On July 22, 2025, the "WAFI Dialogue" series of the World AgriFood Innovation Conference (WAFI) was held at the International Conference Center of China Agricultural University (CAU). President Qixin Sun of CAU and Co-Chair of the WAFI Advisory Committee) and Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Director General of CGIAR, and Vice-Chair of the WAFI Advisory Committee, engaged in a high-level dialogue on the theme "Buidling a Resilient Food Supply For Agrifood Systems Transformation. " The session was moderated by Professor Shenggen Fan, Chair Professor at CAU, Dean of the Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy, and Executive Chair of the WAFI Advisory Committee.

The event began with Professor Fan introducing the distinguished guests and reviewing the achievements from the previous two WAFI conferences. He emphasized that global agrifood systems are increasingly vulnerable to a range of disruptive "shocks", from extreme weather events triggered by climate change, to geopolitical instability and trade disruptions, to price volatility in food markets. escalating trade barriers due to geopolitical fluctuations, and volatile food prices. These converging crises have eroded system stability and underscored the urgent need for resilience-building and transformation through cross-border, cross-sectoral collaboration, spanning technology sharing, policy coordination, resource integration, and capacity development. This dialogue convened leading Chinese and global perspectives to explore actionable pathways for agricultural innovation and global cooperation in pursuit of more shock-resistant global agrifood systems.

President Qixin Sun reflected on CAU’s 120-year legacy of leadership in food security and agricultural innovation . Since the 1960s, CAU has mobilized thousands of scientists in a two-decade effort to remediate saline-alkali soils in Northern China, turning barren lands into productive farmland yielding 300-400 kg per mu. The university also led the development and commercialization of genetically modified insect-resistant maize and achieved breakthroughs in animal disease prevention, including the development of key vaccines that stabilized China’s livestock sector. Regarding international cooperation, President Sun noted CAU’s long-term germplasm collaboration with CGIAR, highlighting major contributions from the CGIAR-affiliated International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in supplying stress-tolerant wheat varieties foundational to China’s climate-resilient breeding programs.

Looking ahead to WAFI2025, President Sun announced ambitious targets: building on the WAFI2024 success of 160 million online viewers and 23,000 on-site attendees, WAFI2025 aims to reach over 200 million online participants and 30,000 on-site visitors. International engagement will be further deepened, with over 300 international guests – a 36% increase from the previous year. Strategic partnerships with UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), CGIAR, and other global institutions will be strengthened to advance shared priorities.

Dr. Ismahane Elouafi underscored CGIAR’s critical role in enhancing global agrifood systems resilience. As the world’s largest public agricultural research network, CGIAR maintains the planet’s biggest germplasm gene bank with over 770,000 accessions. CGIAR-developed varieties support 70% of global wheat and 60% of rice cultivation, with remarkable achievements in stress-tolerant crop breeding (drought/resistance, salinity tolerance). She outlined the "One CGIAR" reform, which unifies governance and streamlines resource coordination across the network to enable rapid responses to emerging shocks.. From 2025 to 2030, CGIAR’s Science and Innovation Portfolio is projected to mobilize $6-12 billion USD, supporting agricultural research in over 100 countries and collaboration with 3,000 local partners to drive breakthroughs in sustainable farming, food security, and livelihood resilience.

Named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024, Dr. Elouafi advocated for accelerating the development and deployment of climate-resilient crops alongside sustainable and smart agriculture innovations. She emphasized the importance of inclusive, multi-stakeholder systems involving researchers, farmers, and communities to co-create scalable, locally adapted solutions that enhance resilience across the agrifood value chain. Dr. Elouafi also reaffirmed CGIAR’s strong partnershipwith China and its full commitment to engaging in WAFI2025 to advance joint research and technology dissemination.

During the Q&A session, audience members and media representatives raised questions about CAU’s scientific achievements and CGIAR’s role in resilience-building. Dr. Elouafi revealed CGIAR is developing a large language model for agriculture, designed to integrate data and provide real-time farmer guidance to farmers on irrigation and fertilization, helping them mitigate climate-related losses. She also encouraged youth involvement in developing user-friendly tools to enhance technology accessibility. President Sun added that CAU has established an agricultural technology demonstration base in Malawi using a "Chinese technology localization + international student training + field demonstration" model to support African farmers in mastering localized irrigation and breeding techniques to better manage natural and market shocks.

Following the dialogue, participants gathered for a group photo. All parties expressed strong expectations that the WAFI2025 will catalyze major international and industry-academic cooperation projects, expand its global influence, accelerate the the translation of agricultural innovations into practice, and contribute meaningfully to building more resilient global agrifood systems.

About WAFI Dialogue & Conference

The "WAFI Dialogue" serves as both a key pre-event and regular activity for the World AgriFood Innovation Conference (WAFI). It amplifies voices of global scientists, educators, entrepreneurs, and youth committed to "Innovating Agriculture, Sharing the Future."

The World AgriFood Innovation Conference (WAFI) is a global exchange platform driving agrifood systems integration and transformation. It facilitates policy-science-industry interaction and cross-sectoral dialogue to create healthy, resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agricultural futures. Since its inception, WAFI has gained international recognition as one of the world’s top three agrifood events.

WAFI2025 will convene under the theme "Resilient Food Supply For Agrifood Systems Transformation" from October 12-15, 2025, in Pinggu, Beijing. The conference will feature an opening ceremony, plenary sessions, thematic forums, parallel meetings, side events, innovation showcases, and an expo.