China News Service, Haikou, February 17th: Why is it said that China and Africa have a deep friendship and a future of agricultural relations?
——Exclusive interview with Jin Ke, director of the International Cooperation Bureau and doctoral supervisor of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
China News Service reporter Wang Xiaobin
China and Africa, one is the largest developing country in the world, and the other is the continent with the largest concentration of developing countries. Since the 1950s, China-Africa agricultural cooperation has continued to deepen and achieved fruitful results. Previously, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China issued the "Practical Cooperation Measures for China's Agricultural and Rural Tribes to Implement China's Agricultural Modernization Plan for Africa (2024-2026)". The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the African Academy of Sciences jointly launched the China-Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance initiative to work with the African side. Explore new paths for China-Africa agricultural cooperation and help Africa achieve the relevant goals of developing modern agriculture in the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Plan.
What are the origins of China-Africa agricultural cooperation? What important results have been achieved? What are the future prospects? Jin Ke, director of the International Cooperation Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and doctoral supervisor, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service's "East-West Question" to explain.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
China News Service reporter: What is the origin of China-Africa agricultural cooperation? What important results have been achieved?
Jin Ke:
China-Africa agricultural cooperation can be traced back to the 1950s. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, China provided assistance to Africa by building demonstration farms and sending agricultural technical teams, mainly in the production field. After the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2000, China-Africa agricultural cooperation has paid more attention to systematization and sustainability: it has launched the construction of an agricultural technology demonstration center to aid Africa, dispatched a high-level agricultural technology expert group, carried out human resources development (training), strengthened the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) South-South Cooperation, etc.
China assists the Zambian Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center. Photo by Li Xiangyu
After Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative and a community with a shared future for mankind, China-Africa agricultural cooperation has entered a new stage of rapid development. China continues to increase its agricultural assistance and trade investment in Africa, proposes to jointly build a China-Africa community with a shared future, and promotes win-win cooperation. First, strengthen the construction of cooperation mechanisms and establish the China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Forum; establish the 10+10 cooperation mechanism between Chinese and African agricultural scientific research institutions; promote the establishment of the China-Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance and enhance the organizational level of China-Africa agricultural cooperation. The second is to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in agricultural science and technology, highlight the leading position of scientific and technological cooperation, and implement the "Belt and Road" science and technology innovation action plan; build China-Africa joint laboratories and partner research institutes; establish China-Africa modern agricultural technology exchange demonstration and training joint center; launch The “Belt and Road” special cooperation plan for science and technology poverty reduction will enhance the “technological” content of China-Africa agricultural cooperation. The third is to strengthen capacity building and continue to dispatch high-level agricultural technology expert groups; hold foreign-aid agricultural technology training courses; implement the "International Outstanding Youth Program"; vigorously recruit African students, cultivate agricultural science and technology talents for Africa, and strengthen Africa's independent agricultural development capabilities.
As an important force in China's agricultural cooperation with Africa, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has established cooperative relationships with 23 African countries and 9 international organizations, and the cooperation has achieved fruitful results.
During the Second China-Africa Agricultural Forum, agricultural officials from many African countries planted rice seedlings in front of the statue of Yuan Longping in memory. Photo by Wang Xiaobin
China News Service reporter: Africa is rich in resources, so why does it face long-term food shortages as a whole?
Jin Ke:
I think there are three main reasons. First, there is a lack of good seeds, good methods, and good opportunities. The yields of Africa's major crops are far below the world average, mainly due to the lack of high-quality seeds. According to rough calculations, just upgrading African seeds can bring about a potential increase of 20% to 50% or even higher. If supporting cultivation technologies and applicable agricultural machinery and equipment are upgraded at the same time, African agricultural productivity and productivity will be greatly improved. Second, agricultural infrastructure is weak and investment in agricultural production is insufficient. African countries lack infrastructure such as irrigation, roads, and storage, and are unable to produce or afford sufficient agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. They are basically in a state of "depending on the weather". The productivity of the land cannot be fully utilized, and pre- and post-production losses occur. More serious. Third, climate change brings severe challenges to agricultural production. Some countries in North Africa have been facing problems such as drought and desertification for a long time. Sub-Saharan Africa is rich in water, soil, light and heat resources, which are more suitable for crop growth. However, climate change has led to frequent extreme weather disasters, posing new challenges to Africa's originally fragile agricultural production.
China assists Tanzania Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center. Photo courtesy of China International Development Cooperation Agency
The above three aspects of issues can all provide assistance to Africa by strengthening China-Africa agricultural science and technology cooperation. By exporting China's high-quality seeds and breeding technology to Africa, it can help Africa realize the modernization of its seed industry. For example, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences cooperated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ("Gates Foundation") to distribute green super rice materials to 9 African countries, which increased production by more than 20% compared with local varieties and served more than 30,000 farmers. Benefited from.
Transferring China's advanced water-saving dry farming, conservation tillage, pest and disease control, climate-smart agriculture and other technologies to Africa can help Africa recover from losses in food production. Through the China-FAO South-South Cooperation Project, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences jointly promotes the sustainable prevention and control of Spodoptera Frugiperda in Africa; helps Rwanda establish a comprehensive underground pest control system, reversing the loss of local potato crop yields; and develops H5 avian influenza for Egypt. The vaccine has effectively controlled the avian influenza epidemic in Egypt; it has jointly built a "Joint Laboratory for Agricultural Green Development" with Egypt to improve Egypt's agricultural green development technology through joint research.
During the Second China-Africa Agricultural Forum, agricultural department officials from many African countries inspected Hainan. The picture shows a plant protection drone on a field ridge attracting everyone’s attention. Photo by Wang Xiaobin
China News Service Reporter: China and Africa have different resource endowments. Why can China-Africa agricultural cooperation achieve remarkable results?
Jin Ke:
Africa has huge room for progress in innovation, and its demand for agricultural technology is particularly urgent. China's technology and experience have very important reference significance for Africa in solving food security and poverty issues. Both China and Africa are based on the small farmer management model. The experience and technology China has accumulated in the process of developing traditional agriculture into modern agriculture, especially agricultural technology solutions for different production scenarios, are more suitable for application in African countries.
In addition, China attaches great importance to coordinating multiple resources to carry out cooperation with Africa. In addition to using government funds, it also cooperates with FAO, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Gates Foundation and other international organizations and non-governmental organizations to carry out South-South and trilateral cooperation in Africa. Cooperate to help Africa improve its agricultural science and technology development level.
During the Second China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Forum, agricultural department officials from many African countries inspected facility agriculture in Hainan. Photo by Wang Xiaobin
China News Service reporter: How is China-Africa agricultural cooperation different from agricultural cooperation between other advanced agricultural countries and Africa?
Jin Ke:
China adheres to the concept of "sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith" in its cooperation with Africa. China does not attach any political conditions to its cooperation with Africa, does not interfere in internal affairs, and does not make demands that make things difficult for others. It helps African countries vigorously develop their economies and achieve common development.
China's agricultural cooperation with Africa attaches great importance to both "teaching a man to fish" and "teaching a man to fish". It not only assists Africa with a large amount of food materials, but also focuses on improving local agricultural science and technology research and development and application in Africa through the cultivation of agricultural science and technology talents and technical training. capabilities to promote the independent development of African agriculture. Take the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences as an example. As an affiliated unit of the "China-Africa Joint Center for Exchange Demonstration and Training of Modern Agricultural Technology", the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has trained a total of 276 international students from African countries. It is one of the institutions that trains the most African students in the agricultural field. It has received 21 visiting scholars from Africa and has trained more than 2,600 students in Africa. In the future, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences will also build an international education college at the National Institute of Southern Propagation of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Sanya, focusing on recruiting African students to carry out technological innovation in the seed industry, doubling the number of international students within five years.
China assists Ethiopian agricultural vocational and technical education and training projects. Photo courtesy of China International Development Cooperation Agency
Reporter from China News Service: The current world situation is complex and volatile, and some areas are turbulent, which has further exacerbated global food security risks. What stable expectations can China-Africa agricultural cooperation bring?
Jin Ke:
According to the "State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023" report released by FAO and other institutions, 783 million people around the world will face hunger in 2022, and the African continent will still bear the brunt. One in every five people will not have enough to eat, and the number of hungry people The ratio is more than twice the global average. It can be said that the biggest challenge to achieve the global zero hunger goal remains in Africa.
Currently, Africa's own food production is insufficient and it relies heavily on imports. The international situation, especially regional conflicts, has brought challenges to world food production and transportation, exacerbating Africa's food insecurity. China-Africa agricultural cooperation is committed to fundamentally improving Africa's food self-sufficiency rate, reducing its dependence on the world food market, and exporting agricultural products with comparative advantages, which plays a very important role in stabilizing Africa and the world's food security.
In November 2023, the second China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Forum was held in Sanya City, Hainan Province. Photo by Luo Yunfei
China News Service reporter: How do you view the future prospects of China-Africa agricultural cooperation?
Jin Ke:
China-Africa agricultural cooperation has broad prospects. Through in-depth cooperation in the field of agricultural science and technology, on the one hand, we can increase the production of food crops in Africa and maintain food security in Africa and the world. The vast African continent is rich in biodiversity resources and is an important origin of crops such as rice, sorghum, white corn, sesame, cocoa, lentils, pumpkins, and oil palm. China-Africa scientific and technological innovation cooperation in the above-mentioned crop fields will help Improve the level of crop breeding and application of both parties and make positive contributions to world food security and sustainable development.
On the other hand, China-Africa agricultural cooperation can increase the output and quality of African agricultural products, promote China-Africa agricultural trade, enhance Africa's ability to earn foreign exchange from exports, and help Africa reduce poverty and increase income. For example, there is huge potential for China-Africa sesame cooperation. More than 70% of China’s sesame imports come from Africa. Compared with China, Africa's sesame production still has room for improvement by 3 to 4 times. Strengthening cooperation in the sesame field will help achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
In addition, Africa has 60% of the world's uncultivated arable land, which provides huge application space for China's agricultural science and technology to "go global" and also provides important potential for ensuring world food security. (over)
Expert profile:
Jin Ke, Ph.D., researcher, doctoral supervisor. He is currently the director of the International Cooperation Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the director of the Key Laboratory of Forage Efficient Production Model Innovation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the "Grassland Soil Health Evaluation and Function Improvement Research Innovation Team" of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Chief scientist of the "Agricultural Science and Technology Going Global Collaborative Innovation and Integrated Demonstration" project. He was appointed by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China as the leader of the International Cooperation Special Group for the “13th Five-Year Plan” Agricultural and Rural Science and Technology Innovation Planning and the leader of the expert group for the “13th Five-Year Plan” Agricultural Science and Technology International Cooperation Planning. In 2020, 2021, and 2022, he was invited to serve as a member of the Glinka World Soil Prize (the highest award in the soil field) and World Soil Day Award evaluation committees. He has won the Belgian De Boodt Award and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Outstanding Contribution Scientists in Soil Conservation Award.