Namibia is turning to China's agricultural expertise to revive local research institutions, strengthen seed production and improve access to the Chinese market.

This follows President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah's visit to the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Sichuan Province, China.

The Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences is a major provincial agricultural research institution comprising 18 research institutes that cover more than 80 scientific disciplines.

The academy has developed more than 900 new plant and animal varieties since the 1930s.

Agriculture Minister Inge Zaamwani accompanied President Nandi-Ndaitwah on a tour of the academy to explore areas of cooperation.

Namibia's investments in agricultural research institutions, she says, had declined over the years.

"We used to have similar institutions in Namibia. We still have them, but I think over the years, the investment into those institutions has somewhat gone down. But precisely what they are doing there, we used to do. So we want to see how we can leverage their expertise and technology to revive our own institutions," said Zaamwani.

The agricultural cooperation agreements signed between the two countries seek to support technology transfer as well as expert exchanges.

Namibia also plans to draw on the academy's expertise to advance seed multiplication projects.

"We are also trying to do some seed multiplication projects, and they are doing that, precisely what we are planning to do. We have signed the MoU for collaboration in the field of agriculture, which will enable us to exchange experts, send some of our students to those institutions for practical experience, and have their students come to our institution to help us set up our programs properly."

The cooperation could also strengthen Namibia's capacity to meet China's sanitary and phytosanitary requirements.

"In terms of our plant health division, this is one of the areas where we need to strengthen the capacity, and so learning from them to understand what is required and how we can build our own capacity so that, over time, we are able to comply with their phytosanitary requirements is one of the key reasons why we were there."

The proposed collaboration with the Sichuan Academy comes against the backdrop of the sealed deal for the export of fresh table grapes and aquatic products.