Success Factors of Cross-Border Agricultural Investments for Opium Poppy Alternative Project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Yan Jin, Liyun Zhang () and Lu Feng
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Yan Jin: School of Economics and Management, Yunnan Agricultural University, 95# Jinhei Road, Panlong District, Kunming 650201, China
Liyun Zhang: Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security, Yunnan University, South Section, East Outer Ring Road, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, China
Lu Feng: School of Economics and Management, Yunnan Agricultural University, 95# Jinhei Road, Panlong District, Kunming 650201, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: Cross-border agricultural investments (CBAIs) are considered to be an essential strategy that is expected to bridge the gap between poverty reduction and rural development in marginalized regions. Agricultural investments serve as a necessary indicator of the performance of international cooperation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. It is of great significance to summarize the success factors of Chinese investors under this initiative and, more importantly, to improve the sustainability of CBAI projects and associated rural development. Extensive opium poppy cultivation is a barrier to poverty reduction in marginalized communities in less-developed countries such as Laos and Myanmar. The CBAIs in the opium poppy alternative (OPA) project conducted by Chinese agricultural companies aim to reduce drug crop cultivation and rural poverty based on a perspective of economic development. However, little is known about how participating companies cooperate with ex-poppy farmers to achieve investment success. In this study, we adopted case interviews and questionnaire surveys from Chinese agricultural companies in the China–Myanmar–Laos border region, with the aim to explore the success factors of CBAIs in the OPA project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The results indicated that the success of agricultural companies involved in the OPA project depended on three key factors, including (1) institutional and employee capacity building, (2) responses to policy and market incentives, and (3) support for the participation of ex-poppy farmers and community development. Our findings contribute to the theoretical and practical understanding of capacity improvements for foreign investors in China’s Belt and Road Initiative and shed light on the support of international agricultural cooperation for rural livelihood improvement.

Keywords: agricultural investment; opium poppy substitution; rural livelihood; Belt and Road; Myanmar; Laos (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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