Eighteen people involved in the agricultural sectors of seven
countries in Africa are in Beijing on a two-week training program
in Integrated Plant Management (IPM).
The program has been organized by the National Agro-tech
Extension and Service Center (NAESC) under the Ministry of
Agriculture of China.
The 18 participants, from Uganda, Congo, Zambia, Ghana,
Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Kenya, are touring villages in the
suburbs of Beijing, learning about bio-technologies used in
agricultural sector, such as the use of wasps to control
caterpillars who eat away at crops.
"I will take back home all I have learnt to advance my country's
agriculture," said Ethiopian Hussein Fetene.
Sheku P.A. Jacob, an employee of the agricultural ministry of
Sierra Leone, said, "I will share these low-cost, effective and
energy-saving technologies with my government and farmers."
In recent years, China's Ministry of Agriculture has organized
training programs for more than 1,000 officials and staff from over
40 African countries, and has sent nearly 700 experts to work in
Africa.
According to the NAESC, the training program is aimed at
strengthening exchanges between Chinese and African agriculture
experts and promoting the application of IPM technologies in
African countries.
"China does better work in pest control than Ghana. That's why
we are here - to learn techniques which can benefit our farmers,"
said Charles Kwoseh from Ghana.
(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2006)
