China-Africa Agricultural Modernization

In opening this week's FOCAC sessions in Beijing, Chinese Presient Xi Jinping said that all ten cooperation plans launched by China 3-years ago are now being implemented.

[File Photo: IC]

CRI's Xu Yawen with more on how agricultural development in Africa - one of the ten plans - is being influenced by the Belt and Road Initiative.

"The BRI brings opportunities for growth within Africa, opportunity for increasing trade and market access within Africa."

That is Clifford Tandari, administrative chief for the Morogoro region in Tanzania.

Morogoro is home to the Tanzanian Demonstration Center, which includes advanced agricultural technology imported from China that has been able to create a significant increase in local corn yields.

Tandari says this has done a lot to lift local villagers out of poverty.

"IBRC and the China Agricultural University are working in Tanzania on productivity and profitability of our farmers. That project there, using Chinese technology, we have found that the farmers' yield is growing more than two times, in some areas, three times. So farmers involved in these projects, for example,their income has increased, their poverty has declined, their welfare has grew up. Some of them can now afford to send their children into private schools. Something they are not being able to do before that. So we thank China for practical oriented programs, which go to the micro level to our people, lifted themselves out of poverty.

Meanwhile, in Rwanda, around 12-thousand people are now able to make money by planting variety of Chinese mushrooms through a process being taught at the China-Rwanda Agriculture Technology Demonstration Center

Chen Xiaobin is the Center's director, he says, "Juncao technology is very easy to learn, and the Juncao mushroom is very easy to plant. The largest advantage of this technology is that this is an eco-friendly agricultural product. Rwanda here has a lot of crop waste. Things such as corn cobs and cottonseed husks can be used as fertilizer to plant the Juncao mushroom. It's good for crop recycling. This technology has not only helped local farmers to increase household incomes, but also it is an eco-friendly agriculture product that can ensure environmental protection."

The increase in agricultural ties between China and Africa is something the African Union continues to press for.

Josefa Sacko is the AU's Commissioner for the Rural Economy and Agriculture, says, "Through the AU and China's Cooperation in the Rural Economy and Agricultural Development, there has been transfer of technology, enhanced human capacity through exchange visits of African experts to China, and technical assistance from China covering crop planting, pest and disease prevention and control, agricultural product processing, livestock breeding and fish and farming. We have also noted growing pricate investments in medium to large scale farms."

Africa has roughly 600 million hectares of uncultivated arable land, which is roughly 65 percent of the available arable land in the world.