Agricultural scientists, policymakers and tech innovators from China and across Africa gathered this week for the 2025 General Assembly of the China-Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance (CAASTIA) in Addis Ababa, spotlighting the urgent need to modernise African agriculture and ensure food security. Co-organised by the African Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the event convened over 200 experts who emphasised that China’s experience in technology-driven farming offers a vital reference point for Africa’s transformation.
Prof Lise Korsten, President of the African Academy of Sciences, highlighted China’s ability to feed nearly one-fifth of the world’s population using less than 9 % of global arable land – a fact she said underscores the “untapped potential” of Africa, which holds roughly 60 % of the world’s uncultivated arable land but suffers low productivity. “The paradox of land and people,” she observed, “shows that we must convert promise into performance.”
Chinese officials reiterated Beijing’s willingness to share agricultural-technology expertise, including digital-farm management, climate-resilient crops and water-saving irrigation systems. Jiang Feng, head of the Chinese Mission to the African Union, noted that cooperation is shifting from one-off aid to capacity-building and joint innovation. He pointed to China’s zero-tariff policy for agricultural exports from 53 African countries as part of the evolving partnership landscape.
This alliance builds on deep-rooted China-Africa agricultural cooperation: China has established dozens of Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centers across the continent, assisting in seed development, vocational training and mechanised agriculture. For instance, in Ethiopia, Chinese-supported demonstration farms have introduced smart-farming techniques built around drone surveillance, precision irrigation and mechanised harvesters.
During the Addis gathering, African experts urged the localisation of Chinese technologies to Africa’s diverse agro-ecological zones, stressing that technologies must adapt to local climates, soils and socio-economic conditions. As AVU-commissioner Gaspard Banyankimbona said: “We need innovation, but we need it rooted in Africa.”
The measures discussed include joint research platforms, farmer-technology linkages, capacity-building frameworks for young scientists and enhanced value-chain integration – especially in crops, livestock and agro-processing. These complement broader China-Africa economic engagements in agriculture, industry and trade under frameworks such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which in 2024 included several agricultural pledges.
However, participants were clear that success hinges on more than technology transfer. African participants stressed the paramount importance of strengthening extension services, local-language delivery, market access, financing and regulatory frameworks. Without these, technological solutions risk remaining under-used or mis-aligned with local needs.
In concluding remarks, the Alliance reiterated that closing Africa’s productivity gap – currently less than a third of the global average for major staple crops, is essential not just for African food security, but for global stability and shared prosperity in a changing climate. The China–Africa partnership, they concluded, is poised to evolve from pilot projects into broad-based transformation.
In essence, the summit highlighted a new frontier in Sino-African collaboration: one where agricultural modernisation becomes a strategic platform linking science, trade and youth empowerment and where the fields of Africa become laboratories for green, inclusive growth in a globalised age.
