From seeds of friendship to technologies of resistance: Understanding China’s ambiguous role in rural Tajikistan

China’s nascent role in the global agrifood regime and the country’s growing role in global standardization intertwine with the rising spread of Chinese seeds in foreign markets. This talk analyses these developments.

Based on long-term research, it examines the characteristics of and dynamics revolving around a Chinese seed company in Tajikistan, a country in which China’s influence has grown substantially since the early 2010s.

Is China sowing the seeds of empire? Focussing on Tajikistan’s cotton sector, Irna Hofman argues that Chinese seed breeders strategically tapped into Chinese state funds to develop their commercial seed business. However, Tajik actors played an indispensable role in mediating the Chinese presence and the commodification of seed.

Hofman contends that, while the Chinese state plays a central role in the globalization of seed companies, the materialization of state capital is shaped by private actors, who operate according to capitalist rationality.