CRI听力:Chinese farmer promotes agricultural development in Angola

Operating a farm in Angola, Chinese businessman Zhu Jinlin is helping to modernize Angola's agricultural sector and is contributing to the diversification of its economy.

"Investing in agricultural projects takes time. It needs sufficient funds and valuable agricultural technologies. For example, farming the land and breeding animals are both quite time-consuming," said Zhu.

Zhu has been working in agriculture sector in Angola for around eight years.

The businessman from China's Jiangsu Province now runs a ten-thousand hectare farm in central Angola's Huambo Province.

Angola boasts amiable natural conditions and a rich labor force for agricultural development. However, development in the southern African country has been sluggish due to outdated technologies and facilities.

Angola has so far only made use of 10 percent of its 3.5 million hectares of arable land.

Zhu Jinlin said that by introducing up-to-date agricultural technologies and equipment from China, his farm soon became an engine for agricultural development in Huambo Province.

"The cultivation of the farm started in 2017. At that time, 800 hectares of land were cultivated. And we had quite a good harvest. There was a sharp contrast between my farm and the surrounding local farms. Their corn cobs were only 10 centimeters long, which is very small. Mine are big, they're 20 centimeters long. Local people were impressed with the production capacity of my farm," said Zhu.

Zhu Jinlin has so far cultivated one-fifth of the area of his farm, mainly by planting corn and potatoes. He's also introducing large-scale irrigation to the farm, and trying to increase output. Over the next three years, he expects that his farm will be able to meet the food demands of over 300,000 people in Angola.

Zhu Jinlin is also diversifying his produce, by raising pigs, chicken, and fish at his farm.

"I'm growing more commercial crops, such as onions and sisal. I'm also building facilities to raise pigs, chicken, and fish. Besides growing crops and raising animals, I'm also working on processing and marketing. I want there to be integrated produce development," said Zhu.

As well as running his farm, Zhu Jinlin is also promoting agricultural development in his region, by introducing advanced technologies to other local farmers. He also distributes seeds, fertilizers, and agricultural equipment to other farmers for free.

Laredo, a local employee who works with Zhu, said the farm is helping to diversify Angola's economy.

"Agriculture is one of the most important ways to build a good nation. Angola has been importing many things from abroad for many years, like beans, rice, maize, millet. The Angolan government wants to spend more money in agriculture to try to change the way that Angolans have been living until now," said Laredo.

Agriculture is a key area of cooperation for China and Angola, and both sides are working on a growing number of agriculture projects in the country.