Cooperation in agriculture between China and Africa has made significant progress since the establishment of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2000.
Trade has seen rapid growth, reaching $6.1 billion in 2014 from $600 million of 2001, all while China has invested over $700 million in agriculture on the African continent. In addition, China has built 25 agricultural technology demonstration centers in different African countries as well as a series of crop promotion platforms.
China has helped train more than 5,000 Africans in agricultural technology and management. The country has also provided practical agricultural guidance and training through trilateral agreements with a dozen African countries, such as Nigeria and Tanzania.
Wang Ying, director of the Department of International Cooperation of China’s Ministry of Agriculture, highlighted the fruitful achievements of agricultural cooperation between China and African countries.
In a recent article published by the People’s Daily, Wang writes that such cooperation helps African countries accelerate their agricultural development, strengthen their potential for self-sufficiency and improve their agricultural policy and industrial structure.
African countries offer vast lands and abundant sunshine, while China has technology, capital and market advantages. Through cooperation, the two sides can make use of respective advantages to generate mutual benefits.
Future cooperation should focus on agricultural capacity building, technological exchange, further investment and trade, and food safety in Africa.
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