Xie Junhua trains a local technician (COURTESY PHOTO)

Tractor, generator, incubator at constant temperature... Xie Junhua counts these devices again and again. "One hundred and forty eight pieces in total," he said.

Xie is the head of the third group of Chinese agricultural experts to Ethiopia. What he counted was the agricultural equipment donated by the Chinese Government to Ethiopia. "These devices are not only essential to the work of our experts, but can also help the development and modernization of agriculture here in Ethiopia," Xie told ChinAfrica.

In August 2019 at a ceremony in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, Tan Jian, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, handed over the equipment worth more than 1 million yuan ($141,000) to the Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia. At the ceremony, Tan emphasized that food is the basic need of any person and the right to livelihood and development is the most important element of human rights. "Only by developing agriculture can we fundamentally solve the problems of food security and thus eliminate hunger and poverty," said Tan.

"China aims to sincerely share its experiences and technologies with Ethiopia, especially in the areas of technical training and mechanization. We encourage mutual exchanges of agricultural experts and investments to promote the development of Ethiopia's agriculture." And this is also the mission of Xie's group.

Group endeavor

In 2018, nine Chinese agricultural experts from different fields arrived in Ethiopia for a three-year project. This is part of the Sino-African technical cooperation projects announced by the Chinese Government during the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in 2009 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Since 2012, the Chinese Government has dispatched three groups of agricultural experts to Ethiopia.

"These nine experts specialize in wheat, rice, fruit trees, vegetables, cotton, edible mushrooms, livestock, aquaculture and agricultural machinery. Although everyone's area of expertise is different, we support each other and hope that our experience will be useful," said Xie. This is the second time he went to Africa for an agricultural assistance project. Previously, he had spent three years in Nigeria as part of a South-South cooperation project organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Less than a year after their arrival, the experts encountered various difficulties in their life and work, ranging from language, climate, management, transportation to communication. With the help of local staff, the whole group worked hard to overcome the difficulties and carry out their tasks on time.

As a fruit tree expert, Xie has conducted research and given technical advice on fruit growing, as well as promoted the establishment of a research and development center in the University of Addis Ababa, with the aim of deepening research, planning the regional distribution of fruits, introducing technologies and training talents. Vegetable specialist Liu Shouyun focused on greenhouse promotion, technical demonstration and training on planting, fertilization, irrigation, pest management, harvesting and packing. Zhu Zhenrong, livestock expert, organized training sessions on the prevention and control of livestock and poultry diseases. All of the experts obtained the desired results in their respective areas.

However, the lack of agricultural equipment has always been a major problem for these experts. After making a request to the Chinese Government, the equipment finally arrived in Ethiopia.

"Some areas, such as farm machinery, edible mushrooms and aquaculture, need more equipment. Since we got them, this problem is solved," said Xie.

Agricultural modernization

"Those machineries are essential not only to facilitate our technical demonstrations, but also to increase the efficiency of agricultural production," said Xie. According to him, the tractor is mainly used for demonstration and training on the use of agricultural machinery; the constant temperature incubator and the autoclave are for the demonstration of cultivation of edible mushrooms; automatic feeding machine and other fishing equipment are for training of aquatic experts; the gasoline-powered water pump is for farming in areas without irrigation facilities, while the generator is mainly used in areas without electricity.

"Take the example of the tractor. It is 150 times more efficient than animal power when it comes to cultivating land," said Xie.

After using the gasoline-powered water pump, Alemu Degefa, Production Manager at Farm Menagesha, said the pump was small and portable and can be used in the places without power access.

"Demonstration and training on the use of equipment will help farmers better understand the importance of agricultural modernization," said Xie. By improving the efficiency of production, people can truly enjoy the fruits brought by modern agriculture. Promoting the use of agricultural machinery makes it possible to progressively upgrade food production, which will lead to self-sufficiency and thus ensure food security, according to Xie.

Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Tan Jian (second right) and Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture Oumer Hussien (third left) at the donation ceremony (COURTESY PHOTO)

Long-term value

At present, these machineries are mainly kept at the demonstration and training sites of Chinese agricultural experts, and used by experts and local agricultural departments. However, how to maintain and use them after the Chinese experts complete their mission is a big question for the experts.

The life of the equipment depends on how it is used and maintained. According to Xie, the donation of the equipment is like "giving fish to people." Currently, the most important task for the Chinese agricultural experts is to train the users on the techniques of operation and maintenance, and to do quality work in the fields of the demonstration, with the aim to "teach people how to fish" and help locals achieve independent agricultural development.

To this end, the Chinese experts have trained 204 people on livestock farming techniques and another 45 on the management of wheat cultivation. According to Xie, they will organize 30 large-scale training courses for 1,410 people in three years. The materials for these trainings will be given to the local government as a reference for the promotion of agricultural technology.

Ethiopia's Minister of Agriculture Oumer Hussien, for his part, expressed gratitude for the donation of the agricultural equipment and the good work of the Chinese experts. He also said that Ethiopia would make the most out of the equipment in tests, demonstrations and promotion of agricultural technologies.

(Comments to lijing@chinafrica.cn)