‘Magic’ seeds: How China is winning over Nigerian rice farmers

Chinese-backed firm Green Agriculture West Africa Limited (Gawal), based near Abuja, is boosting Nigerian rice farming through its high-yield R1 seed variety, locally dubbed “magic” seeds.

Farmer Ahmed Yusuf said the seeds more than tripled his yield after years of losses averaging just two tonnes per hectare.

The initiative reflects China’s broader push to modernise African subsistence farming into a mechanised agricultural sector, a diplomatic strategy now prompting Washington to respond with its own agribusiness interventions, according to South China Morning Post.