The 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit commenced on September 4 in Beijing, reaffirming its position as the most comprehensive platform for Sino-Africa relations. This pivotal event has gathered key representatives from China, Africa's sub-regional organizations, and numerous international entities, all converging to discuss the future of their partnership.
Under the theme \"Joining hands to advance modernization and build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future,\" the summit serves as a crucial forum for both parties to explore new avenues of cooperation, strengthen existing friendships, and chart out strategic plans for the medium and long term.
Agriculture stands out as a central focus of the summit. Since its inception in 2000, FOCAC has prioritized agricultural cooperation, acknowledging its significance in alleviating poverty, enhancing food security, and improving living standards in both China and Africa. Over the past 24 years, the partnership has expanded into agro-industries, food security initiatives, capacity-building programs, agricultural technology advancements, finance, and trade.
One of the remarkable achievements under FOCAC has been the elimination of trade bottlenecks through initiatives like the \"green channel.\" Introduced at the eighth Ministerial Conference in 2021, this channel has facilitated the entry of African agricultural products into China by expanding tariff exemptions and expediting quarantine and inspection processes. By June 2023, 16 agricultural products from 11 African countries had successfully accessed the Chinese market via the \"green channel,\" significantly boosting Africa's agriculture exports to China.
In 2023 alone, China, the second-largest market for African agricultural exports, imported $5.32 billion worth of products from the continent. The \"green channel\" initiatives resulted in a 130% increase in nut imports, 32% in vegetables, 14% in flowers, and 7% in fruits compared to the previous year.
Since 2000, China-Africa agricultural trade has surged from $650 million to $6.92 billion in 2018, maintaining an average annual growth rate of 14%. Africa, possessing 65% of the world's uncultivated arable land but facing low productivity, has greatly benefited from enhanced cooperation with China, which efficiently feeds nearly a fifth of the global population with less than 10% of the world's arable land.
Despite these advancements, Africa's agricultural sector continues to grapple with challenges such as limited access to agricultural inputs, inadequate advisory services, predominantly rainfed systems susceptible to climate change, and outdated production methods. These issues contribute to food insecurity, malnutrition, and persistent poverty across the continent. The ongoing collaboration through FOCAC aims to address these obstacles, fostering sustainable agricultural development and economic growth in Africa.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
