Ensuring program continuity

According to CICOS’S assessment of the agricultural aid program in Africa, Chinese agricultural personnel are competent in their technical skills and professional knowledge, but they generally do not have a good command of foreign languages, especially in veterinary, aquiculture and sericulture, which has brought problems to expert selection and program implementation.

To solve those problems, the CICOS has established a database of 800 Chinese agricultural experts. Supported by the MOA’S Department of International Cooperation, the center has also drafted a foreign languages training plan for agricultural experts for the next two years.

Liu suggested interpreters should also be dispatched to Africa with the agricultural experts, so that the selection of those agricultural professionals will not be confined by their language proficiency. Covering a wide range of agricultural fields, the aid programs have been implemented in many cooperation organizations in African countries. Thus, it takes a longer period for the programs to show results.

According to Wang, the agricultural experts dispatched to African countries usually work for one to two years, and there is a long interval between them and the next experts groups. Overall, the aid projects lack continuity and long-term planning.

Hu Zuobin, a senior veterinarian from Sichuan Province, has taken part in five vocational education programs in Ethiopia’s Alage ATVET College and Agarfa ATVET College from November 2009 to July 2016. Hu said project continuity is the main concern of the Ethiopian side that hopes Chinese teachers can be sent to Ethiopia on a regular basis. At present, the Ethiopian ATVET project lasts about one year for each group. “Because of the one-year span of the program, when I design and plan the training and experiment demonstrations, I only consider how to complete that year’s teaching task, rather than thinking too much of the next year,” Hu told “Such arrangement lacks long-term planning.”

“I hope the duration of the program can be extended. I think in the two months before the end of a program, Chinese teachers can discuss with the Ethiopian faculty members about the direction and requirements of the next program, which can be taken as one of the criteria for selecting teachers,” Hu suggested.

To address this problem, Wang Jing said the center has made some efforts to ensure the continuity of the program. “Before starting a new program, we will communicate with the agriculture authorities in African countries to learn more about their needs, trying to ensure continuity and enhance effectiveness,” she said.

Wang said now the CICOS works with the Department of Foreign Assistance of the Ministry of Commerce to carry out program investigation and make preliminary preparation for the upcoming agricultural programs in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Burundi. They will focus on specific programs and make a long-term and sustainable plan. Based on the program requirements, Chinese experts will be selected to ensure project continuity and effectiveness.

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