High-level meeting explores potential of juncao technology for sustainable development
Juncao technology is a part of the successful Chinese experience to fight poverty and hunger and an approach that, as part of broader rural development initiatives, can trigger actions that help address malnutrition and sustainability challenges and that respond to the needs of rural people, said Carla Mucavi, Director of the FAO Liaison Office to the United Nations, during a High-Level Meeting on Juncao Technology on 19 April.
Jointly organized by the Permanent Mission of China and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the meeting shared the achievements and lessons learned from the Juncao Technology Project, which was launched at the UN headquarters in 2017 and supported by the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund.
Invented by Chinese scientist Lin Zhanxi in 1986, the technology allows farmers to grow edible mushrooms from dried, chopped grasses.
Ma Zhaoxu, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, noted in his opening remarks that juncao technology is a key example of China’s Belt and Road Initiative contributing to economic growth and improved livelihoods in participating countries.
“After years of development, juncao technology has been applied in many countries along the routes of the Belt and Road. It helps the countries meet SDGs, such as eliminating poverty and hunger, promoting food security, ensuring and increasing employment, tackling climate change and protecting the ecological environment, and helps the people get rid of poverty and live a better life,” Ma said.
President of the UN General Assembly, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, echoed this sentiment, saying that the juncao technology is emblematic of China's Belt and Road Initiative.
“[Juncao technology] supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, making an important contribution to several SDG goals and targets, from poverty eradication to clean energy, gender equality to preserving bio-diversity,” Espinosa Garces said.
Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, also remarked on the vast, transformative potential of the technology for sustainable development.
“The 2030 Agenda calls for transformative initiatives, and Juncao technology showcases a pathway whereby such initiatives can catalyze change, transform lives and livelihoods, and create opportunities for a better future,” Liu said.
Delivering a statement on behalf of FAO at the event, Mucavi spoke on the need to transform food and agriculture systems to simultaneously nourish people, nurture the planet and build resilient livelihoods, as well as the potential of juncao technology to contribute to these efforts.
“There are different ways to fight hunger and malnutrition, to transform our food systems and empower rural people and family farmers as agents of change. […] Juncao technology is a simple, accessible technology that can amplify the benefits of mushrooms, further reducing production cycles and minimizing the use of natural resources and providing a quick source of nutrition for families. It can also boost livelihoods, especially for traditionally disadvantaged demographics including women, youth and indigenous populations and provide an additional source of income for family farmers,” Mucavi said.
Mucavi informed the participants that FAO is keen to explore possibilities that Juncao technology offers for sustainable agriculture development, including in the context of the FAO-China strategic partnership, which was enshrined in a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016 to promote complementarities between FAO’s Strategic Programmes and China’s Belt and Road Initiative, as well as a letter of intent signed in 2018 for the formal establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Cooperation for Agriculture Innovation and Rural Development.
The meeting also featured statements from agriculture ministers, economists and experts from Juncao technology pilot countries including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Lesotho, Nigeria and Madagascar.