Chinese Government dispatches 8th Agricultural Technical Assistance Mission to Cote d'Ivoire (Linked to Record ID#66175, #66171, #66160, #70502)

According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), the Chinese Government and the Government of Côte d'Ivoire signed a technical assistance agreement worth CFA 859,375,000 on May 28, 2012 for the 8th Chinese Agricultural Technical Assistance Mission (MATAC or Mission d'Assistance Technique Agricole Chinoise) in Cote d'Ivoire.

Then, on August 22, 2012 and November 5, 2012, the Chinese Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire and Ivorian Minister of Foreign Affairs signed letters of exchange regarding the project.

Through the project, the Chinese government dispatched experts to carry out training workshops and research in Guiguidou, a rice reclamation area spanning 432 hectares near Divo in Lôh-Djiboua region. Phase 8, according to the AMP, commenced on May 28, 2012 and concluded on May 27, 2014.

The AMP also indicates that the funding for this project was was disbursed in a single tranche worth CFA 852,002,857.51 on June 30, 2014.

In 1995, the Chinese Government and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire launched the Guiguidou farmland water conservancy project, and in May 1997, an agricultural rice technology cooperation project was launched in which Chinese experts work in Guiguidou with Ivorian farmers to promote agriculture — especially rice farming.

The MATAC teams from Liaoning International have worked with the Government Cote d'Ivoire's Agency for Rice Development and National Agency for Rural Development in 2-year-long phases (as captured via Record ID#66175, #66160, #70502). Between 1997 and 2013, 7 technical assistance missions were carried out.

Each team had a mechanization expert, an agronomy expert, an interpreter, and an accountant and they lived in a ‘city’ in Guiguidou made up of dormitories, offices, experimental laboratories, and a machine repair garage.