China conducts Phase II of Juncao Project in Lesotho (Linked to #21745, #55681, #55682)

According the the Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Juncao Technology, a team of experts from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce conducted phase II of the Juncao Technical Demonstration Cooperation Project (援莱索托菌草技术合作项目第二期) in Lesotho between January 2010 and January 2012. China also carried out phase I (#21745), phase III (#55681) and phase IV (#55682). "Jun" (菌) means fungus and "cao" (草) means grass. Juncao, invented in 1986 by a Chinese scientist, refers to the practice of using herb plants to cultivate edible fungi. Since the project's initial signing in October 2006, Chinese experts from FAFU have been developing the Zhonglai Juncao Technology Demonstration Base in Maseru and training local Basotho the agricultural techniques to grow and the entrepreneurial skills to sell. Lesotho's agricultural industry cannot adequately feed the population yet small-scale farming is common. Instead of heavily relying in food imports, Juncao could be a cheap, nutritious alternative for Basotho to feed their families and communities. It is unclear if the initial inter-governmental exchange of letters from 2006 was for all four phases of this project or if there is a separate agreement signed only for phase II. AidData only found evidence of another agreement signed in 2012 for phase III (#55681).

Number of official sources

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Number of total sources

5