African Foundation Signs MoU with the Chinese Academy of Agriculture

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has signed a memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese Academy of Agriculture to raise the profile of agriculture research on the continent.
The MoU was one of the fallout of the recent 19th Annual General Meeting of Afreximbank which attracted participation from Africa.
Dr. Léautier Executive Secretary of ACBF and Dr. Ren Wang, Vice President of the Chinese Academy for Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) signed the MoU which seeks to shape the cooperation between the two organizations in strengthening human and institutional capacity for agricultural transformation in Africa and cooperation in the organization of study tours and technological fairs that will include key agricultural development actors in Africa and China.
Léautier stated that the partnership with the CAAS was very timely, as it allows ACBF to support capacity building in the transformation of agriculture through lessons sharing and technology transfer. “Through the work of CAAS over the years, China has achieved tremendous results in linking research to farmers and supporting the adaptation of technology and innovation in the agricultural sector. Africa can benefit from this experience as the continent seeks to raise productivity for sustainable economic growth and food security.”
Wang, Vice President of the CAAS, said although the mandate of CAAS is primarily focused on the needs of China, with limited activities outside the country, the signing of the MoU may open new opportunities for CAAS. “This partnership will open ways for technical cooperation to improve agricultural productivity in Africa”, he said, adding: “The 2013 edition of the Global Forum for Leaders in Agricultural Science (GLAST) to be held in May 2013 will provide an opportunity for further collaboration between our two organizations as well as with a wide range of other key Chinese actors .”
In the coming weeks, CAAS and ACBF will agree on an Activity Agreement which will indicate the concrete activities to be delivered as part of the implementation of the MoU.

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Posted by AfricaSTI on July 30, 2012. Filed under Food & Agric, Lead Stories, Regional. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry