Chinese agri-tech helps Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa prosper
It has been only 21 months since China and Sao Tome and Principe resumed diplomatic relations, but the agrarian country in the Gulf of Guinea has already seen significant changes.
Thanks to the newly introduced cultivation technology from China, the output of maize there went up nearly 70 percent per hectare. New strains of Chinese cabbage, cucumber and tomato are growing larger than previous strains, and there are fewer parasites on goats that underwent the Chinese sterilization process.
These are just a few of the achievements Chinese agricultural technology has yielded in the country.
China and Sao Tome and Principe resumed diplomatic ties in December 2016. Shortly after, a team of four Chinese agricultural experts arrived at the launch of Chinese agricultural technical support project in the island nation, one of the 47 least developed countries listed by the United Nations.
According to Yang Yang, an official in charge of the project with China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, nearly 20 Chinese agricultural specialists have been involved in the project, which continues to progress smoothly.
In the rural areas of the country, Chinese experts are seen from farmhouses to pastures and fields, working tirelessly on improving local agricultural conditions. By devoting themselves to the project, they won the trust and praise of local people.
Helder Menezes, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Sao Tome and Principe, wrote a letter applauding the fine work of the Chinese experts.
A local farm owner asked for a Chinese national flag to hang on his farm with that of Sao Tome and Principe to demonstrate the friendship between the two countries.
Other Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa are experiencing the same benefits of the Chinese helping hand.
Valdemar Morais, an official in charge of food safety with the Angolan Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, participated in a training session on agricultural technology in China’s Shaanxi province in July.
African countries are seeking development, and technical assistance from China is a golden opportunity, said Morais.
Agricultural experts from Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe also received training sessions on agricultural technologies in Guizhou and Hunan provinces.
In keeping with the China-Africa cooperation principle of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith, China proposed in 2015 that cooperation in 10 areas including agriculture would be carried out in the following three years.
As the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last month added further weight to the mutual ties, China-Africa relations will soon embark on a new journey. “We will step up efforts in promoting China-Africa cooperation in agricultural modernization so as to benefit more African countries,” said Yang.