At the Nigerian Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center near Abuja, the capital of the West African country, Chinese agricultural experts have a daily routine of examining newly harvested rice.
As a result of years of dedicated work, experts from the Chinese company Green Agriculture West Africa Ltd. (GAWAL) have developed a high-yield rice seed tailored to local conditions, which outperforms native varieties by over 20 percent. This seed, endorsed by Nigerian agricultural authorities, is now planted across two-thirds of the country’s states.
Lawal Musa, a farmer from Jigawa State, has been growing this rice for several years. “Rice is vital in Nigeria and every family consumes it. With China’s cooperation, Nigeria is on the path to achieving food self-sufficiency,” he said, praising the rice for its high productivity and ability to withstand diseases and drought.
GAWAL, a leading seed company in Nigeria, contributed to the government’s seed supply program by distributing over 30,000 tons of seeds across more than 30 states. Its effort has significantly boosted the country’s rice production by more than 2 million tons.
In recent years, agricultural cooperation between China and Africa has flourished under the frameworks of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative. From local fields to global e-commerce platforms, China’s efforts have significantly boosted African agricultural productivity and modernization through technical assistance, industry chain development, and market access.