Joint farming to help ensure Africa's food security

President Xi is warmly welcomed by his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma before their talks in Pretoria, capital of South Africa, on Wednesday.[Photo/Xinhua]

Cooperation in agriculture is high on the agenda of the ongoing Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg, which is being co-chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Grain is the ultimate support of society, goes an old Chinese saying. And true to the proverb, the Chinese government has always paid great attention to agriculture. In fact, the first official document released every year is on agricultural development and rural issues.

For more than three decades, China has managed to provide enough food to its population that accounts for 22 percent of the world's total despite having just 7 percent of world's cultivable land. China has also lifted more than 500 million people out of poverty. And the country is working to eliminate abject poverty in the country by 2020.

Since the early 2000s Chinese agricultural enterprises have been investing heavily in Africa and working with African countries. They help build agricultural zones in Africa, co-establish agricultural technology centers, and organize other programs such as training and fishing. More than 100 agricultural programs are running in Africa with Chinese help and agricultural technology centers have been set up in more than a dozen countries.

China and African countries have complementary agricultural structures. The African continent has abundant natural resources while China has accumulated ample experiences in both traditional and modern agricultural production. Besides, compared with European and US enterprises that usually run large farms, Chinese enterprises can also run smaller agricultural plots.

Another advantage Chinese enterprises enjoy over their Western counterparts is their willingness to train local talents, instead of dominating the technologies to run the show. Over the past decade, the International Poverty Reduction Center in China has organized 20 training sessions for 493 students from 82 countries, of which 259 came from 42 African countries. After receiving training, the students spread the knowledge and experience in their own countries.

The 14 Chinese agricultural technology centers in African countries also hold regular training courses for local students. Such sharing of knowledge and technology makes China's agricultural aid to Africa more effective.

Chinese agricultural enterprises and institutions also work with their counterparts in African countries, and their teamwork helps boost agricultural production on the continent. Together with some Chinese agricultural enterprises, Guangzhou-based South China Agricultural University is working with Uganda's Makerere University and the Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture to establish an agricultural technology center that will not only benefit Uganda, but also other East African countries.

Agriculture forms the base of many countries' national economies and plays the most important role in their economic development. Without a prosperous agriculture sector, therefore, Africa's food security can never be ensured. China is helping Africa solve this problem.

Because China-Africa cooperation is inclusive, it will help balance global economic development as well. The combined population of China and Africa account for one-third of the world total, so their common development is critical to realizing common prosperity for all human kind.

The author is a senior researcher in African studies at the Chahar Institute and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.