Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China: J OF CHIN POLIT SCI (2009) 14:49 - 80 DOI 10.1007/s11366-008-9036-4

J OF CHIN POLIT SCI (2009) 14:4980 DOI 10.
1007/s11366-008-9036-4 R E S E A R C H A RT I C L E
Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Jerry McBeath & Jenifer Huang McBeath
Published online: 22 November 2008 # Journal of Chinese Political Science/Association for Chinese Politcal Science 2008
Abstract This article considers the immediate forces influencing Chinas food system and food security. By immediate is meant events of the reform period, from the late 1970s to 2008. It begins by asking the question that has preoccupied specialists since the publication of Lester Browns Who Will Feed China? in 1995: How much arable land does China have? Is that land area sufficient to insure grain sufficiency? To insure food security? The article focuses on the human pressures on the food production environment, and then treats the effects of socioeconomic change: land, air, and water degradation. The core of the article examines six responses of the state to both perceived and actual environmental stressors: policy restricting arable land conversion, Chinas one-child policy, investment in irrigation systems, the SouthNorth Water Diversion Project, large-scale afforestation and reforestation campaigns, and the program to convert marginal agricultural lands to forests and grasslands. Keywords Food System . Food Security . Arable Land . Urbanization . Economic Development . Erosion . Deforestation . Desertification . Land Pollution . Air Pollution . Water Sufficiency . Water Pollution . Ocean Pollution . One-Child Policy . SouthNorth Water Diversion Project . Afforestation . Reforestation . Slope Land Conversion Program (Grain to Green)
The Problem of Food Security and Environmental Change Food is the material basis to human survival, and in each nation-state, providing a system for the development, production, and distribution of food and its security is a primary national objective. Many forces have influenced the food security of peoples since ancient times, with particular challenges from natural disasters (floods,
J. McBeath (*) : J. H. McBeath University of Alaska Faribanks, 1777 Red Fox Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99709, USA e-mail: [email protected]
50
J. Mcbeath, J. H. Mcbeath
famines, drought, and pestilence) and growing populations globally. From the late twentieth century to the early twenty-first, however, analysts have riveted their attention on environmental change and crises, for example pollution of arable land and water, insufficiency of water, deforestation, desertification, and over-fishing among others. Our focus is on the food security of the worlds most populous nation, China, and the impact on food security of vast environmental change in the last 50 years. First, however, we explain why China must be considered in any global discussion of food security. China has 22% of the global population but just 7% of the worlds arable land. Food security has been a chief mission of the Chinese state since early in the dynastic era. It remains a primary state objective in the early twenty-first century. China in 2008 is largely self-reliant in food supplies, and its farmers produce about 95% of the staples consumed. Yet, any large disturbance in supply would have global ramifications, for example, by increasing world food prices. Chinas environmental conditions directly impinge on its food security. Many observers believe Chinas environment is in crisis.1 Population increases reduce arable land and water sufficiency; indirectly, population stress increases deforestation and desertification as well as over-fishing. New environmental stress such as climate warming has an impact on plant diseases, pests, and invasive species too. China is a developing country, and its food security and environmental protection regimes are relatively new and untested. It was this combination of factorsa huge population with limited agricultural land, severe environmental challenges, and political, social, and economic systems in the process of modernizingwhich prompted Lester Browns 1995 book Who Will Feed China? [3].
Loss of Arable Land Browns alarmist prediction that China would have to import 200 million tons of grain by 20302 initiated a debate among scholars as well as government officials on grain sufficiency. This debate focused on the amount of arable land in China, and whether it was sufficient to sustain agricultural production of staples. In the late 1990s, the official government estimate (now revised upward) was approximately 95 million ha; on a per capita basis, this would equal 0.08 ha per person, making Chinas land availability about one-fourth of the global average [4]. The major critic of the Brown hypothesis has been Vaclav Smil, a geographer at the University of Manitoba. Smil makes a convincing argument that grain sufficiency pessimists underestimate the amount of Chinas arable land by at least 50% [5]. He points out the several reasons why official statistics are wrong: (1) a non-standard accounting unit is used for the areal measurement of landthe mu
1 2
For early studies, see [1], and [2].
Brown focused on what he believed was stagnating grain production in China of the early 1990s because of reduced arable land, lack of significant productivity gains, and environmental problems such as water insufficiency and large-scale soil erosion. He contended that China would need to import massive quantities of grain in future years to feed its population.
51
(there are about 15 mu to the hectare3); (2) there were large incentives to underreport land in the Maoist era, for underreporting reduced land taxes and also allowed peasants (and collective leaders) to claim higher harvests per mu; and (3) under the somewhat more privatized system of land use in China today, underreporting land allowed fairer apportionment of marginal, less productive land; it reduced the quotas required for delivery to the state at fixed prices; and it reduced taxes as well.4 In the last two decades, analysts have made two improvements in land measurement: remote sensing and detailed land surveys. These have produced a consensus among researchers that the range of arable land is between 131 and 137 million ha.5 (As we note below, government officials in 2008 used the figure of 121.8 million ha.) Smil finds confirmation for the recent estimates of Chinese researchers and officials in results of the MEDEA study, a multi-disciplinary scientific program using US intelligence satellites and a methodology employing stratified, multi-stage area estimation.6 Even this approach is too conservative, in the view of Smil, because it omits measurement of non-traditional land uses, which nevertheless produce goods serving nutritional needs of modern Chinese. Specifically, traditional land measurement does not include fish ponds and orchards, and both farmed fish and fruits play an increasingly important role in Chinese nutrition. By adding these surfaces, Smil estimated that land devoted to intensive food production was in the range 146 to 160 million ha in 1997an average of 153 million ha or 63% higher than official estimates (and on a per capita basis higher than figures for Japan, South Korea, or Taiwan).7 In 2007, China listed the area of cultivated land as 130,039,200 ha. This is based on the situation surveyed as of late 1996. Estimates of the National Bureau of Statistics for 2001 show 127,082,000 ha. Of this amount, regularly cultivated land comprised 105,826,020 ha and temporarily cultivated land was 21,256,000 [10]. As mentioned throughout this article, attention focuses both on loss of arable land to other purposes and attempts to increase arable land. For example, in 2006 China lost 307,000 ha, mostly for new construction [11]. In the National Agricultural and Rural Economic Development Program for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (20062010), the Ministry of Land and Resources predicted that grain-producing land would decline by 0.18% annually (based on loss of 8 million ha of arable land from 1999 to 2005). It estimated the need for at least 103.33 million ha in 2010 to reach a target production of 500 million tons of grain [12]. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Land and Resources announced that between 1999 and 2006, China gained 2.4 million ha of arable land (and during this period, grain production increased by 10% to 20% in pilot areas) [13].
The hectare is approximately 2.47 English acres. The mu (also spelled mou) is approximately onefifteenth of a hectare. However, historically the mu has not been standardized. See [6]. Smil [5], 417. See also [7]. Smil [5], 419; also see [8] and [9]. Smil [5], 41920. Smil [5], 42324.
4 5 6 7
52
As we note below, this information does not close the debate, which has refocused on the ways to increase production of both plant and animal foods. Moreover, it is abundantly clear that whatever the areal measurement of Chinas land in 1949, since the late 1970s, China has lost lands formerly used for production of food crops. We now seek an explanation for this loss.
Causes of Arable Land Loss Three interrelated factors are the source of pressure on arable land in China: population, urbanization, and economic development. As Ho and Lin note, they explain about three-fourths of the variation in the share of land employed for nonagricultural uses [14]. We treat each in turn. Population Growth and Pressure China is the worlds most populated nation-state and has been so since the dynastic era. Table 1 reports the growth of population, in selected years: Chinas population more than doubled in the 50-year period from 1949 to 1999. Only since 1979 has a clear population limitation strategy been in effect. It was obvious from the results of the first national census in 1953, when population increases clearly exceeded rises in agricultural productivity, that some form of national birth control planning effort would be needed. However, Mao Zedong was at best ambiguous on the subject of birth control [15]. He made several statements to the effect that he favored birth control, but he also said (in 1958) that a population of more than one billion would be no cause for alarm. [15] Maos actions on population questions, however, sent a clear message. In 1957, demographer and Peking University president Ma Yinchu warned, based on the 1953 census, that Chinas rapid population growth would jeopardize development if not checked. For his forthright views, which contradicted state policy and Maos many statements that Chinas strength lay in her huge and growing population, Ma
Table 1 Chinas population, selected years
Year 1949 1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2006
Population (in millions) 541.67 602.66 672.07 704.99 806.71 908.59 975.42 1,043.57 1,127.04 1,198.50 1,257.86 1,299.88 1,314.48
Source: China Statistical Yearbook, 2007, 105
53
was silenced, forced to resign from the university, and stripped of his academic and government posts.8 The size of Chinas population, which is now expected to peak at 1.6 billion in 2030,9 puts immense pressure on the land, but this pressure is uneven. In the deserts of western China, population pressures are slight; Tibet, too, is lightly populated. The eastern coastal provinces, however, while occupying only 15% of Chinas expanse have 41% of Chinas total population. These differences are summarized in population density statistics. Chinas population density in 2000 was 351.3 persons per square mile, by no means the highest in the world (in Bangladesh, density was then 1,520 persons per square mile). Yet, in Jiangsu province, the most densely populated region, the statistic was 1,567 persons per square mile, as compared to Tibet and Xinjiang, with fewer than four persons per square mile [17]. Growth of Chinas population brings a corresponding increase in use of land for housing and human settlements. Although population growth has slowed, it is still increasing. Moreover, the improvement in economic conditions has released a pentup demand for more, better, and larger housing. The housing construction boom, noticeable in cities as well as in the countryside, has used a large amount of land, including cultivated land.10 Urbanization The fast pace of urbanization in China has swallowed up huge areas of arable land. In the first 20 years of economic reforms, the number of cities in China increased from 193 to 666 [18]. In 1995, the rural population of China peaked at about 750 million, while the urban population continued to grow. By the early twenty-first century, Chinas urban population was greater than 500 million. As cities became more populous, they expanded into the countryside, consuming land once used for agricultural purposes. One estimate is that urban sprawl and transportation networks took up 1.4 million ha annually, just in the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan (19911995) [19]. Li Diping reports results of landsat mapping for Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. From 1988 to 1996, the city doubled in size [19]. Ho and Lin discuss changes in Guangzhou, which illustrates the combined impact of ruralurban migration, rapid industrialization, and urbanization. From 1988 to 2000, the amount of land used for non-agricultural purposes doubled, from 35,000 to nearly 70,000 ha. They remark: With a negligible amount of unused land in the region, the increase in non-agricultural land was largely at the expense of agricultural land.11 The same pattern can be observed not only in other cities, but also in rural towns. Urban residents have more disposable income than most rural residents in China (a global pattern). Members of Chinas growing middle class expect to be able to use their leisure time in recreational activities. Much farmland near cities and towns has
8 9
See [16].
This is an estimate only. Several sources predict that population will not peak at the 1.6 billion level until 2050. Ho and Lin [14], 762. Ho and Lin [14], 766. For a case study using different methods, see [20].
10 11
54
been converted into golf courses, parks, and other recreational uses. Yet, critics of conventional wisdom regarding urbanizations adverse impact on cultivated areas suggest that under certain conditions urbanization may save arable land, and produce more efficient land uses than if rural residents were left in rural areas (or if the central government promoted development of small cities and towns, with less concentrated populations).12 Economic Development There were large pressures of people on the land during the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. These events had disastrous consequences for Chinas environment, but they were of limited duration. The economic reforms unfolding since 1978 have spurred economic development in all parts of China, at the cost of Chinas arable land. Factories, office buildings, hotels and resorts, and shopping centers consume space in Chinas cities and suburbs. They are as important as human settlements in accounting for loss of arable land. One estimate is that loss of agricultural land to industrial development has been underreported by as much as 61% [22]. Perhaps the clearest example of land loss is to what is called development zone fever (kaifa qu re). At the outset of reform, central planning authorities established experimental special economic zones (SEZ) on the south coast of China. Planners established four SEZs in Guangdong and Fujian provinces and in 1988 declared Hainan Island a SEZ. In 1989 the state created two additional special zones in the Xiamen SEZ (Haicang and Xinglin) for investors from Taiwan. In 1990 SEZ status was extended to the Pudong New District in Shanghai. Then in 1994, the ChinaSingapore Suzhou special zone for industrial development was established. By 1995, some 422 zones had been approved by the central government [23]. The state gave SEZs several privileges and advantages in order to spur rapid development, and high officials visited them, such as in Deng Xiaopings highly publicized Southern Tour of 1992. One measure of the impact of industrial development zones is seen in the 1997 provincial survey of Fujian Province. It revealed that in the previous 7 years, more than half of the 700,000 ha being used for industrial development had been arable land.13 Cartier reports the egregious example of a large seaport industrial zone associated with Liem Sioe Liong, the head of the Salim Group and Indonesias leading industrialist. Local authorities allege that the provincial government sold him 800 ha of farm land for virtually nothing.14 An unintended consequence of the SEZ model was widespread copying of the concept in rural counties and towns [24]. The chief force has been the Township and Village Enterprise (TVE, siangjen qiye). In the initial stages of economic reform, TVEs were owned collectively by all rural residents of the township or village in which the enterprise was located. Many are now owned by local governments (or their subsidiaries), and a large number have been privatized and are under the control
12 13 14
See [21]. Cartier [23], 452. Ibid.
55
of ownermanagers. By the early 1990s, there were 1.3 million TVEs, and they then produced about 30% of national industrial output (rising to 40% by the late 1990s) [25]. Most of the TVEs are small factories, and they have taken up land once used for farming in rural areas. A large number of TVE factories sit in industrial parks covering more than a hectare of land. We discuss the effects of these and other types of economic development in the next section. Illegal land acquisition, which implicates local governments throughout China, is perhaps the gravest threat to Chinas diminishing arable land. Gan Zangchun, the deputy state land inspector-general of the Ministry of Land and Resources stated Violations of land laws and regulations have cropped up recently in some areas. He directly accused local governments, remarking that Some local governments have arbitrarily expanded development zones in violation of the master plan for land use, and encroached on land using various pretexts. [26] The root of the problem is the lack of a property right to land of farmers. Local governments illegally lease land, the prices of which have become inflated due to a booming land and property market, which makes land sales and leases a lucrative business for local governments. Corruption has become rampant through officials siphoning off land sale proceeds and abusing land use powers to improperly allot land. Xu Shaoshi, Minister of Land and Resources, said The illegal acquisition of arable land (for purposes other than agriculture) has endangered food safety and social stability both. He emphasized in a pessimistic voice: Given the growing population and fast industrialization and urbanization, illegal land acquisition will probably continue. [27] Senior researcher Li Guoxiang of the CASS Rural Development Institute said Local governments dont get any incentive for protecting arable land, even though the central government wants them to do so. Establishing industrial units produces higher revenues than what could be derived from agriculture. Local officials see urbanization and industrial production as a solution to poverty, low rates of literacy, economic backwardness, and the other ills of rural life. Agriculture isnt considered important in their policymaking because it cant bring quick returns that can improve their careers. [28]
Effects of Socioeconomic Change Increased population, urbanization, and economic development have had some benign effects on food production in China. Certainly, rapid economic development has pushed China to the rank of the worlds third largest economic power, and earned it the foreign exchange to purchase whatever food it cannot produce to sustain the population. But our focus is on domestic food security in China, and economic development and industrialization in particular have had mostly adverse impacts on food production. Our two large topics here are degradation of land and of water. Land Degradation By degradation of the land, we mean reducing or eliminating its ability to generate plant life and sustain humans and animals. The immediate causes of such despoilation are erosion, changes to the nutrient balance of soils, and pollution of
56
the land with toxic substances. Erosion occurs naturally in most ecosystems, but our concern is with erosion caused by human actions, such as through deforestation. Changes in nutrient balance of soils occur through weather and climate changes but also through excessive use of chemical fertilizers and other poor farming practices. Pollution of soils occurs primarily through human action. Several reports in 2006 pointed out the serious extent of land degradation. The Ministry of Water Resources stated that 37% of Chinas total territory suffered from land degradation. This despoliation included soil erosion, deforestation, salinity, reduced fertility and sand storms, affecting 3.56 million km2 [29]. The study China Ecological Protection issued by SEPA in this year reported continued deterioration of Chinas ecology. Major problems included excessive logging, degradation of natural pasture land, shrinking wetlands, overuse of pesticides and fertilizers in farmland and contaminated coastal areas. The study reported these specific findings: & & & The ecology of 60% of Chinas territory was considered fragile; About 90% of natural pasture land (accounting for more than 40% of Chinas territory) faced degradation and desertification; desertified pastures had become major sources of sand and dust storms; Only about 40% of Chinas wetlands were under effective protection [30].
We treat erosion, deforestation, desertification, and land pollution, giving examples of each form. (Air pollution and particularly acid rain are somewhat less important factors in agricultural production, and for this reason we make only passing reference to them.)15 Erosion Erosion of soils is a general problem of ecological degradation in China. We provide examples from three regions: the Northeast, the Northwest, and the South. Northeast Chinaincluding the provinces of Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin and part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regionis Chinas breadbasket. It is an area of black soil, covering more than 35 million ha, and one of the worlds three largest black soil regions (the others being the Ukraine and the U.S.). The black soil belt accounts for 30% of Chinas total grain output, and its yields feed 10% of the population. Research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Harbin and Shenyang recently demonstrated that the thickness of the soil had dropped radically from more than 80 cm to less than 30 cm in the past six decades. The density of organic substances in the soil declined from 12% in the 1940s to less than 2%; about 85% of the soils lacked sufficient nutrients. Causes of soil erosion and degradation included excessive farming, overuse of fertilizers and excessive logging. Soil erosion, in turn, has brought about more frequent drought, floods and sandstorms. Zhang Xudong, an expert with the Shenyang-based Institute of Applied Ecology, commented that Soil erosion and degeneration will jeopardize the nations grain security. [32] Soil erosion has become a large problem in northwestern Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as excessive herding and farming have outpaced state
15
One example of a recent study is: [31].
57
conservation efforts. Remote sensing surveys show 1.03 million km2 of land degraded by soil erosion. Xinjiang itself accounts for about 30% of Chinas total acreage of soil erosion. A local soil conservation official remarked: The region has a vulnerable ecology. Besides natural factors, human activities (excessive herding on pastureland and farming along the Tarim River) are largely to blame for the deteriorating soil erosion. [33] As noted below, this is a primary cause of desertification, which affects most of Xinjiangs counties and cities and nearly twothirds of its territory. Soil erosion is even a problem in prosperous Guangdong province, ranking second on the mainland for this form of land degradation. The provincial water conservancy bureau reported that more than 2,200 km2 of soil had eroded during the Tenth Five-Year Plan period (20012005) alone, with expected worsening during the next plan period. Experts feared that soil erosion would spread to 5,748 km2 of land (or about 3.2% of the provinces farmland) by 2010. In the case of this province, industrial developments have been the primary factor damaging soils [34]. Deforestation Population growth and the timber industry are the major factors causing a substantial reduction in forests. About half of Chinas forests have been destroyed since 1949. Today, forests cover 134 million ha, 14% of the land area, but few virgin forests remain. In recent years, they have decreased at an annual rate of 5,000 km2. Mining and logging have deforested mountains, which causes erosion, reduced water storage capabilities, and severe sandstorms in northern China. Agricultural development and housing settlements have also reduced forest and vegetative cover. As will be noted below, government policies of afforestation, reforestation, and converting cropland to grassland and forests have ameliorated some of the deleterious effects of deforestation, but because they replace natural forests, they have altered the variety, quality, and the pattern of delivery of plant and wildlife habitats that had been provided previously. [35] The massive reforestation and afforestation programs have not yet curbed soil erosion, which as discussed threatens more than one-third of Chinas territory [36]. Starting in the late 1980s, the central government developed a natural forest protection program (also known as the National Greening Campaign). After massive flooding of the Yangtze River in 1998, this program was strengthened. It included a complete logging ban in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River. Also, the program called for a reduction or adjustment of timber output in state-owned forest farms of the Northeast and Inner Mongolia, as well as rehabilitation and development of natural forests in other regions. However, illegal logging continues, notwithstanding the ban. One of our respondents, a forest ecologist, estimated that one-third of industrial wood in China is harvested illegally. Most of this timber was harvested above the official quota level. He remarked: On the recommendation of the State Forestry Administration (SFA), the State Council fixes and approves a five-year quota, which is adjusted annually. There is an extensive network of checking stations. At these stations, permits to log
58
are checked. But the system is corrupted. Loggers give money to local officials to register a lower amount than that actually logged. Thus, they avoid the quota limit and also avoid paying heavy taxes. The end result is that five years later, at the end of that quota period, a national inventory will be taken. SFA will do surveys; theyll use remote sensing. Then they discover that the inventory doesnt match the quota.16 In a highly publicized case of 20042005, the environmental NGO Greenpeace attacked Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), a multinational pulp and paper production giant, for illegal logging in Yunnan Province. Greenpeace charged the firm with logging a large section of natural forests, violating the states Forest Law as well as the national natural forest protection program [37]. The firm then replanted 183,000 ha with eucalyptus plantations. Local farmers claimed their land had been requisitioned at yearly rents of only $1.45 per ha. In this case, Greenpeace enlisted the collaboration of the Zhejiang Hotels Association in a boycott of APP products, which led the corporation to modify its actions [38].17 Desertification Sand and desert cover about 27% of Chinas land area. The expanse of deserts has increased dramatically in the contemporary period. Desertification annually claims an additional 3,400 km2 [40]. Desertification has dried up rivers and lakes (leading to salinization of the soil, which then cannot be used for growing crops), shriveled plants and vegetative cover, and led to dropping levels of ground water, posing a direct threat to more than 100 million people. Specifically, it degrades farmland and pastures, and leads to the reduction of crop production.18 Desertification also has threatened national treasures such as the Great Wall [42] and the Mogao grottoes [43].19 Desertification in parts of China is attributable to deforestation as well as to poor protection and overutilization of water resources in arid and semi-arid regions of the North and West. Increased desertification in some parts of China also is attributable to agriculture, commercial, industrial, and residential development. Grasslands degradation is a principal form of desertification. It refers not just to degradation of the grass but also the soils, with a despoilation of the entire ecosystem. Chinas many steppes have undergone extensive degradation as a result of land reclamation, grazing, and wood cutting. In the estimate of experts, the productivity of plant communities on steppes has declined 60% since the 1950s, with particularly obvious degradation in the last decade.20
16 17 18 19
Personal interview, Beijing, May 18, 2004. Also, see [39]. See [41].
The Mogao caves are located in Dunhuang, Gansu province and are famous for their 1,000 year old Buddhist statutes and wall paintings. They are threatened by the encroaching Kumutage desert, Chinas sixth largest. See [44]. See also [45].
20
59
A special case of desertification is erosion around the worlds highest and largest wetlands, the Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve in Qinghai province. Sanjiangyuan means source of the three rivers (the Yangtze, Yellow River, and Lancang River), but in recent years the region has become increasingly sandy because of overgrazing, increased human activity, and climate change. Although ecological restoration work began in 2005, a conservative estimate is that efforts will need to continue for 10 years to bear fruit [46]. Desertification is correlated with the increase of sandstorm activity in North China [47].21 Most of the sandstorms blowing into Tianjin and Beijing originate in Inner Mongolia [51]. Inner Mongolia has Chinas four largest desertsOtindag, Horqin, Moo-Os and Hulun Boirwith a combined area of 15 million ha. The Otindag desert in Xilingol League once was mostly grassland and produced few sand storms (only one recorded from 1930 to 1960). However, population increases and over-grazing (an increase in livestock from one million in 1947 to 24 million in 2000) severely increased pressure on the land; by 2000, the region produced 14 sand storms alone [52]. While it is clear that sandstorm activity has increased consequent to Chinas rapid industrial development, scientists suggest that spring sandstorms are a fact of nature in North China. Qin Dahe, director of the China Meteorological Administration, introduced a note of caution in the discussion of sandstorm activity: The public should have a full understanding of sand and dust, which have complex effects on nature and society....Without sandstorms, Chinese society would not have arisen. Qin maintained that sandstorms contributed to creation of nearly 1 million km2 of loess plateau. It was the Yellow River, he remarked, whose course over the plateau washed away huge amounts of dust, forming the North China Plain [53]. There is consensus that some of the causes of erosion should be addressed, and several mitigation strategies have been employed to reduce desertification. The regimes re- and afforestation policy was the original strategy to reduce soil erosion and desertification, but lack of water in desert regions frustrated this policy. A major recent method has been fencing in grasslands to protect vegetative cover against advancing deserts. While this has been superior to planting trees, which require more water resources than available in most desert areas, it has a large impact on the ecosystem. Migratory species are then restricted in their movement.22 Another mitigation strategy used in Inner Mongolia has been erecting sand barriers and planting soil-stabilizing shrubs. Land Pollution Three types of pollution afflict agricultural lands in China: industrial plant waste, mining operations, and use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Chemical and other industrial facilities pollute land with toxic contaminants, diminishing or exterminating plant growth. Pollution caused by rural industries is far more severe than that
21 22
See also [4850].
Personal interview with government-organized NGO representative involved in desert control activities, Beijing, May 18, 2007.
60
caused by urban industries. Second, China has a large number of small-scale mining operations, particularly coal mines, for China is reliant on coal for nearly 70% of its energy needs. Mine waste dumps including sulfides as well as other toxic chemicals have had adverse impacts on the soil microbial communities in adjacent areas [54]. A third cause of land pollution is from excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides by farmers, which degrades soils. Reports from the Ministry of Land and Resources in 2007 indicated that about 12.3 million hamore than 10% of Chinas arable land by current government estimatesis contaminated by pollution, and the situation is worsening [55].23 The ministry acknowledged that heavy metals alone had contaminated 12 million tons of grain and caused losses of $2.6 billion each year, and that the contaminated grain would ultimately be a health hazard. Land pollution concerns prompted the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to conduct the first soil survey of Chinas farmlands to insure food safety, beginning in mid-2006. The survey has focused on main grain-producing and industrial areas: Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong Province in the Pearl River Delta and also Liaoning Province in the Northeast and Hunan in central China. In addition to pollution of grain production regions by wastewater, solid waste and other pollutants, vegetables and fruits have also been polluted by excessive nitrates in the soils [57]. Air Pollution Some 2,000 tons of mercury, from more than 2 billion tons of coal burned every year, enter the soil and pose threats to agricultural production and human health [58], and this is one indication of the serious impact air pollution has on agricultural land. In 2005, one third of Chinas land mass was affected by acid rain; in some regions of the nation, all rainfall was acidic. With 26 million tons of sulfur dioxide discharged in 200527% greater than in 2000China became the worlds largest sulfur dioxide polluter [59].24 Coking plants and coal-burning power stations were primarily responsible for these emissions. Air-borne pollution particles have cut rainfall in many regions of China, particularly in the Northeast and Northwest. Scientists studying mountain regions have noted a particular kind of precipitation called orographic, which occurs when moist air is deflected upwards by a topographic feature such as a mountain, which cools the air and causes cloud droplets and then raindrops to fall. Polluted air carries more particles that divide cloud droplets into smaller ones. The smaller cloud droplets are slower to combine into rain drops, reducing precipitation [62]. Air pollution is a major cause of lung cancer, as harmful particulates enter the lungs and cannot be discharged. As noted below, water pollution also is a cause of cancer, which in recent years has been the most lethal disease for Chinas residents. In China, a 2007 survey administered by the Ministry of Health (of 30 cities and 78
23 24
Also see [56].
In Guangzhou, eight out of every ten rainfalls was acidic in 2007; see [60]. China is a major source of transboundary air pollution reaching its neighbors. Even in Los Angeles, city officials estimate that on some days, one-quarter of the citys smog comes from China. See [61].
61
counties) indicated that death rates from cancer had risen to 19% in cities and 23% in rural areas [63]. In recent years, reports on cancer villages, where residents describe high rates of deaths from cancer, have increased. The World Bank reports that deaths resulting from water-related pollutants and bad air reach 750,000 a year [64]. However, optimistic reports from government agencies in 20072008 said the high rate of air (as well as water) pollution might be lowering somewhat. SEPA noted that there were fewer sandstorms in 2007 than in the previous year, that key cities in North China were less seriously polluted, and that good air days were more frequent than in the previous year [65]. Further, SEPA noted that although the total amount of pollutant discharges rose in 2006, the rate of increase was slower than in the previous year. Sulfur dioxide emissions fell 0.3% in the first quarter of 2007 [66].25 Degradation of Chinas Waters While degradation to Chinas land is serious and worsening, water degradation, in the view of many observers, has reached crisis proportions. We consider first the issue of water sufficiency in China, and then treat respectively pollution to fresh waters and to the oceans off Chinas coasts. Water Sufficiency Lester Brown directly connected the nature of Chinas water system with global food security when, in 1998, he commented: As rivers run dry and aquifers are depleted, the emerging water shortages could sharply raise the countrys demand for grain imports, pushing the worlds total import needs beyond exportable supplies. [68]26 As in his previous critique of Chinas loss of arable land, he maintained that if China were not to address this problem, world grain prices would rise, creating instability in Third World cities. China ranks fifth in the total water resources of nations in the world, but on a per capita basis, Chinas water supply is 25% below the global average. Future projections are more troubling. By 2030, per capita supply is expected to drop from 2,200 to below 1,700 m3, and at this level would meet the World Banks definition of a water-scarce country [72]. Agriculture consumes from 70% to 80% of Chinas water resources, but as supplies tighten, agricultural use of water is threatened by rising industrial and household consumption. However, most observers of Chinas water sufficiency believe that shortage of water has not yet led to a substantial loss of irrigated area or industrial production [73]. Thus, on a national basis, Chinas water resources currently seem to be sufficient; however, water is not evenly distributed throughout China. It is relatively scarce in
25
NGO activity targeting air pollution became more public in 2007. Ma Jun, author of Chinas Water Crisis and head of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, set up a China Air Pollution Map to mirror the China Water Pollution Map. Its blacklist in late 2007 included 40 multinational corporations among 4,000 firms on the roll. See [67]. See also, [69]. For a generic response to Browns argument, see [70, 71].
26
62
the North and West, and is abundant in the humid South. Although the dry North produces more than 40% of Chinas grain supplies, it has less than a quarter of Chinas water resources and parts have been subject to drought conditions, for example Shaanxi in 2007 [74]. The North China Plain (Huabei pingyuan) is the heartland of Chinese civilization, and is traversed by three major rivers: the Yellow, the Hai, and the Huai. The Yellow River (affectionately dubbed the mother river) is the most obvious example of water scarcity in the North. In 1972, for the first time in Chinese history, the Yellow River dried up before water could reach the sea. In 1997, for 330 days of the year, water from the Yellow River did not reach the ocean [75]. Causes of water loss included extensive upriver exploitation of water as China rapidly industrialized; future threats include melting of glaciers and depletion of underground water systems feeding the river [76]. Both the Hai and Huai rivers suffer from depleted flow, leaving entire valleys short of water, notwithstanding construction of thousands of large- and small-scale reservoirs.27 With less available water (and because most water from rivers is polluted), the people of the North and West have turned to use of ground water. In recent years, however, the ground water tables through most of North China and parts of the South have dropped, making it necessary to drill deeper wells. A recent survey indicated that the water tables beneath much of the North China Plain have fallen an average of 1.5 m per year in the last 5 years.28 The dropping water tables have caused large areas of subsidence. Not only is water in limited supply in China, but it also is used inefficiently. One estimate suggests that only 43% of the water used in agriculture is used efficiently, as compared to 7080% of irrigated water in developed countries. Moreover, about 25% of the water transmitted through pipes is lost through leakage, much higher than the 9% lost in this way in Japan, and 10% in the United States29. In Chinas irrigation systems overall, much water is lost through evaporation. A final factor affecting water supply is the pricing system for water use. Until recently, prices for commercial, industrial, and household use were not welldifferentiated. Moreover, prices for water in most of Chinas regions and cities did not vary in proportion to the amount of water used.30 Lohmar et al. comment: Despite increasing water prices, current pricing policies do not effectively encourage water saving and in fact contribute to Chinas water problems in other ways.31 Also, researchers have identified challenges as well as opportunities in the transition from collective management of water to water user associations and contracting systems.32 In a country that remains communist, with clear policy goals
27
As a number of studies have indicated, the crop structure of regions in the North China Plain, affecting the amount of water consumed through irrigation systems, strongly influences water sufficiency prospects. See, for example, [77]. Brown [68], 2. Turner & Otsuka [72], 3. Personal interview with water engineer, Beijing, May 15, 2007. Lohmar et al. [73], 17.
28 29 30 31 32
Most of the analyses suggest that incentive systems and not the development of new water management institutions are most likely to produce water savings. See [78].
63
of egalitarianism, the transition to a market-based system for water use is especially difficult. Only in 2007, did the regime gingerly begin planning to deregulate prices of water, to reflect its scarcity [79]. For these reasons, the water use system encourages over-use of water instead of careful conservation. Water Pollution The consensus of water specialists is that water sufficiency currently is less of a problem in China than water pollution.33 One obvious indicator is that 16 of the worlds 20 most polluted rivers are in China. Moreover, air and water pollution combined with widespread use of food additives and pesticides have made cancer the leading cause of death in China. Chen Zhizhou, a health expert with the cancer research institute of the Ministry of Health noted: The main reason behind the rising number of cancer cases is that pollution of the environment, water and air, is getting worse day by day. He continued: Many chemical and industrial enterprises are built along rivers so that they can dump the waste into water easily. Excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides also pollute underground water. The contaminated water has directly affected soil, crops and food. [80] 34 There are three major sources of water pollution: industrial contaminants spewed into rivers and lakes, chemical pesticide and insecticide run-off from crop fields, and human waste and garbage disposed into waterways. A 2006 study examined 30 of Chinas major rivers carrying processed water to the sea, accounting for 82% of the total run-off volume. Results showed a large increase over the previous year in levels of pollutants discharged via the Yangtze, Pearl, Yellow, Minjiang and several other rivers. Of the total volume of major pollutants, chemical oxygen demand accounted for 86.3%, nutritive salts some 12.5%, with the remainder distributed among oil, heavy metals, and arsenic [84]. Industrial pollution events hit the news repeatedly in 2006 and 2007. In late 2006, a chemical spill caused by an explosion at the Jilin Petrochemical Corporation (in the Northeast, Chinas rustbelt), created a toxic slick on the Songhua River, forcing downstream cities in Heilongjiang to suspend their normal water supplies [85]. In fact, the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) labeled water quality at level 5, the poorest, equivalent to raw sewage. The basin of the 1,900 km Songhua River spreads to Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, Inner Mongolia, and it flows into Russia (and its level of pollution nearly created an international incident). This event prompted the resignation of the minister. Government officials planned to let the
33
Based on personal interviews with officials of the Ministry of Water Resources, professors of hydrology, and NGO representatives, Beijing, March 15, 22, May 18, 22, 30, 2007.
Environmental degradation also has been linked to birth defects, which increased by nearly 40% between 2001 and 2007. See [81]. The health effects of contaminated water are both direct and indirect. Farmed fish raised in contaminated waters may lead to higher rates of cancer as well as liver disease and other afflictions. See [82]. Eel farmers called the Times accusation that fish farmers had mixed illegal veterinary drugs and pesticides into fish feed totally groundless. Local environmental protection bureau officials said strict regulations since 2003 had made drug use illegal, and that The major pollutants in eel breeding are nitrogen, phosphorous and excrement which are found naturally and that 97% of aquatic products met standards during random tests. See [83].
34
64
river rest in peace and rehabilitate itself for 10 years [86], but experts were not sanguine about the prospects of full recovery in this period, given lack of clean-up success in other rivers, such as the Huai. Pollution on this river, which authorities have been attempting to clean up for 10 years, has become significantly worse [87].35 The pollution situation in the Liaohe River of the Northeast is equally bleak. In Shenyang, capital city of Liaoning Province, some 400,000 tons of sewage were released into a major tributary of the Liaho River daily, and emissions of chemical oxygen demand have steadily increased since 2001 [89]. Pollution levels in the Yellow River have increased rapidly during the reform era. Between the 1980s and 2005, the volume of wastewater flowing into the river increased from about 2 billion tons to 4.3 billion tons [90]. Much of this pollution has been caused by industrial enterprises, which produce large amounts of sewage, but untreated household waste also has been released in the river. For example, the city of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, had released millions of tons of household sewage into the Yellow River because the citys sewage treatment facilities were out-of-date and inefficient [90]. Tributaries of the Yellow River are similarly affected. For example, the Weihe River, the largest tributary, is seriously polluted. Cities along the Weihe such as Baoji, Xianyang and Weinan dump sewage into it daily; Xian, capital of Shaanxi Province, dumps nearly one million tons of sewage into the Zaohe River, a tributary of the Weihe. The Weihe River basin covers one-third of the provinces total area. Home to 63% of the Shaanxi population, it contains 56% of the farmlands and generates about 89% of the provinces GDP [91]. Pollution levels also have increased enormously in the Yangtze River, which (including its tributaries) accounts for about one-third of Chinas total fresh water resources. In a 2007 report, the Yangtze River Water Resource Commission stated that one-tenth of the 6,211 km main course of the river was in critical condition. In addition, about 30% of the major tributaries of the Yangtzeincluding the Minjiang, Tuojiang, Xiangjiang, and Huangpu riverswere heavily polluted by excessive ammonia, nitrogen, phosphorous and other pollutants [92]. High levels of pollution led to a shrinking of fish catch, and threatened endangered species.36 Other industrial pollution reports included a cadmium spill along the Beijiang River in Guangdong Province, spills from factories in Gansu Province, and factories in Hunan Province flushing waste water with high concentrations of arsenide into the Xinqiang River [94]. Both the Yangtze and Pearl River estuaries were listed as dead zones in a study released in late 2006 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) [95]. Dead zones are water areas where nutrients from fertilizer runoff, sewage, human and animal waste and the burning of fossil fuels trigger algae blooms. The blooms
35 The Huaihe River is Chinas third longest and stretches through Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shandong provinces. In early 2008 wastewater treatment plants treated just 60% of daily wastewater from industrial plants and households. Its chemical oxygen demand level was still 80% higher than the accepted standard, and a MEP report faulted provincial governments for inadequate pollution monitoring and enforcement [88]. 36
The white-fin dolphin, with a history of 20 million years along the Yangtze, has practically died out because of pollution and over-fishing. See [93].
65
require oxygen and remove it from the water, a condition called eutrophication, which endangers all water life. The number of deoxygenated areas has increased each decade since the late 1970s; they are a major threat to fish stocks and people depending on the fisheries. In the summer of 2007, many lakes in China experienced major algae outbreaks. High concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in the waters caused spurts of bluegreen algae that threatened the safety of the water supply of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province, a city with a population of nearly six million [96].37 Resembling a sheen of green oil paint, the canopy of algae covered 70% of the lakes surface. To dilute the polluted lake water, local officials diverted water from the Yangtze River and also seeded clouds to bring rain [99].38 Chinas natural lakes are estimated to be disappearing at the rate of 20 a year because of eutrophication. Pollution has increasingly affected groundwater supplies throughout China. A recent report found that 90% of the groundwater of Chinas cities is polluted to some extent, which poses huge problems because nearly three-quarters of the population of China relies on ground water for drinking.39 SEPA Vice-Minister Pan Yue reported in 2007 that the quality of potable water in key cities had dropped by five percentage points as compared to the previous year; only 66 cities had source water meeting national environmental standards [103]. Groundwater contamination is a more serious problem in North than in South China, because abundant rainfall flushes out contaminants in the South. Yet even in the South, pollution remains a serious problem. A study of drinking water in Guangdong province by the Guangzhou Institute of Geography indicated that 17,000 m3 of sewage were being discharged into rivers every year. At least 16 million residents of the province faced water shortages because of pollution [104].40 Most of these reports come from urban areas in China, but the situation in rural areas doubtless is worse. Primary pollutants in rural areas are poisonous fertilizers and discharge of untreated sewage water. China uses more than 360 kg of fertilizer per ha, much higher than developed nations usage rates, and fertilizer is used inefficiently. Fertilizer runoff after rains causes contamination of water and water life. Most of the 280 million tons of sewage generated each year is untreated and directly discharged into rivers. Some 9 billion tons of sewage water is discharged every year. Overall, about one-third billion rural Chinese use unsafe drinking water [106]. Government officials, particularly in the national SEPA and MWR, as well as provincial and local environmental protection bureaus, have addressed these
Also see [97, 98], for a report of an outbreak of blue algae in the water supply of Changchun in northeast China.
38
37
An environmental activist who protested about the impact of the chemical industry in pollution of Lake Tai sought retribution from the government. See [100]. Yet five of the nine Green Chinese, winners of environmental awards sponsored by seven ministries in 2007 won the prizes because of their service in reducing water pollution, including Zhang Xiaojian, who treated polluted water of Lake Tai in WuXi. See [101]. Turner and Otsuka [72], 4; also see [102]. This region too was afflicted by algae blooms. See [105].
39 40
66
problems by tightening regulations and increasing inspections.41 Yet the problems persist and are increasing in frequency and severity.42 A senior engineer working in an institute affiliated with the Ministry of Water Resources commented The water environment is not good, and this influences the quality and quantity of cereals production in China.43 The security of Chinas drinking water and purification of major rivers and lakestogether with major pollution and emissions control and urban waste treatment measureswere highlighted in the Eleventh Five-Year (20062010) Plan. Total investment in environmental protection will increase to 1.35% of GDP, and the new investment will focus on treating pollution sources [111].44 Ocean Pollution Chinas coastline extends 18,400 km and abuts four seas: the Bo Hai (considered an inland sea), the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. In 2006, Chinas seas generated $270 billion or just over 10% of GDP [114], yet development of a booming regional economy along this coastline is jeopardized by increased degradation of the ocean. Threats to Chinas oceans include overfishing, destructive fishing methods, pollution, and the reclamation of coastal lands. Marine fisheries are nearly 75% of Chinas total fisheries, and overfishing has resulted in a serious decline of take in recent years. The mariculture industry has caused degradation of water quality as well as put pressure on fish fry, small crustacea, and shellfish [115]. Moreover, the use of dynamite and poison fishing has damaged coral reefs and mangrove forests. At least 50% of the coral reefs off Chinas coasts have disappeared in the past 20 years. Loss of coral reefs in turn increases the risk of typhoon damage to Chinas coasts. Pollution from industries, agriculture, domestic sewage, oil and gas exploration, and fish farming has degraded Chinas ocean environment, as has extensive runoff of
41
For example, in 2007 SEPA announced that it was launching an automated system to closely monitor key polluters, who account for 65% of the countrys industrial waste (to respond to environmental activists who complain that many industrial plants shut off expensive sewage disposal facilities after SEPA inspections and resume dumping wastes into rivers). The agency claimed it had reached a turning point in this year because the rate of increase in pollutant discharges increased at a slower rate than in the previous year. See: [107, 108].
42
In 2007, SEPA reported that despite an increase in funding on pollution control, amounting to 1.23% of Chinas GDP, China is under increasing pressure to cope with environmental pollution. Of 842 pollution accidents reported for 2006, more than half were water related. Moreover, half the countrys population lived in an environment where sewage was not treated. Orders from SEPA to reduce pollution routinely were disregarded by some cities. See [109, 110]. Personal interview with Senior Engineer, Institute of Water Resources, Beijing, May 30, 2007. SEPA official Zhou Shengxian gave an optimistic projection, claiming that the quality of Chinas key drinking water resources should meet national standards by next year. He also believed that pollution of waterways would decline: The ecological system should maintain a virtuous circle and all rivers should flow calmly along their natural course. See [112]. It seems unlikely that either goal will be realized without greater government coordination and enforcement actions. The immediate plan was to inaugurate the first national pollution census to examine sources of industrial, agricultural and residential pollution without, however, linking results to either punishment or evaluation of derelict officials. See [113].
43 44
67
silt from rivers and seabed dredging. As one NGO representative remarked: All the coastal cities of China dump their wastes in the sea.45 A State Oceans Administration official stated: The coastal marine ecosystem is worsening, the quality of ocean water is deteriorating, and large amounts of pollutants are infiltrating from land to sea.46 The loss of coastal wetlands to agriculture, aquaculture, and reclamation projects has devastated both wildlife and marine resources. Several species already have become extinct: sea cows, species of kelp, and the habitat of sea turtles has been threatened. Enforcement of existing regulations and laws on pollution remains problematical. Red tides have increased in frequency and range, with 80 or more occurrences in recent years. The tides are caused by buildup of marine plankton that consume oxygen while releasing toxic substances into the water, killing fish and plant life in the coastal regions. The third appearance of a red tide in Shenzhen bay caused serious pollution in mid-2007, which marine experts said was the largest ever appearing off the citys coast [117]. Problems of ocean pollution have attracted less attention even than those of land and freshwater systems in China. Director of the Guangdong Oceanic and Fishery Administration, Li Zhujiang, said problems of the Pearl River estuary were the product of years of ineffective protection measures: The government has spent so much on cleaning the river, but it never set up a special financial foundation to deal with pollution near the sea. [118] In 2008, Director of the State Oceanic Administration, Sun Jhihui, pledged to address these concerns. He said the agency would tighten monitoring of the ecology of waters offshore China, conduct experiments to restore the marine ecosystem, and establish seven special protection zones [119]. However, the agency is small and not well regarded for its enforcement capability.
State Responses to Environmental Stressors The environmental challenges to Chinas food producing lands and waters have been huge, and the state has responded in kind with standard bureaucratic routines as well as large-scale projects. Space limitations prohibit our consideration of pests and plant diseases, the food safety system, and implementation issuesall of relevance to Chinas food security. Here, we examine six different examples of state responses: policy restricting arable land conversion, Chinas one child policy, investment in irrigation systems, the SouthNorth Water Diversion Project, large-scale afforestation and reforestation campaigns, and the program to convert marginal agricultural lands to forests and grasslands.
45 46
Personal interview with NGO representative, Beijing, January 11, 2005.
Personal interview with official, State Oceanic Administration (SOA), Beijing, January 1, 2006. A SOA report issued in August 2007 and based on more than 500 pollution outlets monitored by the agency found that 77% of the outlets were discharging more pollutants than permitted, some 18% more than in the previous year. See [116].
68
Restriction on Arable Land Conversion In the 1980s and early 1990s, the central government employed an hierarchical system to regulate conversion of agricultural lands to other purposesprimary industrial, commercial, and residential. The regulatory system had several loopholes, however. Moreover, local level officials had large incentives to bend the rules because of the benefit to provinces, counties, and municipalities of the conversion of collective land to commercial and industrial purposes. The most recent change to policy was through adoption of a revised Land Management Law, promulgated in 1998.47 Under the revised law, the central government resumed decision-making control on land conversions from agricultural to other uses. The land utilization plan for the period 1996 to 2010 called for a reduction in land allocated to human settlements and industrial sites, and specified that very little agricultural land would be converted for any purpose in the coastal provinces. Also, the central government imported sophisticated remote sensing technology from France, which made it less dependent on provincial and local governments for information on land use. Ho and Lin believe these goals are overly ambitious, given the expected pressure of population increases and increased industrial and commercial activity in the coastal areas.48 Cartier has a more sanguine view of the revised law, believing that it may resolve some of the internal contradictions (between different interests in land conservation and development of different levels of government in China),49 and that it may promote fiscal stability by cooling speculative fever in land transactions. These measures did not reduce pressures on arable land, which reached a high point by the end of the Tenth Five-Year Plan in 2005. To curtail conversion and safeguard future food security the regime responded in three ways: (1) it set a limit on the minimum amount of cultivatable land, (2) it tightened regulations on land conversion, and (3) it sought ways to increase the amount of arable land. We discuss each in turn. At the 17th Congress of the CCP, Premier Wen Jiabao announced that China could not have less than 120 million ha (about 1.8 billion mu) of arable land. Reiterating this point, Minister of Land and Resources Xu Shaoshi stated: The red line of 120 million ha of arable land cannot be crossed. [120] (At the end of 2006, official accounts reported that the arable land total was 121.8 million ha, compared to 122 million ha in 2005.) In 2006, the Ministry of Land and Resources established a new classification system for lands. It strictly barred any construction of villas, golf courses, or race tracks taking up large amounts of arable land [121]. Then, it initiated a process to define lands into four different regions: those where urbanization was prioritized, encouraged, limited, and forbidden. At the completion of this national blueprint, provincial governments would be given greater freedom to plan their own development projects in accord with the national plan [122].
47 48 49
This discussion follows Ho and Lin [14], 776778. Ibid., 778. Cartier [23], 466469.
69
Too, the land approval process was tightened in 2007 to force local governments to make better use of their available land and spur disposal of land already approved for use. In mid-2007, the Ministry of Land and Resources began a 3-year national land-use survey, to ascertain changes in land utilization and management. A previous survey had been done from 1984 to 1996, but a number of local officials camouflaged land status or fabricated data during the inspection, leading to many cases of illegal land acquisition, as mentioned above. The ministry planned random checks and strict penalties for manipulation of land data [123].50 The ministry also increased fees and penalties for illegal conversions. It doubled the land-use fee for arable land for new construction projects, which reduced the incentive for local governments to sell land (as they would receive less income for doing so). The ministry also set a minimum pricing standard for land sales for industrial use, as a means to stop local governments from attempting to attract investors with heavily discounted land prices [125]. Finally, the ministry announced a campaign to check land law enforcement, and to hold provincial governments responsible for diverting farmland to other uses in excess of quotas [126].51 Chinas land authorities also have made efforts to increase the amount of arable land. From 1999 to 2006, China added 2.4 million ha of arable land, which was a greater amount than land made available for construction projects. In the expanded, pilot areas, grain production increased by 10% to 20%.52 A second plan, announced in mid-2007, was to convert at least 5.5 million ha into cultivable land through two forms of consolidation: (1) re-planning of random, scattered and small plots, and (2) merging villages and returning land used to build houses and other structures to farming [131]. Altogether, these measures were designed to insure sufficient arable lands for production of staples in the near-term. They seemed to be having some effect, as the rate of arable land loss in 2007, a reduction of 40,700 ha to a total of 121.73 million ha, was the smallest annual decrease since 2001 [132]. Chinas One-Child Policy Population pressures figure in each of the environmental stressors discussed above, and this is a problem to which the regime responded radically. In 1979, China
50
A State Council regulation of 2008 required greater cooperation among land survey participants and further tightened penalties for falsifying or distorting information. See [124]. Nearly half of the rural protests in China were triggered by illegal land seizures or expropriations. The State Council ordered local governments to raise compensation for farmers losing land to development projects, as one means to address protests; increasing enforcement of land law violators including local government officials is another. See: [127]. Some 22,000 cases of illegal land use covering more than 328,720 ha were reported between January 2005 and September 2006. Late in the next year, land inspectors in the Ministry of Land and Resources ran a 100-day campaign to detect major rule violators, catching a few local government officials. See [128]. The ministry promised to station inspectors in every province as part of a pilot project to curb illegal land acquisitions involving local authorities. See [129]. During 2007, about 2,700 local officials were arrested; they either failed to seek permission before developing land or ignored rules on expansion of development zones. For example, authorities in Jilin Province expected to increase rice output through converting large areas of salina lands to paddy fields. The plan was to make the salt-encrusted land arable by flooding it with nearby river water. See [130].
51
52
70
introduced the one-child family policy, which is the single most important reduction of environmental stress to have occurred globally in the past generation. The policy was designed primarily for urban areas, where there were incentives for residents to have small families. In rural areas, the policy effectively was an one child with exceptions policy. The army of enforcement officials (at least one million) usually tolerated families with two, and sometimes three children. The policy also was not applied to minority households at all. Recently, an additional exception to the policy has allowed married couples, both of whom are single children, to have two children. The onus of policy implementation fell on women and led to horrible abuses such as forced abortions and sterilizations [133].53 Preference for male offspring resulted in cases of female infanticide and under-reporting of births, as well as skewed sex ratios and large future problems as millions of men lack marriage partners. Notwithstanding these serious defects, the policy has sharply reduced the rate of growth in Chinas population as compared to relatively unconstrained population growth in other large developing countries such as India and Indonesia. Demographic experts estimate that the population would have reached 1.7 billion instead of the current 1.3 billion had the policy not been implemented [136]. Repeated calls for a loosening of the one-child policy have had no effect. In March 2008, Zhang Weiqing, Minister of the State Population and Family Planning Commission, ruled out any policy change for the next decade. He noted that China faced a new birth peak in the coming 10 years, when nearly 200 million would enter childbearing ages: Given such a large population base, there would be major fluctuations in population growth if we abandoned the one-child rule now. It would cause serious problems and add extra pressure on social and economic development [137]. State Investments in Irrigation Systems One of the factors typically used to explain Chinas ability to achieve food selfsufficiency is the huge investments the state has made in irrigation infrastructure. In the 1960s and 1970s particularly, spending on water control played a very important role in rural development. Fan et al. note that government spending on irrigation was 30% of total expenditures in rural China in 2000 [138]. Whether in poor or rich areas, spending on irrigation systems has been the most important form of agricultural investment. They mention that the state invests more than ten times as much in irrigation as it does in agricultural research. Approximately 51% of the cultivated area in China is irrigated; nearly two-thirds of the irrigated areas used surface water, while the rest is irrigated with groundwater [139]. Several studies of the impact of irrigation on crop yields as well as household
53 For a critical perspective see [134], and Greenhalgh and Winkler [15]. Also, party officials, celebrities, and the rich have ignored the policy, and enforcement has had little effect in deterring this in recent years. See [135].
71
incomes report positive findings. For example, Huang et al. point out the strong and robust effect of irrigation on agricultural performance [140]. The SouthNorth Water Diversion Project Another very large-scale project, which if continued would be one of the worlds largest, is the plan of the central government to address water scarcity in northern and western regions by transferring water there from the South. Mao Zedong proposed the grand plan in 1952, and it has been in the discussion stage for decades. The SouthNorth Water Diversion Project (SNWDP) includes three water transfer routeseast, central, and westwhich will link the Yangtze River of central China to the Huai, Yellow, and Hai Rivers of North China. The project plan includes four latitude and three longitudinal water courses regulating and distributing water not only from south to north but also from east to west. [141] Construction began on the first (eastern) phase in late 2002 and is scheduled for completion in 2008. This section is the easiest to construct, as it can take advantage of existing rivers and lakes, including the Grand Canal and its parallel rivers. However, it has required construction of nearly two dozen new, upgraded and expanded pumping stations, many reservoirs, and extensive water treatment facilities for polluted water.54 The cost for just the first, eastern section is estimated to be $6 billion (with the cost of the total project running to $72 billion in 2007 dollars). The second phase is not expected to be completed so quickly, as the route is longer and more new construction will be required. The western route project is still in the design stage, and many observers believe it will not be built. The plan to divert Qinghai-Tibet plateau water resources away from the Mekong and other international rivers is extremely controversial.55 The size of the projects is gargantuan. Objections come from provinces losing water to the North and the West, particularly Hunan and Hubei; from scientists who question whether at the time of greatest need for water (in winter months of the North), there will be sufficient water to transfer; from those fearing the disruptive displacement effects on people along the proposed routing; from environmentalists; and from Chinas neighbors to the southwest who object to loss of water resources from their rivers.56 Large-Scale Afforestation and Reforestation Projects We discussed one of the largest afforestation programs above, in the context of the Yangtze flooding of 1998. This was one of seven different afforestation programs since the 1970s. The others include: 1. The Three Norths Shelterbelt program involves establishing plantations in north, northeast, and northwest China (from 1978 to 2050) with the objective of afforestation of 35 million ha;
54
Ibid., 21. For example, pollution in the Huahi River poses a threat to diversion of water from the south to the north. See [142]. Personal communication to the authors from TJ Cheng, October 8, 2007. See Economy, [143], 126.
55 56
72
2. Protective afforestation in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze (1989 2000) involved planting and restoration of 6.8 million ha; 3. Coastal shelterbelt (19912000) led to planting trees in 3.6 million ha; 4. Cropland protection and agro-forestry in the plains (19882000) covered nearly 1,000 counties in four provinces; 5. Afforestation of the Taihang Mountain (19902010) involved planting trees on 4 million ha; and 6. Combating desertification (19912000) had as its objective control of desertification in over 7.2 million ha [144]. In 1998, China Daily proudly announced China now ranks first in the world in both the speed and scale of afforestation. [145] A 2007 report proclaimed that 20% of China would be forested by 2020.57 Nevertheless, Harkness commented that (I)ncreases in forest cover have coincided with decreases in the actual amount of wood available for harvesting, which has pushed Chinese logging firms abroad [148]. Several problems have been identified in the afforestation programs, particularly the development of monocultural plantations, which limit species diversification. A forestry management official said that this needed to be kept in perspective: We are now looking at species diversity. We are emphasizing hardwood species, and this is a positive sign. Yes, there are problems, but the scale is unparalleled. We are converting sloping farmlands into forests, and enlarging wetlands. There is massive afforestation, which is good for carbon sequestration.58 Yin et al. point out additional difficulties. They object to the top-down nature of campaigns, and insufficient attention paid to local interests and conditions. Often those who have lost access to forests and logging have been inadequately compensated. Finally, the lack of long-range planning and development of good practices may increase other problems, such as erosion and introduction of invasive species.59 Notwithstanding the criticism, the afforestation and reforestation programs have brought about a significant reduction in erosion, which benefits agricultural productivity. Forests occupy 280 million ha and about half of Chinas rural population depends on them to some extent for a living. In August 2007, the State Forestry Administration (SFA) announced plans to reform the management structure of forestsnow owned exclusively and managed either by the state or village collectives (jiti). Similar to reforms in management of agricultural lands, the SFA proposal would extend management rights to individual farmers, contractors and in some cases overseas investors, for periods as long as 6070 years [149]. Restoration of Forests and Grasslands The final state program is also the most recent, launched just in 19992000. With an overall budget of more than $40 billion, the sloping lands conversion program is
57
China has planted 53.3 million ha of forests since 1949, more than any other country in the world, with forest coverage rising from 8.6% to 18.2%. See [146, 147]. Personal interview with forestry manager, State Forestry Administration, Beijing, May 18, 2004. Yin, Xu, Li, and Liu [144], 2830.
58 59
73
perhaps Chinas most ambitious environmental initiative; without a doubt it is one of the worlds largest land conservation programs [150]. It was designed after the Yangtze flooding to deal directly with erosion, which is particularly serious on sloped lands. Many of these lands in the Yangtze and Yellow River basins were originally forested, but in previous campaigns of the Maoist era were converted to farmlands. With slopes of 25 or greater, they were especially subject to erosion, and for this reason the original plan was to convert 5.3 million ha of croplands on steep slopes to forest and grass coverage. The program began with trials in Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces in 1999, and was then formally inaugurated in 2000 as the Slope Land Conversion Program (SLCP, also known as Grain to Green; in Chinese Tuigeng huanlin (cao)). The goal of SLCP expanded to convert about 14.7 million ha of fragile cropland to forests (or grasslands) by the completion date of 2010. Under the SLCP plan, the state provided extensive benefits to participating farmers. They received 1.5 to 2.55 tons of grain per year (depending on location) for retiring 1 ha of cropland. Also, they received a one-time cash subsidy of $750 yuan per ha to purchase seedlings or seeds, and $300 yuan per year for miscellaneous expenses for the duration of the program [151].60 By 2004, some 7.2 million ha of land had been converted, the result of a very rapid expansion of the program from 2001 to 2003.61 These incentives made the project quite popular with participating farmers, some of whom received more in food subsidies than they would have through their own productive work. The costs to the state, however, have been in the neighborhood of $1.4 billion per year, making this one of the most expensive major environmental programs in China. The program has been effective in increasing the value of marginal lands, but its sustainability is in question because of the high cost and continuing questions about its effects on rural household income.62 The most penetrating (and obvious) criticism of the Slope Land Conversion Program has been that it has reduced arable land and led to lowered grain productivity and increased grain prices. In late 2003 and 2004, grain prices rose sharply in response to falling grain production, and the Ministry of Land and Resources and several researchers hypothesized that the SLCP program was responsible for this price rise [154]. The ministry successfully argued for a slowing of the conversion program. Researchers have found a co-variance between the SLCP reductions and a reduction in land area sown with grain. However, most findings indicate that SLCP has had a relatively small effect, particularly given that most of the converted land was sloped and of poor quality. Xu et al. attribute just about 1% of the price increase in cereals to SLCP, also noting the large impact it has had in reduction of the build up of silt in irrigation networks and reservoirs and reduction in downstream flooding
60
Also see Yin, Xu, Li, and Liu [144], 2223. The importance of economic compensation for farmers support of the SLCP is presented in [152]. Xu et al. [153], 117. See [153].
61 62
74
[155].63 In other words, there does not appear to have been a trade-off between land conversion and agricultural productivity. Nevertheless, the policy is an expensive one and has created new dependencies. Said a policy analyst with the Chinese Academy of Sciences: Investment in Tuigeng huanlin means a reduction of investment elsewhere. As to peoples income, what happens after the policy ends? Now, about 50% of the people in affected areas are reliant on government subsidies.64 By 2007, the SLCP had returned 24 million ha to forest and grass cover, accounting for about 60% of Chinas new forest area and benefiting 124 million farmers. However, as arable land neared the 120 million ha threshold, official attention focused again on SLCP, and the government suspended a plan to convert 1.07 million ha into forest [158]. Agriculture ministry officials said the program curtailment was solely for the purpose of making adjustments in it, and the project seems likely to continue, but at a reduced level.65 The State Council did fine-tune the program, by limiting the period during which subsidies would be provided, based on category of land, and by making special provisions for ecological immigrants, especially in minority areas [161].
Conclusions: Overall Impacts on Current Food Security During Chinas reform era (from 1978 to the present), arable land has declined, due to pressures of population growth, urbanization, and exceedingly rapid economic development. These pressures have increased erosion, deforestation, desertification, pollution to land, air, fresh water, and Chinas marine coastal environment. Nevertheless, through improvements in agricultural technology and practices, China has been able to feed her 1.3 billion inhabitants. (In 2007, China produced 500 million tons of staples [162],66 more than sufficient to provide food nationwide.) Yet the regime pays close attention to the amount of arable land and particularly to grain sufficiency. At the 2007 meetings of the National Peoples Congress, Premier Wen Jiabao announced that China must maintain 120 million ha of arable land.67
63
See also, [156]. For a study of the impact of converting cropland to grassland, see [157]. Also, personal interview with former staff member, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, May 21, 2007. Personal interview with policy analyst, CAS, Beijing, May 25, 2007. See [159, 160].
64 65 66
This was the fourth consecutive year of increase in grain output, and it allowed China to meet 95% of domestic demand. A shortage in production was not expected until 2010. See [163]. However, rising global grain prices and shortages of corn and soybeans spurred grain officials to eliminate the export tax rebates on major grains. Also, the State Council enacted an export tax on grains both to insure adequacy of domestic supply and curb food price inflation. See [164166].
67
An official of the Ministry of Land and Resources indicated that Wens statement did not reflect policy of the State Council, which did not believe that the cited amount of land needed to be retained in the arable land category (personal interview, Beijing, May 27, 2007). A land resources researcher at a university land management institute opined that Wens statement was a slogan, designed to outline a conservative approach (personal interview, Beijing, May 23, 2007).
75
Some Chinese scientists and policy elites are worried about the reduction of arable land; a number of foreign observers, such as Lester Brown, have made alarmist predictions, suggesting China will not be able to feed itself in the future. Our sense from a reading of the large literature on this topic and interviewing agricultural scientists, land resources experts, and policy-makers is that the amount of arable land is sufficient for the present, and with appropriate changes in policy,68 grain security can be assured in the near-term. However, without significant changes, land resources will not sustain food production when population increases to 1.6 billion in 2030 and when demand for food increases among Chinas increasingly well-off population. Space does not permit consideration of climate change as well as plant and animal diseases here, but they may adversely affect food production too. We have discussed several strategies adopted by the regime to counter environmental stressors and their impact on food security. The recent focus of attention in China has been on increasing the efficiency in use and productivity of available arable land. This entails the improvement of cultural practices of farmers, use of improved seeds, more efficient utilization of crop enhancements such as fertilizers, and the like.69 Indeed, in mid-2007, a coordination group of four ministriesScience and Technology, Agriculture, Finance, and the State Administration of Grainsigned responsibility contracts with 12 major grain producing provinces pledging to make greater efforts to increase crop yields through science and technology [172]. Another area of importance, which space limitations do not permit us to cover, is biotechnological responses of the regime, primarily through the development of genetically-modified foods, which are targeted directly at increasing agricultural productivity. Based on our research, to the present and into the near-term, China has been successful in feeding its large and growing population, notwithstanding huge environmental stressors.
References
1. Ross, Lester. 1998. Environmental policy in China. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 2. Smil, Vaclav. 1993. Chinas environmental crisis: An inquiry into the limits of national development. Armonk, NY: Sharpe. 3. Brown, Lester. 1995. Who will feed China? Wake-up call from a small planet. Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute. 4. World Resources Institute. 1999. World Resources 199899. New York: Oxford University Press. 5. Smil, Vaclav. 1999. Research note: Chinas arable land. China Quarterly 158: 414429. June. 6. Pannell, Clifton W., and Runsheng Yin. 2004. Diminishing cropland and agricultural outlook. In Changing China: A geographic appraisal, eds. Hsieh Chiao-min, and Max Lu, 36. Boulder, CO: Westview. 7. China Development Brief. Statistics: Seeking truth from (tonnes of) facts. Retrieved February 15, 2006 from: http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.com. 8. Wu, Chuanchun. 1984. Land utilization. In Managing the environment in China, eds. Geping Qu, and Woyen LeeDublin: Tycooly International.
68 69
See [167]. See also [168, 169]. See, for example, [170, 171].
76
9. Heilig, Gerhard K. 1997. Anthropogenic factors in land-use change in China. Population and Development Review 231: 142. 10. National Bureau of Statistics. 2007. China statistical yearbook 2007. 464. Beijing: China Statistics. 11. Li, Fangchao. 2007. Arable Land Bank continues decline. China Daily, 3, April 13. 12. Zhao, Huanxin. 2006. Bottom line set for grain production. China Daily, 1, August 4. 13. Xie, Chuanjiao. 2007. 1.7 m Hectares of arable land by 2020. China Daily, 2, June 22. 14. Ho, Samual P.S., and George C.S. Llin. 2004. Non-agricultural land use in postreform China. China Quarterly 179: 776. September. 15. Greenhalgh, Suzan, and Edwin A. Winckler. 2005. Governing Chinas population: From Leninist to Neoliberal Biopolitics. 74. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 16. Shapiro, Judith. 2001. Maos war against nature: Politics and the environment in revolutionary China. 37. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 17. Hsieh, Chiao-min. 2004. Changes in the Chinese population: Demography, distribution, and policy. In Changing China: A geographic appraisal, eds. Chiao-min Hsieh, and Max Lu, 204. Boulder, CO: Westview. 18. Wang, L. 1995. The degree, characteristics, and trends of Chinas urbanization. Peoples Daily, October 31, 4. 19. Di, Liping. 2004. Land-use patterns and land-use change. In Changing China: A geographic appraisal, eds. Chiao-min Hsieh, and Max Lu, 19. Boulder, CO: Westview. 20. Liu, Guifen, and Chengtai Diao. 2006. Current situation of cultivated land resources and food security in Jiangjin City. In Study of the strategy of land resources and regional coordinated development in China (in Chinese), ed. Yancui Liu. Beijing: Meteorology. 21. Huang, Jikun, Lifen Zhu, Xiangzheng. Deng, and Scott Rozelle. 2005. Cultivated land changes in China: The impacts of urbanization and industrialization. Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers 5884: 115. 58840I. 22. Gar-On Yeh, Anthony, and Xia Li. 1997. An integrated remote sensing and GIS approach in the monitoring and evaluation of rapid urban growth for sustainable development in the Pearl River Delta, China. International Planning Studies 22: 193210. 23. Cartier, Carolyn. 2001. Zone Fever, the arable land debate, and real estate speculation: Chinas evolving land use regime and its geographical contradictions. Journal of Contemporary China 1028: 454456. August. 24. Yang, Dali L. 1997. Beyond Beijing: Liberalization and the regions in China. 5455. London: Routledge. 25. Oi, Jean. 1999. Rural China takes off: Institutional Foundations of Economic Reform. 37. Berkeley: University of California Press. 26. Li, Fangchao. 2007. Illegal land use poses major threat. China Daily, September 18, 1. 27. Wu, Jiao. 2007. Land loss threatens food safety. China Daily, December 26, 1. 28. Xin, Jhiming, Jing Fu, Ping Zhu. 2008. Security of food calls for serious thought. China Daily, January 16, 7. 29. Guan, Xiaofeng. 2006. Experts discuss answers to land degradation. China Daily, August 28, 2. 30. Li, Fangchao. 2006. Ecological degradation continuing. China Daily, June 5, 1. 31. Huang, Yizong., Zhixian Li, Xiangdong Li, Wenmiao Yang, Zhaoyong Liang, Huafeng Li, Dinglan Liu, and Bisheng Lu. 2007. Effects of acid deposition and atmospheric pollution on forest ecosystem biomass in Southern China. Ecology and Environment (in Chinese) 161: 6065. 32. Xinhua. 2007. Erosion threatening grain security. China Daily, August 28, 2. 33. Xinhua. 2007. Xinjiang losing land to soil erosion. China Daily, July 3, 4. 34. Zheng, Caixiong. 2007. Soil erosion targeted in Guangdong. China Daily, November 20, 4. 35. Rozelle, Scott, Jikun Huang, Vince Benziger. 2003. Forest exploitation and protection in reform China. In Hyde, Belcher, and Xu, 20. 36. Liang, Chao. 2005. Probe launched into erosion threat. China Daily, July 5, 2. 37. Greenpeace China. 2004. Investigative report on APPs forest destruction in Yunnan. Hong Kong: November. 38. China Development Brief. 2006. Greenpeace, Zhejiang Hotels, Stand Firm against Paper Giant. March 31, 2005. Retrieved February 14, from: http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.com/node/77/ print. 39. Chao, Liang, and Cui Ning. 2005. Authorities crack down on illegal logging. China Daily, March 31, 2. 40. Cao, Desheng. 2004. Nation fighting ever-engulfing deserts. China Daily, June 18, 2.
77
41. Li, Xiang-yun, Jun Yang, and Li-xin Wang. 2004. Quantitative analysis on the driving role of human activity on land desertification in an arid area: The case of the Tarim River Basin (in Chinese). Resources Science 265: 3037. September. 42. Ma, Lie. 2007. Water rule will protect great wall, Gansu Oasis. China Daily, August 7, 5. 43. Wang, Shanshan. 2007. Creeping desert threatens Mogao Grottoes. China Daily, November 6, 3. 44. Han, Nianyong, Gaoming Jiang, and Wenjun Li. 2002. Management of the degraded ecosystems in Xilingol biosphere reserve (Chinese and English). 120134. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press. 45. Biodiversity Working Group of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. 2001. Restoring Chinas degraded environment: The role of natural vegetation. Beijing, 27. 46. Xinhua. 2007. 10-Year plan needed to save wetlands from desert. China Daily, September 18, 4. 47. Gluckman, R. 2004. The desert storm. Asiaweek, October 13, 2000, 36. 48. Ma, Lie. Desertification threatens northwest areas. China Daily, September 6, 200, 3 49. Jiang, Weiyu,and Fanglin Chan. 2004. Controlling desertification in North China. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment (in Chinese) 265: 3037. September. 50. Gao, Qianzhao, Jianjun Qu, Run Wang, Yuan Li, Ruiping Zu, and Kecun Zhang. 2007. Impact of ecological water transport to green corridor on desertification reversion at lower reaches of Tarim River. Journal of Desert Research (in Chinese) 271: 5258. January. 51. Zhao, Huanxin. 2007. Inner Mongolias green efforts aid Beijing. China Daily, July 26, 3. 52. Wu, Yong. 2007. Playing with nature or helping it is the question. China Daily, August 22, 12. 53. Sun, Xiaohua. Sandstorms a fact of nature. China Daily, March 15, 20079, 6. 54. Liao, Guolan, and Chao Wu. 2005. Heavy metal pollution and control in mining environment (in Chinese). Changsha, Hunan: Central South University Press. 55. Li, Fangchan. 2008. Official: More than 10% of arable land polluted. China Daily, April 23, 2007, 1. 56. Xinhua. Bitter harvest. China Daily, May 19, 3. 57. Sun, Xiaohua. 2008. SEPA sets sights on polluted soil. China Daily, January 9, 3. 58. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. Soil survey to monitor pollution. China Daily, May 9, 1. 59. Liu, Li. 2006. One third of nation hit by acid rain. China Daily, August 28, 2. 60. Hong Chen. 2008. Guangzhou swamped by acid rain. China Daily, March 28, 4. 61. Doug Struck. 2008. Washington post national weekly edition, February 25-March 2, 10. 62. Wu, Chong. 2007. Researchers: Polluted air causes less rainfall. China Daily, March 9, 3. 63. Xie, Chuanjiao. 2007. Pollution makes cancer the top killer. China Daily, May 21, 1. 64. Kahn, Joseph, and Jim Yardley. 2007. As China roars, pollution reaches deadly extremes. New York Times, August 26, A13. 65. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. SEPA publishes Q1 report. China Daily, May 22, 3. 66. Wu, Jiao. 2007. Pollution picture to brighten. China Daily, June 6, 1. 67. Zhuoqiong Wang. 2007. Global giants on pollution blacklist. China Daily, December 14, 1. 68. Brown, Lester R. 1998. Chinas water shortage could shake world food security. World Watch, July 1. 69. China Development Brief. 2001. Thirsty cities and factories push farmers off the parched earth. June 1. 70. Xu, Jianxin, Zhang Zezhong, and Fa Liu. 2005. The analysis of the water resources assurance of grain production security. Water Conservancy Science and Technology and Economy (in Chinese) 1110: 611614. October. 71. Lohmar, Bryan, and Jinxia Wang. 2003. Will water scarcity affect agricultural production in China. In Chinas food and agriculture: Issues for the 21st century. 4143. Washington, DC: Economic Research Service, USDA. 72. Turner, Jennifer, and Otsuka Kenji. 2006. Reaching across the water. 1. Washington, DC: China Environment Forum, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 73. Lohmar, Bryan, Jinxia Wang, Scott Rozelle, Jikun Huang, and David Dawe. 2003. Chinas agricultural water policy reforms. Economic Research Service, Agriculture Information Bulletin, no. 782, 1. 74. Ma, Lie. 2007. Shaanxi reels from drought. China Daily, May 11, 50. 75. Ma, Jun. 2004. Chinas water crisis. Norwalk, CT: Eastbridge, vii. 76. Yardley, Jim. 2006. Chinas path to modernity, mirrored in a troubled river. New York Times, November 19, A1, 1415. 77. Liao, Yongsong, and Jikun Huang. 2004. Impact of crop structure change on irrigation water demand in the basins of Yellow River, Huahe River and Haihe River. Journal of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (in Chinese) 23: 184188. September.
78
78. Wang, Jinxia, Zhigang Xu, Jikun Huang, and Scott Rozelle. 2005. Incentives in water management reform: Assessing the effect on water use, production, and poverty in the Yellow River Basin. Environment and Development Economics 10: 769799. 79. Fu, Jing. 2007. High prices to persist next year. China Daily, September 18, 2. 80. Xie, Chuanjiao. 2007. Pollution makes cancer the top killer. China Daily, May 21, 1. 81. Hu, Yinan. 2007. Rural environmental protection plan released. China Daily, November 22, 5. 82. Barboza, David. 2007. In China, farming fish in toxic waters. New York Times, December 15. 83. Hu, Yinan, and Jiao Wu. 2008. Fishing in troubled waters leads to big losses. China Daily, January 3, 1. 84. Xinhua. 2007. Volume of pollutants exceeds 13 m tons. China Daily, May 11, 4. 85. Li, Fangchao. 2007. Provincial officials promise to close loopholes. China Daily, May 11, 4. 86. Li, Fangchao. 2007. Rehabilitation effort for countrys dirtiest waterway to last a decade. China Daily, May 11, 4. 87. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. SEPA publishes Q1 report. China Daily, May 22, 3. 88. Sun, Xiaohua. 2008. 3 Provinces fail on river targets. China Daily, April 22, 4. 89. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. Polluters face stiff penalties. China Daily, August 27, 1. 90. Wang, Zhuoqiong. 2007. River is 10% sewage: Official. China Daily, May 11, 4. 91. Ma, Lie. 2007. Shaanxi tackles river pollution. China Daily, May 15, 5. 92. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. Pollution takes heavy toll on Yangtze. China Daily, April 16, 1. 93. Xiao, Liu. 2007. Swift action needed to save Yangtze, forum says. China Daily, September 18, 3. 94. Xinhua News Service. 2007. Sepa to get tough on govt violations. China Daily, March 2, 3. 95. Sun, Xiaohua. 2006. Yangtze and Pearl River Estuaries now dead zones. China Daily, October 20, 2. 96. Zhang, Kun. 2007. Experts identify algae afflicting Taihu Lake. China Daily, June 13, 4. 97. Li, Fangchao. 2007. Official warns of major algae outbreak. China Daily, July 1415, 3. 98. He, Na. 2007. Blue algae hits citys water supply. China Daily, July 18, 4. 99. Zheng, Lifei, and Huanxin Zhao. 2007. Water better, but not drinkable. China Daily, June 23, l. 100. Kahn, Joseph. 2007. In China, a lakes champion imperils himself. New York Times, October 14. 101. Wang, Zhuoqiong. 2007. Turning back the tide. China Daily, December 31, 8. 102. Zhuqing Jiang. Groundwater quality deteriorating. China Daily, October 10, 2. 103. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. SEPA publishes Q1 report. China Daily, May 22, 3. 104. Chen, Hong. 2007. Guangdong water woes to worsen. China Daily, November 28, 5. 105. Liang, Qiwen. 2007. Algae blooms watched. China Daily, December 28, 4. 106. Wu, Joa, and Fangchao Li. 2007. Rural water woes to be addressed. China Daily, August 23, 1. 107. Xinhua. 2007. Big polluters face strict monitoring. China Daily, May 11, 4. 108. Wu, Jiao. 2007. Pollution picture to brighten. China Daily, June 6, 1. 109. Xinhua. 2007. Spending failing to solve pollution problems. China Daily, September 25, 4 110. Xin, Dingding. 2007. 278 Cities suffer untreated sewage. China Daily, August 31, 3. 111. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. Drinking water gets top priority in new plan. China Daily, November 27, 3. 112. Zhu, Wutai. 2007. SEPA chief outlines vision for clean drinking water. China Daily, November 22, 5. 113. Sun, Xiaohua. 2008. 1st National pollution census starts. China Daily, January 56, 1. 114. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. 10% of GDP now comes from sea, says report. China Daily, April 10, 4. 115. Mackinnon, John, Mang Sha, Catherine Cheung, Geoff Carey, Zhu Xiang, and David Melville, A biodiversity review of China. 495. Hong Kong: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International. 116. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. Offshore water quality deteriorates. China Daily, August 45, 2. 117. Yeung, Jonathan. 2007. Red tide returns to Shenzhen coastal area. China Daily, June 7, 4. 118. Qiu, Quanlin. 2007. Pearl River waste harming the sea. China Daily, July 25, 5. 119. Xinhua. 2008. Official vows to cut offshore pollution. China Daily, February 26, 4. 120. Zhao, Huanxin. 2007. No yielding on arable land: Minister. China Daily, July 13, 1. 121. Li, Angchao. 2007. Arable Land Bank continues decline. China Daily, April 13, 3. 122. Fu, Jing. 2007. Land plan to preserve countryside. China Daily, September 25, 1, 2. 123. Li, Fangchao. Minimum land bank to stay in effect. China Daily, June 26, 2007, 3. 124. Dingding Xin. 2008. Authentic land data promised. China Daily, February 28, 3. 125. Li, Fangchao. 2007. Protection of arable Land Banks a joint responsibility: Minister. China Daily, July 13, 4. 126. Li, Fangchao. 2007. Illegal land use poses major threat. China Daily, September 18, 1. 127. Zhao, Huanxin. 2007. Farmers protests decline sharply. China Daily, January 31, 1. 128. Wu, Jiao. 2007. Crackdown on illegal land use. China Daily, December 11, 3. 129. Wu, Jiao. 2008. Illegal land use in cross hairs of new nationwide scheme. China Daily, February 23, 3. 130. Xinhua. 2007. Salt lands may offer solution to land shortage problem. China Daily, December 27, 3.
Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144.
79
145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 150.
151. 152.
153.
154. 155.
156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167. 168.
Xie, Chuanjiao. 2007. 1.7 m Hectares of additional arable land by 2020. China Daily, June 22, 2. Wu, Jiao. 2008. Arable land reserves continue to decline. China Daily, April 17, 3. Saich, Tony 2004. Governance and politics in China. 246268. New York: Palgrave. Greenhalgh, Susan. 2005. Missile science, population science: The origins of Chinas one-child policy. China Quarterly 182: 253276. June. Xinhua. 2008. Hubei Luminaries fined for flouting family rules. China Daily, January 2, 5. Xie, Chuanjiao. 2007. Baby boom set to start next year. China Daily, December 12, 3. Xing, Zhigang. 2008. Population policy will stay for now. China Daily, March 10, 1. Fan, S., L. Zhang, and X. Zhang. 2004. Reforms, investment, and poverty in rural China. Economic Development and Cultural Change 522: 417. National Statistical Bureau of China. 2007. Statistics yearbook of China. Beijing: China Statistics. Huang, Qiuqiong, Scott. Rozelle, B. Lohman, J. Huang, and J. Wang. 2006. Irrigation, agricultural performance and poverty reduction in China. Food Policy 31: 3052. State Council. 2004. Construction Committee of the SouthNorth Water Diversion Project, China South-to-North Water Diversion Project. Beijing, 15. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. Polluters face stiff penalties. China Daily, August 27, 1. Economy, Elizabeth. 2004. The river runs black: The environmental challenge to Chinas future. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Yin, Runsheng, Jintao Xu, Zhou Li, and Can Liu. 2005. Chinas ecological rehabilitation: The unprecedented efforts and dramatic impacts of reforestation and slope protection in western China. Woodrow Wilson Center, China Environment Series, Issue 7, 19. China Daily. 1998. Afforestation tops priority list among former loggers. June 10, 3. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. More nature reserves to protect forests. China Daily, December 5, 4 Liang, Chao. 2005. China 2020: A greener and leaner landscape. China Daily, August 1, 2. Harkness, James. 1998. Recent trends in forestry and conservation of biodiversity in China. China Quarterly 15651: 924. December. Fu, Jing. 2007. Forest reform on horizon. China Daily, August 16, 3. Xu, Zhigang, M.T. Bennett, Ran Tao, and Jintao Xu. 2004. Chinas sloping land conversion programme four years on: Current situation and pending issues. Internatinonal Forestry Review 634: 317. Xu, J. T., and Y. Y. Cao. 2001. Converting steep cropland to forest and grassland: Efficiency and prospects of sustainability. International Economic Review (in Chinese) (2): 5660. Zhi, Ling, Nuyun Li, Juan Wang, and Fanbin Kong. 2004. A discussion on the economic compensation system for conversion of cropland to forestland in western China. Scientia Silvae Sinicae (in Chinese) 402: 18. March. Xu, Jintao, Ran Tao, and Zhigang Xu. 2004. Sloping land conversion program: Cost-effectiveness, structural effect and economic sustainability. China Economic Quarterly (in Chinese) 41: 160. October. Ministry of Land and Resources. 2004. 2003 China national report on land and resources. Beijing. Xu, Zhigang, Jintao Xu, Xiangzheng Deng, Jikun Huang, Emi Uchida, and Scott Roelle. 2006. Grain for green versus grain: Conflict between food security and conservation set-aside in China. World Development 341: 130148. Deng, Xiangzheng, Jikun Huang, Scott Rozelle, and Emi Uchida. 2006. Cultivated land conversion and potential agricultural productivity in China. Land Use Policy 23: 372384. Su, Yongzhong, and Peixi Su. 2006. Ecological effects of converting crops to grass in the marginal lands of Linze Oasis in the middle of Heihe River Basin. In ed. Liu, 445450. Wu, Yong. 2007. Reforestation plan put on hold. China Daily, September 12, 2. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. Tree plan being retooled. China Daily, September 20, 3. Sun, Xiaohua. 2007. Returning farmland to forests to protect income, farmers told. China Daily, October 11, 2. State Council. 2007. Notification on the completion of the Tuigeng Huanlin policy. August 9. Xinhua. 2007. Grain yield exceeds 500 m ton. China Daily, December 24, 3. Wang, Ying. 2007. Country is able to meet grain needs. China Daily, November 22, 3. Diao, Ying. 2007. Grain export tax rebate dumped. China Daily, December 18, 13. Diao, Ying. 2008. Govt sets export tariff on grains. China Daily, January 2, 14. Wu, Jiao. 2008. Tight supply may hit grain stability. China Daily, January 4, 4. Huang, Jikun. 2004. Is Chinas grain security facing great challenge? Science & Technology Review (in Chinese) 17. Wu, Jiao. 2007. Ministry forecasts bumper harvest. China Daily, July 12, 3
80
169. Fu, Jing. 2007. Agriculture Chief has thought for food and plenty on his plate. China Daily, October 15, supplement 1. 170. Zheng, Chao, Zongwen Liao, Kexing Liu, and Xiaoyun Mao. 2004. Effects of fertilizer on agriculture and environment. Ecology and Environment (in Chinese) 131: 134138. 171. Tan, Shukui, and Buzhuo Peng. 2003. Examination of cultivated land utilization to guarantee our grain security. Economic Geography (in Chinese) 233: 371374. May. 172. Wang, Ying. 2007. Hi-tech measures to increase grain yield. China Daily, July 17, 3.
Jerry McBeath is professor of political science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Jenifer Huang McBeath is professor of plant pathology/biotechnology, also at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China: J OF CHIN POLIT SCI (2009) 14:49 - 80 DOI 10.1007/s11366-008-9036-4

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China: J OF CHIN POLIT SCI (2009) 14:49 - 80 DOI 10.1007/s11366-008-9036-4

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China: J OF CHIN POLIT SCI (2009) 14:49 - 80 DOI 10.1007/s11366-008-9036-4

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

J OF CHIN POLIT SCI (2009) 14:4980 DOI 10.

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

For early studies, see [1], and [2].

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Table 1 Chinas population, selected years

Source: China Statistical Yearbook, 2007, 105

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

See [21]. Cartier [23], 452. Ibid.

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

One example of a recent study is: [31].

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

See also [4850].

Also see [56].

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Personal interview with NGO representative, Beijing, January 11, 2005.

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 150.

Jerry McBeath is professor of political science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

You might also like