ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Officials and experts on Friday called for deeper China-Africa cooperation to unlock Africa's vast animal resources potential, highlighting science and technology as key drivers for transforming the sector.
The call was made at the Forum on Science and Technology for African Animal Resources Management, held at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The event was jointly organized by the Mission of China to the AU and the AU's Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources.
Addressing the forum, Moses Vilakati, AU commissioner for agriculture, rural development, blue economy and sustainable environment, said "livestock agriculture is a crucial livelihood for Africa's rural populations and is of major strategic importance for the continent's food and nutritional security, as well as intra-African and international trade."
Vilakati warned that failing to transform the livestock agriculture sector would slow local industry growth, reduce job opportunities, and lower incomes for pastoralists.
The forum, he said, will foster collaboration between African and Chinese experts and institutions in experience sharing and knowledge transfer, and contribute to the advancement of Africa's livestock sector.
Jiang Feng, head of the Mission of China to the AU, said that China's livestock industry has not only achieved leaps in production efficiency and industrial quality, but also demonstrated strong momentum in technological innovation and value creation.
He called for enhancing cooperation across various areas, including improving governmental mechanisms, strengthening technology exchange, and supporting market-driven enterprise collaboration.
The forum aimed to align continental priorities with technological innovation, focusing on sharing AU goals in animal health, production and trade, while showcasing China's advanced technologies to identify concrete areas for future collaboration.
The Chinese delegation, which consisted of livestock experts from various enterprises, universities and research institutes, shared a set of technological solutions and collaborative pathways on smart animal farming utilizing artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, the latest advances in zoonosis prevention and control technologies, as well as the design of bio-safety vaccine factories. ■