7th workshop meeting of the IAMO China-IRG

26 March 2013

How do rural households react on increased long-term security of land rights? This is a major research question addressed in one out of six new (or fairly new) projects that were discussed during the seventh workshop of the IAMO China research group. New land rights institutions (particularly on land rental) as introduced under the “Chengdu Experiment” provided a unique chance for Kristin Leimer, PhD student in the research group, to collect data in Sichuan and use them to anticipate how land rights reforms may impact on household welfare, agricultural production and the ecology. The group discussed how different angles, from which farmers’ behavior could be looked at, implying different a priori assumptions, can complement each other in understanding complex systems.
Another view on farm household behavior, underpinned by ‘induced innovation theory’, is empirically tested by Yueqing Ji and Yanjie Zhang. Their research on organizational adjustments to increasing scarcity of farm labor due to out-migration of labor from rural areas models choices between investing into labor-saving machinery, participating in a market for agricultural services and shifting to labor saving production.
The objective of the workshop was to update each other on the ongoing work and to access expertise in the group on how to address challenges occurring in the individual projects. As in previous meetings, lively discussions inspired well-coordinated research and helped to foster the cohesion among group members. Eefje Aarnoudse, for instance, getting ready for field work on water resource management in Gansu, initiated lively discussions on ways to collect more reliable data on sensitive issues such as water allocation systems. Experience from earlier projects was reported showing that familiarity with research sites and thorough qualitative research should be regarded prerequisites of collecting meaningful quantitative data.
Three research projects presented during the workshop are based on large micro data sets compiled by CCAP, Beijing. Qiran Zhao, engaged in comparing alternative policies to improve elementary students’ nutrition, highlighted problems of measuring individuals’ knowledge on nutrition and anemia. Reliable measures of such knowledge can facilitate to assess potential effects of training parents on child nutrition. Lena Kuhn discussed pros and cons of statistical approaches combining data from two distinct sources (the CCAP Public Investment Survey with Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey) in order to gain insights into the distribution of material well-being in rural China. Lili Jia’ presentation on interrelations between rural roads and non-agricultural labor in Chinese villages inspired discussion on scale effects of this type of infrastructural endowment.
Two guests of the workshop provided additional input and food for thought: Marco Langrock of Halle University presented results of field trials in Inner Mongolia comparing yields and profitability of different management types on large state farms: currently pervasive large scale methods of soy and wheat farming were compared with decentralized farming on small household plots and with methods of modernized mechanization and management proposed in a Sino-German cooperation project (“Ganhe demonstration farm”). While it is clear that stable results on the effects of fertilization cannot yet be expected after the (first) three years of field trials the present preliminary evaluation does not establish clear cut results. Depending on the crop, weather conditions and market prices the ranking of the three farming systems in terms of profitability differs from year to year.
The second input from outside the group was provided by Uwe Hoering, political scientist and publicist from Bonn. The expert in global development issues highlighted recent developments of Chinese agricultural supplies and food markets which have seen fundamental changes in recent years (read German version). Increasing demand for food, feeds and renewable energy has resulted in a surge of Chinese feedstuff imports as well as considerable outward FDI in agricultural production in Central and Southeast Asia as well as in Africa. It remains difficult to assess to what extent modernization and re-organization of domestic farming in China can help meeting those challenges of increased demands. Most of the contributions during the workshop were touching aspects relevant for this big remaining question.