HARARE - A delegation of Chinese agriculture experts is in the country for a 15-day feasibility study on the future of agriculture cooperation between Beijing and Harare.
The team of professionals from the Chinese Agriculture ministry met Agriculture minister Joseph Made at his offices in Harare yesterday.
Briefing the media after the meeting, Yang Yi, the Chinese head of the 13-member delegation, said his team would be building on the work undertaken by another team that visited the country two years ago and opened the first-ever training course on agricultural machinery and equipment in Zimbabwe.
“As a technical team we will do a detailed feasibility study in the totality of the agriculture sector,” he said.
“We have reached consensus with government on the need to cooperate in all areas such as livestock, cropping and technology.”
The Chinese government has since donated the Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre at Gwebi College of Agriculture.
The purpose is to transfer Chinese technology in agriculture and agricultural machinery while training local farmers, demonstrating cultivation skill and carrying out agronomy trials.
Yang Yi said agriculture in Zimbabwe has great potential and that the two countries have very broad prospects for cooperation in this area.
“We also want to see strategic cooperation in issues to do with marketing and beneficiation of agricultural products because our government pays attention to cooperation with African countries for food security,” he said.
“Relying on the platform of agricultural technology demonstration centre, I hope the centre can do the best for Zimbabwe’s agriculture to make more contribution to the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe.”
Made said there was need to strengthen relations with the Asian country.
“I would not want to pre-empt the outcome of the strategic feasibility study but we have close cooperation in various spheres of the economy,” Made said.