Why China's agricultural system is inefficient
Since a largely man-made famine that started in the late 1950s, in which tens of millions died, China has defied the odds by feeding its people almost entirely on its own. It has provided for one-fifth* of the world’s population with just a tenth of its arable land. Now, as middle-class appetites grow, China is past the point of being able to rely on its own farms. In 2011 it became the world’s largest importer of agricultural products. But China still believes that in order to prevent hunger, the country must produce most, if not all, of its staple foods at home rather than rely on unpredictable world markets, a belief which has led to inefficient food-production practices. So what makes China's agricultural system inefficient? Farmers are being heavily subsidized to produce food that would be cheaper to buy from abroad. They are being encouraged to grow grain on land that is not well suited to it. The result is huge waste and huge pollution: the chemicals used to boost production run off into the water supply. And some of the grain that China stores in its government granaries may not be much help in staving off hunger anyway. Corrupt officials often buy up poor quality grain at low prices to fill the granaries, and tell their superiors they have bought good quality produce. They then pocket the difference. The subsidies China hands out to farmers are in line with global norms. But they are growing fast, even as rich countries scale down their support for agriculture. Given China’s size, these subsidies and the mismanagement of China’s granaries could have an outsize impact on the stability of global food markets. And they cost China a lot. According to the OECD, the country spent $165 billion on support for farmers in 2012, twice as much as five years earlier. Costs will continue to rise—not least because of a shortage of labour, as the young migrate to cities. There is some debate in China about whether food security could be better guaranteed by buying more on global markets. But the party prides itself on its rural origins. It does not want to stoke unrest in the countryside. So it continues to block imports when it feels domestic producers are threatened. The government is still only too willing to keep farmers working on otherwise unprofitable fields. *This has been changed: We originally and incorrectly stated two-fifths.
Comments
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completely rubbish ...!
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The most important thing for prosperity is ignoring what americans say. Im from india, we are actually victims of american ways of agriculture.
Never trust Western media nor does americans. -
the reason is they still fairly have people living through several famines. you can't compare effeciency to a 2 world vs 1st. You also shouldn't rely heavily on foreign product when it comes to life necessity. look a Venezuela, pure dependent on oil, might not exist anymore.
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This puts Chinese/African cooperation in a new light. Africa has provided food stuffs in the past for colonial/imperial powers.
Build the infrastructure to get grown goods out and imported into China. -
I don't see any issues with the stance they are taking. In a conflict free world perhaps relying on imports makes more sense.
Much of the soil shown looks depleted so it is going to be more expensive to grow crops there. -
Export your strengths. Import your weaknesses. However, simple doesn't necessarily mean easy. In this case, China does not want to start a rebellion.
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From a perspective of economics, YES, the Chinese food production is inefficient. But when it comes to national security, it's another story. Anyone could see it, right?
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The video creator obviously doesn’t understand the root cause of the Chinese agriculture inefficiency. China is still a developing country with a huge population to feed. There are simply not enough better pay jobs to absorb many extra work force from the countryside. Traditionally, the Chinese farms are small & family oriented. The average family farm size is just about 1.5 acres versus 400 acres in USA. How can such small farms be efficient? However, there are changes coming, although slowly. Smaller farms are being incorporated into bigger, more efficient farms in many countrysides today; while most of young farmers go to big cities to work and take the rental fees as extra incomes.
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The US spends about $20 billion on farm subsides which I happen to believe is very wasteful. However, the situation in China is on a whole different level. It is actually really interesting to see all the spaces of land that crops are grown even though it is obviously inefficient. For example, you will often see little cliffs on the side of hill growing maybe 5 corn plants.
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China must support the rice and the wheat of China.
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Adopting a vegan diet on a mass scale is the only reliable way to feed a large population like China, meat and dairy takes up huge quantities of land and resources which China (and the world) do not have
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If we give up self sufficiency and start to rely on global market, global food price would soar because of such a huge demand.
Guess what will The Economist say if this happen? -
This hard to believe. If China can feed their people with their own resources then what is the problem. Maybe they don't want to become depend on others for a vital part of life. Food.
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what about India!!!
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Strategically, it is a good idea for China to require self-reliance on food. Great Britain wasn't able to feed itself during WWII without shipments from abroad, Canada and America. They would have starved, even with Victory gardens.
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Yes goyi...I mean chinese, do not farm, buy food from the US, we will sell it cheaply to you
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This obviously is important to prevent famine. I wouldn't trust the rest of the world one bit if I was in the Chinese government.
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What IS that accent!
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Just imagine when they sanction China, food is no problem, unlike North Korea.
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Stopping agriculture is a false economy when you consider the economic and social cost of millions of displaced elderly farmers with few other options.
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