17 July, 2014 --- Co-sponsored by IPRCC and the Planning Committee of Tanzanian President’s Office, the “China-Tanzania Village-level Learning Center for Poverty Reduction” Project Summary Seminar was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. IPRCC Deputy Director General Tan Weiping and Philip Mpango, Executive Secretary of the Planning Committee of Tanzanian President’s Office respectively delivered a keynote speech. The meeting was chaired by Li Xiaoyun, Dean of the College of Humanities and Development, China Agricultural University (CAU). About 70 people attended the meeting, including representatives from Tanzania’s Ministry of Local Government and Regional Administration and Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, China-Africa Agricultural Investment Co., Ltd. (CAAIC), Sokoine University of Agriculture, World Bank, DFID, GIZ and other international organizations, as well as experts on poverty reduction and rural development. In-depth discussions were carried out around the topics.

“China-Tanzania Village-level Learning Center for Poverty Reduction” is a community development demonstration project implemented by IPRCC in Tanzania in 2011, with technical support from CAU’s College of Humanities and Development and CAAIC’s Tanzanian Branch. Located in Peiyapeiya Village, Ludaiwa Township, Kilosa County, Morogoro Province of Tanzania, the project is intended to draw upon the practical experience of China’s “whole village advancement” mode of poverty alleviation, help and guide local farmers to engage in agricultural production by means of voluntary participation, and practice and demonstrate China’s experience in poverty reduction by promoting agricultural and rural development.

Over the past three years since its implementation, the project has achieved substantial results and received high praise from the Tanzanian Government and local villagers. The central and local government officials of Tanzania have made several inspection tours to the project village. In June 2013, according to the results of on-site yield prediction by experts, the core yield of 30 model households more than doubles (124%) that of other households in the same village. Meanwhile, the project has produced positive demonstrative effects on poverty reduction, as some nonparticipants have began to learn the planting and field management pattern from model households. The success of labor-intensive, capital-saving and land-saving poverty reduction and development model for China’s rural areas at the grassroots community and farmer levels of Tanzania indicates that it is a piece of suitable and feasible experience to help farmers increase production and income through rural industrial development so as to alleviate rural poverty.

The participants listened to the reports by project implementers, fully recognized the achievements in the past three years, and identified the guiding significance of the project to enhancing China-Tanzania cooperation on poverty reduction. In his speech, Deputy Director General Tan Weiping pointed out that, since Tanzania is a big agricultural country in Africa, agricultural and rural development is of great practical importance to facilitating its economic growth and poverty reduction cause. In the past three decades, China has accumulated extensive experience in development-oriented poverty alleviation and rural development, and we are willing to share it with the Tanzania people to contribute to their rural poverty reduction efforts.

The representatives had heated discussions over the topics and noted that China’ rural development pattern and experience, particularly the policy system that increases the benign interactions among the government, farmers and the market, are highly consistent with Tanzania’s current rural development and can be well extended to the country which also belongs to the developing world. In the opinion of Philip Mpango, this project should be further promoted and applied to Morogoro Province or even the whole country to form scale effects. Other topics were also covered, including the role of universities and research institutions in development and poverty reduction, the priority of national development, the relations between policy making and policy implementation, and the improvement of agricultural productivity and market mechanism. It was agreed that, since the current China-Africa ties have entered a new period and a new stage, it is necessary to further enhance the all-round exchanges and cooperation between China and Tanzania, especially the South-South exchange and cooperation projects with a focus on practical results, people’s livelihood, poverty reduction and experience sharing.

After the discussion sessions, Tan delivered concluding remarks on behalf of IPRCC, extended his gratitude to the guests and friends, and gave several comments on the outcomes of this seminar. According to him, this seminar had deepened our understanding of the necessity and importance of strengthening China-Tanzania cooperation on poverty reduction. Implementing the said project in Tanzania is an important step toward our closer cooperation. The design and implementation of this project is of great practical significance to stepping up the cooperation between China and Tanzania or even the whole Africa in the field of poverty reduction and rural development. As President Xi Jinping pointed out during his trip to Africa last year, China-Africa relations are standing at a new historical starting point. Promoting China-Africa cooperation is the common aspiration of the two peoples, an irresistible trend and the popular sentiment. IPRCC will continue to participate in and promote practical cooperation in poverty reduction and development between the two sides. We are ready to work with our Tanzanian partners to push China-Tanzania exchanges and cooperation to a new high and make unremitting efforts to build a harmonious world of common prosperity.

Following the seminar, Tan led a delegation to visit the Planning Committee of Tanzanian President’s Office and held talks with Mr. Philip Mpango on future cooperation, which achieved broad consensus and fruitful results. Then they went on a field trip to the “China-Tanzania Village-level Learning Center for Poverty Reduction” which is 500 kilometers away and were warmly received by the villagers. The delegation had an on-site symposium with model household representatives and grassroots officials of village, township and town committees and carried out face-to-face communication with them on villagers’ demand and project implementation. The representative elected by model households read out a letter of thanks from villagers to IPRCC, and reported their achievements and experience obtained from the demonstration project. In his closing speech, Tan said after communicating with the local villagers, he keenly felt their desire to pursue a better life through their own efforts. He believed that with the active participation of all parties and the support from the Chinese and Tanzanian governments, we can definitely join hands to build your home into a better place. Finally, on behalf of IPRCC, Tan commended the relevant staff involved in the demonstration project. The event ended in a warm and friendly atmosphere.