Figure ① When rice was harvested, local people excitedly took photos with experts from China holding rice.
Figure ② On Wara Farm, China agricultural machinery is working.
Figure ③ China technicians teach local farmers how to grow rice. (Photo courtesy of Chen Yi)
Rice is the main food crop in many African countries. Although Africa has a large area of land suitable for rice growth, countries still suffer from insufficient production and consumption gap. China’s rice industry has rich experience in variety cultivation, production and processing, equipment technology, demonstration and promotion, and industrial investment. The cooperation between China and Africa in the field of rice has obvious complementarity and great development potential.
Develop operation mode according to local conditions
With a population of nearly 200 million, Nigeria has abundant arable land, sufficient labor force, abundant water resources and forest resources, and the conditions for developing agriculture are unique. However, the present situation of agricultural development in Nigeria is very backward, food is not self-sufficient, and it relies heavily on imports.
There is a demonstration farm covering an area of 2,025 hectares in Kebi State, northwest Nigeria. WARA, an agricultural mechanization farm, was invested and built by China Zhongdi Overseas Group in 2006. "After the establishment of the farm, then Nigerian President Obasanjo led relevant cabinet ministers to visit the farm and placed high hopes on promoting the process of agricultural modernization in Nigeria as a starting point." Wang Jun, deputy general manager of China Overseas Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., said in an interview with the Economic Daily reporter.
Less than half a year after the establishment of the farm, China Overseas Group completed the infrastructure planning and investment construction of the farm with the help of South-South cooperation agricultural experts from China at that time.
However, the road to development is full of thorns. The wrong rainy season in 2006 gave the farm a "scare". After the sowing was completed, various problems followed. The original technical scheme and equipment of field management can’t adapt to the working environment. Almost all 600 hectares of rice were swallowed up by weeds, and the few tens of hectares of rice with harvest value that were barely preserved were also low in harvest rate due to the low purity of seeds purchased from local companies and inconsistent maturity.
"The company recognizes that agricultural development in Africa needs a systematic solution, and seeds are one of the urgent problems to be solved. It is not possible to directly copy China’s model experience, but to innovate on the basis of China’s technological experience model and the actual situation in Africa." Wang Wei said.
In 2008, China Overseas Group and Yuan Longping Agricultural Hi-tech Co., Ltd. jointly established Green Agriculture West Africa Co., Ltd. in Nepal. With the joint efforts of farm technical experts, a comprehensive exploration has been started from breeding to production and cultivation techniques.
After five years of exploration and innovation, in 2010, the company finally explored the mechanized rice direct seeding cultivation mode and paddy field transplanting cultivation operation mode, established the seed production management system, and obtained the Nigerian seed production and operation license.
Wang Yun said with joy: "The company has realized the localized development of hybrid rice, and also carried out multi-party cooperation to implement diversified seed development around the local planting structure."
Cultivate rice varieties with independent property rights
China’s overseas agriculture has taken root in Nigeria and developed steadily step by step. In 2012, it became a supplier of conventional seeds of rice and corn and original seeds of rice for the "Grain Growth Plan" project of the Nigerian Ministry of Agriculture. The company also carried out training for local farmers and disseminated rice seed production and planting technology, which was welcomed by local farmers.
China Overseas has established a "company+farmer" production base in Nepal, which has driven more than 5,000 farmers to find jobs and increased production and income, helped Nepal build a production capacity of 10,000 tons of excellent rice seeds, and made great contributions to increasing rice production in Nepal. According to preliminary statistics, as of 2018, China and overseas contributed more than 1 million tons to increase rice production in Nigeria.
After more than 10 years of continuous investment and efforts, the company registered GAWAL R1, a conventional rice variety with independent intellectual property rights, in Nepal in 2017. Wang Jun proudly said: "GAWAL is the abbreviation of the English name of Green Agriculture West Africa Co., Ltd., R stands for rice, and 1 is the number. This is the first rice variety cultivated by a China enterprise named in Nepal, the first crop variety named by a Nigerian government agency according to the company name, and the first rice variety recommended by the Nigerian government to other 14 countries of the West African Community."
In order to develop sustainable agriculture in Nigeria, China Overseas has made a long-term plan to invest in the construction of an agricultural high-tech industrial park in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, from 2013.
Wang Jun said that the industrial park aims to build a platform for agricultural cooperation between China and Africa, with Nigeria as the center, facing Central and Western Africa and the whole African region, shifting from technology demonstration to industrial demonstration, taking seed and seedling, agricultural machinery exhibition and agricultural products processing as the driving objectives, devoting itself to the demonstration training and promotion center of agricultural technology and equipment in China, Yu Jiancheng, the industrial incubation park radiating Africa with Nigeria as the center, and the cooperation platform for academic exchange of knowledge and information and exhibition and trading of essential product resources to promote agricultural development in Africa.
Promote experience suitable for Africa’s development
How can China’s agricultural development experience be combined with African practice to achieve complementarity? Wang Yun put forward some suggestions based on the experience of China and overseas countries in Nigeria for more than 10 years.
First, win-win cooperation. In agricultural cooperation with foreign countries, in addition to Chinese units going out to sea in groups, sincere cooperation and benefit sharing, it is also necessary to pay attention to foreign demands and interests, bring benefits to local people through cooperation, and achieve win-win cooperation.
The second is to be realistic and innovative. Compared with Africa, China’s agricultural development model, experience, technology and equipment have certain advantages, but when it is introduced to Africa, it must be innovated according to its own characteristics.
The third is to identify the key links in the industrial chain. Agriculture has a long industrial chain from seed and planting to storage and processing. It is suggested to "grasp both ends and put them in the middle", make efforts in seed and processing, and fully cooperate with local farmers and industry organizations in planting.
The fourth is to pay attention to fulfilling social responsibilities. The characteristics of agriculture itself determine that agriculture-related enterprises must have long-term strategy and long-term vision in their operations. In addition to their business operations, enterprises should also have the courage to assume social responsibilities and participate in local public welfare activities.
Wang Jun believes that China-Africa agricultural cooperation has broad prospects and great room for cooperation. On the one hand, China’s various agricultural development models, agricultural technology and industrialization development experience are suitable for Africa, and the two sides have huge space for cooperation in agricultural industrialization capacity, and can carry out industrial and technological cooperation to enhance African agricultural production capacity. On the other hand, China-Africa agriculture is highly complementary, and Africa has obvious advantages in agricultural resources. China is the largest market and importer of agricultural products, and has a huge demand for tropical cash crops in Africa, which provides Africa with a broad market space. (Economic Daily China Economic Net reporter Chen Wei)