(New York, 24 September 2011)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
Under Secretary-General Valerie Amos,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Horn of Africa is confronted with a massive famine triggered by the worst drought in 60 years．Over 12 million people are struggling with a serious food crisis,millions have difficulty getting drinking water and more than two million children are malnourished. The United Nations has,for the first time in nearly 30 years,declared a famine in some areas of Africa.

China is gravely concerned about the famine and fully empathizes with the affected countries and peoples．Over the past two weeks,the Chinese government made two announcements on providing emergency food assistance and cash for purchasing food to the disaster-hit areas,totaling 443．2 million RMB Yuan．This is the biggest amount of food assistance ever given at one time by the Chinese government to foreign countries since the founding of the People's Republic of China．As a developing country, China has made tremendous efforts to help ease the famine in the Horn of Africa. This is yet another vivid example of the sincere friendship between China and Africa, who have stood together through thick and thin．As we speak, the Chinese side is stepping up efforts to deliver the aid．The first shipment of food aid has already arrived in the affected areas,and the rest will follow.

The United Nations appealed to the international community for help immediately after the outbreak of the famine,and relevant UN agencies promptly launched relief operations on the ground．China has worked closely with the relevant UN agencies to provide relief. The 16 million US dollars that we donated to Somalia will be used to purchase food through World Food Program (WFP)．China highly appreciates the important role played by the United Nations in countering the famine in the Horn of Africa.

We are pleased to note that many countries have given quick and positive response to the appeals from the United Nations,the African Union and the governments of disaster-hit countries．One after another, they have announced their decisions to provide assistance in various forms．Yet the drought is still spreading and the humanitarian crisis is likely to deteriorate．The international community must scale up assistance,follow through on aid pledges,deliver food to the affected population as quickly as possible and help the various countries overcome the difficulties．China will closely monitor the extent of the drought and will do what it can to give more help to the affected countries．In addition to food assistance,China will actively consider the possibility of providing medical equipment and medicine in light of the needs of the affected countries．

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The famine has highlighted the vulnerability of food security in Africa. As an ancient Chinese saying goes, "People are the foundation of a nation, and food is the first necessity of people．"Food-related issues concern not only the economic development and people's livelihood in individual countries,but also global development and security. Africa is home to a quarter of UN member states and 12% of the world's population．Without food security and agricultural development in Africa, there can be no security, stability and enduring prosperity in the world. In recent years,African countries have come to recognize the importance of food security to their national security and development. They have set agricultural development and grain self-sufficiency as a high priority in their development strategies,and have engaged in regional cooperation in a joint endeavor to bolster agricultural development and grain production and enhance food security in Africa．

The international community should actively support African countries in realizing food security and development, provide greater assistance to Africa's agricultural development, and adopt more favorable policies toward African countries in terms of intellectual property, market access and technology transfer. The international community should establish a fair and equitable international order for trade in agro-products,and create enabling external conditions for African countries' own development endeavors．

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Agricultural cooperation between China and Africa has always been an important part of South-South cooperation．As a sincere friend, China fully understands African countries' concern about food security and is committed to helping them build capacity in this area．Over the decades,China has carried out diversified and wide-ranging agricultural cooperation with African countries．The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)has identified agriculture as one of its priorities and taken many measures to support agricultural development in Africa, making important contribution to food security in African countries．

In the area of infrastructure development, the Chinese government has helped to build more than 100 agricultural facilities for over 40 African countries,including farms,dams,granaries and irrigation facilities．China built 14 agricultural demonstration centers for African countries between 2006 and 2009 and is planning to build six more by the end of 2012．

In the area of technology exchange and transfer, China started building agro-technology trial and extension units in African countries as early as in the 1960s．In recent years,China has stepped up technology exchange with and transfer to Africa. We sent 104 senior agricultural experts to Africa between 2006 and 2009 and will send 50 agro-technology teams to Africa by the end of 2012．

In the area of personnel training, China had trained 6,000 agricultural professionals for Africa as of 2009．We will train another 2,000 such professionals for Africa by the end of 2012．

In the area of agricultural production and processing, China has been helping African countries grow rice,corn, vegetables,tea, sugarcane, etc．We have built more than 50 processing projects for African countries to help them increase the value-added of their agro-products．

In the area of trade in agricultural products, we have been working hard to help African countries export more agro-products to China. We have given preferential treatment, including zero-tariff treatment, to many agro-products from Africa. The total volume of trade between China and Africa in agro-products has grown steadily, exceeding two billion US dollars a year.

In the area of multilateral cooperation,under the framework of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Special Program for Food Security, China has sent over 700 agricultural experts to eight African countries．At present, more than 80 experts are working in Africa. In 2009,China decided to make available to FAO 30 million dollars to set up a trust fund for South-South cooperation between China and Africa under FAO's Special Program for Food Security.

The purpose of China,s agricultural cooperation with Africa has always been to enhance Africa's grain productivity and food security. Going forward, China will fully implement the measures announced at the Fourth FOCAL Ministerial Conference and, on that basis,take more concrete steps to expand and deepen agricultural cooperation with Africa．

First, we will send more agricultural experts,train more professionals,and build new demonstration centers for Africa, explore innovative models of cooperation, help African countries gradually develop agro-technology extension systems and enhance their agricultural productivity and food security.

Second, we will continue to give high priority to the development of agricultural infrastructure in Africa and scale up investment for that purpose·

Third, we will follow a "government-guided, enterprises-led and market-driven" approach and make the best use of all financing means to create an enabling platform for agricultural cooperation between Chinese and African businesses．

Fourth, we will actively promote agricultural trade between China and Africa by encouraging African countries to fully utilize the zero-tariff treatment to export more agro-products to China.

The Fifth FOCAL Ministerial Conference will be held next year. China will further increase support for agricultural development in Africa. In light of Africa's needs,China will consider the possibility of introducing new measures to boost agricultural cooperation with Africa.

Realizing food security in Africa is a long and arduous task. China will work with the international community to promote too a security and sustainable development in African countries．

Thank you．