China and African officials and experts have renewed calls for deeper cooperation to modernise Africa’s livestock sector, arguing that science, technology and skills transfer are critical to unlocking the continent’s vast animal resources and strengthening food security.
The appeal was made at the Forum on Science and Technology for African Animal Resources Management, held at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa. The meeting was jointly organised by the Mission of China to the AU and the AU’s Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources, bringing together policymakers, researchers and private-sector representatives from both sides.
Speaking at the forum, AU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, Moses Vilakati, said livestock remains a cornerstone of livelihoods for millions of Africans, particularly in rural and pastoral communities. He described the sector as strategically important for food and nutrition security, job creation and intra-African as well as international trade.
Vilakati warned that failure to transform livestock agriculture would have far-reaching consequences, including slower industrial growth, fewer employment opportunities and declining incomes for pastoralists. He said Africa must move beyond traditional production systems and invest in animal health, productivity, processing and value chains if it is to meet rising demand from a fast-growing population.
The commissioner added that the forum was designed to promote practical collaboration between African and Chinese institutions through experience-sharing and knowledge transfer, with the ultimate goal of accelerating the development of Africa’s livestock industry.
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Jiang Feng, head of the Mission of China to the AU, said China’s own livestock industry had undergone a dramatic transformation over recent decades, achieving significant gains in productivity, industrial quality and technological sophistication. He noted that advances in breeding, disease control, digital farming and processing had allowed China to build resilient livestock value chains capable of supporting large domestic demand.
Jiang called for expanded China-Africa cooperation in areas such as policy coordination, technology exchange, capacity building and enterprise-to-enterprise partnerships. He said market-driven collaboration between African and Chinese companies could help translate technology into scalable solutions adapted to local conditions.
Discussions at the forum focused on aligning continental priorities with technological innovation. Participants reviewed AU goals on animal health, production and trade, while Chinese experts showcased technologies ranging from smart animal farming systems using artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to advances in zoonotic disease prevention and biosecure vaccine manufacturing.
African officials said such technologies could help address persistent challenges including low productivity, disease outbreaks, climate stress and weak market integration, which continue to limit the sector’s contribution to economic growth.
Background China-Africa Cooperation
China-Africa relations have deepened steadily over the past two decades, evolving from trade and infrastructure financing into broader cooperation covering agriculture, health, education, technology and industrialisation. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), launched in 2000, has become the primary platform guiding this engagement, with regular summits setting multi-year action plans.
Agriculture has long featured prominently in China’s cooperation with Africa, reflecting the sector’s importance for employment and food security across the continent. China has supported agricultural demonstration centres, training programmes for African technicians and farmers, and research partnerships focused on crop yields, irrigation and mechanisation.
In recent years, cooperation has expanded into livestock development, aquaculture and agri-processing, as African governments seek to move up value chains and reduce dependence on imports. China’s experience in rapidly modernising its own agricultural sector, while feeding a large population, is often cited by African policymakers as relevant to their development goals.
At the same time, China has positioned science and technology as central pillars of its Africa engagement. Initiatives under the Belt and Road framework and FOCAC action plans have emphasised digital infrastructure, innovation hubs and technical training, alongside traditional investments in roads, railways and energy.
Critics have raised concerns about debt sustainability, environmental impacts and uneven benefits in some China-backed projects. In response, Chinese officials have increasingly highlighted a shift towards “high-quality” cooperation, stressing skills transfer, local capacity building and alignment with African development strategies such as the AU’s Agenda 2063.
Within this context, livestock cooperation reflects a broader recalibration of China-Africa relations—from a focus on hard infrastructure to softer, knowledge-based partnerships aimed at long-term productivity and resilience. For African countries grappling with climate change, population growth and food inflation, officials say transforming livestock systems could be a critical step towards inclusive growth.
As discussions at the Addis Ababa forum underscored, both sides see technology-driven collaboration as a pathway to turning Africa’s vast animal resources into a more sustainable source of food, jobs and trade, while deepening an already multifaceted China-Africa partnership.
