Luanda, Aug 21 - China is mulling ways to help oil-rich Angola produce rice and kick-start its once prosperous agricultural sector, state-owned Angop news agency on Thursday cited China's ambassador to Angola as saying.
Before independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola was a top exporter of coffee, bananas, sugarcane and sisal. But a 27-year civil war that ensued soon after independence led to a mass exodus of farmers to the cities and halted production.
Angolan farmers use less than 10 percent of an estimated 35 million hectares of arable land and the country now imports over half of its food, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
But the country is trying hard to diversify its economy away from the oil sector -- which represents around 90 percent of exports -- and increase agricultural production to fight high food prices and an unemployment rate of around 40 percent.
China's ambassador to Angola Zhang Bolun told Angop his country was looking at ways to produce rice in Angola and guarantee the latter's self-sufficiency in food, adding that cooperation between the two countries was "good."
Angola has taken out an estimated $8-12 billion in oil-backed loans from China to rebuild the country's infrastructure after peace was restored in 2002.