China-Africa Xai-Xai agricultural cooperation project

In April 2021, China-Africa Xai-Xai agricultural cooperation project, located in Xai-Xai district of the Mozambican province of Gaza, enjoyed another harvest season. 28 harvesters and 25 transport vehicles shuttled in the rice fields, busy in cutting, threshing, loading and other processes.

The project is China's largest rice planting project in Africa, invested by CADF and co-managed by CR20G. Armando Emilio Guebuza, the then president of Mozambique, named the rice grown here "Good Taste". Over the four years since CR20G managed the project, "Good Taste" rice became the staple food on local people's tables, improving their living standards.

This year, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project has faced increasing pressure in terms of epidemic prevention. In addition to ensuring the health and safety of all project workers, the project team made harvest plan in advance trying to achieve harvesting target with prevention and control in place.

To ensure the successful completion of rice harvesting, the project team actively promoted mechanized operation, equipped cooperative farmers with mechanical facilities in advance, and provided them with mechanical scheduling, logistics support and other services, to improve the harvesting efficiency and reduce harvesting costs. This season, the effective rice planting area reached 36,000 mu, including 12,000 mu of co-planted rice. The harvesting work is expected to be completed in late June.

It is noted that over the four years of project management, CR20G has actively fulfilled its social responsibility and introduced China's advanced rice planting technology and resources, devoted itself to improving local agriculture, and guided cooperative farmers in rice planting. Besides, it has provided technical guidance and services to local farmers, to increase their income and ensure local food safety. So far, the project has created 14,000 jobs for local residents and led more than 500 cooperative farmers in rice planting, increasing the grain yield per mu from about 200kg to more than 400kg.

In addition, the project has been seeking innovation and breakthroughs, adopting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology in field management to develop modern agriculture. Through diversified agricultural management, it has integrated livestock farming, greenhouse vegetables, liquor making and beef processing into enrich original industrial chain that only covered rice planting, production, processing, and sales, benefiting the Mozambican people greatly.