China

China’s populace is concentrated in its urban centres, which are home to 45 percent of its almost 1.4 billion people. The nation also possesses a massive land area, and just under 14 000 permanent crops. Despite the fact that in recent years the number of malnourished Chinese has dropped from 15 to ten percent, when taking into account China’s enormous population and and its ever-larger demand on resources, it is clear that food security will continue to be a very vital topic for the Chinese State and the world.

FAO's main in-country programmes

Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animals and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES) - Animal Health Component
China officially reported the first outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza HPAI/H5N1 on 20 January 2004, though it was first isolated in 1996. Since then many outbreaks have occurred in domestic poultry and wild birds and the situation can be considered as enzootic in some parts of the country. While the HPAI situation in China has significantly improved in 2007 over previous years, on-going surveillance provides evidence that the H5N1 virus is still circulating in several provinces.  At the beginning of the infection in 2004, FAO strongly supported with Technical Cooperation Programmes (TCP) and regional projects. Currently, FAO is still implementing five projects in China (three global, two regional) that aim at sustaining activities to combat this disease.

Other major animal diseases – notably Foot-and-Mouth Disease – affect China and FAO will address them through the new Regional Cooperation Programme on Highly Pathogenic and Emerging Diseases in Asia (HPED), funded by the European Commission, which will take place within the Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs) for Asia framework.

A regional project involving China and Mongolia on TADs surveillance and control is being launched in the near future.

EMPRES Desert Locust Component
China is affected by several locust pests, including the Migratory Locust and the Italian Locust, but not by the Desert Locust. It is therefore not part of the EMPRES Programme for this region.

Emergency and Rehabilitation
FAO established an emergency and rehabilitation coordination unit in Chengdu following the Wenchuan earthquake in May 2008 that severely disrupted the livelihoods of rural communities in Sichuan province. In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and other relevant line ministries, FAO is implementing an earthquake agricultural rehabilitation programme based on a two-pronged approach: 

1. In the most affected townships, an economic “lead crop” is identified that is crucial for the rural economy. Key inputs to revive production are distributed to vulnerable farming families. So far, the programme has assisted earthquake affected farmers with potato, vegetable and crop seeds, tea processing machineries, mushroom spores, fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide and small agricultural tools. The programme targets five counties in the Sichuan Province that suffered most from the earthquake, including Anxian, Beichuan, Jiangyou, Mianzhu and Shifang.
2. In severely affected townships where input needs are diverse, farmers receive cash vouchers that enable them to procure agro-inputs of their choice in local shops. An accompanying training and supervision programme ensures that farmers improve their use of agro-inputs to maximize productivity. The voucher approach, as compared to straight input distribution, contributes to the strengthening of village level agricultural input trade.

Since July 2008, FAO’s emergency and rehabilitation programme for the Sichuan earthquake, funded by Sweden, Luxemburg, Belgium and FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme and amounting to a total budget of US$2.4 million, has enabled over 8 500 households (42 500 individuals) to recover their agricultural-based livelihoods. In addition, over 800 farmers have been trained on improved vegetable cultivation, management and integrated pest management practices on top of the 30 farmer trainers, exceeding the target in the original project design. 

National Medium Term Priority Frame Work (NMTPF)
China has recently engaged in the NMTPF process and produced their first NMTPF draft (2009-2013) in December 2008. The document was shared with the regional office for Asia and the Pacific for review and comments in September 2009.

Outcome and Result-Based Activities and Joint Activities carried out by FAO and the UN Resident Team
In line with FAO’s organizational mandate and at the request of the Government of China, the FAO Representative (FAOR) addresses the country’s emerging priorities in the domains of rural development, food security, environment protection and beyond. FAO’s current interventions in the country have covered more than twenty provinces and reached out to millions of targeted beneficiaries, exerting value-added impacts at policy, institutional and household levels. By active participation in joint programmes, bilateral and multi-lateral initiatives, FAOR has further contributed to the One UN efforts and international synergy in assisting China with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and human development. Responding to the latest emergencies including the seasonal droughts, Wenchuan earthquake, Avian Influenza, and H1A1, FAOR has mobilized varied sources of funding for providing in-time disaster relief, building up overall disaster preparedness and fostering long-run rehabilitation and sustainable development. In light of China’s rapid economic development and well-positioned diplomatic orientation, FAOR, through the South-South cooperation initiative, has facilitated China’s growing role in international cooperation as a donor and assisted in promoting China’s best development practices among the rest of developing countries.

last updated: 5 July 2011