Does recent land rights transfer support resilient livelihoods and reduce agricultural GHG emissions in China?

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes G. Heggelund W. Jia

Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, CAAS

INTASAVE Asia - Pacific

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Background• Agricultural sector is vulnerable to climate change• 12% of GHG emissions for global average, 11% in China• Land plots are very fragmented• Extensive migration of rural labor (250 million people• High inputs, low efficiency.

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Land rights transfer (LRT)

• Faced with these environmental, demographic and economic transitions, China’s policy makers are promoting reforms to meet the needs of rural, agricultural and farmers’ development

• In the last 5 years, a range of policies to promote transfer of land use rights have been issued to encourage the development of larger-scale, more competitive and less environmentally damaging farming operations

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Land rights transfer (LRT)

• Around one third of China’s farmland is now rented for cultivation by specialized households, cooperatives or companies, and family farms

• In Shandong Province, 23.3% of farmland is now transferred to – 9220 specialized operators– 38 thousand family farms– 142 thousand farmers’ cooperatives

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Effects of LRTY. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

The objective is to increase understanding of the implications of land rights transfers to addressing climate change. Specific objectives to identify LRT on net GHG emissions and adaptation, to

quantify the costs and benefits of LRT to exploit synergies and identify trade-off between greenhouse

gas mitigation and adaptation to provide recommendations for policy makers on how to

promote the synergies and address the trade-off

ObjectivesY. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Approaches• Questionnaire survey and participatory rural appraisal

– Open questions to: 1) Government officials at different levels; 2) Relevant experts; 3) Specialized households, family farms, cooperatives and agriculture-related enterprises; and 4) Farmers

– Open question categories: Relevant policies? Impacts of LRT on farmers livelihood, application of advanced tech.? Possible positive and negative impacts on agricultural production?

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Selection of survey targets

• Four agro-ecosystems in Shandong Province according to geomorphology, soil, climate

• Select three scaled-up operators in each agro-ecosystem • Select at least 30 households nearby each of scaled-up

operator;• Three categories: poor, middle, and well-off categories, a

list prepared by village leader(10 well-off, 10 middle, 10 poor).

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Approaches• 11 farm cooperatives and family

farm and 350 households have been surveyed；

• At least 7 farm cooperatives, family farm or agricultural related enterprises and 210 households will be surveyed before Chinese New Year

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Approaches• Questionnaire survey and participatory rural appraisal

– Questionnaire survey: 1) General information; 2) Fertilization; 3) Irrigation; 4) Pest and disease control; 5) Mulching film utilization; 6) Tillage; 7) Sowing; 8)Harvesting; 9) Crop straw utilization; 10) Agricultural outputs

Photo Photo

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Approaches

• Analysis of the effects of LRT on mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and analysis of synergies and trade-offs – GHG emissions: analyze the impacts of different LRT models

on management practices and their implications on GHG emissions, emission intensity based on yield and/or outputs

– Adaptation: analyze the impacts of different LRT models on the adoption of technologies, agricultural outputs, crop yield and yield stability and sustainability

– Identify synergies and possible trade-offs between mitigation and adaptation

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

CASE I: Boxin Agricultural Sciences and Technology Co. LTD• Land transferred from farmers: 400 ha• Scope of business: Seed and grain production• Cropping system: Wheat-maize rotation

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Case II: Taiyu Planting Cooperative

Shandong Taiyu Planting CooperativeComprehensive agricultural companyScope of business: Seed and grain production, storage and

food processing, swine raising, biogas digesters Land transferred from farmers: 1330 haCropping system: Wheat-maize rotation

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

CASE II: Taiyu Planting Cooperative

N2O, CO2

CO2

CO2, CH4 and N2O

N2O and CH4 emissionCO2 displaced electricity

SOC stock increase

SOC stock increase

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

LRT effects on inputsIn

put (

kg/h

a)

Inpu

t (kg

/ha)

Input comparison between scaled operation and household farming

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

LRT effects on production costPr

oduc

tion

cost

(Yua

n/ha

)

–Lower production cost, by 30% • Lower fertilizer price• Lower cost for tillage, sowing

and harvest

The cost comparison between scaled operation and household farming

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Adaptive capacity increased after LRT

• Changes in management, compared with that of local farmers:– Cultivation of drought, saline-alkaline resistant varieties. The

renewal of varieties in 3-4 years; Multiple crop verities each year; Multiple crops including vegetables

– Reliable and timely irrigation with adequate wells, water saving irrigation systems, and other water saving farming techniques

– Seed coated with pesticide, timely and synchronously pest and disease control

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Adaptive capacity increased after LRT

• Straw amendment and organic fertilizer application to increase soil productivity

• Lower production cost by 30% • Crop insurance for risk sharing

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

LRT effects on GHG emissions-Case IWheat/Maize

GHG emission from production (kg CO2e/ha) 3416GHG emission from storage(t CO2e/y) 277

Total GHG emissions (t CO2e/year) 1643

GHG Intensity (kg CO2e/kg grain) 0.205

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

LRT effects on GHG emissions-CASE IIY. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

LRT effects on GHG emissions-Local farmersWheat/Maize

GHG emission from production (kg CO2e/ha) 3075GHG Intensity (kg CO2e/kg grain) 0.228

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Mitigation Effect of LRT

• Planting crops and raising livestock, organic fertilizer application increased and there is a potential to increase SOC stock

• Higher area scaled GHG emissions for production • More machinery• More irrigation

• Lower GHG emission intensity (yield scaled) (from the two cases)• More renewable energy

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Improved adaptation capacity through new varieties, reliable irrigation, pest and disease control

Reduced production cost by 30%Reduced GHG emission intensity through straw amendment and

organic fertilizer application Stabilized farmers net income and easy life

Does recent land rights transfer support resilient livelihoods and reduce agricultural GHG emissions in China?

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Implications for implementation of Paris Agreement

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Paris Agreement• The INDC structure is central and universal for all parties (Article 3)• Article 4 importantly describes transparency requirements (domestic monitoring,

reporting, and verification).• Each Party shall regularly provide the following information(Article 13)

– A national inventory report of emissions and removals of greenhouse gases;– Information necessary to track progress made in implementing and achieving its

INDC under Article 4.• COP shall periodically take stock of the implementation of this Agreement. The first

global stocktake will be in 2023 and every five years thereafter• All countries must eventually face the same monitoring and reporting requirements,

regardless of their status as developed or developing.

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Intended National Determined Contributions

• China submitted its INDCs to UNFCCC. The commitments by 2030 are as follows: – To achieve the peaking of carbon dioxide emissions around 2030 and

making best efforts to peak early; – To lower carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 60% to 65% from

the 2005 level; – To increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy

consumption to around 20%; and – To increase the forest stock volume by around 4.5 billion cubic meters

on the 2005 level.

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia.

2016.

Intended National Determined Contributions

• In agricultural sector• To promote the low-carbon development in agriculture, making

efforts – to achieve zero growth of fertilizer and pesticide utilization by

2020– to control methane emissions from rice fields and nitrous oxide

emissions from farmland– to construct a recyclable agriculture system, promoting

comprehensive utilization of straw and animal waste

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia. 2016.

The gaps

Gaps to meet transparency requirements of PA

National or sectoral monitoring, verification and reporting guidelines or standards in agricultural sector

Methodologies and default parameters for accounting GHG emissions from agricultural activities in different levels

What kind of information is necessary to track progress made in implementing and achieving its

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia. 2016.

Progress: Accounting methodology

Submitted to NDRC for approval of accounting and reporting guideline

After the trial period, it will be submitted to National Standard Committee

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia. 2016.

Agriculture has an important position in China’s economy

• Total agricultural GDP RMB 5.7 trillion Yuan and it accounted for about 10.0% in 2013

Sources: China Statistic Yearbook 2014

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia. 2016.

Key Challenges of Agriculture In China Challenges Impacts

Per capita arable land (1.3 Mu) resources in China are limited. Land plots are very fragmented

A barrier to Achieving scale economies Reducing costs in productionApplication of advanced tech.Market competitiveness Profitability of farming

Extensive migration of rural labor (250 million people, around 80% of them are educated young adults at age 20-50

Availability and the structure of farm laborLow land utilizationAccess advanced tech. and market info.Lower net income

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia. 2016.

Key challenges of agriculture in China

Challenges Impacts

High inputs, low efficiency. Fertilizer per hectare is 4 times higher than the world’s average, 60% of water consumption, 1.8million t pesticides

Non-point pollution

Waste of resources

Extreme climate events and climate change

In decrease of wheat and corn yields by about 5%

Main source of greenhouse gas emissions, 11% of total GHG emissions in China in 2005.

To reduce GHG emissions will bring addition burden to agriculture production

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia. 2016.

Thank you for your attention

Y. Li, YC Zhu, A. Wilkes, G. Heggelund, W. Jia. 2016.