Agriculture, Food Security & Rural Planning~

Why food security is a top priority for China

February 25, 2024 CEN_com 0

China’s leaders and policymakers regard food security as a “top national priority” (国之大者). At the recent Central Rural Work Conference in Beijing, China, held on December 18-19, 2023, and convened by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the challenges and current situation of the “three rurals” (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers) was discussed, with special attention paid to the country’s food security.  This comes amid the growing importance placed on food security by Xi […]

Food security China’s first priority 

February 6, 2024 CEN_com 0

It’s a tradition now in China: The government’s first policy statement of the year focuses on agriculture and rural development. For 2024, the “No. 1 central document” prioritizes food security and preventing a large-scale return to poverty. For the first time, the document mentions a project called “Thousand Villages Demonstration and Ten Thousand Villages Renovation.” As commentators Zheng Linyi and JI Chen explain, the project was a remarkably successful rural vitalization initiative from Xi Jinping’s […]

Nature conservation – China’s approach

February 5, 2024 CEN_com 0

Ecological redlines – China is undergoing a great experiment — tightly controlled and driven by big data — that it hop es will offer an alternative way of protecting the planet. In an effort that often goes unnoticed, China’s leadership is pushing further to build what Jessica Gordon of the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment once called the “world’s most comprehensive ecosystem-based land planning strategy” and […]

China enhances agricultural sustainability

January 26, 2024 CEN_com 0

China enhances agricultural sustainability and farm incomes while maintaining national crop production on existing croplands though crop switching The Green Revolution of the 1960s brought unprecedented increases in global food supply to meet a rapidly rising demand. However, the promotion of relatively few high-yielding crops and the accompanying input-intensive practices — such as fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation — used to grow those crops has led to serious compromises for nutritional […]

China targets 25% wastewater reuse by 2025

January 3, 2024 CEN_com 0

China’s water-scarce cities to reach 25% wastewater reuse by 2025. During the past decades of rapid development in wastewater treatment, China has accomplished the transition of wastewater treatment from underdevelopment to an industrial powerhouse. China accounts for 21% of the world’s population but only has 6% of the world’s freshwater resource, and it also has the largest amount of sewage discharge. Rapid urbanization and industrialization have created enormous challenges to […]

How China ensures food security

November 25, 2023 CEN_com 0

How is China ensuring food security for 1.4 billion people? Although pandemics, extreme weather events, and geopolitical conflicts have led to disruptions in food supply chains and rising international food prices, there is no shortage of food for the world’s population. However, hunger continues to affect millions of people. According to the latest State of Food Insecurity and Nutrition in the World report, between 691 and 783 million people will go hungry […]

Nigeria benefits from Chinese solar

November 21, 2023 CEN_com 0

Off-grid solar systems present a valuable alternative for Nigerians affected by frequent blackouts. Nigeria has the largest population in Africa – 224 million people, placing it sixth in the world, just behind Indonesia and Pakistan, and more than the combined populations of Germany, France and the UK. Most Nigerians living in cities experience frequent power cuts, while three-quarters of rural Nigerians remain without access to electricity at all. One solution to this […]

Growing rice in the Dubai desert?

November 1, 2023 CEN_com 0

Chinese scientists successfully grow rice in Dubai desert. Rice is a food staple of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yet the country is almost wholly reliant on food imports and food security is a national priority. In 2018, the UAE launched its National Food Security Strategy to increaseproduction by 30-40% in 10 years. The UAE’s plan is for half the food consumed in the Emirates to be produced locally by […]

China approves GM corn and soybean

October 29, 2023 CEN_com 0

China’s Food Security: Commercial use of genetically modified corn and soybeans approved. According to a report in the South China Morning Post, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has approved genetically modified (GM) varieties of corn and soybean for commercial use after years of trials and public controversy over the technology’s safety. The shift comes as China renews its focus on food security and self-sufficiency, particularly for the mostly […]

Africa adopts Chinese hybrid rice

October 20, 2023 CEN_com 0

The water-saving and drought-resistant rice developed by the Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center has passed various approvals in several African countries, such as Uganda in the second half of last year, according to a researcher at the center. Kenya and other African countries are part of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat for the conservation and sustainable use of waterlands, Liu Zaochang, head of the SAGC’s […]