Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Yin Chengwu says that the recent national agricultural fair expanded agricultural products and sales channels, transforming farmers’ hard work into tangible income and truly realizing the principle of “reward for labor and market for produce. Ambassador Chengwu said the fair pulled the strength of international partners and representatives from the World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, and Embassies in Liberia, demonstrating that the country’s development is not an isolated endeavor.
“This Fair reflects Liberia’s commitment to enhancing farmers’ production capacity, achieving national food self-sufficiency, and promoting the advancement of agriculture,” he said. He described the event as a demonstration of a national will for development, a gathering of collective strength for progress, and a path leading to a prosperous future.
He said people often say farmers feed them, and it is true. Still, it is a profound understatement because farmers feed them and fuel their bodies, economies, and even their very sovereignty, suggesting that empowering farmers is the most strategic investment a nation can make in its own future. According to him, making agriculture a national central task is essential, as it is the foundation of a nation and people’s livelihoods. “We can never overemphasize it,” he noted.
“As is well known, on Liberia’s national development agenda, the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID), agriculture comes first. This really shows the great importance the Liberian Government attaches to it. In China, the government always places the issues related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers as the top priority of the national development agenda,” the ambassador disclosed.
He further narrated that the annual Central Government Document No. 1 has almost always focused on these issues in the past four decades or so. Based on this, China’s agricultural sector has traversed a developmental journey from ensuring basic subsistence to advancing toward modernization, and with less than 7% of the world’s arable land and 6% of its freshwater resources, China has sustained to feed nearly 20% of the global population.
Ambassador Chengwu stressed the importance of strengthening capacity building and enhancing capacity as the driving force behind agricultural development, and as a strategic partner, China has been committed to partnering with Liberia in this area. The Chinese Ambassador said China is advancing a project of Liberia Agriculture Modernization and Mechanization, which will allow China to provide a batch of modern agricultural machinery to agricultural service centers in 8 counties across Liberia, empowering more farmers.
Chengwu said it is important to make the most use of the international market, and in a highly interconnected world, the flow of agricultural goods internationally is essential to the development of agriculture. “In this regard, it is worth mentioning that China has provided zero-tariff treatment for all 53 African countries having diplomatic ties with China, including Liberia. The zero-tariff policy will significantly reduce the costs for African products entering the Chinese market, help African countries expand their exports to China, unleash the potential of Africa-China trade, and create more jobs here in Africa,” he noted.
He said a wide range of distinctive African agricultural products—such as soybean meal from Ethiopia, peanuts from Congo, cashews from Gambia, and macadamia nuts from Malawi—are entering the Chinese market through zero-tariff access. Chinese Ambassador Chengwu indicated that Liberia’s agricultural products can also find their way to the Chinese market with zero tariffs, and the Chinese market is growing exponentially. He said that over the next 10 years, the middle-income population in China is expected to grow from 400 million to 800 million. “We look forward to seeing additional value-added agricultural goods from Liberia in China’s mega market.” Meanwhile, Ambassador Chengwu has committed to further strengthening cooperation with Liberia, and the prospects for agricultural cooperation between China and Liberia will be even broader.
