Class, politics and dynamic accumulation processes around the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, 2005–2014

ABSTRACT This study levels an international political economy lens at the development of the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, by examining how class relations shaped and were shaped by global trends, Chinese resources and Mozambican dynamic accumulation interests. The Sino-Mozambican rice project (2005–2014) is analysed as three projects benefiting different groups, with a focus on producer selection and allocation of means of production, in dialogue with the historical dynamics of agrarian accumulation and the political economy of Mozambique. The paper argues that the project has served the expansionist interests of the ruling capitalist group associated with central government circles, limiting land-based possibilities at province level. In addition, the plan to locally transform small producers into rural capitalists through ‘modern’ Chinese methods has failed to confront the historical interdependence of the commercial and so-called family sectors and the diversity of livelihood sources for the reproduction of food and labour.