Chinese Government provides $8.5 million grant for provision of agricultural equipment

On August 25th, 2015, Chinese Ambassador Deng Xijun granted 300 tractors and agricultural equipment worth 8.5 million USD to Assadullah Zamir, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock, in a handover ceremony. China additionally sent 10 experts to teach Afghani how to use the machinery with the goal of improving productivity, through the mechanization of agriculture, to reach self-sufficiency. On November 8th, 2016, Afghanistan's High Economic Council decided to distribute the machinery to private seed companies, agricultural cooperatives, and mechanized agricultural stations. Distribution depends on each company's debt status and accordance to legislative standards. As of Jan 4th, 2018, all machinery has been handed over to Afghanistan as of August 2015, but it is unclear whether the machinery has been distributed internally within Afghanistan.

Additional details

Initial article indicated that these tractors may be related to International NGO ChinaAid, but further research suggested that the agricultural equipment originated from the Chinese government.

Number of official sources

1

Number of total sources

7