Project

10.01.2013

Climate Change and China’s Agricultural Sector: Impacts, Adaptation, and Mitigation

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Economic studies show that climate change will affect not only agricultural production, but also agricultural prices, trade and food self-sufficiency. The research presented here indicates that producer responses to these climate- induced shocks will lessen the impacts of climate change on agricultural production compared to the effects predicted by many natural scientists. This study projects the impacts of climate change on China’s agricultural sector under the A2 scenario developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which assumes a heterogeneous world with continuous population growth and regionally-oriented economic growth. Depending on the assumptions used related to CO2 fertilization, in 2030 the projected impacts of climate change on grain production range from -4 percent to +6 percent, and the effects on crop prices range from -12 percent to +18 percent. The change in relative prices in domestic and international markets will in turn impact trade flows of all commodities. The magnitude of the impact on grain trade in China will equal about 2 to 3 percent of domestic consumption. According to our analysis, trade can and should be used to help China mitigate the impacts of climate change; however, the overall impact on China’s grain self-sufficiency is moderate because the changes in trade account for only a small share of China’s total demand.

Read more: Climate Change and China’s Agricultural Sector: An Overview of Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation : http://www.agritrade.org/events/documents/ClimateChangeChina_final_web.pdf

Contact:

Jinxia Wang
Jikun Huang – Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Science
Scott Rozelle – Stanford University

TAGS:

  • climate induced migration
  • impacts of climate change on agriculture