How to deal with food risks under the 2022 global epidemic
The global epidemic is still spreading, and new variants of the virus may pose a greater risk of transmission. Many countries have implemented different closed quarantine policies.
The changes in the international situation have also brought about a series of chain reactions, and food security is one of the most influential areas.
In November 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Food Price Index rose for the fourth consecutive month and continued to be at the highest point in 10 years.
my country is a big food consumer and needs some import supplements. What challenges will the complex global situation bring to my country's food security?
How to deal with it?
Recently, a reporter from the Beijing News interviewed Nie Fengying, executive deputy director of the Overseas Center of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Wang Yongchun, a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Information, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, to discuss the topic of China's food security in the global context.
1 The global food security test is severe, and some countries are promoting the weaponization of food
Beijing News: What are the factors that generally affect global food security?
Nie Fengying: Factors affecting global food security include natural, social, political and economic aspects.
Climate change on a global scale has led to more frequent extreme weather such as floods, droughts, and high temperatures. This has changed the production, quality, and distribution of diseases and insect pests, and has led to rising global food security risks.
In 2020, drought caused locust plagues in East Africa, West Asia, and South Asia one after another. Australia's forest fires that have burned for more than half a year have caused the greenhouse effect to deepen.
In 2021, my country will experience extreme heavy rainfall. The United States, Mexico, Brazil, the Middle East, and Taiwan will all experience extreme drought and extreme high temperature, which will seriously affect agricultural production and lead to a sharp increase in food security risks.
Beijing News: Is the new crown epidemic also included in natural disasters?
Nie Fengying: The epidemic is also counted as a natural disaster. The new crown epidemic that has broken out since early 2020 has brought severe challenges to world food security.
The epidemic has caused labor shortages and interrupted supply chains, and some countries have restricted food exports.
Beijing News: In addition to natural disasters, what other factors affect food security?
聂凤英：地区冲突，这使大量难民面临粮食危机。2020年全球主要地区冲突波及二十多个国家，发生冲突的区域绝大部分出现了较严重的粮食危机。还有一些发达国家推动粮食金融化、能源化和武器化，这是引起粮食安全风险不断增加的政治性因素。粮食非粮属性的增强，是一些发达国家粮食武器战略的新形势。有国家将粮食作为战略武器，通过控制粮食援助、种子战略、生物乙醇生产及粮食期货市场等来实现国家战略，给贫困国家造成严重影响，先进的种子技术更从源头上实现对他国粮食生产命脉的控制。而粮食的能源化和金融化则引发世界粮食市场价格剧烈波动，使缺粮国人民生活进一步恶化，饥饿人口进一步增加。世界粮食非粮属性的增强，一定程度上影响了国际粮食贸易。
2 积极策略 《粮食安全保障法》事关全局
新京报：严峻形势是否正对中国造成冲击？
聂凤英：全球应对粮食危机网络(GNAFC)于今年5月发布的《2021年全球粮食危机报告》指出，自2017年以来，全球粮食不安全问题持续加重。2020年，全球55个国家（地区）陷入粮食不安全状况，受影响人口比2019年增加了约2000万。但在此严峻形势下，中国的粮食系统经受住了重大考验，粮食和重要农产品的供应始终保持稳定。2021年全国粮食产量再创新高，连续7年保持在1.3万亿斤以上，中国粮食进口数量有限，且属于结构性短缺进口，世界贸易限制并未对国内粮食安全造成影响。同时，由于实行了“确保谷物基本自给、口粮绝对安全”的粮食安全战略，尽管贸易格局一定时期有所变动，但对国内的粮食安全影响并不大。
新京报：具体实施了哪些应对措施？
聂凤英：首先，促进粮食系统的可持续转型。比如采取了耕地保护政策，对污染的耕地进行修复，不断提高耕地质量。2019年全国耕地质量平均等级为4.76,较2014年提升了0.35个等级。再比如实施了农药化肥零增长行动方案，不断改善生态环境，建立起了一套包括水土保持、退耕还林还草等在内的生态保护政策体系。
Second, in response to the enhancement of non-food attributes of grains led by developed countries, my country has also continuously strengthened its strategic emphasis on food security.
Since 1982, China's No. 1 Central Document for many years has focused on agriculture, rural areas and farmers.
In the "14th Five-Year Plan" released in 2021, the enhancement of comprehensive food production capacity is included as a binding indicator. This is the first time that my country has included the implementation of a food security strategy in the five-year plan.
The "14th Five-Year Plan" also made it clear for the first time that the country will formulate the "Food Security Guarantee Law", which is a major institutional arrangement that is based on the current situation, has a bearing on the overall situation, and has a long-term impact.
3 Global problems need to be tackled together globally
The Beijing News: What is China's international role in the field of food security?
Wang Yongchun: As a member of the Executive Board of the World Food Program, China has made positive contributions to solving the problem of world food security.
China uses 9% of the world’s arable land and feeds nearly 20% of the world’s population. Solving the problem of feeding its own population is China’s greatest contribution to global food security.
Moreover, facing the international community, our country provides humanitarian assistance to alleviate the problem of food insecurity in the world, and has gradually become an important donor to the World Food Program.
After stopping receiving food aid from the United Nations in 2005, China became the world's third largest food donor.
Beijing News: Over the years, what is the significance of China's agriculture going global?
Wang Yongchun: China's population accounts for nearly 20% of the world's population. The realization of food security in the world means that China will inevitably achieve food security.
The higher my country's international influence, the easier it will be to implement the idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind in various parts of the world.
Solving the problem of feeding is one of the fundamentals of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
my country's overseas deployment of agriculture has made the world food security pie bigger and improved the world's food security level, thereby increasing the level of my country's food security peripheral protection.
On the other hand, my country's overseas agricultural layout is conducive to alleviating the structural shortage of domestic agricultural products, including the variety structure and regional structure, to cope with fluctuations in the world food market.
Beijing News: In 2022 and beyond, what are the international risks we may face in the field of food security?
Nie Fengying: Climate change will be a long-standing international problem. The biological disasters and floods it brings bring great risks to food production. It is a global problem that is difficult for a single country or region to solve. We must join hands. Respond together.
Second, the resolution of regional conflicts cannot be achieved overnight. Refugees all over the world have been displaced and faced severe food security and survival problems.
Third, the containment of China by Western developed countries will not stop.
At present, the tide of anti-globalization and populism is surging.
These factors are likely to bring greater risks to global food security and China's food security.
Finally, the new crown virus continues to mutate, and the outlook for the epidemic is still uncertain. The economic recession triggered by it has increased food security risks.
Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) food price index has risen continuously and is at the highest point in 10 years.
The number of hungry people in the world is on the rise again. In 2020, nearly 2.37 billion people worldwide will not be able to get enough food, an increase of 320 million people in just one year.
If the development of the epidemic cannot be contained in time, the world's food security problems will become increasingly serious.
Beijing News reporter Zhou Huaizong