Chinese scholarship gives Sudanese student chance to pursue his dreams

Eight years ago, Saeed Hamid Saeed Omer resigned from his job as a nutrition officer with the Ministry of Health in Sudan in order to pursue a master's degree in China.

He says that it was an easy decision to make.

"I want to improve my knowledge and skills of food science and engineering here," says Saeed, who is now in his third year as a doctoral student in Henan University of Technology in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan province.

Growing up as the son of a large local farm owner, studying food science and engineering at university was a natural choice for him.

After graduating in 2011 with a bachelor's degree, he became a nutrition officer responsible for children and women's health and sometimes worked with organizations such as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund and World Food Programme.

Sudan has a largely traditional economy in which the majority of the citizens rely on agriculture, which contributes to about one-third of the country's gross domestic product and provides a livelihood for about two-thirds of the active population, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

"But Sudan's capability in processing agricultural products is relatively weak," Saeed says. And that's one of the reasons that he chose to study in China.

"I heard that Henan province is famous for agriculture and that one-third of China's instant noodles and one-fourth of China's steamed buns are produced by this province. It is also where many renowned enterprises engaged in processing agricultural products are based. So I believe it is the right choice for me to study in Henan," he says.

Now Saeed has access to laboratories equipped with modern machines for him to conduct experiments on samples of flour, pasta and noodles so as to find out the more scientific way of preserving food and ensuring food safety.

"It is also easier for me to get the professional experimental data needed for publishing high-quality papers," he says.

China-Africa cooperation has enjoyed strong momentum in recent years, especially guided by the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation, and Saeed is one of the many African students who have got the chance to study in China with scholarships provided by the Chinese government.

During the 2015 FOCAC summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, China pledged to provide to Africa with 2,000 educational opportunities with diplomas or degrees and 30,000 scholarships. Three years later, at the 2018 FOCAC summit, China promised another 50,000 scholarships for African students.

"I applied for scholarships both for my graduate study and doctoral study which exempted me from paying fees for tuition and accommodation," he said.

Saeed says that he believes the agricultural sector in Sudan enjoys brighter prospects through its cooperation with China.

The two countries established the China-Sudan Agricultural Cooperation Development Zone in 2016, which focuses on the development and building of free trade platforms for various links of the industrial chain, from cultivation bases for superior varieties of crops and livestock breeds, to agricultural products processing and trading.

The development zone consists of a central area in the Rahad irrigation area in El-Gadarif State, Sudan, and multiple industrial parks.

In 2017, it was recognized as one of the first batches of 10 overseas agricultural cooperation demonstration zones by China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Speaking of his future plans, Saeed says that one option is to go back to Sudan and find a teaching job in the university.

"I want to make my own contribution for the progress of food science and engineering in Sudan," Saeed says.