2021 China and Global Agricultural Policy Forum: Food systems transformation from diets to policies

BY QIYUN HUANG

As the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded over the past year, global food systems faced significant challenges and opportunities. The 2021 China and Global Agricultural Policy Forum, co-organized by IFPRI and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) on May 25 in Beijing, focused on the future of global food systems and China’s agrifood system in light of these changes. The CAAS’s annual China Agricultural Sector Development Report 2021 (CASDR) and the IFPRI flagship 2021 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) were released at the forum.

The CASDR 2021 offers a comprehensive proposal on the development direction of China’s agrifood system to address multiple challenges such as resource shortages, food waste, and nutritional imbalances. This is in sync with the idea of five food system transformation goals of efficiency, health, resilience, inclusiveness, sustainability and efficiency raised in the 2021 GFPR.

Photo credit: IFPRI