Celebrating 100th anniversary of CPC | China helps sow ‘seeds of prosperity’ in Cote d'Ivoire

Since 1997, China has sent nearly 100 experts to Cote d'Ivoire for an agricultural technical assistance project, incubating high-quality rice varieties and helping local farmers grow rice. After over 20 years of cooperation, the rice yield per hectare in the reclamation area has significantly increased, as has the rice farmers' income. The project has made important contributions to the realization of Cote d'Ivoire's strategic rice development goal, which is to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2025 and rice exports by 2030. It has also become a model of agricultural development cooperation between China and Cote d'Ivoire.

In January 2021, Benjamin's rice field in the China-aided Guiguidou reclamation area was ready for harvest. With help from Chinese experts, Benjamin not only got rid of poverty by mastering rice-growing technology, but also became a leader in local rice-growing. Under his guidance, over 30 farming households produced nearly 50 tons of rice per season, an increase of more than 30 percent over the production of grain, achieving common prosperity. Feeling indebted to the help he got from China, Benjamin calls the variety bred by the Chinese experts the "seeds of prosperity".