FAO Representative in China Vincent Martin was interviewed by China Investment to talk about a wide range of topics including poverty reduction, South-South Cooperation and Belt & Road Innitiative, etc. The following content was provided by China Investment.

 
China Investment：You have rich experience in poverty reduction in China. What do you think is the key to China’s success? Are there any successful cases of innovation in FAO’s poverty reduction work in China?

Vincent Martin：China has achieved remarkable progress regarding poverty reduction, and managed to lift over 800 million people out of extreme poverty over the past 40 years. Multi-sectoral strategies and targeted approaches have been key to China’s success as well as strong cooperation among Government, institutions, public and private sector. 

China’s achievements have been the result of the government’s strong leadership and the mobilization of massive resources and innovative practices. Starting from agricultural reforms, followed by boosting the rural economy other than the farming sector, and through territorial and targeted approaches, the root causes of poverty have been carefully identified and efficiently tackled at source. 

Although there may be many other factors, I have identified four key elements which contributed to China’s successful strategy 1) strong leadership at all levels of the government and the society at large, taking poverty reduction as a priority 2) a multi-sectoral approach which brings together industry growth, agriculture development, social protection, health, education and ecological restoration 3) The participation of all segments of society from government, to enterprises, NGOs, and ordinary people, to pursue inclusive development 4) Targeting to identify and reach the poorest of the poor, and to provide support to help them move out of poverty. This has been especially important as the government is cracking the tough nut by 2020. 

In terms of innovation, China introduced a number of innovative solutions to fight against poverty, such as the use of e-commerce to better connect farmers to the markets, when fighting against rural poverty. Likewise, the FAO China office has embarked on an innovation journey, identifying innovation as a key pillar of its Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2016-2020. New technologies such as e-commerce, e-rural-extension-services and knowledge-exchange platforms ought to be used to serve rural development. In particular, we are exploring the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) tools to innovate our traditional Farmer Field School (FFS) flagship programme and unlock the potential of innovations. FFS+ICTs for poverty alleviation will allow knowledge and expertise to reach the most remote farmers, will be tailored to the needs of the poor and could be of great value to agricultural extension and poverty reduction efforts in China and elsewhere in the world. E-commerce, e-services, drones and data crowdsourcing models could help farmers improve their livelihood through better income generation.  

FAO and Tsinghua University have also launched an 8-week postgraduate course on this subject using user-centred design thinking methods to help create innovative services, products, and models for fast-tracking poverty reduction and enhance rural development (http://www.fao.org/china/news/detail-events/en/c/1107420/) .

China Investment：What do you think are the challenges for China’s poverty reduction practices?

Vincent Martin：The last phase of poverty reduction is certainly the most difficult one. While China’s achievements are undeniable, poverty remains entrenched in rural areas and there remain 30.46 Million rural people living below the national poverty line  in China. As China entered into a ‘New Normal’, which features a lower economic growth rate, a changing economic structure, and a transition from input/investment driven to innovation-driven development, the specific challenges encountered in the agricultural sector are embedded in these new dilemmas. As one of the guiding economic development tasks for the country during the 13th Five-year Development Period from 2016 to 2020, the supply-side structural reform was initiated to address the challenges encountered in this transitional economic period. Its implication in the agriculture sector includes the adjustment of the supply structure, ensuring sufficient agricultural production while better matching the consumption needs, and improving the overall competitiveness of agricultural products. All these elements fit into the long-term vision of a sustainable and modern agriculture in China. 

The 19th Congress of Communist Party of China convened in October 2017 put forward the strategy of rural revitalization as the highest priority for promoting rural development. The annual Central Rural Work Conference held in December 2017 and the No.1 central document of 2018 further elaborated on this vision and timeline in implementing the strategy.

I believe the main challenge today is to run and win this last mile poverty eradication race, and above all prevent people to fall back into the poverty trap beyond 2020, through a set of forward thinking and well-coordinated policy and socio-economic measures. In this endeavor, the need to find creative solutions to face increasing challenges, introduce tools such as ICTs and disruptive technologies has become more important than ever. 

China Investment：How does FAO secure funds for poverty reduction? What kind of cooperation is in need for FAO from the society? What do you think is the role of government, private sector and social organizations in poverty reduction?

Vincent Martin：FAO’s work could not have been done without the support of its committed partners. Mobilizing resources, especially in the case of China, due to the country’s considerable economic growth, has become increasingly challenging. However, FAO has formed new dynamic partnerships with the public and private sector. In addition to the exchange of expertise and knowledge, partners particularly from the private sector have supported poverty reduction projects and events through generous funding. The Ministry of Agriculture as well as leading Chinese institutions such as IPRCC, CIIC, and Tsinghua University for instance have participated and largely contributed to initiatives such as the FFS, or the knowledge-sharing database or poverty reduction events for example. FAO also uses its own internal resources in a catalytic way to test new ideas, innovative approaches and build partnerships to scale up good practices.

We believe that all segments of society, government, private sector and social organizations must work together, in an enabling environment in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eradicate poverty and hunger by 2030 (referred as SDG1 and 2). All actors have different assets such as financing, knowledge, expertise, accessibility, technology and ideas that must be brought together in order to address those critical bottlenecks. 

China Investment：Could you introduce FAO’s partnership strategies for the realization of FAO mandates?

Vincent Martin：FAO is convinced that hunger and malnutrition can be eradicated in our lifetime. To meet the Zero Hunger Challenge, political commitment and major alliances with key stakeholders are crucial. Partnerships are at the heart of FAO’s mission to help build a consensus for a world without hunger. The effectiveness and credibility of the organization as a knowledge sharing forum and unique technical center of excellence, knowledge and technical expertise depends to a considerable degree on its ability to work and develop strategic partnerships. Only through such effective collaboration with governments, civil society, private sector, academia, research centers and cooperatives, and through making use of each other’s knowledge and comparative advantages, can food insecurity and malnutrition be defeated. 

Strategic partnerships are a crucial enabler for achieving the goals set by the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. In developing and implementing the FAO China Country Programming Framework, FAO seeks broad partnership with governments at all levels, civil society, the private sector, academia and research institutions UN agencies, funds and programmes and international financial institutions. Special attention will be given to developing RBA (Rome Based Agencies, which brings together FAO, IFAD and WFP) partnerships and joint interventions in the area of poverty reduction and rural transformation. To the extent possible, this will be achieved through a bottom-up approach based on convergence zones where the three agencies are present and operating projects. 

China Investment：What do you think are the valuable lessons from China’s poverty reduction experience to the world? 

Vincent Martin：Two decades ago, China started leveraging the learning of its own achievements at home to help fight hunger and rural poverty in other developing countries with similar challenges. China’s commitment and dedication should and must be followed in developing economies in order to reduce global poverty and hunger. As previously mentioned, leadership, commitment, a multi-sectoral approach, a targeted strategy and constant innovation are elements that other countries should integrate in their poverty reduction strategies. 

Innovation especially, cannot be highlighted enough. China has revolutionized its agricultural sector through a long-term vision embodied by high level of investment in agriculture research, structural reforms and supporting policies. China sets an example in the area of agricultural development and has accumulated a wealth of experience and techniques that can be shared with the rest of the developing world.

As one of the most important partners and largest contributors in FAO’s SSC Programmes, China has, since 1996, provided supports to agricultural and rural development in 28 countries, working on a wide range of technical areas, including irrigation, aquaculture, horticulture, livestock, crop production, agroforestry, agricultural mechanization and agribusiness. 

In addition, FAO is also facilitating poverty reduction policy and knowledge sharing, through its China-Africa rural poverty reduction knowledge exchange platform and trainings. FAO organized the first webinar of the series Rural Poverty Reduction - End Poverty Talks - in partnership with the International Poverty Reduction Centre of China and the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth. The webinar introduced the experience of China in SSC for poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

During an international poverty reduction forum in last May, co-hosted by FAO, the International Poverty Reduction Centre in China, the China Internet Information Centre, World Bank and ADB, the five co-hosts jointly launched the Global Poverty Reduction Online Knowledge Sharing Database. The database aims to collect and share poverty reduction good practices which are technically replicable for both China and worldwide users. This will be a useful source of reference for countries as they are working to achieve SDG1 and 2 which are intimately intricated.

China Investment：As we know FAO has made remarkable contribution to the advancement of South-South cooperation, do you think those contributions and lessons in South-South cooperation could be applied for the Belt and Road Initiative?

Vincent Martin：Since the SSC Initiative was launched in 1996, FAO has been facilitating the sharing of practical development solutions in food and agriculture, and has worked together with about 90 host countries. Over the past two decades, more than USD 370 million have been mobilized for SSC and Triangular Cooperation. 

As previously mentioned, two decades ago, China began to leverage the learning of its achievements to help fight hunger and rural poverty globally. The FAO-China SSC Program facilitates the exchange and uptake of development solutions, promote platforms for knowledge networking, mobilize upstream policy support and fosters an enabling environment for effective SSC at all levels. 

FAO views the Belt and Road Initiative as a fresh momentum for the formation of innovative and sustainable SSC modalities and flagship programs. This large-scale initiative seeks wider and deeper partnerships and explores a balanced, equitable and inclusive development model that will push for the achievements of the 2030 agenda in countries along the Belt and Road. 

China Investment：What do you think is the future role of FAO in the Belt and Road countries and what kind of contributions could FAO make for them?

Vincent Martin：Last year the Ministry of Agriculture issued its strategy paper for supporting the BRI which noted that BRI countries share the goal "to fight hunger, eradicate poverty, and achieve food and nutrition security".

These are objectives which FAO shares in common with the BRI. The global goals of FAO are: the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition: eliminating poverty and driving forward economic and social progress for all and; promoting the sustainable management and utilization of natural resources.

Given these common goals of the BRI and FAO, it is clear that there should be many opportunities for FAO to collaborate with China, the Ministry of Agriculture, national research institutions and other countries on the implementation of the BRI. With these overall objectives in mind we have developed a BRI umbrella programme and identified four specific technical areas which we suggest working on together:

1) Inclusive and sustainable value chain development, 2) Bringing innovation to the field through digital-agriculture 3) Control of transboundary animal and plant diseases 4) Protecting Biodiversity and Improving Resilience to Climate Change.

China Investment：Last May, FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva wrote in an op-ed on People’s Daily, “the Belt and Road Initiative is an initiative that FAO strongly supports and it is a road that we will once again confidently navigate together as we move forward.”  Has FAO developed any concrete strategic plans to live up to Director General’s remarks and made efforts for poverty reduction in the Belt and Road countries? 

Vincent Martin：As earlier mentioned, we are moving ahead with our partners through a comprehensive programme that contains four main pillars, which are all interrelated. Let me give you more details about these priority areas.

Inclusive and sustainable value chain development: Improved infrastructure will facilitate access to new and more distant markets. Farmers will be able to reduce input and transportation costs, reach further markets in a shorter time and gain access to information, technical services and advice that will enhance higher quality of products and improve productivity. However, the extent to which these opportunities reach the most vulnerable, depends on the capacity of governments to deliver services, policies and regulations governing investments in place in the hosting countries. If these new opportunities are going to be developed in an inclusive, pro-poor way, benefiting the local communities, attention must be given to developing the entire value chain and not simply the production side. 

Bringing innovation to the field through digital-agriculture: The BRI will open new possibilities for the development of digital-agriculture innovations, or the use of information and communication technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural production. Digital-agriculture is another area where great opportunities can be found to increase the pro-poor and rural development impacts of these infrastructure investments. By providing remote areas with improved access to information, digital-agriculture can reduce or overcome many of the constraints that contribute to poverty. Digital-agriculture includes providing access to information on plant and animal diseases, production techniques, quality standards, specialist advice, access to financial services and training. This creates the opportunity for farmers to leap-frog on the path of technical development, as they can immediately start using the newest technology. However, achieving inclusive, pro-poor outcomes with e-agriculture must be deliberately designed into the programmes from the outset.

Enhance the control of transboundary animal and plant diseases: the increased international trade in agricultural products that the BRI will bring about, comes with increased risks of spreading animal and plant diseases between countries. FAO already has extensive global experience in the area, ensuring that expanded trade is carried out in a safe way and does not pose a threat to vulnerable farmers, nor a health threat to consumers. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and the FAO have been key partners in this area and have been working closely together for many years.  

Protecting Biodiversity and Improving Resilience to Climate Change.

Many of the countries engaged in the BRI, and particularly those in SE Asia and Central Asia, are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The risks they face include rising sea levels and risks of flooding in countries along the Maritime Silk Road, as well as droughts, desertification and extreme weather events in Central and East Asia.

The poor are generally the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Their livelihoods are more precarious and susceptible to disruption, living as they do in more marginal areas and with very limited resources available to adapt to the impact of climate change. Any effort to eliminate global hunger and poverty must take into account the impact of climate change on the poor and help identify measures which can help them adapt to climate change. 

There is a high degree of complementarity between climate change and the other sectors proposed for action under the programme of FAO/GoC collaboration. Climate change must be taken into account when assessing opportunities for value chain development; innovative applications of ICTs and e-agriculture can be devised to improve resilience to climate change and; the implications of climate change for the spread of disease is well recognized.