Cooperation and reform needed to strengthen food security and nutrition

The pandemic has greatly delayed the process in achieving the UN's goal to eradicate hunger, and the international community should continue to work together to reform the food systems and promote the application of advanced science and technology in the agricultural field, experts said on Tuesday.

The year 2020 saw a worsening of world hunger, which affected an estimated 720 million to 811 million people, about 161 million more than in 2019, according to a United Nations flagship report on food security and nutrition.

As the people in hunger are mainly concentrated in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, it is important that the global community take comprehensive, effective, timely and coordinated actions to help developing countries accelerate the realization of their sustainable development goals, said Xie Jianmin, an official who oversees international cooperation within China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

He made the remarks during a regional launch event of the UN's report, "State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021", in Beijing on Tuesday.

The report was initially released in July in Rome. It was drafted by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the UN Children's Fund, the World Food Program and the World Health Organization.

The document is to offer updated information on the progress toward ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and to provide an in-depth analysis on key challenges for achieving this goal in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Global hunger levels have skyrocketed because of conflict, climate change and the economic impact of COVID-19, the report said.

Siddharth Chatterjee, UN resident coordinator in China, said the report discusses possible solutions to tackle those issues, which lie in the transformation of the food system — the sum of actors and interactions along the food value chain.

"Food systems are central to the goal of eradicating hunger and malnutrition in all its forms, ensuring that everyone can afford a healthy diet," he said.

China attaches great importance to the issue of food security and has taken a variety of measures to comprehensively improve the overall grain production capacity, including the construction of high-standard farmland and the cultivation and promotion of hybrid rice, Xie said.

"The Chinese government firmly supports the international multilateral system with the UN at its core, and is willing to help other developing countries achieve sustainable development goals through agricultural South-South and tripartite cooperation," he added.

Xie also suggested promoting the application of advanced science and technology in all aspects in the field of agriculture.

"We should give full play to the advantages of the UN agencies in knowledge, technology and information, and promote technology transfer through technical cooperation, capacity building and digital agriculture projects, and enhance the comprehensive agricultural production capacity of developing countries."

If the current trends were maintained, the UN agencies estimated Goal 2, zero hunger, would be missed "by a margin of nearly 660 million people". According to the report, about 30 million more people may face hunger in 2030 under the COVID-19 scenario than if the pandemic had not occurred.

Further data showed children remained the most exposed in the pandemic year: more than 149 million of those aged under five were estimated to have been stunted, another 45 million were too thin, and nearly 39 million overweight.