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The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
  • China Environment Forum  //  Choke Point

    20 Years After Doomsday Predictions, China Is Feeding Itself, But Global Impacts Remain Unclear

    March 3, 2014 By Susan Chan Shifflett

    How has China managed to feed nearly one-quarter of the world’s population with only seven percent of the world’s arable land?

    In 1995, Lester Brown forecasted doom and gloom for China’s ability to produce enough grain for its people, in his popular book, Who Will Feed China? He hypothesized that China would be forced to buy grain from abroad, thereby seriously disrupting world food markets.

    “China has been able to meet grain production targets year after year”

    But, says Christine Boyle, co-author of a recently released World Bank report on China’s water and food security through 2030, China has proved naysayers wrong. Thanks to improved smallholder farms and land diversity, “China has been able to meet grain production targets year after year despite large portions of the country stricken by drought,” Boyle says in an interview with the Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum.

    However, as domestic farmland and water become more polluted and agriculture increasingly competes with industry for the same precious water resources, China has also turned to the global commodity market and buying farmland abroad to augment this strategy. And the effect of this shift overseas remains unclear.

    Sources: UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

    Video Credit: Susan Chan Shifflett/Wilson Center.

    Topics: agriculture, Asia, China, China Environment Forum, Choke Point, consumption, development, economics, environment, featured, food security, international environmental governance, land, natural resources, video
    • TD

      Where can we get the complete report and not just the Exec Summary?

      • Susan Shifflett

        Hi TD, Please email Christine Boyle (christine@bluehorizoninsight.com) for a copy of the full report. Thanks!

    • LM

      The effects of land grabs on Africa is given a blind eye. Also very in specific about smallholder farmers and balance between 2 strategies. Very disappointing.

      • Susan Chan Shifflett

        Hi LM,
        Thanks for watching and your feedback. Land grabs on Africa and balancing the 2 strategies are both very important issues. However, in this short video we unfortunately were not able to discuss these topics in-depth.

        However, in our work at China Environment Forum we plan to dive deeper into these issues. Feel free to email me susan.shifflett@wilsoncenter.org with any other thoughts.

        Thanks,
        Susan

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