Bullets:

China is aggressively sourcing new supply chains for food, to diversify away from North America, Europe, and Australia.This is a boon to farmers in Vietnam, and now in Africa as food exports to China are rocketing higher, across even niche agricultural markets.In another blow to American soybean farmers, China is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to develop soy farms in Angola. Combined with other crops, new Angolan food exports to China will soar to over 500,000 tons per year.China is also snapping up supply chains for nuts in Africa, using the same methods that have given them virtual monopolies in other foods products, such as chocolate. By dealing directly with African farmers, and paying above-market rates to spur new production, China locks in all the new supply, and cuts out middlemen on Wall Street and in London.This is a transcript, for the YouTube video found here:

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Report:

Good morning.

China has been aggressively diversifying away from the United States, in sourcing food. Chinese firms are “scouring the globe” to source new supplies of everything, we can say. They’re locking up supply chains in Kenya for macadamia nuts and in South America for beef.

China is the world’s biggest market, and so these moves at the expense of American farmers are a boon to farmers in countries across the Global South.

Across the ag sector, countries in Latin America have displaced North America and Europe. Western countries’ exports to China have dropped 12.3% year over year from 2023 to 2024, and the headlines from 2025 are even worse for farmers there.

We profiled before China’s supply chain shift in lobsters, where Vietnam is blowing up the lobster industry in Canada and Australia. When China again allowed imports of lobster from Vietnam, they increased by over 14 times in a single year. China is also opening up other ag products from Vietnam:

But Africa is a new story, and China opened up new niche markets to African suppliers. Zimbabwe signed an export deal for avocados, and Tanzania started shipping honey. China has a huge domestic supply chain for lamb and mutton products, but nevertheless signed big contracts with Madagascar to supply stores and restaurants in Hunan province.

The news out of Angola isn’t likely to help American soybean farmers sleep better at night. CITIC is a giant company here, and they are developing industrial-scale soybean operations in Angola. $250 million dollars will go to develop nearly 400 square miles of land there.

Sixty percent of the eventual Angolan production will be exported to China, with the rest used locally. The Angolan Agriculture Minister says that his country is taking advantage of the geopolitical situation, the trade wars and blocked markets, and is happy to have a guaranteed customer for the soy coming off of CITIC’s farms there in Angola. He expects that over 500,000 tons of food will be exported to China through other deals.

Africa is also the largest source for Chinese nuts, which go into many of the health foods sold here. South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe are huge suppliers, and a single company in Kenya has 12,000 farmers under contract now, and hopes to have twice as many, just to serve the Chinese market.

This blurb here: in the middle of that paragraph, is similar to what Chinese buyers have done in so many other markets, such as chocolate—cocoa. Chinese firms come in and deal directly with local farmers, paying higher prices in doing so, to guarantee Chinese access to the market. African farmers make more money, Chinese buyers have guaranteed supply, and the middlemen on Wall Street and in London are taken out completely.

Here they go again, but this time in Kenyan macadamias: Chinese buyers came in, offered farmers high prices that pushed the prices way up—seven times higher—and today the Kenyan macadamia nut industry is booming again, and all of it is coming to China.

Be Good.

**Resources and links:**Tanzania makes first shipment of honey to chinahttps://english.news.cn/africa/20241226/85e045d9bf3a493fa5ea332a35447ce7/c.htmlZimbabwe signs agreement to export avocados to chinahttps://www.farmersweekly.co.za/agri-news/africa/zimbabwe-signs-agreement-to-export-avocados-to-chinaTrump%E2%80%99s Global Trade Chaos Creates an Opportunity for African farmershttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-08/china-qatar-uae-invest-in-african-agriculture-industry-in-2025China%E2%80%99s Citic to Develop Large Soybean, Corn Farms in angolahttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-21/china-s-citic-to-develop-large-soybean-corn-farms-in-angolaChina Is Scouring the Globe in Search of New Food suppliershttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-01-14/china-taps-vietnam-russia-for-food-supplies-to-reduce-western-dependenceCanadian lobster now cheaper than steak, after China shifts supply chains to Vietnam

Now it’s chocolate: prices hit records as Ghana, Ivory Coast and China cut out Western firms

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