Aiding Africa’s Agriculture

　　When 58-year-old Jiang H eping set his foot on African soil for the first time in 2006， he dreamed thatone day rice and golden corn would boost the continent’sfood security， saving people from starvation andcomforting crying children.

　　In hopes of achieving his dream， Jiang， a scientist atthe Institute of Agricultural Economics and Developmentof the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences，has traveled to Africa 16 times over the past eightyears. Since his first trip， when he was sent by the Ministryof Commerce to do field research on the agriculturalsituation in Angola for an aid program， he has left hisfootprints in 13 different African countries.

　　“At the time the situation was much worse than Ithought，” Jiang told ChinAfrica. “The local farmers hadno idea about certified seed. They used their own seeds，simple tools and no manure. As a result， the agriculturethere was in a very backward state despite the rich waterand land resources they have. The corn yield was lessthan 50 kg per mu (1 mu = 0.67 hectare).”

　　Based on his professional knowledge and what hesaw from the local conditions， Jiang worked out anagricultural development plan for four Angolan provincesthat won support and sponsorship from the EuropeanUnion and the Food and Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations. The project became a great boost tolocal agricultural development.

　　Encouraged by witnessing what he could do for Africa，Jiang planned a second agricultural expedition to thecontinent in 2008 that included stops in Ethiopia， Sudanand Mozambique.

　　With a new round of aid measures initiated by theForum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit inNovember 2006， the Chinese Government promised tosend 100 agricultural experts within three years to helpestablish 10 special agricultural technology demonstrationcenters in Africa. Jiang was appointed the head ofthe expert commission.

　　“When China began to develop its agriculture， whatwe did was to work on a single area and apply the experienceto other areas after it proved to be successful，” Jiangsaid. “We hope to duplicate this model in Africa， so wesuggest starting with a demonstration center， then extendingto larger areas， and finally to the whole industry.”

　　During his time in Africa， Jiang seized every opportunityto communicate with local officials from theagricultural sector. Based on these communications andthe information he collected， he produced reports on thebest methods of local agricultural development for threeAfrican countries.

　　Jiang said that his motivation for work came from thewords of Venancio Massingue， Mozambique’s scienceand Technology Minister.

　　Jiang quoted Massingue as saying， “In the past， wewere in need of guns and artillery， but today， what weneed is food and meat. You and your expert team canhelp us build the agricultural technology demonstrationcenter， which solves the problems of poverty and agriculturaldevelopment in Mozambique. We really appreciatethe help of the Chinese Government and Chineseagricultural experts.”

　　An arduous task

　　Jiang and his team worked for more than 10 hours a dayand often had to navigate treacherous terrain as theyconducted fieldwork. After years of war and chaos in Angola，the highways connecting the capital city and otherprovincial capitals were obliterated by bombs. “When youare in a car， the seat belt must be fastened or the bumpyroad will force your head to bump the ceiling， and theroad is rough on cars，” Jiang said.

　　In Sudan， the temperature was up to 45 degrees Celciusin early June. No restaurant could be found duringthe trips， so Jiang could only eat spoiled food that he hadto take along with anti-diarrheal medicine. A diabetic patient，he couldn’t find a refrigerator for his insulin. But allthe difficulties， danger and even heartbreaking news of afriend of his who died of malaria couldn’t deter Jiang awayfrom Africa. “As an agricultural scientist， I am obligated tohelp African people out of this poverty through enhancingfood-producing capacity，” Jiang said. “Africa has richland and water resources. I want to help them to makegood use of it.”

　　Jiang said he has no regrets about accepting the Africanproject， because now he is “in love with Africa.”“Africa gave me a feeling of being very close to nature.

　　The natural and agricultural landscape here is verybeautiful， the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe for instance，which I saw in my recent trip. The 2-km-long waterfallis amazing，” Jiang said. “Africans are sincere， honest andfriendly to Chinese people. If you show your respect forthem， you can receive a heart-to-heart friendship. Africanpeople live a very happy life. They can be content withlittle.”

　　Jiang noted that his love-affair with Africa would notbe possible without the support of his family. “Now theyare used to my trips to Africa， so I think I will have anotherfive or six trips before I retire.”

　　Improving China-Africa agricultural cooperation is anarduous task， but Jiang realizes the importance of it. Hebelieves that bringing China’s good crop varieties andadvanced agricultural technology to Africa through demonstrationcenters can enhance Africa’s food-producingcapacity. It’s also a contribution to the world’s foodproduction by decreasing grain prices on the internationalmarket. It’s of significance to Chinese and globalfood security.

　　His outstanding achievements in improving Africanagricultural development won Jiang the Fourth China-AfricaFriendship Award from the Chinese-African People’sFriendship Association in December 2012. During theceremony， Jiang shared his reflections on his Africandream.

　　“I believe my dream can be fulfilled with our concertedefforts， and I am willing and will continue to takemy meager strength to work for African agriculturaldevelopment.”