20 May 2011
Maputo — China is to donate 185,000 US dollars to the Umbeluzi Centre for Research and Technology Transfer (CITAU), in Boane district, about 40 kilometres west of Maputo province.
This was revealed by China’s Ambassador to Mozambique, Huang Songfu, in a letter to Mozambique’s Science and Technology Minister Venancio Massingue.
According to the Maputo daily “Noticias”, the funds will be used on the ground works at the site, the construction of an access road, and linking the centre to the water and electricity networks.
The assistance is a result of an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement signed between Mozambique and China in 2009.
CITAU will carry out scientific research into technological innovation and agricultural techniques, with the aim of increasing production and productivity, and enhancing the capacity of the country’s agricultural institutions.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Science and Technology, Rufino Gujamo, said that CITAU will also create a space for farmers and institutions of higher education to learn good agricultural practices. It will also set up demonstration fields to show innovative production techniques.
He continued that “CITAU will also create an information system to disseminate the scientific and technical knowledge generated at the centre, promote cooperation with similar institutions to contribute to improved results from research, carry out training for producers and give support to businesses. We will also establish training programmes on new agricultural technologies, and on livestock management techniques as well as techniques for improving the genetic diversity of domestic plants and animals”.
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China to Fund Agricultural Centre in Boane