2014
15TH OCTOBER
BACK TO COUNTRY REPORT ON AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR AFRICAN
COUNTRIES SEMINAR IN NANJING AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, CHINA ON 11TH TO 24TH
SEPTEMBER, 2014 BY MARY MWAMBIA, JOHN KARANJA, DR. MUREKEFU, W. K. AND MERCY
JEPKOSGEI MAIYO
The report is a record of the lectures received and historical sites visited while in China.
Contents
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 1
A VISIT TO JURONG AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ............................................................... 2
OVERVIEW OF CHINESE CULTURE................................................................................................................. 2
CHINESE AGRICULTURAL POLICY AND FOOD SECURITY ............................................................................... 3
Challenges ................................................................................................................................................. 3
GLOBAL CONFEDERATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION ASSOCIATION FOR AGRICULTURAL AND LIFE
SCIENCES (GCHERA) ...................................................................................................................................... 3
LAND USE POLICY IN CHINA .......................................................................................................................... 5
General observations regarding land use ................................................................................................. 5
Challenges ................................................................................................................................................. 5
AGRICULTURAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT..................................................................................................... 5
LAND USE POLICY REFORM IN CHINA (LAND TENURE)................................................................................. 5
Potential measures to improve people’s Lives ......................................................................................... 6
CHINA’S HISTORICAL SITES VISITED .............................................................................................................. 6
LESSONS LEARNT........................................................................................................................................... 7
INTRODUCTION
The seminar started on 11th September, 2014. The Kenyan team arrived late on the night of
12thSeptember missing the official opening, the Introduction of Nanjing Agricultural University, Overview
of China which included Daily Chinese language and Development of Agricultural Economy.
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A VISIT TO JURONG AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The first activity the Kenyan team participated in was a visit to Jurong Agricultural Science and
Technology Park where a number of technologies are practiced. They include a complex where research on mushrooms is carried out, mushrooms are also grown and
processed (value addition) ready for marketing
 Detailed research on floriculture in green houses
 Rolling cultivation technology –this is a unique and new cultivation mode which makes full use
of tridimensional space as shown below

Rootless plants-these plants are magical. They have no roots and do not need soil. They are kept
in the air to do ‘lazy management’. These plants can grow by themselves by absorbing effective
ingredients in the air and can bloom and bear fruits. They have a strong absorption function for
formaldehyde and benzene hence good for air purification. They can also be used for
decoration.
OVERVIEW OF CHINESE CULTURE
We had an over view of long history of the Chinese culture, the key concepts and basic icons information
such as Acupuncture (a medical therapy practiced for over 2000 years in China), ancestral worship and
bamboo tree which is held in high esteem as a symbol of perseverance and longevity.
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The three most important Chinese religious philosophies include Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism.
Chinese culture is a dragon culture. They believe they are the descendants of the dragon which is their
guardian spirit. The dragon is the symbol of authority and glory.
CHINESE AGRICULTURAL POLICY AND FOOD SECURITY
China has a population of 1.37 billion people. The Chinese Food Security Policy is ‘CHINA WILL FEED
CHINA’ and the main objective is to attain food sufficiency rate of more than 95per cent while imports
contribute less than 5per cent.
The government preferences currently are towards industrialization and service delivery.
This policy is informed by the fact that China was a net grain importer since 1860’s; repeated famines,
the most recent one in 1960; impacts of inflation attributable to food shortage; volatile prices in the
world market and fear of embargo of imports from other countries.
Before 1978 under communal system (collective farming) there was institutional arrangement where
supply was limited, demand rationed and the prices controlled.
After 1978, the household production responsibility was adopted, prices were doubled, families were
allowed to keep the surplus and hard work was rewarded.
Technological development followed, through research with the main focus on increasing yields through
breeding, Introduction of better varieties, soil improvement, crop management and plant protection;
increasing yields per unit area. Infrastructural development was also enhanced which involved
improvement of roads, railway network, irrigation and storage facilities (post-harvest technology),
further increasing yields per unit area and improving market access.
Challenges
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The population remains high despite the one child policy
Urbanization due to rural-urban migration and aging population decreasing farm land and
reducing farm labor
Environmental degradation
Resource constraints
GLOBAL CONFEDERATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION ASSOCIATION FOR
AGRICULTURAL AND LIFE SCIENCES (GCHERA)
We had an opportunity to attend the GCHERA (Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations
for Agriculture and life sciences) world dialogue and ‘GCHERA Prize Award Ceremony’. The
Confederation seeks to foster Agricultural Innovation System through Linkage of University, Industry and
Government. The theme of the world dialogue was ‘Education and Innovation in Agriculture and Life
Sciences: ‘Fostering Agricultural Innovation Systems Networks through the Linkages of University,
Industry and government’ This year’s Laureate was Professor Paul Vlek, Bonn University
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GCHERA Participants
The following papers were presented;
a) Innovation in the Agri-Food sector through Public Private Partnership Concept, Strategy and
Perspective by Martin Kropff, Wageningen University, Netherlands
b) Engagement of Small Scale Farmers through Student attachment program by James Tuitoek,
Egerton University, Kenya.
c) Educational innovation by William Ronnie Coffman, Cornell University, USA
d) Harvesting money: Unique ways to fund agricultural research, by Mary M Buhr
e) Universities as partners in delivering the GFAR Innovation Strategy by Mark Holderness, Global
Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR),Rome, Italy.
f) Meeting the needs of youth that meet the needs of the agricultural sector by Huang Jiaqi, China
Deputy Representative, Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD)
g) Developing Research and Educational Alliances by Maurice P Boland,Research Director,Alltech
Biosciences Centre,Dunboyne,Ireland
h) Potential of universities to be partners in agricultural development enterprises in emerging
economies by Trevor Tomkins, Venture Dairy Enterprises LLC, South Elgin.Illinois,USA
i) Bio refining Conversions Network (BCN) by David Bressler, Agriculture/Forestry Centre
,University of Alberta,Edmonton, Canada.
j) A partnership for sustainability, Earth University and Whole Foods Market by Daniel Sherrard,
Provost, Earth university, Apartado, San Jose, Costa Rica
k) The Chinese model on interrelated innovation system of University-Industry-Government, by
Chen Jinfeng, Nanjing Agricultural University, China.
We comment Egerton University through their Vice Chancellor Professor Tuitoek for joining
GCHERA. Professor James Tuitoek gave a presentation on “Engagement of Small-scale farmers
through Student Attachment Program” as the model Egerton University has undertaken to
contribute to enhanced agricultural productivity through development of professionals with
practical field experience. Egerton University was the only African University in the World dialogue
forum. We believe the involvement of Egerton University is for the betterment of Agriculture in
Kenya.
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LAND USE POLICY IN CHINA
Land is divided into 2 categories namely;
a) Rural land comprising of Construction and Farm land
b) Urban land (construction land)
General observations regarding land use
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There are different policies regulating land use.
The urban population constituted 52.6 per cent of the total population in 2012.The off farm
workers migrate to the cities temporarily to look for jobs and according to the statistics 140.4,
158.6 and 269million migrated to urban areas in 2008, 2011 and 2013 respectively.
China’s Agricultural employment has dropped significantly from 70per cent in 1978 to 50per
cent by the year 2000 and expected to drop further with the continued migration to the urban
areas. The migrants take up off farm employment.
The average size of land per household is 0.5 ha, hence making agriculture uneconomical. This is
worsened by the migration of the young energetic population to urban areas leaving behind the
old with their children because the children can’t be accommodated in the city. The registration
system recognizes urban dwellers and rural dwellers. There are restrictions for the rural
population migrating into cities thus migration is controlled.
Challenges
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The average size of land per household is 0.5 ha, therefore making agriculture uneconomical. –
This is being resolved by consolidating land to be able to use machines.
Frequent re-distribution of land (1-2 years) due to demographic changes in household, natural
disasters and land acquisition by government
Land use -rights is not well defined -Ownership of collective land is not clear. One can use land
but cannot sell it. Also cannot take mortgage on it, difficult to transfer and no legal status.
Village chiefs are corrupt
Poor rural infrastructure
Poor education and health services to rural population.
AGRICULTURAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT
This mainly dwelled on the concept and knowledge system of project management and case
studies.
LAND USE POLICY REFORM IN CHINA (LAND TENURE)
The presentation was an overview of land use including various land reforms in the rural and urban
construction land tenure system in China. The first rural farmland and social reforms was in 1949. Other
reforms included communes in 1958-1960, collective land ownership up to 1978. Rural land tenure
system reform started in 1978 as household responsibility system (HRS). The land ownership is still
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collective but land use rights are distributed to farmers according to household size, labor size and a
combination of the two. The construction land tenure system included private land ownership in the
1950’s gradually changing into state ownership whereby government buys farms from farmers and sells
to companies. Hence the general reform trend for rural farmland has been from private ownership to
collective ownership and for construction land from private ownership to state ownership.
Currents land reforms include property law which banned land reallocation due to demographic changes
but for natural disasters or land requisition (2003-2007), two tier land system, and land shareholding
system where farmers become shareholders in a company that runs the farm. The urban construction
reforms moved from collective to the state as the sole construction land supplier. The government can
acquire private land for construction of public good eg roads, schools, hospitals and housing
development.
The main environmental challenges include desertification, air, water and electronic waste pollution
which result in soil contamination due to accumulation of heavy metals.
Potential measures to improve people’s Lives
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Change dual policy and social structure to allow free migration to urban areas to increase
income of peasant farmers and accelerate industrialization and urbanization of rural areas
The government should increase allocation to education and health care in rural areas.
CHINA’S HISTORICAL SITES VISITED
a) Sun yat-sen mausoleum where the founder of Peoples Republic of China, Mao Tse Tung was
buried.
b) Confucius Temple
We visited Qufu city where Confucius the founder of Confucianism was born and buried. Had an
opportunity to visit the Kong family Mansion where the emperor also lived.
Confucianism advocates for self-control, propriety and filial piety, good manners, courtesy, politeness,
respect forage and a sense of obligation that one has to others. This philosophy had initially been
rejected by successive emperors but has been fully adopted and acts as a unifying factor for the Chinese
people today.
c) We visited an agricultural farm at Qufu city owned by a private company. The original farm owners
are farm workers and receive a portion of the produce from the farm. The farm workers are also paid for
working on the farm. The type of crops grown here are soya beans, onions, maize, vegetables and apple
trees
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d) Tiananmen square (the famous ‘forbidden city’) where no ordinary Chinese was allowed to enter.
The Emperor lived with his wives and concubines within the Forbidden City. The Emperor would have as
many as a thousand wives and concubines to boost the Emperor’s family numbers.
e) The Great wall-This is one of the seven-ancient wonders of the world. It was cited as a UNESCO world
heritage in 1987.It was built in the 17th century BC as a defensive mechanism against the aggressive
Mongolians. The 6,000 kilometer long Great Wall took 273 years to be completed.
Millions of tourists from all over the world visit the Great Wall
LESSONS LEARNT
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The Chinese people value their culture and heritage, They are patriotic ,friendly and
receptive people
There is a deliberate effort to promote local tourism within the country. To this end,
some of some sites are open to the public free of charge. This is an idea Kenya could
borrow so that restrictions are removed to allow Kenyan citizens to access important
historical sites such as Jomo Kenyatta mausoleum
In as much as Kenya’s economic mainstay is Agriculture, there is need to aggressively
promote other sectors for accelerated growth
There is need to introduce legislation that will protect agricultural land that is being
lost to urbanization and industrialization
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Land tenure system should be reviewed to allow consolidation of land thus take
advantage of current technologies and utilize economies of scale
Chinese people are very disciplined, law abiding as evident in obedience to traffic rule
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We thank the Government of Kenya for the exposure accorded to us. The Ministry of Agriculture,
Livestock and Fisheries and the County Government of Nairobi for giving us a chance to go to China to
acquire knowledge on new technologies to improve Agricultural production and to learn from their
experiences in various fields.
We also acknowledge Nainjing University for the hospitality accorded to us through-out our stay in
China.
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