At Njala Farm, located in a village on the outskirts of Bo, the second largest city in Sierra Leone, patches of rice fields are inlaid on the mountain slopes shining like jade, a testament to the  bumper harvest of high-quality rice.

The high-yield demonstration rice field is a cooperation project developed by the 14th China Agricultural Technical Expert Group to Sierra Leone, in West Africa.

Li Youliang, the team leader, said that experts began the field reclamation in October 2023. One year later, they reclaimed five hectares of land on the wasteland and planted two seasons of rice in 2024 and 2025.

It is not easy to reclaim wasteland in a mountainous country like Sierra Leone. The experts meticulously planned and designed the project based on the local conditions, dividing the whole field into 16 small plots, and dug a drainage ditch every six meters while sowing the seedlings.

Compared with local varieties, the Chinese rice varieties have higher resistance to diseases and pests, and the yield has risen from the one to three tons per hectare produced by  local rice to nine tons per hectare.

In addition to cultivating high-quality rice varieties, Chinese experts also trained local farmers in practical farming techniques, for high-yield cultivation of rice and corn, hybrid breeding of rice, and operating agricultural machinery. A local farmer named Mike is now proficient in driving tractors and combine harvesters, while also capable of performing basic repairs.

Agriculture is one of the important cooperation areas between China and Sierra Leone. The Chinese agricultural experts have helped Sierra Leone establish six agricultural demonstration bases, presenting local farmers with modern agricultural methods to improve yields and promoting the application of advanced farming technologies.