Rice cooperation: China’s effort to reduce African hunger
By Kou
Jie
A
landlocked nation with little arable land for farming, Nigeria is the most
populated country in Africa. Of its 182 million people, 60 percent are living
below the poverty line, while malnutrition affects some 40 percent of Nigerien
children.
In an
effort to tackle starvation, the Nigerian government has put considerable
effort into the cultivation of rice, a crop which is suitable for the nation’s
climate. Though the country is the largest producer of rice in West Africa, it
is also the second-largest importer of rice in the world due to the lack of
advanced technologies and an underdeveloped market.
“Agriculture has failed to keep
pace with Nigeria’s rapid population growth, and our country now partially
relies upon food imports to sustain itself,” said Matthew Olusegun Owolabi, an
official with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development.
“Currently, the food per capita in
Africa is around 200 kilograms, while per capita food production is only 150
kilograms. By the end of 2030, the population in Africa may rise to 1.8
billion, making the food shortage even more prominent,” said Liu Dong, Senior
Program Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
But this
dilemma is about to change, as China, the world’s largest rice producer and
tech leader in agriculture, recently reached out a helping hand. According to
Owolabi, a Chinese-aid agricultural demonstration center will be built in
Nigeria to help train professionals and provide necessary agricultural
technologies.
“With its advanced rice
technologies, China can feed 20 percent of the world’s population, with only 7
percent of the world’s farmland. Africa possesses 14 percent of the global
arable land. With the help of China, I believe that within time it can
alleviate starvation,” said Liu.
A grain of rice matters
Food
deficiency and malnutrition have long been a challenge faced by African
countries. According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization,
out of the 86 countries that are food deficient, 43 are in Africa.
In an
attempt to alleviate starvation, African countries have looked to China, a
country with a long history of rice cultivation. During the last four decades
of reform and opening-up, the rice industry in China has achieved remarkable
progress and made significant contributions to overall economic development,
agricultural transformation and poverty reduction.
Since
2006, China has been working to provide new technology in agriculture to
African countries, while Chinese experts and technicians have carried out more
than 300 small-scale projects in nine African countries, promoted 450
agricultural technologies, and trained nearly 30,000 local farmers and
technicians, Xinhua News Agency
reported.
New rice
varieties designed for African countries have also been provided to local
farmers. According to the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, a new rice
variety named Green Super Rice made its debut in April, which is suitable for
Africa’s climate conditions. It can achieve an average yield increase of
0.89–1.83 tonnes per hectare, which is worth 230.9 dollars per hectare for
local farmers.
“There
is obvious potential in China-Africa agricultural cooperation, especially in
the rice value chain,” said Zhang Ning, director for the South-South Fund
Program of the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchange
under the Ministry of Commerce.
Echoing
Zhang, Pedro Dzuchula, national director of Agriculture and Silviculture in
Mozambique, noted that such cooperation had brought his country remarkable
benefits.
“Chinese agri-company Wanbao has
been providing machines and new technology to help our farmers grow more rice.
So far, local rice production has greatly improved, as output per hectare can
now reach 6 to 7.5 tonnes compared to only 2 to 2.5 tonnes in the past,” said
Dzuchula.
During
the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping
promised that China would support Africa in achieving general food security by
2030. He added that 500 senior Chinese agriculture experts will be sent to
Africa to train young researchers in agri-science and entrepreneurs in
agri-business.
“Cooperation in the rice industry
is key to China-Africa cooperation, and the development of the rice industry is
the foundation of a prosperous and stable Africa,” said Zhang.
Future cooperation
During
the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo held in Changsha, Central
China’s Hunan Province in June, Yuan Longping, a renowned Chinese agronomist
who developed the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s and helped African
nations to tackle famine, told media that China and Africa would witness more
cooperation in rice production.
“We will send young Chinese
scientists to Africa every year, to help African countries improve rice
production, as well as develop their agricultural industry,” said Yuan.
Following
Yuan’s lead, a joint initiative on strengthening south-south and triangular
cooperation in the China-Africa rice value chain, proposed by seven
organizations, including the China National Hybrid Rice Research and
Development Center and the African Union, was also released during the expo. It
called for China to help Africa solve key bottlenecks in technology, machinery
and commercialization to promote value chain upgrading and agricultural
transformation.
“In the future, technology
transfer, professional training and infrastructure construction will be the
priorities for China-Africa rice cooperation. We believe the cooperation will
bear more fruit in the future, helping African countries to alleviate poverty,”
said Owolabi.
Source:People’s Daily Online
On July 29, 2019, in Wuyi
Village, Wanjiazhuang Street, Dao County, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province,
farmers drove agricultural machinery to level the paddy fields under high
temperature. (Photo by Jiang Keqing from People’s Daily Online)
Rice cooperation: China’s effort to reduce African hunger
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