People attend a side event during the ongoing Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Science Week in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Han Xu)
NAIROBI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Establishing a platform for technology and innovation transfer through China-Africa cooperation is crucial for improving Africa's food systems amid climate stresses, pests, diseases and declining soil fertility, scientists and industry leaders said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a side event during the ongoing Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Science Week in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, participants said that harnessing plant breeding, pest control and irrigation technologies will enable the continent to address its persistent hunger crisis.
The side event, themed "Building Bridges," was convened by CGIAR and its partners, including Chinese genomics company BGI Group, one of the world's leading life science and genomics organizations, to explore new areas of collaboration in agriculture and biodiversity conservation.
Managing Director of CGIAR Ismahane Elouafi called for leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), genomics and nanotechnology to boost crop and livestock productivity in Africa amid a climate-induced hunger and malnutrition crisis.
She stressed that to reduce the continent's food import bill, which currently stands at about 100 billion U.S. dollars annually, investments in soil health, water management and breeding of high-yielding crop varieties are crucial.
Africa stands to benefit from Chinese agricultural technologies in line with South-South cooperation to boost domestic food production and exports, she said, adding that the presence of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and BGI Group at CGIAR Science Week reaffirms the pivotal role of Sino-African partnerships in realizing an agrarian revolution on the continent.
Wang Jian, co-founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of BGI Group, said "leveraging cutting-edge sequencing technology and AI modeling, BGI has the capability to digitalize millions of germplasm samples collected by researchers worldwide."
Director of BGI-Research Xu Xun said that enhancing partnerships with CGIAR will foster germplasm digitization, accelerate crop breeding, and strengthen food system resilience in developing countries, especially in Africa.
According to Xu, BGI Group has advanced sequencing platforms and AI models for data analysis that can be used to promote the digitization of seed systems, injecting vitality into food production in the Global South.
BGI's genomics technology can help accelerate the breeding of climate-resilient crop varieties, he added.
Wang Jian, co-founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of Chinese genomics company BGI Group, speaks at a side event during the ongoing Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Science Week in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Han Xu)
Xu Xun (R), director of Chinese genomics company BGI-Research, speaks at a side event during the ongoing Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Science Week in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Han Xu)
People attend a side event during the ongoing Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Science Week in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Han Xu)
A single purchase
