Countries of CELAC and FAO learn about rural digitalization experiences in China

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the People’s Republic of China are leading the South-South Cooperation project: Digital Transformation and Innovation in Agriculture to improve the rural livelihoods through digitalization in 12 countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

As part of this project, a delegation integrated by government representatives from five CELAC members countries participated in an exchange of experiences in China to share and learn about examples of innovative solutions that have allowed to advance in inclusive rural digital transformation in the Asian country.

During the exchange, held in Shanghai and Beijing between May 18 to 25, government officials from Chile, Costa Rica, Guyana, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago, visited the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, the Chinese Agricultural Civilization Museum and Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, where they learned about interesting rural and agricultural digitalization experiences.

They also attended a lecture on e-commerce at Nanjing Agricultural University and met with representatives from Alibaba and Pinduoduo, leading online sales platforms, to learn about successful cases primarily focused on the agricultural sector.

For Katalina Moyano, FAO international consultant and regional coordinator of the south-South Cooperation project: Digital Transformation and Innovation in Agriculture, this trip was an opportunity to exchange and compare the diverse realities of each territory. “We gained a clearer vision of how China has addressed the issues of rural sectors through innovative solutions, and learned firsthand how they have responded academically, technically and politically to the needs of the agricultural sector”, she said.

In each meeting the representatives presented the digital initiatives that they are promoting in their countries and expressed their need and willingness to move towards a second phase of the project led by FAO and the People’s Republic of China.

The examples and lessons learned by the five government representatives will be key to continuing the digital initiatives that each country has promoted within the framework of this project and for the designing and implementing of policies and strategies focused on the digital transformation of rural sectors.

In this regard, Katalina Moyano highlighted: “the professionals who participated in this experience are already disseminating the knowledge acquired in their respective countries and are developing plans and programs where they can incorporate and adapt the ideas gathered in China”.

The delegation included Mauricio Beltrán, head of the Processes and Information and Communication Technologies division at the Agricultural Development Institute of Chile; Norman Mora, regional director of the Northern Huétar Region at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica; Travis Pilgrim, senior extension officer at the Rice Development Board of Guyana; Laura Gómez, deputy director of Bioenergy and Alternative Energies at the General Directorate of Risk Management of Mexico; and Ragbir Prakash, manager of Information and Communication Technologies at the National Marketing and Agricultural Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago.

Additionally, the entourage was accompanied by Grevil Matute, representative of the pro tempore presidency of CELAC.