A Nourished World

by Gong Haiying

On June 23， 2019， the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations （FAO） held its 41st session at its headquarters in Rome. Chinese candidate Qu Dongyu was elected the new FAO Director-General with 108 votes. His tenure lasts from August 1， 2019 to July 31， 2023. Qu is the first FAO Director-General from China since the UN organizations founding 74 years ago.

“My goal is to make the organization more active， transparent and inclusive.” Qu called for effective policies and actions to create a world without hunger and eliminate poverty through targeted measures. Qu also expressed hope in harnessing innovation like digitization to enhance the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas.

Top Potato Scientist in China

Qu was born in 1963 to a rice farming family in Hunan Province， China. Later， he consecutively studied at Hunan Agricultural University and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences （CAAS）. In 1993， he received a Ph.D. in genetics and breeding from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Qu has considerable expertise in agriculture， and his work has always been closely related to agriculture and poverty alleviation. After returning to China， Qu worked at the CAAS. He has long worked on potato genetics and breeding and used his abilities for poverty alleviation.

In April 1996， when Qu surveyed the poverty alleviation situation in Guizhou Province， he realized that 42 of the 48 poverty-stricken counties in the province were growing potatoes as their staple food， but serious problems including lack of variety， low yield and poor quality persisted. “Farmers in the United States and the Netherlands earn solid incomes from extensive plantation of potatoes，” Qu noted.“Why cant we？ Wouldnt that be the best way for poverty alleviation？”Within the following three years， he made frequent visits to Guizhou. He established a local production base and took the lead in promoting plantation of virus-free potatoes on nearly five million mu （about 330，000 hectares） of land， achieving an average harvest increase of more than 30 percent year-on-year. Since then， Qu has carried out scientific and technological cooperation with some poverty-stricken areas in Gansu， Yunnan， Ningxia， Tibet， Guangxi， Sichuan， Inner Mongolia， and Heilongjiang. They formulated poverty alleviation programs resulting in economic revenues of more than five billion yuan （US$708 million） for farmers. More than 10 million farmers have seen their incomes increase.

For over 20 years， Qu has remained devoted to the research of genetic breeding of potatoes， compiling and writing related publications and promoting development of the potato industry. He has also helped many provinces carry out poverty alleviation work as a consultant. In 2006， Qu won the“World Potato Congress Industry Award” for his contributions to the potato industry. He was the first Chinese person to win the award and is considered the top potato scientist in China.

Marching Forward Together

In 2008， Qu Dongyu， then vice president of the CAAS， was serving temporarily in the government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Previously， Qu had led the development of local potato industry， lifting it to one of four pillar industries of poverty alleviation in Guyuan， Ningxia. During his tenure， he participated in drafting several important policies that played a crucial role in promoting local agriculture and rural economic development.

In June 2015， Qu left for Beijing to serve as a vice minister of the Ministry of Agriculture （present Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs）. In addition to using science and technology to promote agricultural production， Qu also applied the use of information and communication technology to promote Chinas agricultural and rural development. He led the drafting of a series of key policy documents including a plan for Chinas digital agriculture development and a proposal for the application of big data in agriculture and rural areas. He is also committed to fostering agricultural e-commerce to enable Chinese farmers to benefit from digital agriculture and narrow the digital gap between urban and rural areas.

Qu has visited more than 100 countries to promote international cooperation in agriculture. While establishing multilateral partnerships with many countries， he has gained even wider knowledge of agriculture and rural affairs in different regions of the world， which enhances his personal understanding of farmers desires and global development needs.

According to the 2018 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World （SOFI） report， more than 820 million people were undernourished in 2018， while more than two billion adults and nearly 380 million children were overweight or obese. Since taking office as the FAO Director-General on August 1， Qu has been committed to strengthening cooperation among member states， UN organizations and international institutions.“Hunger and malnutrition will be major barriers to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030， if we do not act now，” Qu stressed at the global celebration of World Food Day on October 16. “We need stronger policies and political commitment. We need to invest in nutrition and for nutrition. We need to walk hand-in-hand and build healthy and sustainable food systems.”