Press release
On June 19, hybrid rice, cultivated and planted under the guidance of Chinese agricultural experts, was harvested in the Sapu agricultural demonstration area in Central River region with a promising yield of 8 tons per hectare. The minister of agriculture Amie Fabureh and Chinese Ambassador to Gambia Ma Jianchun attended the harvest ceremony.
In accordance with an agricultural cooperation jointly established by President Barrow and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a team of Chinese agricultural experts arrived in the Gambia in April 2019 to implement a three-year agricultural technical assistance program. Through demonstration, training and promotion, Chinese agricultural experts have helped the Gambia to achieve the objectives of localization of agricultural talents, crop varieties and planting techniques.
The Chinese agricultural experts have received strong support from the ministry of agriculture of the Gambia. They have invited relevant farmers, agricultural college students and agricultural officials to receive training in the demonstration area, and guide the farm to use the seeds and technology developed by Chinese experts. Among them, the Maruo Farm in Central River Region has doubled its rice production under the guidance of Chinese experts. Minister Fabureh spoke highly of the achievements of the agricultural cooperation between the Gambia and China on the ceremony. On behalf of President Barrow, she expressed his gratitude to the Chinese government and people for their selfless help. and hoped that the two countries could further promote the achievements of the cooperation to benefit more farmers.
Ambassador Ma Jianchun introduced China’s experience in addressing food security. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, China has achieved comprehensive poverty alleviation in an all-round way. He expressed China’s willingness to share its experience in poverty alleviation with the Gambia, to help the Gambia increase grain production, to solve food security problems and jointly build a closer community of shared future for mankind between China and Africa as well as the Gambia.
