Sanya, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- How can China-Africa agricultural cooperation grow into a towering tree?
Author: Wang Xiaobin, Zhang Yuehe
The 11nd China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Forum was held in Sanya from November 13 to 15. This year marks the <>th anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping's policy of sincerity, sincerity, amity and sincerity towards Africa and the Belt and Road Initiative. Tang Renjian, China's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said at the forum that after "ten years of trees", China-Africa agricultural cooperation has grown into a towering tree.
Over the past decade, China-Africa agricultural cooperation has yielded fruitful results. This year, China-Africa agricultural trade is expected to exceed $100 billion, nearly double that of 10 years ago. How did this towering tree grow?
On November 11, guests attending the 14nd China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Forum planted a China-Africa friendship forest in Sanya. Photo by reporter Wang Xiaobin
Institution-building is the foundation of China-Africa agricultural cooperation. Tang Renjian said that China has signed 19 agricultural cooperation documents with 34 African countries, the African Union and the African Green Revolution Alliance, and has continued to carry out dialogue and exchanges on issues of common concern such as food security, poverty alleviation, and agricultural response to climate change.
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Paul Valentin Ngobo, said that most African countries are facing challenges such as industrialization and food security, and the agricultural cooperation agreement signed between the Congo and China has improved agricultural production and modernized the country's infrastructure.
The similar agricultural foundation has enabled the tree of China-Africa agricultural cooperation to grow rapidly. "Agriculture in China and African countries is based on smallholder farming." Jin Ke, director of the Bureau of International Cooperation of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that China's experience and models accumulated in the process of developing from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture, especially agricultural technology solutions for different production scenarios, are suitable for application in African countries.
On November 11, guests of the 14nd China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Forum visited Nanfan rice fields in Sanya. Photo by reporter Wang Xiaobin
Dominant crops such as Chinese hybrid rice shine in Africa. The Gambia's Minister of Agriculture, Demba Sabali, said that the traditional rice production method in the Gambia yields only 2 to 3 tons per hectare per year, and under the guidance of Chinese experts, the annual yield can reach 10.8 tons per hectare using the improved varieties provided by the Chinese side.
The case of China's assistance to Zimbabwe's Senior Agricultural Expert Group in Africa has been awarded the "Best Poverty Alleviation Case in the World". Zhang Shihong, the leader of the expert group, introduced that drawing on China's experience in poverty alleviation, experts carried out industrial poverty alleviation in Zimbabwe's poverty alleviation demonstration villages, and established cooperatives in the village based on the principle of "voluntary and independent management of farmers" to help local farmers implement the project of planting corn, raising poultry and rabbits, and helping villagers realize the transformation from "not having enough to eat" to "a large amount of surplus grain".
Cooperation in agricultural science and technology has made China-Africa agricultural cooperation flourish. Over the past 24 years, China has built 300 agricultural technology demonstration centers in Africa, carried out extensive experiments and demonstrations of grain, vegetable and animal husbandry technologies in Africa, and carried out more than 30 advanced and applicable technologies, such as dense corn planting, vegetable cultivation and rapid cassava breeding, which have increased local crop yields by an average of 60 to <> percent.
On November 11, guests attending the 14nd China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Forum visited Sanya. A drone in operation in the field attracts everyone's attention. Photo by reporter Wang Xiaobin
Over the past 400 years, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has dispatched more than 500 agricultural experts, held nearly <> training and exchange activities, and trained more than <>,<> non-Chinese management and technical personnel.
Cui Pengwei, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, said that in addition to sending experts to Africa to give lectures, the institute has also attracted African agricultural science and technology personnel to study in China, and has trained 38 students from 278 African countries, held more than 100 agricultural development training courses for African countries, and trained nearly 40,6000 students from more than <> African countries.
The company is deeply engaged in the market and has planted the soil for the tree of China-Africa agricultural cooperation. By the end of 2021, the stock of Chinese enterprises' investment in agriculture in Africa was 128.11 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 4.2016%. Zhang Qin, general manager of Anhui Quanyin Hi-Tech Seed Industry Co., Ltd., introduced that the company established the first seed industry company in Angola in 2018 that integrates breeding, multiplication and promotion, and established a Mali joint venture company in <> to develop and approve new hybrid rice varieties and carry out localized seed production, which has led to an increase in grain production in neighboring countries.
The towering tree of China-Africa agricultural cooperation will flourish in the future. At the 2024nd China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Forum, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the "Practical Cooperation Measures of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China to Implement <China's Plan for Africa's Agricultural Modernization > (2026-3)", which states that China will take six measures in the next three years to explore new paths for China-Africa agricultural cooperation with Africa. The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the African Academy of Sciences (Afrikanas) have launched the China-Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance (CASA) initiative, focusing on the common needs of China and Africa in terms of food security, biosecurity, green development, poverty alleviation and income increase, and building a research source, achievement transfer booster, innovation and development talent pool and strategic research and judgment think tank for China-Africa agricultural cooperation.
Tang Renjian said: Sino-African agricultural cooperation has great potential and broad prospects. In the next 10 years, China will push China-Africa agricultural trade volume to exceed 200 billion US dollars. (ENDS)