China hosts leadership program

BEIJING — A total of 30 young people from around 20 African countries attended a Youth Leadership Program in Beijing last week.

Jointly launched by the Institute for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture, China Agricultural University, and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, the SouthSouth Cooperation / Belt and Road – Nurturing Youth Leadership for Agricultural Development in Africa training program included a series of sessions, a field trip to the northeast city of Shenyang and encouraged dialogue among the participants.

At the opening ceremony on Aug 27, Zhao Lijun, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, explained that China’s South-South agricultural cooperation focuses on sharing its experience to promote agricultural development with other developing countries in Africa and along the Belt and Road.

Alwin Chinyun Wesseh, the assistant minister from the Ministry of Agriculture of Liberia observed that the exchange, training and field studies can further deepen the understanding between China and Africa and enhance South-South cooperation in poverty alleviation, ending hunger, achieving food security and improve nutrition in Africa.

The program also gained support from the World Food Programme, the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, themed “China and Africa: Toward an even stronger community with a shared future through winwin cooperation”.