Feature: Young Chinese woman strives to fight hunger in Africa

BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Amid the still rampant COVID-19 pandemic, Li Yueyue, a 28-year-old Chinese woman, decided to go back to Africa without hesitation to continue her work as a United Nations (UN) humanitarian professional.

Her family tried to persuade her into staying at home but could not stop this young woman's passion for helping those who are in urgent need.

"Once I think about people who are counting on a mouthful of food to live, I cannot stay any longer," Li said. "Though COVID-19 creates uncertainty, we shouldn't waver."

In 2018, Li first came to Africa to work as a partnerships officer at the Cameroon Country Office of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the largest humanitarian organization fighting hunger worldwide.

"Climate change, disasters, conflicts, inequality and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic ... almost all of the factors that may deteriorate the food security situation are present in Cameroon," Li said.

In the Far North Region of the western African country, the situation is even more critical.

The region, close to the Sahara Desert, has arid and semi-arid climatic conditions, and is frequently exposed to food crises and climate shocks, like droughts. Besides, the arrival of refugees and internally displaced people due to conflicts in northeast Nigeria and surging Boko Haram activities have put an additional strain on the already vulnerable communities.

"My duty basically was generating resources to help those vulnerable communities," Li said. "I went there to listen to the needs and then deliver all the information to partners and potential donors."

"To those who have just fled their homes and lived at the verge of starvation, we provide immediate life-saving food assistance," Li said.

"More importantly, we offer life-changing solutions to individuals and communities to help them become self-sufficient in food and build better futures," she added.

"In one of the poorest communities in the region, we carried out a project called 'Food Assistance for Assets,' which means the locals receive food for work," Li said. "We worked with the locals to build a fish pond, provided technical support to improve their farming techniques and addressed their food needs during the lean season."

After years of efforts, the community finally became self-sufficient.

"I believe the world needs some realistic idealists like me to take actions and challenge the mission impossible. Because I know there exist people who are starving. I cannot watch them die," she added.

Starting as an intern for the WFP China Office, Li spent three years there, witnessing how the WFP participated in China's achievements in poverty reduction, as well as how China is contributing to the global fight against hunger through the WFP.

Back in the 1980s, when one in three people in China did not have sufficient food, the WFP was invited by the Chinese government to jointly implement humanitarian and development activities.

"Thanks to one of the WFP projects that helped boost China's dairy industry, Chinese people in my generation could grow up with sufficient access to dairy products," Li said.

"China is one of the most successful examples in poverty reduction and food security improvement," the WFP officer said, noting that the strong determination of the Chinese government is essential in this process.

With a better food security situation, China is now making its "distinctive contributions" to help others get out of the trouble that China once faced, Li said.

"Besides direct donations, China has been sharing its expertise and experience with other developing countries through the WFP," she said.

"When I was young, what I heard and (was) taught was the vision of a global village, and all of the human beings are brothers and sisters," Li said, "and that's what I still believe now."

"That's part of the reason why I insist on going back to Africa. We should never stop to communicate and help each other even at this difficult moment," she said.