Since 2006, China has built over 20 agricultural demonstration centers throughout Africa to train local farmers and transfer technologies. It is an important part of China-Africa agricultural cooperation. CGTN's Tang Bo went to one of the demonstration centers in Togo to find out how agricultural cooperation is carried out there.  

From a construction worker to a farmer.

Simala never thought he'd one day work in a rice field. He underwent this transformation when he and colleagues finished building the Lome Agriculture Demonstration Center. The facility then took him in based on his outstanding work ethic.

SIMALA SINDA WEDIKA, TECHNICIAN LOME AGRICULTURAL DEMONSTRATION CENTER "I'm very grateful to still be here. I have managed to grasp farming techniques for rice, corn and so on. Even if I lost my job, I can still grow something at home and won't starve. Many people here in Togo don't know how important that is."

The demonstration center is one of the first of 15 such aid facilities established under the first China-Africa Cooperation Forum held in 2006.

Completed in 2010, the center covers an area of 10 hectares, 8 of which are for growing rice. The project aims to provide Togolese farmers with advanced farming techniques. China's Zhongmei Engineering Group won the bid among other Chinese competitors to build and operate the facility.

HUANG CAILI, LOME OFFICE DIRECTOR ZHONGMEI ENGINEERING GROUP LTD. "We came here with new farming concepts. Local people still followed the slash-and-burn farming method become we arrived. Now, after our proper trainings, farmers here acquired efficient and productive cultivation skills."

Simala is the most senior local employee at the demonstration center. He also has a growing number of apprentices. He and his Chinese colleagues also go into the field to teach other farmers who need to increase rice production.

TANG BO LOME, TOGO "This large paddy field area was revitalized from a waste land to an arable one by a Chinese agriculture team in the 1980s. Transplanting rice seedlings here, sticks to an old tradition, like what I'm doing right now. It's tiring, but not difficult. What's really hard for local farmers however, is increasing rice output under proper field management something the agricultural demonstration center is working on.”

The rice output at the demonstration center is at least three times larger than that of the local rice field. The land fertility level is the same. So what makes the difference? Proper land management.

SIMALA SINDA WEDIKA, TECHNICIAN LOME AGRICULTURAL DEMONSTRATION CENTER "Besides transplanting skills, we're teaching them how to better prepare the field, repel birds and so on. Machinery is not suitable for them though because they can't afford any. And they can only afford to hire one or two people to help. So their field management skills need some work."

HUANG CAILI, LOME OFFICE DIRECTOR ZHONGMEI ENGINEERING GROUP LTD. "We will build an agricultural industrial park to introduce more farming skills and management. For example, rice seedlings cannot be planted too close to each other. But most farmers here seem to ignore that. Besides, there is not enough irrigation to water the field enough, especially during dry seasons."

Huang is happy to see that their farming techniques have been adopted by the local people. The central government continues to send students to the demonstration center to learn. Simala is grateful that he has the chance to work on something meaningful. He hopes the cooperation can expand to other parts of the country where there are more hard working people ready to improve their farming skills. Tang Bo, CGTN, Lome, Togo.