UN food agency showcases China's poverty alleviation

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Sharing experiences through South-South Cooperation was a "powerful tool" to forward poverty and hunger eradication, officials at a side-event at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters said on Wednesday.

The initiative -- titled "end poverty and hunger and secure the right to food" -- comprised a photo exhibition and an in-depth debate on successful policies for reaching the first two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provided by the Agenda 2030.

China, Chad, Kenya, Senegal and Ghana were in the spotlight, each of them giving concrete examples of the strategies they were implementing or planning to reach such goals.

The exhibition, entitled "end poverty and hunger and secure the right to food" at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome. /CGTN Photo

In his opening remarks, FAO Deputy Director General for Programmes Daniel Gustafson reminded the audience that, despite the progress made in latest decades, the global challenges remained daunting.

"Some 783 million people continue to live in extreme poverty... and the number of chronically food-insecure people was 815 million in 2016, up from 777 million in 2015," Gustafson said.

However, FAO virtuous country members could lead the global fight into a new phase.

"China, Chad, Ghana, Kenya and Senegal are examples of how to accelerate progress," the FAO official declared.

"China is moving quickly towards its goal of eradicating poverty 10 years before the SDGs deadline (2030), and has a lot to share," he added.

Indeed, as Chinese Ambassador to FAO Niu Dun explained, China has actively taken part in the global cooperation, while developing itself.

"Up to now, we have sent more than 1,000 experts and technicians to Africa, Asia, South Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean to help countries improve their food security," Niu said.

The ambassador added the FAO South-South and Triangular Cooperation provided the necessary platform for such a strategy of mutual support.

"This kind of innovative model of cooperation will further build a bridge between countries and regions so they can learn from each other, and make exchanges," Niu stressed.

The representatives from Ghana, Chad, Senegal, and Kenya also outlined the major policies their countries were undertaking to achieve SDG1 and SDG2.

"Kenya has already developed a national Food and Nutrition Security Policy 2017-2020-2022," deputy head of Kenya's National Social Protection Secretariat John Gachigi explained. "This is our strategic framework aimed at achieving the SDG2 on zero hunger."

As for ending poverty, the official said the eastern African country's government delivered a Nationa0l Social Protection Investment Plan to be developed by 2030.

Wednesday's event took place on the sidelines of the 159th session of the FAO Council, which was running on June 4-8 in the Italian capital.

(CGTN's Zhang He also contributed to the story)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency