Why is China in a food crisis?
As the backbone of China's food security, the 250 million smallholders produced about 80% of food in China. Yet they are among the most vulnerable groups, bearing the brunt of the food crisis due to their modest income and limited access to technology and financial support.
China's domestic crop output has been declining due to various reasons including the loss of fertile land, floods and disruptions in the food supply chain caused by geopolitical tensions and COVID lockdown-induced food shortages.
China owns and controls almost 192,000 acres of farmland right here in the United States. To be clear, it's not a huge percentage of our total farm acreage by any stretch. According to the FDA, there are more than 35 million acres of farmland in the U.S. which are owned by foreign investors.
"These food shortages stemmed from Chairman Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, a radical agricultural campaign to make China a communist utopia through rapid industrialization and collectivization," she said.
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Threats to China's Food Security.
| Agricultural Sustainability in Selected Countries (2018) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country | FSI Agricultural Sustainability Ranking (out of 67) | Arable Land (acres per person in 2016) |
| United States | 33 | 1.16 |
| India | 47 | 0.29 |
| China | 57 | 0.21 |
So, too, is a lesser-known phenomenon: China is hoarding key commodities. By mid-2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China will hold 69% of the world's corn reserves, 60% of its rice and 51% of its wheat.
The world's hungriest countries: What we're missing
In 2022, several countries rank around Yemen in terms of hunger levels. They include Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria.
This includes 750,000 people already facing famine conditions in Ethiopia, Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and Afghanistan. Conflict remains the key driver of hunger around the world.
The world population could be too big to feed itself by 2050. By then, there will be almost 10 billion people on the planet and food demand will have increased by 70 percent compared to 2017. Scientists put the limit on how many people Earth can feed at 10 billion - max!
China has been increasingly known in recent years for its expanding share of global grain stocks, intended for food security. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China will have 65% of the world's corn by next year, consistent with recent averages, but a record 53% of the world's wheat will be held there.
What is the main reason of food crisis?
The reasons for hunger and food insecurity are many and vary from country to country, but generally, it is a result of conflict, poverty, economic shocks such as hyperinflation and rising commodity prices and environmental shocks such as flooding or drought.
Conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes and soaring fertilizer prices are combining to create a food crisis of unprecedented proportions. As many as 828 million people are unsure of where their next meal is coming from.
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