Chinese Government provides $40 million grant for Dumasi-Niefang Agricultural Demonstration Farm Technical Cooperation Project

In 2019, the Chinese Government and the Government of Equatorial Guinea signed a grant agreement for the Dumasi-Niefang Agricultural Demonstration Farm Project. Then, on June 20, 2022, the Chinese Government and the Government of Equatorial Guinea signed another grant agreement (exchange of letters) for the Dumasi-Niefang Agricultural Demonstration Farm Project. In total, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) reportedly provided $40 million of grant funding for the project. The grant proceeds were drawn from an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) signed by the two governments on July 13, 2017. The purpose of this 4-year technical cooperation project was to send experts to conduct agricultural experimental research, personnel training, demonstration planting, and technology promotion activities at the Dumasi-Niefang Agricultural Demonstration Farm. More specifically, the Chinese Government agreed to dispatch 12 Chinese agricultural experts to undertake training tasks related to planting ad processing techniques for various crops, including rice, corn, soybeans, and cassava. The Dumasi-Niefang Agricultural Demonstration Farm Project is located in the town of Niefang. The 4 year technical cooperation project follows the completion of a demonstration farm construction project (that was initiated in 2012 and also implemented by Jiangxi Ganliang Industrial Co., Ltd.). The construction project is captured via Project ID#62447. Jiangxi Ganliang Industrial Co., Ltd. (江西赣粮实业有限公司) is the contractor responsible for project implementation. On June 22, 2021, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) judged the project’s performance to be ‘excellent’.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Agricultural Technical Cooperation Project. The Spanish project title is El proyecto de la granja agrícola piloto de Niefang. The Chinese project title is 援赤道几内亚示范农场技术合作项目 or 援赤几示范农场项目. 2. The Equatorial Guinea Aid Demonstration Farm Project is one of the 20 agricultural demonstration centers (farms) aided by the Chinese government in African countries, and is implemented by Jiangxi Gan Grain Co., Ltd. The Provincial Department of Commerce actively sought the support of the National International Development Cooperation Agency and the Ministry of Commerce to guide and help the smooth implementation of the project. At present, the project has introduced a total of 209 varieties of 46 crops that are suitable for local planting and people’s favorite food, and screened out 32 varieties of high-yield, multi-resistance and fine crops suitable for local planting, such as rice, corn, soybean, and tomato, for local training. There are 308 professional and technical personnel, and nearly 1,000 other personnel have been trained. In particular, the introduction of rice has ended the history of no rice planting in Equatorial Guinea. It has been affirmed by President Obiang and my embassy in Equatorial Guinea, and has driven the export of agricultural technology, agricultural machinery products and agricultural talents in Jiangxi. Jiangxi and even China have played an active role in cooperation and exchanges in the agricultural field.

Number of official sources

7

Number of total sources

7