Working together for a world free of poverty and hunger (International Forum)

Source: People's Daily

China's accession to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 1980 was a landmark event. Over the past 40 years, IFAD's partnership with China has evolved from initial project collaboration to today's comprehensive collaboration. We have also witnessed China's continuous and active role in the global poverty reduction and sustainable development process.

Poverty has always been a serious challenge facing human society. As early as 2,000 years ago, the Chinese philosopher Dong Zhongshu proposed the major question of why "the poor are enough to maintain their health without worrying". However, humanity has made remarkable progress in eradicating absolute poverty in just a few recent decades. In 1990, about 36 per cent of the world's population lived in absolute poverty. In 2018, this proportion dropped significantly to 8.6%. Humanity has been able to achieve great success in the fight against poverty because international cooperation in the field of poverty reduction and sustainable development has reached an unprecedented level.

In 2015, the 193 Member States of the United Nations unanimously adopted the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, fully reflecting the firm commitment of the international community to sustainable development. Among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 1 "No Poverty" and Goal 2,"Zero Hunger" are directly related to the world's poorest people, which is why IFAD is important to its mission.

IFAD was established in 1977 as the culmination of international cooperation and multilateralism. For more than 40 years, IFAD has been committed to long-term sustainable development by targeting the root causes of poverty. In the process of promoting the transformation of the rural economy and food system, we will focus on solving the "last mile" problem on the road to development, and actively provide poverty reduction support for the most remote rural areas, leaving no one behind.

For more than 40 years, IFAD projects in China have been closely integrated with the Chinese government's agricultural development and rural poverty alleviation strategies, introducing many innovative approaches to poverty alleviation and development, sharing and promoting to other countries. The IFAD-funded Guangxi "Guixi Rural Comprehensive Development Project" is a good example. The rural household biogas technology developed by the project has been promoted and applied in some African countries.

IFAD is deeply pleased to be able to participate in China's poverty reduction efforts and to witness China's great achievements in eradicating absolute poverty. China has not only contributed to the global cause of poverty reduction, but also set an example for other developing countries. China's success shows that poverty eradication is entirely achievable.

For more than 40 years, China has played an increasingly important role in IFAD replenishment and institutional governance, and has actively promoted policy dialogue, knowledge management, South-South and trilateral cooperation, and human resources cooperation. China is the first member country to advocate IFAD for South-South and tripartite cooperation, and in 2018 it invested US$10 million to establish the "China-IFAD South-South and Tripartite Cooperation Fund" to promote the exchange and sharing of know-how, knowledge and resources among developing countries, strengthen interconnection between enterprises, and promote investment. Currently, the Fund is working with a number of international and national-level institutions to implement South-South cooperation projects in more than 30 African, Asian and Latin American countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to world development, and its far-reaching impact threatens to reverse the course of development over the years. Against the backdrop of profound changes in the global landscape, IFAD will continue to rely on the support of partners such as China to ensure the recovery, reconstruction and resilience of rural livelihoods. Together, we will work together to build a world free of poverty and hunger.

(The writer is Gilbert Humbo, Managing Director of the International Fund for Agricultural Development)

People's Daily (03/11/2021)