Supply chain expo showcases promising future of green agriculture through connectivity

Food companies at the ongoing second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), taking place in Beijing from Tuesday to Saturday, have been making headways in promoting supply chain cooperation toward greener agriculture.

As the world's first national exhibition on supply chains, the CISCE, serves as a platform for companies to exchange opinions and achieve long-term cooperation across supply chains.

Themed "Connecting the World for a Shared Future", this year's expo sees the participation of more than 600 companies, up about 20 percent from last year, according to organizers.

Many world-renowned food and beverage giants demonstrated their years of dedicated cultivation in supply integration at the event, such as Starbucks China, which showcased its full industrial chain, from bean to cup, at the exhibition booth.

"From the plantation, processing, to procurement and delivery, we continuously deepen our industrial and supply chains of coffee," said Jia Ziyi, a barista at Starbucks China.

With an increasing number of global food companies focused on sustainable agriculture, a key focus at the event is using the connectivity that supply chains provide to spread technological innovations in the field.

"Agriculture must do more than feed our world, it must also improve it. To achieve that, it is critical to accelerate innovation, and to make farming more productive and sustainable. We have 150 research centers and 6,500 scientists worldwide," said Fu Su, president of Syngenta Group China.

To promote the development of agricultural supply chains, strengthening interconnectivity cooperation has become an important issue this year.

"This supply chain expo will improve the connections among all the enterprises in the supply chain. Like McDonald's, our supply chain is very long from farm to factory and restaurants. Along all these supply chain, we have collaboration with our suppliers," said Adelaide Gu, chief impact officer for McDonald's China.

"We see a huge success. We see over 100 countries participating, providing not only support but cooperation, extending their arms to cooperate with China, to open doors, to open new venues for supply chains," said Alaa Ezz, secretary-general of the Union of African Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture, and Professions.

The expo, hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, covers a floor space of more than 100,000 square meters with six key industrial chains and one exhibition area of Advanced Manufacturing Chain, Clean Energy Chain, Smart Vehicle Chain, Digital Technology Chain, Healthy Life Chain, Green Agriculture Chain and Supply Chain Service Area.

Supply chain expo showcases promising future of green agriculture through connectivity

Supply chain expo showcases promising future of green agriculture through connectivity

Heavy winter rains and rising tides have worsened the plight of displaced Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, with families on the beach west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza losing their homes to the floodwaters and struggling to find shelter and basic necessities.

Umm Ahmed, a displaced resident, recounted how rising waves nearly drowned her children and destroyed their tent and belongings, leaving her family without shelter.

"Our children (girls) were covered by water. Our tent is destroyed. Everything is gone. We are here by the sea, the tent fell on us. The waves rose and the water rushed in. Our neighbors took our children to their tents in higher places. Since the morning, my son and I have been taking all our belongings out of the tent. There are no clothes left for the children, no bedding, no clothes. There is no place for us. We had moved to the beach. Where do we go now? May God punish Israelis for what they did to us. They tortured us, we can't sleep. We can't even settle. We have no food nor drink. The prices are very high. Our children go to sleep hungry. [We can only say:] Thank God for everything," she said.

Jamil Dhahir, another displaced resident, lamented the dire conditions where his family, separated when fleeing the waves, is now struggling with illness, lack of sleep and uncertainty about where to go next.

"They told us to move to this 'safe area', and as you can see, we were all harmed. Where do we go? We were in the camp east of Khan Younis before and later moved here. Where shall we go next? Our children and women are all sick. We haven't slept since yesterday. We fled the waves at night and the children went with their mothers to another camp to the east of here, while I stayed here," he said.

In a social media post on Monday, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said the recent rains have already caused immense hardship for Gazans, with a half million people at risk of flooding.

"The situation will only get worse with every drop of rain, every bomb, every strike," the agency said.

According to a statement released Wednesday by Gaza-based health authorities, the Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza had risen to 44,282, with 104,880 injured.

Winter rains compound suffering for displaced Palestinians in war-torn Gaza