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Interview: COMESA Eyes Agricultural Cooperation With China
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is keen to cooperate with China in agriculture since it is a key sector in regional development, COMESA secretary general Erasturs Mwencha told Xinhua recently.
In an exclusive interview at his Lusaka office, Mwencha, who has been invited to attend the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing in October, said the main objectives of COMESA's cooperation in agriculture with China and other countries are to increase production in order to attain food security at all levels and promote trade in agricultural products within and outside the COMESA region.
"COMESA is a region of considerable diversity and similarity, and the most important similarity is the dominance of agriculture and its contribution to development," he said.
The agricultural population constitutes about 74 percent of the total population of the COMESA member countries which is currently estimated at 380 million.
According to Mwencha, in most COMESA member countries, agriculture contributes more than 30 percent to the gross domestic product, is the most important earner of foreign exchange, employs the majority of the population and provides more than 50 percent of raw materials for industry.
"This strategic role of agriculture in the economy will remain in the foreseeable future and hence the need to focus on agricultural development so as to transform the economies of COMESA countries," he said.
The COMESA region is a huge part of the Africa continent extending from north to south and covering most of its eastern and southern states with an area of about 13 million square kilometers.Although the region as a whole has a high potential for the production of food and raw materials for agro-industries to meet COMESA needs, the region still depends on huge food imports, Mwencha noted.
The COMESA region imports some 30 million tons of cereals annually, according to him.
The COMESA wants to learn from the experience of the Asian countries, such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and China which have enjoyed rapid agricultural growth preceding rapid overall economic growth and poverty reduction, he said.
He described China as having been altruistic in its relations with African-countries for many years. It has assisted many African countries through generous programs and project assistance.The Chinese program and project assistance in many countries include joint venture projects in agriculture, construction of low cost housing in urban areas, construction of dams, highways and railways.
China has successfully supported its huge population of 1.2 billion using the limited land. It is seen as an amazing achievement by theAfrican people, who want to share the experience made by the Chinese people, noted Mwencha.
As for cooperation in agriculture, the secretary general said that the Chinese people can help African countries in many fields such as enhancing agricultural productivity through training small-scale farmers to grow high-quality vegetables.
China can help Africans to improve the agricultural policy in many ways like establishing some institutions dealing with farming equipment, because the Chinese farmers have advanced technology for farming, as well as for human resource development and training.
The Chinese people can also help African farmers to improve natural resource management through appropriate policy measures including land reform and adopt water management technologies.
According to Mwencha, the COMESA secretariat is currently developing a comprehensive agricultural strategy. The main objective is to enable member states to realize the importance of agriculture in economic development so that it is given the priority it deserves at national and regional levels, he said.
The secretary general urged more Chinese to invest in Africa, take advantage of COMESA's Free Trade Area scheduled for October 31 this year, and market their agricultural products and technologies to contribute to the economic and social development of the continent.
He said the COMESA has followed with great interest the tremendous progress achieved by China in all fields of economic endeavor, and is keen to develop with China close relationship at both bilateral and multilateral levels.
"COMESA fully supports China's membership to the World Trade Organization as this will strengthen the shared and common stand on globalization," he said.
China has been an "all weather friend" to Africa right from the time of decolonization and now in gaining economic independence, he noted.
On the forthcoming China-Africa cooperation forum, Muwencha said the historic meeting will further strengthen the already strong political and economic relationship between Africa and China, adding that China's experience, especially in the areas of technology and in human resource development, are extremely important to Africa's development.
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