UN lauds nation’s efforts to end poverty
JOSE Graziano da Silva, directorgeneral of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, has praised China for its povertyeradication achievements.
The FAO chief believes China can also play a key role in combating food insecurity and addressing climate change.
He made the remarks on Saturday on the sidelines of the 34th FAO Session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific held on the Denarau island near Fiji’s third-largest city of Nadi.
“China has in fact achieved remarkable results in terms of poverty alleviation,” he added, noting that 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty.
“Governments at all levels as well as institutions such as universities have all demonstrated dedication to reduce poverty, which led to fruitful collaboration and partnerships that were working towards a common goal.
“Leadership, commitment, multi-sectoral approaches, targeted strategies and constant innovation have been core enablers of poverty reduction,” said Graziano da Silva.
“Starting from agricultural reforms, followed by boosting the rural economy other than the farming sector, and through territorial and targeted approaches, poverty was efficiently identified and addressed.”
Targeting is key, he said, adding that the targeted poverty-reduction strategy allows the Chinese government to identify and reach the poorest of the poor, and to provide support to help them move out of poverty.
China has adopted a multisectoral approach to poverty reduction, which brings together agro-industry development, food security, social protection, health, education and ecological restoration, the FAO chief said.
“China introduced a number of innovative solutions. One is using e-commerce to connect the farmers to the markets, which managed to increase farmers’ income to a large extent.”
China has set an example in the area of agricultural development and innovation, and has accumulated a wealth of experiences and technologies that can be shared with the rest of the developing world, said Graziano da Silva.
As for the role China can play in combating food insecurity and addressing climate change, he said China’s role in these fields is twofold.
One is concerning what China can do domestically given the largest population it has, and the other is the role China can play in contributing to regional and international food security with its rapid economic development.
China has also been helping other developing countries through “bilateral and multilateral South-South and triangular cooperation programs.”
The FAO chief said that despite the great progress made both in China and globally, agriculture development and food and nutrition security are confronted with multiple challenges such as climate change.