmers after Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe. Monograph. SMAIAS, Harare

    Google Scholar 

  • Sakata Y (2022) Meeting global capital in a village: the expansion of tobacco contract farming in Zimbabwe. In: Mazwi F, Mudimu G, Helliker K (eds) Capital penetration and the peasantry in Southern and Eastern Africa. Springer, pp 219–237

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Scoones I, Marongwe N, Mavedzenge B, Murimbarimba F, Mahenehene J, Sukume C (2010) Zimbabwe’s land reform: a summary of findings. Brighton, Institute of Development Studies

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoones I, Mavedzenge B, Murimbarimba F (2018) Tobacco, contract farming, and agrarian change in Zimbabwe. J Agrar Chang 18:22–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shonhe T (2021) The politics of mechanization in Zimbabwe: tractors, accumulation and agrarian change. J Peasant Stud 49(1):179–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shonhe T, Scoones I (2021) Private and state-led contract farming in Zimbabwe: accumulation, social differentiation and rural politics. J Agrar Chang 22(1):118–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang X (2019) The impact of Chinese investment on skill development and technology transfer in Zambia and Malawi’s Cotton Sector. SAIS-CARI Working Paper 23/January 2019

    Google Scholar 

  • TIMB (2012) Tobacco industry and marketing board annual statistical report. Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, Harare

    Google Scholar 

  • TIMB (2018) Tobacco industry and marketing board annual statistical report. Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, Harare

    Google Scholar 

  • TIMB (2021) Tobacco industry and marketing board annual statistical report. Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, Harare

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO (2014) Systematic review of the link between tobacco and poverty. World Health Organisation, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodend J (2003) Potential of contract farming as a mechanism of commercialization of smallholder agriculture. Report prepared for FAO. www.fao.org/3/a-ah925e.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Zamchiya P (2011) A synopsis of land and agrarian change in Chipinge district, Zimbabwe. J Peasant Stud 38(5):1093–1122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimnow (2023) Tian Ze helps rejuvenate tobacco industry. https://www.newzimbabwe.com/tian-ze-rapped-for-blood-sucking-tobacco-farming-contract-scheme-as-media-tour-turns-nasty/

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zimbabwe National Defence University, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Tendai Gunduza

  2. Department of African Studies and Linguistics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Freedom Mazwi

Authors
  1. Tendai Gunduza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Freedom Mazwi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of African Studies and Linguistics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Freedom Mazwi

  2. Department of Development Sciences, Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Marondera, Zimbabwe

    George T. Mudimu

  3. Department of Sociology, Rhodes University, Makhanda, Eastern Cape, South Africa

    Kirk Helliker

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gunduza, T., Mazwi, F. (2024). Complexities Arising from the Role of Chinese Firms in the Renaissance of the Tobacco Industry in Zimbabwe. In: Mazwi, F., Mudimu, G.T., Helliker, K. (eds) Chinese Investment in Africa . Economic Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52815-6_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation