Since 2011, a group of teachers and students from China Agricultural University have traveled to Morogoro Province, Tanzania, to go to local villages to help local farmers increase production and income.
For more than a decade, many chinese agricultural technologies have taken root in the local area, such as corn dense planting technology, organic fertilizer use technology, corn and soybean seeding technology, etc. These technologies have changed the traditional local farming methods, using agricultural techniques suitable for the local natural environment and social development stage, helping farmers to increase production and income. Chinese professors and students have also helped farmers develop aquaculture and transform the appearance of villages, which have proved effective in the process of China's poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, and after transformation, they have become a way to help African farmers change their lives. This year, corn and soybean seeding technology from China came here, not only teaching the locals how to grow soybeans, but also teaching them how to make soy milk and other soy products.
In July 2022, the reporter interviewed a number of local farmers and asked them to talk about the changes in the past decade. Here's what they have to say:
Peyapea village, waiting for the housewives of soy milk to be ready. Courtesy of China Agricultural University
Oumari, a villager in The village of Wasimba: Soy milk is unexpectedly delicious
As early as 2019, I followed Professor Li Xiaoyun's advice and tried to plant some soybeans, and the harvest was good that year, but we don't really know how to use these beans from China.
The taste of soy milk exceeded the expectations of Omari, a villager in Wahinba village, who loves this Chinese drink. Courtesy of China Agricultural University
I am seventy years old and have lived in the village of Wasimba for seventy years, and I grew up on this land and depend on this yellow land for my livelihood. In the past few decades, like all our forefathers, we have planted corn, sunflowers, cassava, etc., into the ground, and the rainy season brings the water that crops need to grow, so that they grow, mature, and become our food. Drought is the toughest time for farmers, with a lack of irrigation facilities and more of the technology and capacity to fight against nature.
In Africa, there are many experts from all over the world who support our many different technologies. But most of the experts, who have come once, have promoted a project to us and then left, and many of those projects have not really been implemented. For a long time, we felt that aid was like this, until more than a decade ago, when a group of Chinese professors and students arrived.
I am familiar with Professor Li Xiaoyun, and I am also familiar with many of the teachers and students in his team, unlike other donors, who really walked into our farmland, lived in our village, lived with us, and worked together. They are curious about everything about us, there will be people with pen and paper, record everything they see, and will also learn about our lives in detail.
They taught us how to grow corn to be more productive, taught us to plant more seeds in the field, planted according to standard row spacing, plant spacing, and taught us to use organic fertilizer. These technologies do require more hard work, but the harvest is also heavy.
In 2022, Professor Li Xiaoyun, through our local agricultural researchers and agricultural officials, told us that soybeans can be planted in corn fields. Local promoters sent us seeds and taught us how to grow and how to manage them. After the harvest, they also taught us how to make these beans in the village.
These beans, really brought us a surprise, warm soy milk, unexpectedly delicious, I like this drink,
I'm also looking forward to more soy making methods, and I think I will continue to grow soybeans, hoping that this bean from the other side of the world will change our lives in the future.
Edie, a villager in the village of Wasimba: An unexpected surprise in the drought
This year's dry season has been exceptionally long, and the harvest in Wahinba village and in the surrounding villages is very poor.
But there were also unexpected surprises, the first time I planted soybeans, the harvest was a little better than expected.
Idy, a villager in the village of Wasimba, this year's soybean harvest is a little higher than expected. Courtesy of China Agricultural University
In washinba Village, I was one of the first to participate in the soybean planting project, and when the people who promoted the project told us that this was a technology and crop from China, I knew that it was possible to participate. Because in the past decade, I have been planting corn according to the technology promoted by Chinese professors, so that my family of four has really benefited.
I planted soybeans in 1 acre of corn, and in July, that yielded about 400 kilograms of corn and 120 kilograms of soybeans, although far from the expected yield, but in the drought, such a harvest was beyond expectations.
Soybean cultivation is not complicated, and it is also very drought tolerant, and agricultural officials from extension projects and technologies told us that this is a specially selected drought-tolerant variety suitable for our dryland cultivation here.
I heard that in distant China, there are also vast drylands, and in the past time, people there have accumulated a lot of dryland agriculture technology. In some places, where more than 3,000 kilograms of grain can be harvested on 1 acre just by rain, it's hard to imagine what that would be like, an experience I've never had in my 57-year-old career.
But I think that kind of scene may not be far away from us. Because China's dryland agriculture technology and experience have been promoted here for more than ten years, we have learned China's method of growing corn and vegetables, and today we are completely different from before.
More importantly, those Chinese professors are still paying attention to us, they have changed our agriculture, they have also changed our villages, they have helped us build villages, they have built houses, they have brought us new crops, new food. I love soy, and I love soy milk, it looks like milk, and the trained agronomists tell us it's also very nutritious.
I think I will continue to grow soybeans, and I am very confident that now, the agricultural officials in our counties and townships, our agricultural researchers here, like the Chinese professors, will often go to the village to see our lives, to see the growth of the crops in the fields, and they will help us.
Ali, a villager in Makuyu Village: They rated me as number one
After the soybean harvest, the professors and officials who promoted the soybeans evaluated our plantings, and I was the "best farmer first" .
Ali, a villager in Makuyu Village, was named the "Best Farmer First" in the soybean trial. Courtesy of China Agricultural University
I didn't have the most land, I didn't grow the most soybeans, the first time I tried to plant, I planted 1 acre, but not a set of seeds, but planted a whole field of soybeans.
When soybeans bloomed and podded, it never rained, and it was the time when rain was most needed, and we stopped holding out hope for this year's harvest. But in the end, 1 acre of land, gave me 480 kilograms of soybeans, which was lower than expected before planting but higher than expected in the drought.
I have four children, a family of six, only 4 acres of land, and the output on the land is far from enough to support the family's expenses. So, in my spare time, I also ran a small restaurant and a barber shop, plus selling some crops, and the whole family earned about 5.5 million Tanzanian shillings (about 15,000 yuan) a year.
1 acre of soybeans, a quarter of my total arable land, is actually risky, and the average person may be a little more cautious about a new crop that has never been tried. But chinese professors have given me more confidence, and they've done a lot in our village, in many other villages, over the past decade, teaching us new technologies, helping us transform our villages, changing our habits, and for us, it's an experience we've never had before.
When the soybeans were harvested, I took part in the training in soy milk making, which was as simple as the techniques promoted by Chinese professors in the past, but also very practical.
On that day, all the soybean growers in the village participated in the training, and initially, we sat in the conference room and the agricultural technicians stood in front of us. But soon, people all went to the yard, soaked soybeans, set up pots, different methods, and finally got the same soy milk.
People were carrying all sorts of containers filled with soy milk, some were sitting under trees, some were leaning against the wall, and children were running around with bottles, just like a festival, and no one was dissatisfied. I think by next year, more people will start growing this novelty crop.
Rajabo, a villager in Makuyu Village: Every income is worth more effort
Professors and officials who promote soybean cultivation tell me that soybeans promote health and increase income, which is why soybeans attracted me in the first place.
Rajabo, a villager in the village of Makuyu, plans to multiply soybeans for the next season. Courtesy of China Agricultural University
I planted 1 acre of soybeans, sowed from February until the end of June, about four months, 1 acre of land, harvested 300 kilograms of soybeans.
Growing soybeans is a whole new experience for us. In the past, I grew grains such as corn, sorghum, and rice, as well as oil crops such as sunflowers and sesame seeds. Our family has 10 acres of land, plus chicken farming, and the income from a small mill, about 12 million Tanzanian shillings (about 34,000 yuan) a year, which may seem a little more than some families, but in fact, the money is still strained for a family of eight, and each extra income is worth more effort.
Of course, I pay more attention to the nutrition of soybeans. Professors from China tell us that our diet is not rational, and many people have nutritional imbalances or malnutrition. So after harvest, they teach us how to eat these soybeans. The first thing I taught us was to make soy milk.
This is a drink that looks particularly like milk and can be used as a substitute for milk. In our case, milk is expensive and not abundant, making it almost impossible for the average person to buy it, and it is difficult to buy it. Soy milk is much better, and it's not complicated to do, there are many different ways. On the day of the training, people tried a lot of different soy milk, some with sugar, sweet and delicious.
The training agricultural officials said the project should involve more people and offered to set up a "soy milk competition day." I think that the cultivation of soybeans will inevitably continue to expand, and at that time, the income and health brought by soybeans will also cover more people. Even myself, I want to order a variety of soybeans in the next season, not only to eat them myself, but also to sell soybeans or soy milk.
(Mkongo and Li Jiayu are also helpful in this article.)
Beijing News reporter Zhou Huaizong
Edited by Zhang Shujing Proofreader Zhao Lin