Recently, Prof. Ye Yujiang, Vice President of CAAS, led a delegation to Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco for strengthening cooperation with African partners, promoting the China-Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance (CAASTIA), and building up cooperation with international organizations based in Africa.

During the visit, the delegation participated in the Africa-China-CIMMYT Scientific Forum in Kenya, co-hosted by Institute of Crop Sciences of CAAS and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), where Prof. Ye delivered opening remarks and delegation members presented keynote reports. Consensus was reached between the CAAS delegation and leaders from CIMMYT, the Science Division of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) on strengthening collaboration in crop breeding, dryland agriculture, and water-saving technologies for Africa.

The delegation also visited the National Research Centre of Egypt (NRC), the Agricultural Research Centre of Egypt (ARC), and the National Institute for Agricultural Research of Morocco (INRA), where they discussed how to deepen cooperation in plant protection, veterinary science, horticulture, and dryland agriculture within the framework of CAASTIA. In addition, they visited the Sino-Africa Joint Research Center run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Kenya.

During the visit, NRC and INRA signed letters of intent to join CAASTIA. The delegation was also warmly received by Chinese high-rank diplomats to the three countries, respectively. Key officials from the Department of Research Management, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, and Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute joined the delegation.