The Workshop on Agricultural Education and Technology Transfer Under the “Belt and Road” Initiative was held in Nanjing Agricultural University on May 16th, 2019. Over 50 international students from 12 countries and faculty from the College of International Education attended the workshop. The workshop was chaired by Prof. Han Jiqin, Dean, College of International Education.
The three speakers were Zhang Yang, Manager, the Overseas Investment of JOC Technical Engineering Co., Ltd.; Dr. Timothy Njeru, Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development, Egerton University, Kenya; and Symon Mugo Njinju, Research Scientist, the Industrial Crops Research Center, Mwea, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO).
Zhang Yang made a presentation on investment and challenges of JOC Co. Ltd. in Tanzania. He introduced the background of JOC’s investment and establishment of the Jiangsu-Shinyanga Agricultural Industrial Zone inTanzania, as well as how the cotton production chain was managed. Afterwards, Zhang Yang mentioned that the challenges of JOC’s going global mainly included language communication, safety, infrastructure and working visa. In his last part of the presentation, Zhang Yang proposes the roles and missions of Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU) in supporting business companies’ investment abroad. Stronger partnerships should be built between NAU and the Chinese companies investing abroad. NAU can contribute in providing human resources to work abroad, conducting collaborative research and train international employees.
The last two presentations are on the rice cultivation technology transfer between China and Kenya. Dr. Njeru talked about Rice Production Environments and practices in Kenya. After introducing the importance of agriculture and rice in Kenya, he focused on rice production input analysis from an international perspective by comparison with the major Asian rice producers and other African countries. In the third part, he suggested how to build a viable rice production chain and achieve the national rice production strategy of Kenya from good practices of second, irrigation, agronomic practices, mechanization, increased pest & disease prevalence, high field & post harvest management, upstream value chain development. Dr. Njeru concluded by proposing key opportunities for China to invest in rice production in Kenya. Symon Njinju’s presentation focused on the transfer of China's rice production technologies to Kenya. Detailed information is given on rice production and consumption, challenges in rice production and areas from collaboration. According to him, appropriate technology needs to be applied in order to increase yields and income, and to create employment and reduce rice import bill. There are opportunities for China to collaborate with Kenya in rice production in such areas as increasing production, value addition, mechanization, and capacity building.
