WINDHOEK, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Namibian Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry and Chinese Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Beijing Hi-Technology Energy Investment are undertaking the first "China-Agricultural Training Course" to help Namibia's small-scale farmers improve their productivity.
Ma Hui, who is with the Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that the training is aimed to introduce the use and application of some agricultural machinery commonly used in rural China to Namibia small-scale farmers.
Senior agricultural experts from the academy will share the techniques of potato, hybrid millet cultivation, and breeding agricultural machinery.
"We are hoping to contribute to the improvement of Namibia millet and potato planting levels," Ma said.
Zhang Yiming, Chinese ambassador to Namibia, through his representative said that in recent years, the cooperation between China-Namibia agriculture and the food industry has continued to deepen.
"Namibia's agricultural production suffered heavy losses as a result of the worst drought. As one of the most sincere partners of Namibia, the Chinese government and people have responded positively to the Namibia government's call for emergency assistance," Zhang said.
Meanwhile, Moses Kanhinda, coordinator in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, said that the program is timely to foster innovation and build the capacity of local farmers for increased agricultural output.
"This program should be seen as a complementary project to support on the projects we already have in place," he said.
Kanhinda said that seven farmers are currently undergoing training.
The academy has held seven similar international training courses on dry farming for Asian and African developing countries since 2009. Over 200 technicians from more than 30 developing countries have been trained.
