Self-reliance as a Transnational Practice: Agricultural Cooperation Between North Korea and African Countries During the Cold War

Paper Abstract: This paper analyzes the cooperation between North Korea and African countries to achieve their common objective of “self-reliance” in the context of the postcolonial Cold War. Many countries in the global South endeavored their postcolonial development by pursuing the ideas of self-reliance since the 1960s. However, previous works have not shed light on how these nations collaborated to achieve self-reliance to counter the world order during the Cold War, led by patrons like the United States, the Soviet Union, and the People’s Republic of China. This study examines how North Korea referred to the idea of self-reliance to introduce agricultural projects in African countries such as Guinea, Tanzania, Burundi, and Ethiopia. After joining the Non-Aligned Movement in 1975, Pyongyang promoted its developed agriculture to seek recognition and enhance prestige within international organizations. The global food crisis and the UNCTAD’s call for the New International Economic Order in the 1970s allowed North Korea to disseminate its advanced agriculture. Unlike Western diplomats’ doubt about its Juche agricultural method [], North Korea established Agro-Science Research Institutes in Guinea and Tanzania and dispatched experts to develop localized farming methods to achieve “collective self-reliance.” Despite its financial and technical constraints, North Korea’s agricultural focus aligned with the needs of African countries with chronic food shortages and lack of self-sufficiency in food production. This study argues that self-reliance became a transnational practice during the Cold War, which North Korea tried to achieve in collaboration with African countries rather than relying solely on individual countries’ capabilities.