Africa’s rich diversity of oil crops such as sesame, groundnut and soybean is central to food security, rural livelihoods and growing export markets across the continent. To better tap this potential and respond to priorities under the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan (2025–2027), African and Chinese scientists are stepping up joint research and innovation on oil crops.

On 20 November, policymakers, researchers and private-sector representatives from Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mali, Madagascar, Nigeria, Tanzania and other countries met with their Chinese counterparts in Wuhan at the “Belt and Road Forum on Oil Crops Science, Technology Innovation and Industrial Cooperation”. The forum, co-organized by the Oilcrops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (OCRI-CAAS), the Agricultural Information Institute of CAAS and international partners, focused on building stronger collaboration along the whole value chain—from breeding and seed systems to processing and trade.

Participants discussed new opportunities for sesame and other oil crops, including joint breeding of climate-resilient, high-yielding and high-quality varieties, demonstration of high-protein legumes suited to African farming systems, and more efficient, value-adding processing of edible oils. During the event, OCRI-CAAS and several African universities and companies signed cooperation agreements that will support long-term partnerships on variety improvement, technology transfer and extension, and training of young scientists and agribusiness professionals. These efforts aim to translate science into tangible benefits for farmers and consumers in both Africa and China.

The forum was followed by a technical visit to OCRI-CAAS by an African delegation that included Edwin Paul Mhede, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Trade and Investment at the Ministry of Industry of Tanzania, Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion in the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, Lise Korsten, President of the African Academy of Sciences, Logab Djilali, Vice-Rector of the University of Tissemsilt in Algeria, and Erick Vitus Gabriel Komba, Director of the Tanzania Livestock Research Institute, among others. The delegation met innovation teams working on sesame and special oil crops, groundnut and southern soybean, and visited national platforms for oil crops quality testing and pilot-scale processing. Prof. Korsten and other delegates underlined that Africa’s oil crops sector is poised for rapid growth, and that collaborative research with partners such as OCRI-CAAS can help generate locally adapted solutions that raise yields, improve quality and meet international market standards.

Looking ahead, African partner institutions and OCRI-CAAS plan to use the China–Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance (CAASTIA) as a key platform to deepen co-operation on joint breeding programmes, farmer-oriented extension and talent development. By combining Africa’s resource endowment and market potential with Chinese and African scientific expertise, the partners aim to build more resilient and inclusive oil crops value chains that support food and nutrition security and sustainable development across the continent.