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Abidjan, June 19th (Xinhua) - China Science and Technology Agricultural Cooperation Helps Enhance the Value Added of Cote d'Ivoire's Agricultural Products
Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Chuyun and Zheng Yangzi
In the early morning, the chairman of a rubber cooperative in Cote d'Ivoire, Joboue, drove a truck to the outskirts of the southern town of Dabu to deliver the newly harvested cup rubber to the Chinese rubber processing plant here.
In June, Ivory Coast entered the rubber cutting season, with trucks waiting for unloading at the entrance of the rubber processing plant every day. These locally produced raw materials will be processed into standard rubber by the factory and then transported to China for processing into rubber products.
Jobue told reporters that the arrival of Chinese companies has changed the landscape of the local rubber industry. "Previously, the local rubber industry had been in a state of overproduction, and it was Chinese factories that helped us open up sales channels. Our cooperative's monthly production increased from 1000 tons to 2000 tons."
Ivory Coast has superior natural conditions and is an important agricultural country in West Africa and the largest natural rubber producing country in Africa. However, due to a lack of processing capacity, the country used to only export low value-added raw materials, resulting in meager income for rubber farmers.
In 2020, Meilan Group Co., Ltd. put into operation its first rubber initial processing plant in C ô te d'Ivoire, and two years later, the second plant was completed and put into operation. Currently, the total annual production capacity is about 260000 tons, equivalent to a quarter of the country's annual rubber production.
Bonawantil, the resource supervisor of the Ivory Coast Agricultural Research and Consulting Industry Association, stated that in the past, the country lacked formal acquisition channels, resulting in a backlog of rubber, and buyers took the opportunity to significantly lower prices, seriously affecting the income of rubber farmers. Chinese processing plants have provided stable and reasonably priced shipping channels for rubber farmers, who have expanded their rubber forest scale after increasing sales.
Dibi, the chairman of another local rubber cooperative, told reporters that since cooperating with Meilan Rubber Factory, his and the cooperative's rubber farmers have significantly increased their income and improved their lives.
Rubber processing plants are a microcosm of the flourishing development of agricultural cooperation between China and science and technology. In February 2022, companies such as Meilan Group, Hunan Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd., and Yueyang Guansheng Investment Development Co., Ltd. signed a "Hunan+" Ivory Coast project cooperation agreement to continue expanding agricultural cooperation between the two countries. The relevant enterprises will build initial processing plants for agricultural products in C ô te d'Ivoire and establish precision processing plants in China according to the agreement.
Cai Dianwei, Chairman of Hunan Construction Investment Group, stated that Cote d'Ivoire is rich in agricultural products such as rubber, palm oil, cotton, soybeans, and corn. After the completion of the initial factory, it will increase the added value of local agricultural products, increase employment opportunities, promote industrial development, and inject new impetus into the sustainable development of the local economy and society.
Zhang Liang, Deputy General Manager of Meilan Group, introduced that the two rubber processing plants currently in operation have created more than a thousand job opportunities, and the two factories under construction will provide an additional thousand jobs, while driving the economic development of surrounding communities.
Bonawantil said that the cooperation between science and China in agriculture has also solved the problem of young rural population outflow in the local area. "Chinese companies purchase rubber at a fair price, encouraging young people to stay in the village and engage in agricultural cultivation."
Bonawantil believes that the win-win cooperation between Cote d'Ivoire and China's agriculture will help Cote d'Ivoire achieve economic development. "As you can see, the city of Abidjan is undergoing a new round of changes."