Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses the changing nature of Brazilian development cooperation in Africa and the emerging features of the Brazil-Africa encounter in the agricultural domain. It discusses the extent to which new paradigms of cooperation and of agricultural development may be emerging.

Paper long abstract:

Brazilian cooperation for development is increasingly in the spotlight. Despite having a small portfolio compared to other 'rising powers', such as India and China, Brazil is a source of world-leading expertise across a range of areas of undisputable relevance to developing countries' development processes - most notably tropical health and agriculture research and technology. Similarly to other 'rising powers', Brazil follows a policy of demand-led cooperation and no-interference with partner countries' sovereignty. It refuses to be labeled as donor and emphasises the distinctive character of its South-South cooperation, claimed to be based on horizontal and mutually beneficial relations. Africa is a major destination of Brazilian cooperation and agriculture tops the list of priority fields on intervention. Embrapa leads most agricultural cooperation initiatives but this is now changing as other public, private and civil society actors enter the cooperation domain and bring with them different views and experiences of agricultural development. The Brazilian Ministry of Agrarian Development, for example, carries with it a distinctive motto of family farming and food sovereignty. It also adds a public policy angle to the cooperation portfolio which has thus far been dominated by training and technological transfer. This paper maps the changing nature of Brazilian development cooperation and discusses emerging features of the Brazil-Africa encounter in agriculture. It contrasts the visions and models of development associated with different Brazilian actors engaged in cooperation and discusses whether new paradigms of cooperation and agricultural development are emerging and what implications this may have for partner countries in Africa.