“Planting Rice on the Roof of the UN Building: Analyzing Taiwan’s Chinese Techniques in Africa, 1961-present,”

Abstract

This article studies the development of the Republic of China`s (Taiwan) agricultural aid projects to Africa from the 1960s to the present. Beginning with the Vanguard Project in 1961, Taiwan has sought to exchange its intensive rice cultivation techniques for international political recognition. The article looks at a variety of successful and failed assistance endeavours and analyses the motivation and processes behind this development assistance in the context of diverse African farming environments. Instead of insisting on its intensive farming culture, Taiwan has developed a sustainable aid mentality and now uses a hybrid approach that utilizes its cultivation expertise to complement the farming endowments of aid recipients.