A land of rich pickings

By Joseph Catanzaro and Li Fangchao (China Daily) Updated: 2014-07-21 07:14

Chinese farms in Zambia are relatively smaller than those run by other farmers, but the number and the scale are growing. Zhang Wei / China Daily

The interior walls and floors are raw and unfinished. The roof is a patchwork of tin and fiberglass. For Si, his house is proof that the stereotypes about Chinese in Africa are often a far cry from reality.

"Not every Chinese man here is a rich man," he says.

Last year, Si says, he only just broke even. In 2011, during a daylight robbery, bandits tied up his wife at gunpoint and fled with the farm's entire earnings for the year, the equivalent of $75,000.

Barry Sautman and Yan Hairong, professors at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, confirm that Chinese are being attacked, and in some cases killed in Zambia.

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"Chinese have been targeted by criminals in Zambia for at least a decade," Sautman says.

While racism and an upsurge in nationalism cannot be ruled out as motives, he says, there are a number of reasons for the attacks, including a perception that Chinese are more likely to have cash and are less likely to go to the authorities for help.

"Criminals think that most Chinese have large amounts of cash, and some Chinese did, until recently, not trust local banks with their business earnings.

"Chinese may also be thought of as less likely to call upon police for help, in part because of language problems, but also because the police often seek bribes to perform even basic protective services.

"Many Chinese feel that they are marginalized outsiders who will not receive the protection of authorities even when it is sought.

"Chinese have, however, recently formed a security and crime prevention liaison group that seeks to increase police protection."

Apart from security, there are more mundane challenges, too.

"Zambia's currency fluctuates all the time, Si says. "Yesterday it was (worth) 7.2 (against the US dollar), today it is 6.4; you never know what it's going to be."

But for all the hardships and hurdles, there is reticence in Si's voice when he talks about how he believes Chinese farmers like him are making a difference in Zambia locally and nationally.

Sudanese-born Omer Saeed, an agriculture economist who works for the United Arab Emirates government as part of a team that identifies investment opportunities in Africa, says agriculture is a much riskier investment than mining or infrastructure.