STORY: Kenya-China agricultural cooperation aiding hunger fight, rural transformation
DATELINE: Sept. 24, 2023
LENGTH: 0:02:40
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Kenya's Rift Valley county of Nakuru
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): HANNAH WANJIKU, Farmer in Kenya's Rift Valley county of Nakuru
3. various of the Chinese teams working with local people
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): RICHARD MULWA, Deputy vice-chancellor of Egerton University
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): DAISY OSORO, Post-graduate student majoring in dryland farming
6. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): CHARLES KARIUKI GITHIRI, Agricultural extension officer in Nakuru County

STORYLINE:

Farmers in Kenya's Rift Valley county of Nakuru have benefited from a research project between two universities in Kenya and China.

The project, between Egerton University in Kenya and Nanjing Agricultural University in China, has fostered the development of pest-tolerant, drought-tolerant, and disease-tolerant crops to combat hunger, malnutrition, and rural poverty.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): HANNAH WANJIKU, Farmer in Kenya's Rift Valley county of Nakuru
"We were going to benefit the farmers around here and myself too. So we are looking forward to the new technology and I hope it's going to benefit many farmers, and especially now I'm happy, because we are able to make use of the greenhouse. I decided to cooperate with them, so that the help I don't have, I can receive, especially technology."

Forged in the 1990s, the cooperation between the two universities has revolved around research on hybrid crops as well as training of farmers and extension workers on improved agronomic practices.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): RICHARD MULWA, Deputy vice-chancellor of Egerton University
"This lab is a very monumental step for us to take. In terms of talent development, we are training up to the levels of PhDs in this lab. This cooperation with China is not a one-sided cooperation, I feel it's a very mutually beneficial cooperation for us in that the Chinese have helped us grow. We are helping them in their marketing of the technologies they have. But they are also helping the country to ensure these technologies make sense to farmers in fields and farmers' economic well-being."
   
SOUNDBITE 3 (English): DAISY OSORO, Post-graduate student majoring in dryland farming
"It's improving our research skills if I can talk from the perspective of a researcher, and if I can talk from the perspective of a farmer, I can say that it's really helping us to come to tackle with the problems we are facing at the moment and also create our own solutions. I think if the cooperation we have will continue, I think we are going to have a breakthrough in the field of agriculture."

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): CHARLES KARIUKI GITHIRI, Agricultural extension officer in Nakuru County
"In terms of bringing technology from China and from researchers within Egerton University, it would really address the great scope of ensuring that there's sustainability in production, protecting the environment, and also addressing issues of climate change."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)