Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
According to the China National Research Center of Juncao Technology, in March 2012, the Center submitted plans to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce for phase III of the Juncao Technical Demonstration Cooperation Project (援莱索托菌草技术合作项目第三期). On 3 July 2012 and 21 Aug 2012, the Chinese Ambassador and Basotho Minister of Development Planning signed an exchange of letters in which China pledged to send a team of 4 Chinese experts from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) to carry out this project from May 2013 to May 2015. China also carried out phase I (#21745), phase II (#55681), 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 since this is the only phase with evidence of its own agreement.