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Chinese food grows in Africa's "slap fields" – Chinese experts help farmers in Sao Tome and Principe increase their incomes and lift themselves out of poverty

Before the rainy season in October, 32-year-old Yamaka · Martins harvested Chinese cabbage for the first time in her field. Experts from the Chinese aid to São Tomé and Príncipe (hereinafter referred to as São Tomé and Príncipe), who were guiding the planting in the field, rushed to become the first "buyers" of Yamaka cabbage.

Chinese food grows in Africa's "slap fields" – Chinese experts help farmers in Sao Tome and Principe increase their incomes and lift themselves out of poverty

Duan Zhenhua (back left), an expert from the China-Aided Agriculture and Príncipe Agricultural and Pastoral Technology Project, conducts a training on animal disease surveillance technology at the National Veterinary Laboratory in São Tomé and Príncipe (photo taken on June 21, 2024). Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of China's Agricultural Technology Group for São Tomé and Príncipe)

Affected by the climate and other planting conditions, the cabbage of Yamaka's family has long leaves and thin body, which is different from the appearance of Chinese cabbage, but the yield is higher than that of other green leafy vegetables commonly grown by local farmers. Cabbage is one of the vegetable varieties that the Chinese expert team has experimented with and promoted in São Tomé and Príncipe. Through testing and comparison, they screened out 14 varieties of vegetables, such as eggplant and pepper, to help local residents solve the problem of few types of vegetables and high prices.

Sao Tome and Principe, located in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, is one of the least developed countries in the world as declared by the United Nations. The soil and tropical rainforest climate of the volcanic island of São Tomé and Príncipe provide ideal conditions for cocoa cultivation, which became the world's largest cocoa producer a hundred years ago. However, excessive rainfall and insufficient sunlight have limited local food and vegetable cultivation. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, São Tomé and Príncipe relies on imports for more than half of its daily food, and more than half of the population faces moderate to severe food insecurity.

Yamaka's farmland is located on the hillside of Novamoka village, and the family has worked hard to cultivate about two acres of "palm field", which is not large, but it is the flattest farmland in the village. Yamaka grows bell peppers in half of the area. Bell peppers are sold locally for about 70 yuan per kilogram and are one of the more expensive vegetables.

Chinese food grows in Africa's "slap fields" – Chinese experts help farmers in Sao Tome and Principe increase their incomes and lift themselves out of poverty

Experts from the China-aided São Tomé and Príncipe Agricultural and Pastoral Technology Project team instruct chicks on artificial incubation techniques at the Poultry Breeding Center in São Tomé and Príncipe (photo taken on October 8, 2024). Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of China's Agricultural Technology Group for São Tomé and Príncipe)

"Chinese experts have taught me how to improve bell pepper seedling techniques, increase vegetable yields by breeding strong seedlings, and how to reduce diseases. I also learned to compost with weeds to improve the soil and reduce the amount of fertilizer I put in. Yamaka said that the yield of bell peppers in the farmland has almost doubled, and she has grown zucchini, which is also promoted by Chinese experts, and the price per kilogram in the local market is also very high (about 60 yuan), so the family's income has increased a lot.

Peng Jie, a vegetable grower, is a member of a Chinese expert group that guides model farmers like Yamaka. He told reporters that since his arrival in August 2023, he and his colleagues have been conducting agricultural experiments, demonstrations and extension work in the local area, using a variety of resources to help local farmers improve planting varieties, improve planting techniques, and change planting concepts to help them increase production and income.

Since 2017, China has launched a technical project to assist agriculture and pruritism in São Tomé and Príncipe, and Chinese experts have begun to cooperate with the local government in agriculture. As of October 2024, the International Exchange Service Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China has sent a total of 32 people to São Tomé and Príncipe in four batches to carry out technical demonstrations and training in the fields of vegetables, maize, livestock and poultry, veterinary medicine, rural energy and agricultural product processing, and has established a demonstration village for comprehensive agricultural poverty alleviation to help São Tomé and Príncipe achieve sustainable agricultural development.

Chinese food grows in Africa's "slap fields" – Chinese experts help farmers in Sao Tome and Principe increase their incomes and lift themselves out of poverty

Peng Jie (right), an expert from China's agricultural and technical project team in São Tomé and Príncipe, instructs vegetable growers to improve their field management techniques in the Mezohi region of São Tomé and Príncipe on January 25, 2024. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of China's Agricultural Technology Group for São Tomé and Príncipe)

After seven years of hard work, the Chinese team has established a demonstration base for animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, a demonstration base for high-yield cultivation of crops and vegetables, a demonstration base for poultry breeding centers, and two demonstration villages for poverty alleviation in Novamoka and Kadras. Duan Zhenhua, head of the fourth phase of the Agronomic Technology Group, said that through these platforms, the Agronomic Group has promoted the promotion and application of a number of practical technologies in São Tomé and Príncipe, including the introduction of two new forage varieties to alleviate the shortage of pig feed, the testing and promotion of new vegetable varieties, the improvement of maize planting technology and field management, and the improvement of cassava and other agricultural product processing.

Since the launch of the agricultural cooperation project between the two countries, the income of farmers supported by Chinese experts has been increasing, and the results of the project have been widely recognized by all walks of life in São Tomé and Príncipe. Abel·-da Silva· Bom ·Jesus, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries of São Tomé and Príncipe, said Abel-da Silva Jesus, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries of São Tomé and Príncipe. ”

Jesus has traveled to China several times and has been impressed by the achievements of China's agricultural modernization. "China is an important partner for us, and the cooperation between the two countries will help São Tomé and Príncipe realize its vision of agricultural development," he said. (Source: Xinhuanet)

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