AgriculturalexpertsfromChinaandAlgeriaexchangeexperiencesinsaline-alkalilandtreatment.ThismethodshavebeenusedtoincreaseyieldsandalleviatepovertyxinhuaWhenVictoriaSekitolekowasyoung,shehadnoideawhatshewoulddowhenshegrewup.Theonethingshewassureof,however,wasthatshewouldnevermarryafarmer.
TheformerUgandanministerofagriculturesharedtheanecdoteattheopeningceremonyofthePovertyReductionandDevelopmentConferenceoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperation(FOCAC)2018inBeijingonAugust14.
Growingupinafarmingfamilywheremoneywasscarce,onevalueyoungSekitolekotookawayfromherupbringingwasthatsheneededtogetasmucheducationaspossible,toescapethepovertyofrurallife.
However,itwasnotuntilsheenteredtheMakerereUniversitytopursueabachelor鈥檚degreeinagriculturethatsheunderstoodthevalueofagricultureandtheneedfordevelopingthecapacityofthissectortoalleviatepovertyinhercountry.
In2011,asarepresentativefortheUnitedNationsFoodandAgricultureOrganizationinChina,SekitolekobecameinspiredbytheChinesemethodofpovertyreduction.鈥淭oday,undertheframeworkofFOCAC,I鈥檓happytoseeChinaandAfricancountries[have]strengthened[theircooperation]inpovertyrelief,鈥漷heruraldevelopmentprofessionaltoldChinAfrica.
China鈥檚lessons
AccordingtoJustinYifuLin,CounseloroftheStateCouncilofChina,whenChina鈥檚reformandopeningupstartedinlate1978,Sub-SaharanAfrica鈥檚GDPpercapitawasmorethanthreetimesthatofChina.Atthattime,84percentofChineselivedonlessthan$1.25perday,theinternationalpovertystandard.
However,WorldBankstatisticsshowthatsincethereformandopeninguppolicybegan,Chinahasseenadramaticdecreaseofitsimpoverishedpopulation.Itspovertyratedroppedto1.9percentin2013from88.3percentin1981.
Overthepastthreedecades,some700millionruralresidentsacrossChinahaveshakenofftheyokeofpoverty.In2017,theper-capitayearlydisposableincomeofruralresidentsinpoverty-strickenareasreached9,377yuan($1,359),anincreaseofmorethan50percentoverthatin2013,accordingtoLiuYongfu,MinisteroftheStateCouncilLeadingGroupOfficeofPovertyAlleviationandDevelopment.
China鈥檚poorpeoplehavederivedgreatbenefitsfromthecountry鈥檚economicgrowth,duetostrongsupportfromtheChineseGovernment,activepromotionofindustrializationandurbanization,aswellasgreatimportanceattachedtoinfrastructureconstructioninpoorareas.
InDecember2015,ChinesePresidentXiJinpingannouncedthepovertyreductionprogramwaslistedasoneofthe10majorChina-AfricacooperationplansattheFOCACJohannesburgSummitinSouthAfrica.XipointedoutthatChina鈥檚experienceinpovertyalleviationcouldbeusedinhelpingAfricancountriescompletetheirpovertyreductiontarget.
Inrecentyears,ChinahasmadegreatstridesinsharingitspovertyalleviationexperiencewithAfricancountriesinareassuchasagriculture,technologyandskill,andinfrastructureconstruction.
Transformingagriculturesector
AsSekitolekorealized,inmanyAfricancountries,developingagricultureandincreasingfarmers鈥檌ncomearevitalinalleviatingpoverty.
AccordingtoJosefaLeonelCorreiaSacko,CommissionerofRuralEconomyandAgricultureoftheAfricanUnionCommission,Africahasabout600millionhectaresofuncultivatedarableland,roughly65percentoftheworld鈥檚total.However,manyAfricancountriesareamongthemostaffectedgloballybyfoodinsecurityandlowagriculturalproductivity.
TransformingtheagriculturalsystemsinAfricademandstheneedtoempowerthepoorfarmerswithtechnology,improvetheiraccesstoagriculturalknowledgeandprovidethemaccesstomarkets,accordingtoexperts.
TheprioritiesinagriculturalcooperationbetweenChinaandAfricancountrieswerethereforeentrenchedduringtheFOCACJohannesburgSummit,includingcarryingoutagriculturaldemonstrationprojects,transferringtechnologiesandcooperatingwithAfricancountriestoincreaseproductivity.
Fordecades,China鈥檚MinistryofAgriculturehasbeendispatchingChineseagriculturalexpertsandteacherstoAfricancountriestoprovidehelpinagriculturaldevelopment.Forexample,inOctober2015,a10-membermissionwasdispatchedtoZimbabwetoimplementthesecondbilateralagriculturalcooperationprogram.TheexpertsconductedthefirstexperimentonhybridricecultivationinZimbabwe鈥檚history.Thesixtestedricevarietiesyieldedmorethan10tonsperhectare,settinganewrecordforthecountry.
Personneltraining
Enjoyingademographicdividend,Africawillbehometo200millionyoungpeopleagedbetween15and24by2025,takingup20percentofthetotalpopulationofthecontinent,accordingtodatareleasedbytheUnitedNations.However,thelackofskillsisstilloneofthethreemajorbottlenecksinAfrica鈥檚development,withthetwinchallengesofbackwardinfrastructurefacilitiesandshortageoffunding.
AttheFOCACJohannesburgSummit,XipledgedChinawillsponsorvisitsby200Africanscholarsandtrainingtripsby500youngAfricanstoChina,andtrain1,000mediaprofessionalsforAfricaeachyear.Besides,Chinaoffers2,000educationalopportunitieswithdegreesordiplomasand30,000governmentscholarshipstoAfricanstudents.
In2017,JackMa,ExecutiveChairmanofAlibabaGroup,amultinationaltechnologyconglomerate,saidAlibabawouldworkwithseveralAfricanuniversitiesincollaborationwithgovernmentstodeveloptrainingprogramsone-commerce,theInternet,bigdataandcloudcomputing.鈥淭heobjectiveistotrainasmanyyoungpeopleaspossibleacrossAfrica,鈥漵aidMa.
Besides,ChineseenterprisesareplayingabiggerroleinhelpingAfricancountries鈥檆apacitybuilding.Forexample,inChineseshoemakerHuajianGroup鈥檚Ethiopiafactory,3,800ofits4,000employeesarelocals.Withgoodtraining,workerscanskillfullycompletethefullshoemakingprocessofleathercutting,bonding,sewingandmodelingandproducemorethan8,000pairsofshoesdaily.Apartfromadvancedshoemakingskills,someofthemweresenttoChinatolearntheChineselanguageandmanagementskills.
鈥淐apacitybuildingcouldmakeacontributioninimprovingthelocalworkforcequality,helpingpromoteEthiopia鈥檚economicdevelopment,鈥漵aidZhangYunqi,GeneralManagerofHuajianInternationalLightIndustryCity(Ethiopia).
Nextmove
AccordingtoLiu,Chinaisstillfacedwiththeheavytaskoflifting30millionpoorpeopleoutofpoverty,andAfrica鈥檚povertyreductiontaskiseventougher.EliminatingpovertyforsustainabledevelopmentisthesharedgoalandhistorictaskofbothChineseandAfricanpeoples.HebelievestheupcomingFOCACBeijingSummitinSeptemberwillunveilnewmeasuresforthetwosidestojointlyalleviatepoverty.
LiusuggestedatthePovertyReductionandDevelopmentConferencethatinthefollowingyears,ChinaandAfricacouldstrengthentheiranti-povertycooperationinthreeaspectsundertheframeworkofFOCAC.
First,thetwosidesshouldfurthercommunicationtosharetheirexperienceofpovertyalleviationandworktogethertoconductresearchinthefield.Second,ChinacontinuesitshelpintrainingpovertyreliefworkersfromAfricaaccordingtotheneedsofAfricancountries.Finally,pilotprojectscouldbejointlylaunchedasexamplesortechnicalsupportforpovertyreliefefforts.
Capacitybuildingcouldmakeacontributioninimprovingthelocalworkforcequality,helpingpromoteEthiopia鈥檚economicdevelopment.
ZhangYunqiGeneralManagerofHuajianInternationalLightIndustryCity(Ethiopia)**Commentsto