China willing to share experiences with Africa in securing food supply

BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) — China is willing to share its experiences with
African countries in securing food supply and reforming rural sector,
Agriculture Minister Han Changfu said Wednesday.

Han made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the national
legislature’s annual session, when he was asked what Africa can learn from
China’s food self-sufficiency. Food security has been a top priority for
China, a country of more than 1.3 billion people. The Chinese government
attaches great importance to food security and has adopted a series of
policies and constantly advanced technology, which resulted in more than
600 million tonnes of grain output in 2017, he said.He cited the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN as affirming China’s role in
addressing food security issues globally.

Talking about China-Africa cooperation in food supply and food
self-sufficiency, the minister said China has set up agricultural
technology promotion centers in 14 African countries, and Chinese experts
have been to the least developed African countries to train local people.
Meanwhile, African technicians and officials working for agricultural
departments have been invited to China to research and study, according to
Han.  “China plays an active role in addressing the problem of food
security in African countries, and we will continue to strengthen
cooperation with them,” he said. “Since we have different national
conditions, we can only offer our experience for reference. We hope that
African countries, particularly the least developed ones, can find
solutions to food supply problems as early as possible, and that African
people can enjoy a better life,” he said.