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| Gueta Chapo (front, second from right), wife of Mozambican President Daniel Francisco Chapo, and her delegation visit Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, a partner of the African Mothers' New Farms program. |
Several events, focusing on China-Africa women's cooperation and exchanges, were held in Central China's Hunan Province during the spring and early summer. Gueta Chapo, wife of Daniel Francisco Chapo, President of the Republic of Mozambique, visited Hunan on April 17-18. Trainees, from two seminars, visited Hunan in late June and early July, to explore new paths for empowering women's development, through digital tools. Of all the events, the "small and beautiful" program, known as "African Mothers' New Farms," launched by Hunan Women's Federation, became the focal point of interest. Through the program, the federation is connecting women in Hunan with women in Africa.
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| Trainees from the Ministerial Seminar on New Media Capacity Building for Women Officials from Belt and Road Countries visit Hunan. |
Daniel Francisco Chapo, President of the Republic of Mozambique, paid a State visit to China in April. During the visit, his wife Gueta Chapo toured Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, on April 17-18, to learn about Hunan's efforts to promote women's development.
The African Mothers' New Farms program caught Gueta Chapo's attention. To date, the program has provided skills training to more than 2,000 African women, helped more than 1,000 of the women secure stable employment, and improved the lives of about 1,000 families. Gueta Chapo spoke highly of the initiative, noting rural Mozambican women have long faced heavy burdens in both farming and housework. She expressed a strong desire to have the program implemented in her country, so more women can gain income-generating skills.
Gueta Chapo stated she is willing to deepen cooperation with Hunan Women's Federation, with a focus on implementing the African Mothers' New Farms program, to build a bridge for exchanges and skills sharing between Mozambican and Chinese women. As an important outcome of her visit to Hunan, the federation and the Office of the First Lady of Mozambique signed a memorandum of cooperation in May, under which the two sides will leverage the African Mothers' New Farms program to build a long-term cooperative framework to promote agricultural development, women's poverty alleviation, and gender equality.
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| The Seminar on Short Video and Livestreaming Marketing for African Women was held in Hunan. |
Trainees from the Ministerial Seminar on New Media Capacity Building for Women Officials from Belt and Road Countries visited Hunan, from June 29 to July 1. The Seminar on Short Video and Livestreaming Marketing for African Women was held in Hunan from June 29 to July 4. Trainees from both seminars learned about the African Mothers' New Farms program, and how rice, as a special token, has connected Chinese and African women.
Benedettah Njeri Kariuki, one of the trainees, and an official from the African Union Commission, said, "Through the program, women not only learn agricultural skills, but also learn how to run their households and care for their children. The program truly understands the needs of African women, and it helps us take our future into our own hands."
When asked for feedback, trainees from Africa said the African Mothers' New Farms program addresses the actual needs of African women, and the program provides a systematic solution to reduce the poverty of women. They also expressed their desire to share what they learned — digital skills and agricultural models — with women back in Africa. They said they want to ensure African women have more development opportunities.
Yang Lanying, President of Hunan Women's Federation, said, "In the future, the federation is willing to work, hand in hand, with African women to deepen cooperation in various areas, such as women's poverty reduction, digital skills, entrepreneurship and employment, family building, childcare and cultural exchanges, so Chinese and African women can move closer and go further together, through mutual support."
Source: Hunan Women's Federation
(Women of China English Monthly August 2026)
Editor: Wang Shasha
