Responsible production in Africa: The rise of China as a threat or opportunity?

This chapter explores likely impacts of the rise of China on opportunities to enhance responsible production in Africa. Responsible production refers to those situations where lead actors in value chains make a deliberate effort to include, throughout their supply chain, labor and environmental standards that go beyond the existing minimum legal requirements. In this way, I use responsible production as an umbrella term, encompassing both Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and Fair Trade activities. This chapter is part of a broader program of research that raises two basic questions in order to begin assessing the development relevance of responsible production. First, how likely is it that responsible production becomes increasingly mainstreamed? Second, to what extent can we expect the “tool” of responsible production to enhance developmental outcomes? In other words, these questions explore the quantitative – reach – and qualitative – depth – importance of responsible production for development. While CSR has been first and foremost a business tool so far, the challenge is to identify where and when it can also become a development tool.