“This paper examines a land deal in a state‐run irrigation scheme in Southern Mozambique to develop agriculture through technology transfers, in the context of Sino‐Mozambican bilateral relations. The project has developed in two distinct phases since 2006, consisting of a pilot phase and slow
expansion until late 2011, and of massive expansion of land use since then. Using an agrarian political economy approach, this study provides an analysis of the actors, processes and outcomes of the Chinese project to date, and particularly of political dynamics at work. This paper engages the land grabbing debate about the place of China therein, the role of the state versus private investors, and the directions of agrarian change from a historical perspective, while questioning basic assumptions such as the duality smallholders ‐ commercial farmers.”
