Agricultural specialists from across Africa convened in Ethiopia’s capital for the 2025 General Assembly of the China‑Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance, and made a spirited call for stepped-up collaboration with China in advancing agricultural productivity through modern science, innovation and technology.
The gathering featured more than 200 delegates – representing national agricultural research institutes, universities, ministries of agriculture and China-Africa cooperative organisations who reflected on the continent’s persistent bottlenecks: low yields, fragmented value-chains, and limited access to technology and finance. As Abebe Haile‑Gabriel (Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Africa) remarked, “Africa’s agri-food systems face deep structural bottlenecks … China and Africa need to focus on capacity-building programmes where scientists and technicians acquire knowledge on agricultural modernisation such as robotics, precision farming and gene editing.”
Shared attention centred on China’s experiences in agricultural modernisation and technology diffusion. Lise Korsten (President of the African Academy of Sciences) pointed out that China now feeds nearly one-fifth of the world’s population while using less than 9 % of global arable land, noting: “By certifying these products … Africa can empower its farmers, preserve biodiversity and create premium and traceable value-chains.”
On the shoulders of these discussions lie the long-standing China–Africa agricultural cooperation initiatives, such as demonstration farms, technology-transfer centres and zero-tariff frameworks for African agricultural exports to China. The alliance noted that China has already established more than 20 agricultural cooperation mechanisms across the continent and built numerous technology centres.
Beyond this event, China and particular African nations have deep bilateral agricultural ties. For example, in Mozambique a Chinese-African agricultural park uses drone-assisted rice cultivation and smart-farming methods, with local farmers trained by Chinese experts. In Kenya, the 2025 Africa International Agricultural Expo featured over 100 Chinese agribusiness exhibitors and multiple signed investment agreements in seeds, food processing and smart farming.
The significance of these efforts is especially acute given Africa’s abundant uncultivated arable land, about 60 % of the world’s total – but consistently low agricultural productivity and vulnerability to climate and market shocks. The assembly’s theme, “Cooperation for Africa’s Food Security and Agricultural Modernisation,” offers a blueprint for how China-Africa collaboration can shift from traditional project-based aid toward long-term, capacity-driven partnerships.
Looking ahead, the agricultural experts emphasised several channels for action: joint research in climate-smart agriculture, localisation of Chinese technologies to local agro-ecological conditions, training of young African scientists, and improved linkages between farmers and markets. The call is clear: harness China’s technological and institutional experience, while aligning with Africa’s developmental priorities and contexts.
If fully implemented, this wave of cooperation could accelerate agricultural transformation across the continent – improving yields, incomes and resilience. For China, it reaffirms its role not only as an investor in infrastructure but as a partner building agricultural systems and human capacity in Africa. For African nations, it signals that the path from farm-to-market can increasingly travel on a bridge of shared innovation and mutual development.
