Stepping stones towards sustainable agriculture in China An overview of challenges, policies and responses Andreas Wilkes and Lanying Zhang Country Report Food and agriculture Keywords: March 2016 China, agriculture, agricultural policies, sustainability, food systems About the authors Andreas Wilkes, Director, Values for development Ltd ([email protected]) Lanying Zhang, Executive Deputy Dean, Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Southwest University, Chongqing, China ([email protected]) Produced by IIED’s Natural Resources Group The aim of the Natural Resources Group is to build partnerships, capacity and wise decision-making for fair and sustainable use of natural resources. Our priority in pursuing this purpose is on local control and management of natural resources and other ecosystems. Acknowledgements The authors thank Seth Cook and Barbara Adolph of IIED for comments on drafts of this report, and participants in the workshop on Sustainable Agricultural Development and Cooperation held in Beijing on 20th March 2015. Published by IIED, March 2016 Wilkes, A and Zhang, L (2016) Stepping stones towards sustainable agriculture in China: an overview of challenges, policies and responses. IIED, London. http://pubs.iied.org/14662IIED ISBN: 978-1-78431-325-8 International Institute for Environment and Development 80-86 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8NH, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 3463 7399 Fax: +44 (0)20 3514 9055 email: [email protected] www.iied.org @iied www.facebook.com/theIIED Download more publications at www.iied.org/pubs COUNTRY REPORT In only a few decades, agriculture in China has evolved from a diverse “agriculture without waste” to one involving specialised, high-external input, resource-intensive, commercially-oriented models. This report charts this evolution, with a focus on sustainability – economic, environmental and social. It asks how China’s modern development is affecting sustainability in farming and the rural environment, and looks in detail at the influence of policies and measures to transform agricultural production systems in more sustainable ways. The report concludes by considering some of the challenges and opportunities that could shape sustainable agriculture in China in the future. Contents Acronyms and abbreviations 4 4 The policy framework for sustainable agriculture 33 Summary 5 4.1 Key elements of China’s national agricultural policy 34 1 Background and introduction 6 4.2 Policies to address key sustainability 1.1 What do we mean by ‘sustainable agriculture’? 7 challenges 38 1.2 An agriculture of forty centuries 7 4.3 Policy support for sustainable agriculture 43 1.3 Recent transformations 8 5 Conclusions: the many stepping stones to 2 Diversity and change in China’s agriculture agricultural sustainability 49 today 13 5.1 A unique approach to sustainable agriculture 50 2.1 Agricultural patterns in China’s regions 14 5.2 An increasingly supportive policy environment 50 2.2 Diversified farming systems 18 5.3 Clearer, more secure and longer term land 2.3 A variety of farm enterprises 19 tenure 51 2.4 Changing marketing systems 21 5.4 Scaled up and increasingly integrated supply 3 Agricultural sustainability issues 23 chains 52 5.5 Increasingly market-led development 52 3.1 Resource and environmental challenges 24 3.2 Socio-economic and institutional challenges 29 www.iied.org 3 STEPPING STONES TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN CHINA Acronyms and abbreviations CCP Chinese Communist Party CDFA China Food and Drug Administration CNY Chinese Yuan CSA Community Supported Agriculture DDT dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane GDP gross domestic product GVAO gross value of agricultural output ha hectare HCH hexachlorocyclohexane kg kilograms kW kilowatt mWh megawatt hours N nitrogen NGO non-governmental organisation p.a. per annum (per year) R&D research and development STFR Soil Testing and Fertiliser Programme WUA water user association 4 www.iied.org IIED COUNTRY REPORT Summary Farming in China has seen dramatic changes in the These challenges to sustainability are well-recognised in last few decades. The traditional, highly diverse, China, and many government policies and programmes integrated and resource-recycling approach which are being implemented to address them. For example, historically has provided food for almost a fifth of the recently issued National Plan for Sustainable mankind, and employment for more than 200 million Development of Agriculture (2015–2030) will provide farming households, is rapidly being replaced by the overarching framework for government policies specialised, high-external input, resource-intensive, and in the years to come. Specific challenges are being commercially-oriented models. This report explores tackled through a variety of policies, For example, what sustainable agriculture looks like in this context, institutional mechanisms have been set up to avoid and outlines the emerging policy and market-based further net loss of arable land. Soil nutrient testing and opportunities for its expansion. fertiliser formulation, water-saving irrigation technologies and livestock waste treatment measures are all being The report first sets the scene through an overview of promoted to tackle pollution. The government is also the historical evolution of Chinese agriculture, focusing expanding specific forms of sustainable agriculture, on the major changes since the economic reforms including ecological and circular agriculture models, of the 1980s. It describes the key drivers of growth and organic agriculture. at national and regional level, and the diversity of cropping and livestock systems across the country. In The report concludes by highlighting some key issues describing recent reforms to rural land tenure systems, that will affect the future course of efforts to pursue the emergence of large-scale agricultural enterprises, agricultural sustainability in the coming years. While and the transformation of supply chains and marketing the policy environment for sustainable agriculture has systems, it provides important context for understanding become increasingly supportive, the development and both the institutional environment for smallholder implementation of government policies and measures production today, and the focus of government policies can be strengthened by information feedbacks on the in the sector. effects of policy implementation and by giving greater voice to farmers in decision-making processes and All these changes, along with broader transformations research and extension. Ongoing land tenure reforms, such as large scale rural-urban migration, are driving development of the rural social security system and the environmental, social and institutional challenges reforms to urban citizenship rights will have major facing China’s agriculture sector today. Urban expansion impacts on farmers’ livelihood options, the values they has been a major driver of the loss of arable land, with attach to land, and their investment decisions. Thus, the the quality of remaining arable land also a concern. outcomes for farmers of future changes in the agri-food Low fertility and other factors are limiting the potential sector will not only depend on specific agricultural for yield increases to meet growing food demand. policies. Within the agriculture sector, the diverse Agriculture is the largest user of water, but water use impacts of policies to promote large-scale production efficiency is low, and climate change may increase and supply-chain integration deserve greater attention. the scarcity of water resources. Both land and water China’s food system will continue to undergo rapid are affected by pollution. Excessive and inappropriate change. The opportunities for farmers and companies to use of fertiliser and livestock waste are two leading engage in, innovate and promote sustainable agricultural causes of water pollution. Rural industry and mining practices will depend on the collaborative relationships have also led to heavy metal contamination of soils, that they are able to build with each other and with affecting food safety. Large-scale rural-urban migration government agencies. is having major impacts on agricultural labour supply, affecting farming families’ ability to maintain sustainable practices such as manuring, crop residue recycling and the reuse of biogas residues. It is also driving efforts to aggregate fragmented land holdings into larger-scale agricultural operations. www.iied.org 5 STEPPING STONES TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN CHINA Background and introduction Endowed with a diversity of ecosystems, geography has profoundly influenced the historical development of agriculture in China. This chapter identifies what ‘sustainable agriculture’ means in China’s diverse context, before reviewing the diversity of its farming systems in both time and space. It also examines the factors behind recent major productivity increases. 16 www.iied.org IIED COUNTRY REPORT China is a huge country encompassing a diversity of more on environmental aspects, some stressing the agro-ecosystems and a range of agricultural production need to ensure food security, and others emphasising systems managed by more than 200 million households. aspects of social justice or the need to provide Together they provide agricultural products to meet economic opportunities for rural people. Identifying the needs of almost one-fifth of mankind. Agriculture ‘sustainable agriculture’ is especially difficult in China’s fulfils numerous key functions – the provision of diverse context