Iran, Africa to widen agricultural cooperation through extraterritorial cultivation opportunities

TABNAK, Jul. 03: A delegation comprising of 16 Iranian hi-tech food and agricultural companies took part in several Kenyan agricultural-related exhibitions in Kenya.

 The Iranian companies unveiled their achievements in agricultural seeds, poison, food industries and machineries during their stay in Kenya.

Iran plans to expand economic ties with African countries and use extraterritorial cultivation opportunities in the dark continent to find a way to send high-tech food stuff to the world.

In mid-July 2023, late President Ebrahim Raisi also took a visit to three African countries of Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Economic experts believe that the president's visit to Africa provided the basis for increasing Iran's presence in the 60-billion-dollar economy of the African continent and will increase the level of activity of Iranian traders and businessmen in this continent.

In April 2024, the Director of the Iranian Agriculture Ministry’s Extraterritorial Cultivation Plan Aghareza Fotouhi said the ministry has targeted two million hectares of extraterritorial cultivation in the 7th National Development Plan (2023-2027) to ensure food security.

“According to the seventh development plan, this year, nearly 400,000 hectares of extra-territorial cultivation should be carried out in the target countries to supply the country's strategic needs for agricultural products,” Fotouhi said.

Iraq, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, African countries, and Latin America are the target countries for extraterritorial cultivation, according to Fotouhi.