Unexpected Results from China's Agricultural Subsidies Policy

Abstract

Given the huge demand for food created by China's large population and the high cost of transporting food across such a large nation, a food security strategy based on local self-sufficiency seems vital. To encourage agricultural production, agricultural subsidies have therefore been implemented since 1997. Although subsidies to support food production in China arose from the desire to combat poverty and hunger, they may have instead led to adverse health impacts, food insecurity, and environmental degradation because the complexity of socioeconomic systems prevented governments from fully understanding the relationships among the many factors in such systems. China therefore faces enormous challenges before it can attain sustainable food production at levels high enough to end hunger, without undesirable consequences.

Keywords:

• combating poverty
• environmental degradation
• food insecurity
• human health
• subsidies
• sustainable development

Acknowledgments

We thank Geoffrey Hart in Montréal, Canada, for his help in writing this article. We also thank our colleagues for their comments on this article before submission.