Preface 1

There is nothing more fitting to describe the importance of food security than an ancient Chinese saying that food is the first necessity of the people. In the past half century or more, the Chinese Government has always been putting food security as the priority of the priorities on its development agenda. Indeed, it is in its own right a miracle that China uses merely 9% of the world arable land to feed about 20% of the world population. But unfortunately, this is not the case in all parts of the world. Until today, there are still some 870 million children, women and men in this planet Earth go to bed with a hungry stomach. At a time of affluence, with space stations, satellites, skyscrapers and bullet trains, hunger is a phenomenon which is totally unacceptable—it is a gross humiliation to the mankind.

At the Rio +20 Conference, held in June 2012 in Brazil, world leaders, once again, committed to renewing their efforts to fight against extreme poverty and hunger and pledged to achieve by 2015 the UN Millennium Development Goals which they agreed at the Millennium Summit in 2000.

The window for achieving the MDGs is narrowing down, compounded by increasing challenges such as climate changes, population growth, natural resources and ecosystem degradation. The current high food prices and price volatility have further complicated the situation and we can't be optimistic unless common and effective measures are taken jointly by the international community and national governments.

Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations launched the“Zero Hunger Challenge”during the Rio +20 Conference. In response, the world is rallying and mobilizing all possible forces. We in FAO, as the world leading institution in addressing food security and nutrition, have adopted a new strategic framework with clearly identified strategic objectives on which we will focus our resources and efforts. Our ultimate goal is to eradicate hunger in the world.

And this is a daunting task. No any single country alone can eradicate hunger and achieve sustainable food security. We need to build partnership and broad alliance, develop network with international organizations, government institutions, academia, civil society organizations and private sectors as well as millions of farmers. Only working together with all stakeholders can we make progress and achieve our vision.

Actions are required in many fronts in this“long march”. Generating knowledge and disseminating information to the needy people is one of the imperatives. In this respect, I am pleased to see that Dr. He Changchui, a senior colleague of mine and a well known expert, has led a team of Chinese experts working in FAO to produce a book on food security.

This book, as I understand, aiming to introduce international experiences and lessons to China, has largely benefitted from the study results of FAO's multidisciplinary team. It systematically introduces sectorial issues related to agriculture, fisheries, forests, livestock and natural resources; provides analysis on cross sectorial food security and nutrition matters; and reflects agro-development hotspots in today's world. Although the views expressed in this book may not necessarily represent the Organization's position, I believe that it will provide an international perspective for Chinese readers; and I hope that it will render a valuable source of information to trigger policy debates and to draw good practices in other parts of the world in the course of promoting agricultural transformation, as China takes up the responsibility as an emerging world leader.

No doubt that for the modernization of agriculture and sustainable food security, China needs the world, just as the world needs China. In this regard, I hope that the book will serve as a useful reference for Chinese readers.

José Grazian da Silva

Director-General

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations