Chinese Rice Helps Poverty Alleviation in Africa

Since 2017, when hybrid rice introduced from China was planted, the Dina family living in the town of Maichi in Madagascar have not only had enough to eat and have enough money to build a new house, but also trained three college students.

"This year is the best harvest year, and Chinese experts are very responsible, teaching us technology and knowledge, and helping us increase production." Dina, 44, said that before planting local rice, the same area did not yield enough to eat in a year. Planting hybrid rice can not only meet the food needs of the whole family of six people, but also have surplus rice to sell, with enough income to build houses and purchase more land for rice cultivation.

This is a microcosm of China's hybrid rice helping Africa achieve food self-sufficiency. At present, more than 20 African countries are planting hybrid rice, and China continues to provide technical support to countries and regions in need to help strengthen agricultural capacity building related to hybrid rice.

Yuan Longping Agricultural High tech Co., Ltd. is committed to promoting hybrid rice worldwide. Since launching hybrid rice aid work in 1995, it has implemented 179 foreign aid training programs.

"Africa is a key area for our technological aid to foreign countries," said Chen Xiaoliang, Planning Manager of the Training Department of Longping High tech. From 2020 to 2022, Longping High tech held a total of 24 agricultural training sessions targeting Africa, with a total of 977 participants. In order to ensure the normalization of non-agricultural assistance during the epidemic, Longping High Tech has also helped some African countries establish online agricultural training platforms and equipped specialized translators for different languages.

There is also a group of Chinese experts who have been stationed in Africa for a long time, helping the local area seek effective ways to expand food production, and 65 year old Hu Yuefang is one of them. In 2007, China and Malaysia launched hybrid rice technology cooperation. At the end of the following year, Hu Yuefang, an expert from the Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, went to Madagascar to study hybrid rice varieties suitable for local natural conditions. This is now the 16th year.

"Rice is an important crop in Madagascar. Due to factors such as outdated technology and infrastructure, the country's rice production cannot fully meet the food needs of its people," said Hu Yuefang. In order to find the most adaptable hybrid rice variety, he and his technical team traveled almost all of the rice growing areas in the island country during their stay in Madagascar.

At present, the cumulative promotion area of Chinese hybrid rice in Madagascar has reached over 50000 hectares, with an average yield of about 7.5 tons per hectare. Hu Yuefang said that the average yield of hybrid rice varieties cultivated with new Chinese technologies is 2 to 3 times that of local varieties in Africa.

In May 2019, the African branch of the China National Hybrid Rice Engineering Technology Research Center was unveiled in the town of Mayiqi, Madagascar. Zhang Lijun, Executive Director of the Africa Branch, introduced that on the one hand, the center selects and promotes hybrid rice varieties and cultivation techniques that are suitable for local needs, and on the other hand, trains local growers to master advanced technologies. "We hope to establish ourselves in Madagascar, face Africa, and through cooperation in hybrid rice technology between China and Africa, help Africa achieve the goals of eliminating hunger and achieving food security as soon as possible." Zhang Lijun said.

Madagascar Indian Ocean Trading Company collaborates with China to promote Chinese hybrid rice in Madagascar. In the view of Tahyana Lazanamaheifa, the head of public relations at the company, China has always been committed to helping Africa's development and helping African people overcome poverty. "I hope to engage in more cooperation with China in areas such as agricultural mechanization and hybrid rice seed production."

Hybrid rice also contributes to poverty reduction in Africa. In 2018, the Chinese expert group guided 134 farmers in Linge 4 Village, Jihanga County, Bubanza Province, Burundi to conduct demonstration production of hybrid rice in large areas. At present, the village has successfully planted for 8 seasons, with a total planting area of 380.64 hectares, a total output of 4104 tons, and a net income of 1.3186 million US dollars. The entire village has basically achieved poverty alleviation.

Diomed Ndayrukiye, Director General of Territorial Planning, Irrigation and Heritage Protection of the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry of Burundi, said that Chinese agricultural experts helped Burundi achieve many successes, especially in the introduction of hybrid rice. "Thanks to Chinese technology, we have changed our production from 3 to 4 tons of rice per hectare to 10 or even 11 tons of rice per hectare."

After three years of pandemic obstacles, exchanges between China and African countries in the field of hybrid rice are returning to normal. "The Third China Africa Economic and Trade Expo was held in Changsha, Hunan, and many African countries have already made appointments with us in advance." Wei Ran, the International Cooperation Director of the Industry Department of the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, said that agricultural ministers and ambassadors from multiple African countries, including Malawi and Egypt, have contacted the center and hope to strengthen guidance on local hybrid rice.

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