The 4th Conference on China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation (CAACC) was held recently in Haikou, Hainan province in China.  The conference aimed to put into practice the consensus during the Johannesburg Summit of the forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), thus accelerating agricultural cooperation between China and Africa. Vincent Martin, FAO Representative in China and DPR Korea, attended the CAACC and spoke at the opening ceremony.

“It is universal consensus that peace and development are two major themes of our times. They cannot be achieved without close collaboration of all nations and stakeholders in a highly globalized and connected world in which we are living today,” said Martin.

At the 2015 Johannesburg Summit during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the FOCAC Johannesburg Statement and the Action Plan (2016-2018), reflected China's desire to upgrade the China-Africa ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. FAO was identified as FOCAC’s key partner for the cooperation in agriculture and food security, and the FAO-China South-South Cooperation (SSC) Programme was mentioned in the Action Plan as an entry point for the agricultural cooperation between China and Africa.

 “Through both multilateral and bilateral cooperation, China is willing to share its development solutions, knowledge, experiences and agricultural technologies with Africa and other developing countries. China has been playing a leading role in strengthening and expanding FAO’s SSC,” Martin added.

China became the first country to establish an SSC strategic alliance with FAO in 2006. Today, the FAO-China SSC Programme provides support to agricultural and rural development in 28 countries, most of them in Africa. The Programme involves donations of 80 million dollars and has fielded over one thousand Chinese experts to countries around the world.

Looking into the future, Vincent Martin highlighted that the SSC development will focus on a clear and identifiable impact and achieve results through activities that will be sustainable in the long run. China and FAO will further develop innovative and flexible SSC modalities to meet the growing requests from Africa and other countries, explore opportunities for a catalytic effect of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and seek wider partnership, including triangular cooperation.

In the opening ceremony, Bi Meijia, member of CPC Leading Group of the Ministry of Agriculture of China put forward the following suggestions: first, to further implement the consensus reached at the Johannesburg Summit of the FOCAC and the China-Africa agricultural modernization plan; second, to promote cooperation in agricultural trade and investment; third, to establish a "10+10" cooperation mechanism between Chinese and African agricultural research institutes; and fourth, to advance capacity building and provide training opportunities for 800 agricultural technical and managerial professionals from Africa in 2018.

During the Conference, a total of 9 agreements of agricultural cooperation were signed between research institutes or agribusinesses from China and Africa.

Nearly 200 delegates participated in the Conference, including officials from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and 11 provincial governments, representatives from the agricultural ministries, embassies or consulates of 18 African countries, representatives from international organizations such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Bank, as well as entrepreneurs and experts.