Commentary
BEIJING – Saturday marked the 41st World Food Day. Due to a pile-up of factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and regional conflicts, world food security is currently faced with severe challenges.
China, as one of the most populous countries in the world, has taken effective actions and played an active role in ensuring world food security.
First, China has achieved food self-sufficiency relying on its own capacity. The food storage of China is capable of feeding over 1.4 billion people by providing enough nutrition.
Through hard work, China has secured a bumper harvest for 17 years in a row, with its annual grain output exceeding 650 million tonnes for six consecutive years.
According to statistics, China had bumper harvests of both summer grain and early rice in 2021. Summer grain output this year recorded an all-time high of 145.8 million tonnes, up by 2.97 million tonnes from a year ago, while the country’s early rice output reached 28.02 million tonnes, up 723,000 tonnes from the level in 2020.
As the largest developing country in the world, China has stabilized its agricultural industry and has guaranteed the safety of grain and major non-staple foods for its people. Feeding such a huge population is a great contribution to food security of the global community.
Second, China has been actively helping the world achieve the goal of zero hunger and zero poverty while its food production has been steadily on the rise.
In Madagascar, the hybrid rice provided by China has helped eliminate hunger among local people. In Cuba, the seeds of Moringa brought by China as a gift have grown into tangible fruits for local people, largely enriching their daily diet. In Fiji, the Juncao grass technology introduced by China has lifted a great number of farmers out of poverty.
In countries including those along the Belt and Road (B&R), China has enhanced agricultural investment and cooperation, and provided assistance to improve the production capacity of many developing countries. According to official statistics released by the Chinese government, in such fields as crop production, animal husbandry, farmland water conservancy, and agricultural products processing, China has facilitated over 1,500 technology transfers across the world, which has benefited over 1.5 million households of farmers.
Last but not least, China has been promoting policy coordination of the international community, improving global governance of food security, and working together with other countries to ensure a just and fair international food market.
This year’s World Food Day is themed with “Our actions are our future. Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life.” In recent years, China has been working towards that goal unswervingly.
China has made substantial progress in curbing loss and waste in food production and consumption, with main efforts put into areas including upgrading facilities and equipment.
Data shows that during China’s 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), about 13 million tonnes of food had been saved annually after production.
In addition, Chinese lawmakers in April voted to adopt an anti-food waste law. The law, designed to help establish a long-term mechanism to prevent food waste, is vital to ensure national food security. “Clean Your Plate” campaign has also been carried out across the country to ramp up awareness of not wasting food.
Over past years, China has been sharing these experiences and good practices with other countries through multiple platforms. And China will continue to work with the rest of the world to safeguard food security, and strive for a better world and a brighter future. – AFP
