A report on South-South in Action: China-Tanzania Cooperation through Agriculture and Poverty Reduction Partnerships, was released recently, at the 2021 International Forum on South-South Cooperation and Trade in Services — Digital Economy for South-South Cooperation of China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS).
Jointly issued by the College of International Development and Global Agriculture of China Agricultural University and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, the special report aimed to share China’s development experience, and promote the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals as a public good to the world.
At the release ceremony, Professor Xu Xiuli, dean of the college, introduced China’s “Small Technology, Big Harvest”, the China-Tanzania Joint Program of Scaling-up Maize Labor Intensification System in Morogoro Region. The project was jointly implemented by China Agriculture University and Sokoine University of Agriculture of Tanzania, and shared “two major experiences” of China’s development to seven districts and 10 villages in the Morogoro region. Among the projects, intensive mix-cropping technologies appropriate for local productivity level and a state-led Merit-Based Public Management System as an incentive mechanism of rural development were introduced. The project expanded the rural community-based poverty reduction model to 1,000 households and 666.6 hectares of farmland. Due to the triple crop increase, participating farmers from the initial nine households climbed to 1,432 households in 2020.
Although the whole world was hit by the pandemic last year, constant exchanges and cooperation were maintained through digital tools. Support from the Chinese embassy in Tanzania, Morogoro local governments and China Agricultural University made possible a jointly held online awards ceremony for the Top 10 Extension Worker Competitions under the Small Technology, Big Harvest project. They made great efforts working at the grassroots level, serving African farmers and improving local people’s livelihoods. It was a great activity demonstrating local independence.
Meanwhile, the M.A. program with China-Africa “1+1” Agricultural Cooperation of China Agriculture University was officially launched with the first overseas students registered in September 2021. Seventeen African students from six countries – Sierra Leone, Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda and Uganda – overcame various local inconveniences and successfully completed the online courses and opening defense. Under the adverse conditions of the global pandemic, the training mechanism of foreign students has been reconstructed by using digital information communication technologies.