The multiple effects of farmland infrastructure investment on agrifood systems in China—an interdisciplinary model analysis

作者：Yumei Zhang, Ming Lei, Xiangmin Lan, Xiang-Yang Zhang, Shenggen Fan, Ji Gao · 发表于：China Agricultural Economic Review · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1108/caer-08-2023-0209 · 被引用次数：17 · 研究领域：Rural development and sustainability、Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact、Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development

Purpose As one of its major strategies, China has made a new plan to further expand High Standard Farmland (HSF) to all permanent basic farmland (80% of total farmland) for grain security over the next decade. Yet, what will be the impact of farmland infrastructure investment on agrifood systems? The paper aims to systematically evaluate the multiple effects (food security, economy, nutrition and environment) of expanding HSF construction under the context of the “Big Food vision” using an interdisciplinary model. Design/methodology/approach An interdisciplinary model – AgriFood Systems Model, which links the China CGE model to diet and carbon emission modules, is applied to assess the multiple effects of HSF construction on agrifood systems, such as food security and economic development, residents’ diet quality and carbon emissions. Several policy scenarios are designed to capture these effects of the past HSF investment based on counterfactual analysis and compare the effects of HSF future investment at the national level under the conditions of different land use policies – restricting to grain crops or allowing diversification (like vegetables, and fruit). Findings The investments in HSF offer a promising solution for addressing the challenges of food and nutrition security, economic development and environmental sustainability. Without HSF construction, grain production and self-sufficiency would decline significantly, while the agricultural and agrifood systems’ GDP wo...