Chinese government finances demonstration base for paddy rice cultivation at Werer Agricultural Research Center

In February 2017, a base for rice experiments and demonstration was established in the Werer Agricultural Research Center in Northeast Ethiopia's Afar region, which is affiliated with Ethiopia Institute of Agricultural Research and is 278 kilometers away from the capital, Addis Ababa. The project was funded by the Chinese government, but the amount of financing is unclear. The construction of the base was led by Luo Xueyi, who along with another Chinese agricultural expert, arrived in Ethiopia in May 2016 to find irrigation solutions in water shortage areas. Working with local agricultural experts, they wrote a proposal to the Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia, suggesting the establishment of a demonstration project on productive paddy rice cultivation in Werer. One month later, the proposal was authorized and Werer was designated as an experimental demonstration base for paddy rice cultivation.

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