African farmer reaps benefits of China's Juncao tech

Fu Cong (front, second from right), China's permanent representative to the United Nations, visits earlier this month a farm in Rwanda using China's Juncao technology. (CHINA DAILY)

After completing his university studies in 2017, Nyambo Obed, who is from Rwanda, benefited from Chinese farming technology.

While unemployed, he took a training course on agriculture featuring Juncao technology, which was organized by the China-United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund.

In five years, Obed became a farmer employing dozens of people and producing a wide range of products, including food, animal feed, and fertilizer.

"Juncao technology has not only changed my life, but has also made me a champion in my village, helping others out of poverty. Thanks to it, I am now able to support the livelihoods of dozens of families on my own," Obed told Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, when Fu visited his farm in Rwanda.

Juncao technology is an agricultural invention using chopped grass as a substrate for growing edible and medicinal mushrooms. Invented in the 1980s by Lin Zhanxi from China's Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, the technology has benefited more than 100 countries, including Rwanda, according to Xinhua News Agency.

"Today, I can proudly say that my mushroom business has enabled me to create jobs for over 20 people in my community, helping them lift themselves out of poverty," he told The New Times, a Rwandan news agency.

Two weeks ago, Fu traveled with senior UN Secretariat officials and Lin to visit farms using Juncao technology in Rwanda and Tanzania.

The technology "symbolizes the successful practices explored by the Chinese people in the course of poverty reduction and eradication and epitomizes China's practical actions to support the realization of sustainable development in the Global South," Fu said at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.

The farming technology has been promoted and adopted in 107 countries around the globe, bringing hope for tackling problems of poverty, food security, and employment, Fu noted.

"China is ready to work with the international community to help more developing countries realize independent development," he added.

Juncao technology is one of the priority projects carried out under the China-United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund. Established in 2015, the fund has so far supported about 150 projects in the Global South.

Fu called the fund an "important support for the UN in promoting the sustainable development agenda and maintaining international peace and security".