SAIN Second Meeting of Governing Board Held in London

The second meeting of SAIN Governing Board was held in London on 24th May 2011. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr Niu Dun, Vice Minister of Agriculture, China, and Professor Bob Watson, Chief Scientific Adviser of Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs(Defra), UK. Jim Pace, MP, Minister of Defra, attended the meeting and welcomed all participants. The participants of the meeting included SAIN governing board members, steering group members, working group co-chairs, and secretariats representatives.

The Board members reviewed SAIN progress since the first Board meeting in July 2009. The Board endorsed SAIN "Private Sector Engagement Strategy", "Work Plan for 2011-2012" and “Governance Arrangement”. The Board also encouraged SAIN to diversify funding sources and respond to emerging funding opportunities in both China and the UK, such as Dfid’s new Global Development Partnership Programme.

Professor Bob Watson and Vice Minister Niu Dun praised SAIN’s progress and emphasized that SAIN should continue to make greater contribution in promoting UK-China sustainable agricultural development and global food security.

Dr David Lawrence, member of Foresight lead expert group, delivered a key note on Foresight Report - The Future of Food and Farming. The Report explored the challenges and choices of global sustainability of food and farming systems between now and 2050. The participants agreed the Report has valuable implications to China and follow up activities in China should be initiated.

Prior the Board meeting, Chinese delegation visited British Sugar Group (BSG) factory in Wissington, Norfolk on 23rd May. The delegation was impressed by BSG’s advanced technologies and management in high productivity, circular use of resources, as well as environmental sustainability. BSG works closely with Chinese partners in Guangxi, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia and Hebei provinces to promote sustainable practices in sugar beet and sugar cane production. The Chinese delegation and BSG’s executive team also discussed possible ways to strengthen the cooperation between BSG and Chinese research organisations.