AFRASO Lecture: Prof. Dr. Sayaka Funada Classen

11. July 2013
Alter Senatssaal, Jügelhaus, Campus Bockenheim

AFRASO Lecture Invitation

Prof. Dr. Sayaka Funada Classen (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan)

"Re-thinking Japan's Agricultural Assitance in the Brazililan Cerrado and Northern Mozambique: Local Farmers and the Environment"

Time: Thursday, 11 July 2013, 4 pm (s.t.)

Venue: Campus Bockenheim, Mertonstr. 17-21, Jügelhaus, Alter Senatssaal

This presentation will examine the much debated characteristics and background of the “Triangular Cooperation for Agricultural Development of the Tropical Savannah in Mozambique”, the so-called “ProSAVANA” program, signed jointly by the governments of Japan, Brazil, and Mozambique in 2009. This programme has been criticized by local farmers’ and civil society organizations due to its possibility of land-grabbing by foreign investment and for the top-down process of project planning and implementation. This presentation seeks: (1) to analyse the discourse and the arguments observed in public documents and discussions of Japanese planners and promoters of the programme; (2) to examine – based on the voices of the local civil society – the social and cultural characteristics of Northern Mozambique and preceding cases of land grabbing observed in Brazil and other African countries; (3) to highlight the characteristics and the challenges concerning the present predominant discourse of development and assistance.

Dr Sayaka FUNADA-CLASSEN is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies where she teaches African Affairs, Peace and Conflict Studies, International Cooperation and Portuguese. She received her Master’s degree in International Relations from Kobe City University of Foreign Studies in 1995, and a Ph.D. degree in International Relations from Tsuda College in 2006. She was awarded a Japan Association for African Studies Prize for her book “History of Armed Liberation Struggle in Mozambique” in 2008 (published in English under the title “The Origins of War in Mozambique”). She has been playing an active role in civic activities in the field of emergency relief, peace-building, advocacy for development assistance, African issues and Mozambique, and supporting children in/from Fukushima after March 11, 2011 (Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Nuclear Crisis). Her research interest extends from the history and politics of Mozambique and peace building in Africa to developmental issues.