 I'm delighted to say that we are going to be joined by the Director-General of the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization, of course, a UN agency, crucially important to the cooperative approach to farming, farm systems all over the world. He is a former Vice Minister of Agriculture in China. He brings vast experience of transforming China's agriculture to his current role at the FAO. So let's give a very warm welcome to Mr. Chudong Zhu, who is joining us from Rome. Welcome, sir. I know you're going to give us your opening thoughts, and then I have the opportunity, and indeed everybody who's joining us on the platform here at FFA will have the opportunity to ask you a few questions. But I'm going to hand to you and looking forward very much to hearing your opening remarks. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's my pleasure to deliver the keynote address this morning, and I thank the forum for the invitation. With my very exciting, interested listening to Yanaka and also AC's message just delivered minutes ago. We are at a critical moment in time as we observe the convergence of the facts that, if ignored, would prevent us from ending the global hunger and the monetization in all forms. The number of hunger people in the world have increased during the last six years in a row. So that's even before the pandemic. They already increased by 10 million in 2019 and nearly 60 million in the five years before that. It is estimated that by the end of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic added another 132 million to the number of the hunger people in the world. The child's study remains accepted high and overweight and obesity continued to increase in rich and poor countries alike, especially in the city. More than 3 billion people in the world cannot afford even the cheapest health debt. The current consumption and agro-food systems are contributing to this disturbing high rate of the food waste and loss. Air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and the loss of biodiversity and constitute a growing source of inequality. This is generating severe human economic environment costs that are lying into the trailing of dollars. To get to the world we needed to be by 2030 and all beyond 2050. We urgently need to do something different and act holistically to transform our agro-food systems. We need to recognize the Internet-connected and compounded economic, social, and environmental impacts of our agro-food systems. There is a range of solution packages that would address hunger for the insecurity and the monetization while ensuring affordable health debts for all. Solutions that can also reduce the carbon footprint and ensure environmental sustainability. Solutions can be designed to be an engine of economic recovery, create available jobs, and a sustainable livelihood, importantly addressing inequality. Holistic agro-food system solutions should be context-specific and much needed to be done to identify these, but it is critical that we begin to do this and to do it at a scale. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2030 agenda has highlighted awareness of the key role that future agro-food systems will play in facing the global challenges of monetary poverty, the use of biodiversity and ecosystem service, and climate change. The agenda is there to guide us, but historically consensus is strong. This adoption must be matched by a political determination and commitment to deliver it. With many SDGs off track, the need to engage all factors at all levels with the systematic approach to become more pressing. To achieve the ambitious transformative change required, we need a new dimension of cooperation not only across the border, but also within the whole of society. We need to change our policies, mindsets, behaviors, and the business model. That's four areas I said it's innovation. I fully agree with the chairman. Innovation is not only technology innovation. We need policy innovation, mindsets, change, behavior, change, and the business model change. The renewed, inclusive, and agile AFL lead by example, taking advantage of digital technology and building bridges across the region and the continent with our members. We have 194 members and partners. Within European Union, our member organization for 30 years, we are continuing to strengthen collaboration on the transforming agro-food systems. AFL sector is the key area in the fighting against hunger, providing innovative tools, resources, knowledge, and technologies to achieve transformative change on the ground. This is why AFL is a spearheading a modern approach in our work with the private sector. We do so with our newly endorsed strategic for private sector engagement. This is fully aligned with AFL commitment to support the members to achieve SDGs by 2030. Dear colleagues, AFL strategic framework 2022 to 2031 seeks to support the 2030 agenda through the transformation to more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable agro-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, a better life, leaving no one behind. These four matters represent the guiding principle and innovative business model for how AFL intends to contribute to SDG1, no poverty, SDG2, zero hunger, and SDG3, reducing inequalities, as well as to supporting the achievement of the broad SDG agenda. The four matters reflect the interconnected economic, social, and environment dimensions of agro-food systems. To accelerate progress and maximizing our efforts in meeting the SDGs and to realize our aspiration, AFL will apply for cross-cutting, cross-sectional accelerators in all our programmatic interventions. This accelerates our technology, innovation, data, and complements, which is the governance, human capital, and institutions. Imagine technologies are already changing the food and culture sector, yet most governments or agro-food systems actors have yet to harness their powerful potential. Having farmers take full advantage of new technologies such as digital agriculture, biotechnology, cautious agriculture, innovation in agro-ecology, 5G, artificial intelligence to increase food production and also to increase food diversity while respecting the environment is of paramount importance. Innovation in general, particularly in agriculture, is a central driving force for achieving a world free from hunger and malnutrition because we will have 10 billion population by 2050. Innovation and science increase social innovations, policy innovations, institution innovations, financial innovations, technology innovations are important drivers that affect the food and the culture production and the distribution processing and the consumption pattern. On data, FL Geospatial Platform and the Data Lab for Statistic Innovation exemplify how big data on food and cultural socioeconomics and the natural resources can come together to have a strength in the evidence-based decision-making in the food and the cultural sectors. This is exactly what we are doing in our handy-handy initiative to transform agro-food systems of least developed landlocked countries, least developed small island states and food crisis countries so that no one is left behind. Compliments refer to the needed governance, human capital institutions to ensure an inclusive agro-food systems transformation. Transformative processes require strong, transparent, accountable institutions and governance include adaptive and effective regulatory governance. As technologists revolutionize the risk of unequal access, exclusion of room, investment in human capital buildings, as well as policy and regulations to minimize such risks are indispensable. To work together towards the inclusive, safe and trust-first digital technology in food and cultural, we are building the international platform for digital food and cultural, which will be at the heart of efforts to digitalize the cultural for achieving SDGs. Through dialogue, the platform will promote coordination and consensus among all stakeholders in terms of awareness on issues specifically to the digitalization of food and cultural, provide guidance and support decision-making. Momentum is building towards the United Nations Food Summit to catalyze in global efforts for inclusive health agro-food systems. Our new strategy framework is well-aligned with the process towards summit, and we continue to provide force support for its preparatory process. Members that are conveying national-level dialogue are relying on effective technical advice and assistance. And we look forward to co-hosting the UN Food Summit, Pre-Summit, Science Day, 2020 Science Day, and Assistant Pre-Summit in July at AFL headquarters in Rome. Ladies and gentlemen, the COVID-19 epidemic is a historic wake-up call on the fragility of our agro-food system and the resulting vulnerabilities. And it also provides us the opportunity to re-evaluate how we address the root causes of hunger and build resilience against a similar threat in the future. We are doing this through AFL's comprehensive COVID-19 response and recovery program. This program has enabled partners to leverage AFL's conveying power, real-time data, early-warning systems and technical expertise to tackle the problems behind the trend and the inequality in access to the food. Launching July 2020 with a corporate budget target of 1.32 billion U.S. dollars, program has received about 238 million, pledging and a confirmed contribution as of the middle February 2021. Ladies and gentlemen, the challenge we face is enormous. We must transform the agro-food system to provide a growing population with health, affordable and diversified food doubts. We need to do so in a way that is economically profitable and environmentally friendly. We know that is achievable with innovation. We at AFL are ready to design big and take concrete action together with all our members and partners. Together, we can make our common vision of a hunger-free world a reality. Let's be a dreamers and doers at some time and the work, the talk. Thank you. Thank you. Over to you. Mr. Director-General, thank you so much for those opening remarks. We must be dreamers and doers, you say, but you also focus on the scale of the problem. It's interesting to me that you say that the number of people in the world who are going hungry is actually increasing year on year, and I think the figures are fairly startling that there could be by 2030 something like 850 million people on our planet who are living with the daily reality of hunger. So I want you to use for me some of your experience in China. 50 years ago, there were many tens of millions of people in China living with the reality of hunger, and today you've pretty much eliminated that problem. If anything, you have problems of overconsumption in terms of the dietary habits of some of your people. So learn the lessons with me of what China has done. What did you do right, and also maybe what did you do wrong in the transformation of your food system? Thank you. Your question is, of course, you talk about the past 50 years. It's quite a challenge for me to answer properly, but I think also you said you are a farmer's son. I also am a farmer's son. You are maybe the bigger farmer's son. I'm a small farmer's son. It's less than one hectare. My dad's farm was a little bigger. It wasn't very big, but it was, let's say, more like 60 or 70 hectares. So that makes a big difference. Why am I asking you? Because I know in the world, 84% of smallholder farmers is less than three hectares in one family. Normally, we talk about the four people, but I come from eight people family with less than one hectare. That time, you can imagine how harsh. I can say in 1960, 80% of people in China are suffering from some sort of hunger or starvation even. Lesson learning, I think we have a lot of review and also to what lesson we can learn. The first, I think, experience what we can share with you first is we need the enabling policy. During the past 50 years or 60 years or even 70 years, if you have not the proper enabling policy to support agricultural and food, that will be a big difference result. That's also we have a lot of lessons learned in China in different provinces and even as a national policy. So thanks to the open policy now and all since 50 years ago, so first, there are policies about innovation because we have very limited land. That time, when I was a child, it's about one billion and the land is there. But how to improve efficiency of land without the environment negative impact. I think the solution is innovation, technology innovation, we start. And also with policy innovation, that's two innovation. And you can see I'm from the Hunan, it's very south, and thanks to the hybrid rise, which without any additional input of chemicals and others. And you can increase it to 50% of the year. So the professor, it's our God, you know, when I was a child, we had enough rise. First, second, I think is investment. You need a political strong political commitment to really help the farmers, especially small-holder farmers. Because in China, 95% of farmers are small-holder farmers, less than one hectare, not internationally three hectare. So you need an investment for the irrigation system, for the road, for the soil improvement, for you name it. And also, you see my hometown is about 1,600 millimeter water rainfall. But during summer, about 30 to 50 days, no rain. And then you have no second season if you don't have a reservoir, small reservoir. You have enough water in a year, but you don't have adequate water for next season. So you need a small investment on that for the reservoir to collect the flooding for the further use. So investment on the infrastructure, not only a big investment, I know you need others. And last and not least, also you have to train the farmers to get adequate training on the technology, on the marketing information. And now during the past 10 years, it's completely different because Chinese farmers can access to the market by e-commerce. Every village gets the broadband. It's a 4G. So that's thanks to the investment. So I think the lesson learning and experience, it's two sides of the coin. You correctly you are a mistake, and then you build up your experience. So I think that's four aspects. In short, enabling policy, innovation, and investment, and the capacity of the farmers training, the technology transfer. That's the four aspects that really benefit. And that's why also I encourage all the members, also in Europe, I've visited so many countryside here before I came wrong. Also, you need that support aspect. Mr. Director General, I'm going to stop you there. It's a fascinating answer, and I'm glad you told us about your own personal experience. And what you seem to be saying is that ultimately we're all in this together. And in the Chinese example, from the very top of the party leadership in Beijing to the smallest farmer on his small holding out in the countryside to the scientists, to the technologists, to the policymakers at every level. Everybody has to be coordinated together to make this food system work. And I get that. Now I want you to address a different form of this idea of us all being in this together. You sit in Rome now as the head of a very important global agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization. You are in a very good position to judge whether the world right now has the kind of leadership which is capable of moving beyond, let us call them, national tensions. And we don't need to go into detail, but we know there are plenty of national and international tensions across the planet right now. Do we have the kind of leadership which is able to work together in a truly collaborative, cooperative way to address the global food system challenge? Be honest with me, whereas you sit there in Rome, do you really see the sort of collaboration and cooperation we need? I would say I'm first, I'm optimistic. That's why I can grow up from small fry in the small village, remote village in China to come to Rome. So people should be having hope, from an internal hope. And also you get external support and that's two aspects. So I think thanks for that, thanks for God, you said that. And now the SG Secretary General, Mr. Guterres, two years ago, he is planning to have a convened UN Food Systems Summit. It indicates it's a political commitment and it's leadership addressing the agri-food systems. I said agri-food systems because of every food, every animal from land. Sometimes I say you have a green deer, a green deer from the farmers to the flock. But I said from tillage to the table, from marty to the mouse, from boat to the ball, because agriculture is covered in fissionary, covered in forest. So everything comes from marty, from soil, from tillage. We need all different levels of political commitment. And the leadership started with the UN, marty, and also we appreciate that collaboration with the EU here, all the commissioners related, not only commission agricultural and rural affairs and others, development, you name it. So I think if we can, all the keepers of G20 or G7, you name it. So we should, from the top to the down, and also we have to give the promotion or energetic from the grassroot, from a village. That's a two, from bottom to the up, and then makes beautiful things happening. That's what I really want. That's why FL, I think since I come here as a DG, all the members from OECD and from developing, from G7 survey, from all the regions that support me. Because I built the inclusive FL, transparent FL, one FL. You will have to build the solidarity, because food is the basic human rights. Have no any political difference. Only difference is how to address this issue, how to solve the food insecurity. I also have very good, strong support from the Holy Father. Because we can talk on the humanity and the basic human rights. So I think with your big passion, with your big clear mind, then you can get all the support that you need. That's what I really appreciate all the keepers, all the farmers to the leaders, the support FL-minded and the mission, because that's our common mission. Right. Common mission. And the key word you just used there is solidarity. But it's hard for people to feel solidarity if they are hungry. And we know that in certain parts of the world, hundreds of millions of people right now are experiencing hunger. And when they hear discussions like this one today at FFA, which focus very much on sustainability, on changing land management systems to ensure the planet is protected. They might be saying, well, all of that is fine. And you guys can afford to talk about all of that sustainability stuff because your bellies are full. You are not hungry. So how do we ensure solidarity to make the richer parts of the world, the parts of the world where there is no hunger, take a responsibility for more equitable distribution of food to ensure that those who are currently going hungry no longer go hungry in the future? With COVID, we've seen it's been quite difficult for countries to truly work together to ensure that, for example, everybody gets vaccinated, not just their own nation-state populations. So how can we ensure that when it comes to food, there is meaningful solidarity and planetary equity? That's why I said the last sentence. Let us be dreamers and doers and walk the talk. That's why from day one, even before I come, I consider more than 1,000 experts globally and we come to the day one hand-in-hand initiative of FFA. And hand-in-hand initiative, we started focusing on the most valuable countries and the small island states, least developed countries, and the landlocked least developed countries and some food crisis countries, it's about 50 countries, because FFA, as I said, we have 194 members. It's the largest U.M. professional organization, I should say. But if you look at the valuable people first, and that's how I appreciate it, I bring this hand-in-hand issue, it's we want to change the business model from the donor country, who is not only OECD or European members, and also some countries like China, like Turkey, or like Thailand, and their middle or less middle income countries, they can become also donors because they can have the recipient countries who need most. So if we start with addressing the most valuable people, because I was one of billions of valuable 50 years ago on this planet, I think that's beyond the solidarity that let them feel. And so we put all my efforts first on the valuable, and they established a first in the U.N. system office for small island states and the landlocked office, yeah, special office to address that. So it's not only talking. We have a systematic holistic approach to address, because without the valuable people to get rid of poverty and hunger, and leave no one behind, it's just a beautiful slogan. So even in Europe, you have also a valuable part, even in the city, and you have a valuable part. So that's what I think we are not only working for the farmers, we are working for all the consumers, all the human beings, our customers. Here's a thought for you. The U.N., as you well know, is working toward a food system summit later this year, just as there's going to be a big climate change summit later in the year in Glasgow. And the two issues really do go hand in hand, because I think as the Secretary General pointed out in his letter this morning, we still basically have a food system which contributes something like one third of all greenhouse gas emissions to the planet. So the two things are intimately connected. Just as now there is so much discussion of how to ensure that we cut, significantly cut carbon emissions by 2030 and even more by 2050, do we now have to start talking about a system of food production across the world which punishes people for carbon intensive production and for things like deforestation and despoilation of the natural world? Do we have to get real about putting punishments in place for those who are not working to a more sustainable food system? You know, my colleague there, that's a data coming from an FAO expert, published in Natural Food last month, during the past 30 years, we observed the food system. Agroforests contribute around one third. You are right. But if they pack capital for the basic need like food, it's very little. Because the rice industry and the A-ball contributed 74%. So first, you know, economic terror, the basic rule of economic terror is marginal utility. So we have started to address the most highest marginal utility sector. That's one. It's not means that we are not looking at the food system seriously on the climate change and the carbon emission greenhouse gas emission. But within different sectors, we have a different marginal utility if we take action. Second, my role, now during the past two years, we are now talking about agroforest systems. We have to take our role to address the issues, which sector of the agricultural. Because agricultural include the crop, animals, fishing, forestry. Some part is the contributor for the carbon neutral and some part lack of forestry. And some part is, of course, we have to change or we have to modify the best on the evidence and the science solution. So that's why it's balanced. Different countries, different members, they have a different priority. But we want to build more consensus on that, to be ambitious about action to address the carbon neutral. And from agriculture sector, I said so many times, if you have time to read my last month, I had a public lecture with the Italia Academy, it's online. So how to transform agroforestry from strategy to action? We have to break it down, each crop, each commodity, and how to establish a neutral carbon emission, CO2 neutral. So that's the way it's a scientific approach. Second, I think for Europe and for able, for rich people, we have first, first, most should be reduce the food waste. Because you reduce the one percent of food waste, contribute the more than 10 percent of the environment gas emission. So you don't need that much investment, but you just change the consumption pattern and also establish some kind of policy to stop all zero food waste. That's the most effective way to help them transform a reverse agroforestry system. But not the least, I think all the rich or developed countries have to take the responsibility to have less development conscious. They can start with more modern technology, gas neutral, best practice, and avoid some mistake you made during the past 100 years. And no polluted industry, what else? So that's we share the real human, our common fortune, our real share of the small planet we have. So it's a holistic way. Not only look at the silos of agroforestry or industry or able, we want to build the holistic approach and each part play the role. That's a way. Thank you. Yeah, Director General, we're almost out of time. I just want to ask you one last question. I think it would only be right for us to reflect on the global pandemic that we have all lived through. And I don't want to get into discussion of where it started or precisely how it started. But I think the message of the pandemic is clear that as our world population rises and the pressures on the environment also increase and our relationship with the natural world because it becomes ever more complex, there is a real danger that we are going to see more pandemics, more transference of disease from the natural world to the human population. I just wonder whether you've learned lessons and can tell us how you believe that we human beings can build more resilient food systems to cope with, let us face it, the reality of future pandemics. Yeah, I agree with you. It's very complicated to, you know, the issues when they talk about relationships between human being, we are basically biologically, I'm a biologist, I'm a geneticist. If you look at the evolution of the human being, we are basically an animal. We are a mama family. So once you made the mistake, don't blame anymore. We are intelligent mama anymore. So we have to prevent, we have to address the issues, how to stop your behavior is not so properly and how to take serious action to protect the biodiversity, environment issues and improve the efficiency. You can use less land, less water, produce enough food and you reduce the food waste and less learning pandemics. I think first, we have to respect science. The science is, let science speak first. Second, in fact, governance, no matter your big or small countries or even your community or if like FAO, I took a very serious, I asked my DDG, Lohan Thomas, to coordinate the crisis management team, look at all the issues. So we started preparing the issue. We respect science because we are scientists. So I think let science speak first, effective governance and third, be prepared ourselves also based on science and the policy. Because we are more and more having those kinds of, because it's possible. Because simply because more and more advanced science, you will find the problem. And 200 years ago, people when you die, you didn't know you are suffering from a cancer because simply you didn't know the cancer. But now the science tells you that's some kind of specific cancer. So any virus, any fungus, any bacteria will be infect our life and from production, from environment, from food and from the health issues. That's our small value. We are really small value now. Well, I have to say it's been absolutely fascinating talking to you, Mr. Director-General. I thank you for joining us at this forum for the future of agriculture. Your voice is an important one and we will reflect very carefully on your experience and your insight. Thank you so much for joining us from Rome today. It's my pleasure. I needed your support. I said food and a cultural organization is addressing the basic human rights. Without the food, without the human being. Well, that's absolutely true. So ladies and gentlemen, there we have it, Mr. Chu Dongjoo there who is, I think, you'll all agree an incredibly important voice to hear at this beginning of a day of discussion on food system renewal because he raised so many issues there, not just from his own personal experience and it was fascinating to hear his beginnings on a very tiny smallholding farm in China. So he brought the personal experience of what China has done in terms of its own food production transformation. But now, of course, he speaks as one of those key global leadership voices trying to ensure that there is a collaborative cooperative approach to the future of our global food system. He obviously professionally has to sound optimistic that the world can be brought together and work together on some of these issues. But Mark, I think it's fair to say, as you said earlier, these are extraordinarily big challenges and it is important, but it was also quite hard sometimes to remain optimistic. Well, quite right, Stephen. I mean, we've seen these interventions down the years of the forum. And I have to say, I think from my perspective, that was one of the most impressive and compelling and upbeat messages that we've heard at the beginning of one of these conferences, hard not to be inspired by it. As you say, there's something of a translation between the optimistic message and making sure that happens on the ground. But certainly his enthusiasm and optimism was certainly infectious. And I'll tell you what, you know, in my day job on the BBC Hard Talk Show, I talk to a lot of people in positions like his, you know, global leadership positions. Sometimes they're really rather bland and anodyne and don't say very much. But I did think that that was an extremely engaging and personal performance. And it gives you hope that this year of food systems, summit, big UN declarations and rhetoric might just be more than the usual talk.