A training class on the farm 

The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malawi in late 2007 has greatly boosted bilateral agricultural cooperation. Malawi was left with some unfinished international agricultural cooperation projects when the foreign agricultural experts involved in them departed. The Chinese Government then came to the rescue, sending Chinese experts to revive these projects.

Yu Feng from the Hubei Provincial Agro-Business Bureau is one such expert. The 49-year-old had worked in Mozambique to build the China-Mozambique Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in 2008 and had thus acquired abundant experience in agricultural cooperation projects in Africa.

On December 11 last year, the Ministry of Agriculture sent Yu and seven other Chinese agricultural experts to Malawi to work on a deserted farm in capital city Lilongwe. Just 10 months after Yu and his colleagues took over, the farm got a new lease of life.

"We have restored the infrastructure and are now training local farmers and agricultural technicians in advanced technologies," Yu told ChinAfrica.

In May 2014, before Yu and his colleagues arrived in Malawi, engineers were sent there to renovate the farm and turn it into a model China-Malawi Agricultural Technological Cooperation Farm.

Today, it has taken on a new look, with renovated and expanded classrooms, laboratory, greenhouses and irrigation systems. "Next, we will focus on agricultural technology demonstration and training," Yu said.

Working in a place far away from home, Yu and his colleagues faced difficulties at first.

Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world, according to United Nations criteria. Its infrastructure remains underdeveloped and government work suffers from low efficiency. In agriculture specifically, Malawi lacks pesticides, fertilizers and seeds.

Yu and his peers have to endure long waits to get farming materials. Sometimes, they have to buy them with help from the related government departments, the Chinese embassy in Malawi, and even the Chinese living in Malawi.

Security presents another challenge. As the farm lies in a remote area in the suburb of Lilongwe, it was often broken into by thieves and robbed. Robbers once even attacked and injured four experts, causing great psychological trauma to them. To deal with these menaces, the group installed wire fencing with the help of locals and asked for armed police guards at night.

"We will exhaust all avenues and overcome every difficulty to continue with our work," Yu said.

After the classrooms and greenhouses were ready, the farm, in cooperation with Malawi's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, held two training sessions. There were 30 trainees in each session.

"The trainees, who included farmers and agricultural technicians, told me they were very satisfied and had gained a lot," Yu said.

The farm is encouraging local farmers to use improved seeds by demonstrating their advantages. The experts had brought improved seeds for more than 30 varieties of vegetables from China, such as chili, eggplant, cowpea and white gourd, and successfully grew 20 of them on the farm. The yield was higher than the varieties grown by local farmers.

"When people see with their own eyes the seeds are better than the ones they are using, they will turn to the better ones," Yu said.

Agricultural development in Malawi is beset with problems. "The irrigation system is insufficient and farmers largely depend on the mercy of nature for harvest," Yu explained. "Other problems are lack of fertilizers, improved seeds and farming tools. Most importantly, farmers have little knowledge of preventing pests."

According to Yu, they are trying to improve farmers' concepts and enthusiasm through training, and demonstrating advanced farming skills and agricultural management procedures, as well as on-site guidance.

The experts are hoping farmers will realize the importance of irrigation facilities from their demonstrations.

"It is a complicated and arduous program to improve Malawi's underdeveloped agriculture. Improving farmers' farming concepts and enthusiasm is very important," Yu added. "We are trying to do that on our farm."