China’s interest in investing in Africa is well documented; however the practical implications and benefits to local people may be less appreciated. This is where a video, produced by the People’s Daily about the Wanbao Rice Farm project in the southern Mozambique province of Gaza, is insightful.
Chinese infrastructure development and knowledge transfer in Mozambique is mainly directed to the agricultural sector, and the video takes viewers to the fertile Lower Limpopo River Valley, where a rice production project is changing the fortunes of local farmers.
In 2011, Chinese company Wanbao Africa Agriculture Development Limited (WAADL) received a concession of 20 000 hectares for a period of 50 years, the most significant example of Chinese investment in Mozambique to date. Wanbao's increase of the production of quality rice is based on its successful experience in Hubei province, China’s traditional rice-farming area.
In the video - produced by Zhao Dantong and He Jieqiong (Lily He) - reporter Lily He explains how it works. Investment covers the agrifood chain—from production to processing and distribution—and adopts two models, both of which offer training to local farmers in modern Chinese rice-growing techniques.
In the out-grower scheme, the company has a contract with local smallholder farmers, providing technical and other assistance, and it guarantees the purchase of output from the farmers after harvest, deducting costs from income. In the second model, Wanbao subcontracts land to Chinese-owned agribusiness companies which work with local farmers, increasing productivity, and passing on their knowledge and best practices.
He interviews the Minister of Agriculture in Mozambique, Higino de Marrule, who applauds the Wanbao project as having raised productivity in rice production seven-fold, and lowering the level of rice imports significantly.
Celso Tamele, a program director at TechnoServe, an NGO which provides assistance to the agricultural sector, says that the project has had an impact on small farmers of the Xai-Xai region, and he believes the model can be replicated in other regions of Mozambique, one of the world’s poorest countries.