Embrace sustainable agriculture

Every day, China provides food for more than 1.3 billion people. Considering the complicated process of food from farm to table, this achievement is amazing. No other country needs to ensure food safety on such a large scale, and China's current achievements are unprecedented.

It can not be ignored that there is a huge contrast between the "pressure factors" such as population, arable land and freshwater resources behind China's achievements. With the deepening of the development process, land will become more scarce and fresh water resources will be reduced. In order to achieve sustainable development, a farming method with high yield, resistance to climate change and minimal impact on the environment is needed, which is not difficult for China, which is making incredible achievements every day.

China has used this method on the Loess Plateau. As head of a project team at the World Bank, I first visited the Loess Plateau in 1991, when it was like a barren lunar surface. It was almost impossible to cultivate crops and orchards for tens of millions of people on the degraded plateau for decades.

But with the help and advice of the Chinese government and the World Bank, local communities and farmers have gradually begun to restore degraded land, transforming decades of unsustainable land use. Scientific farmland construction and the change of land use rights encourage farmers to cultivate their fields and conserve soil and water in a sustainable way. Simple changes have brought about great improvements, such as our multi-partner captivity of sheep and goats, which has promoted the luxuriant growth of fruit trees and vegetation.

Now when you go to the Loess Plateau, people will find great changes brought about by sustainable land management and farming methods. Forests, grasslands and animals have become lush and vibrant, and lush high-quality orchards, farms and captive livestock are the guarantee of farmers' affluence. Forests and other vegetation not only enhance the local ability to cope with climate change, but also restrain the hidden dangers of soil erosion, flooding and drought. The land that was once barren is now full of life.

The situation varies from country to country, but the lessons we have learned from China's Loess Plateau project are long-lasting, and these valuable lessons have been extended to other countries, such as Rwanda.

China continues to make amazing achievements in the economic field, and will make achievements again in reforming the agricultural industry. The Loess Plateau has set an example in this regard.