Supported by:

Research by China agricultural economics group at The University of Queensland on sustainable development and grassland degradation in China’s pastoral region
by Dr Colin G Brown and Dr Scott Waldron, School of Natural and Rural Systems Management, The University of Queensland

Overview

The China Agricultural Economics Group (CAEG) based at the University of Queensland has been engaged in collaborative research on China for almost two decades. Professor John Longworth and Dr Colin Brown have been lead academics within the group while Scott Waldron has been a full-time research officer and fellow within the group since 1997. Key collaborating Chinese research organizations in CAEG include the Chinese Research Centre for Rural Economy, the Institute of Agricultural Economics within the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Rural Development Institute within the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The CAEG has been involved in a wide range of agricultural economics research in China with a particular focus on ruminant livestock and rural development. Some of the research activities they have been involved in include: 

• Comparative profitability and budgeting analysis of ruminant livestock production systems

• Economic and agribusiness analysis of marketing channels and market segments

• Detailed modeling and development of decision making models of livestock product processing enterprises (e.g. textile mills, abattoirs)

• Institutional analysis of industry and administrative structures

• Analysis of industry, trade, marketing and resource management policies

Findings of this research have been widely published with over eleven books in English and nine books in Chinese. Further details of the research activities and publications of the CAEG can be found at: http://www.nrsm.uq.edu.au/agecon/

Previous research by CAEG related to pastoral region development and grassland degradation

Many of the research projects conducted by the CAEG have involved the pastoral region. From 1989 to 1994, the CAEG conducted an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Project on wool production and marketing in China which involved extensive fieldwork in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Gansu. Apart from the economic analysis of the sheep and wool industry, the project had a major focus on sustainable development and grassland degradation. The project was one of the first thorough economic analysis conducted in the pastoral region and one of the key books to come out of the project (Longworth, J.W. and Willaimson G.J. 1993 China’s pastoral region: sheep and wool, minority nationalities, rangeland degradation and sustainable development, CAB International, Wallingford, ISBN 0 85198 890 3) has been widely referred to in subsequent studies. This book along with another key project book examining agribusiness reforms (Longworth, J.W. and Brown, C.G. 1995 Agribusiness reforms in China: the case of wool, CAB International, Wallingford, ISBN 0 85198 951 9) have both been translated into Chinese.

In the second half of the 1990s, the CAEG group conducted a series of projects investigating the socio-economic and agribusiness developments in the Chinese cattle and beef industries. This project examined the beef industry in over 14 different provinces and municipalities including pastoral areas in Inner Mongolia, Sichuan and Yunnan. A project was also conducted on the Chinese sheepmeat industry for Meat and Livestock Australia between 2003 and 2004 with fieldwork focused in Inner Mongolia and Shandong. One aspect of this project was to examine the impact of the rapid growth of the sheepmeat industry in pastoral areas.

From 2001 to 2004, the CAEG conducted another ACIAR project on the Chinese wool textile industry. Part of this project involved a detailed analysis of the supply chains for domestic wool with fieldwork centered on Yili Prefecture in Xinjiang, Sunan County in Gansu and Chifeng City and Wushen County in Inner Mongolia. This sub-project examined the incentives of pastoral households to raise sheep for wool relative to meat, and also the way domestic wool marketing channels could be improved to enhance its value to wool textile mills.

Current sustainable development and grassland degradation research

The CAEG is currently involved in another ACIAR project entitled 'Sustainable development of grasslands in western China'. The project has a focus on livestock farming systems and is an integrative project examining the biophysical, economic and policy elements of the system. The CAEG component is associated with the policy and economics side and is examining three main areas namely:

• Grassland policies, regulations and strategies. Muchattention has focused on the new national Grasslands Law. However, there are a myriad of grassland regulations, programs and strategies. This part of the analysis examines ways in which the various regulations can be better co-ordinated as well as aligning or reconciling differing policy objectives at the central and local level. It also examines the issue of how a 'uniform' policy can be applied across a very heterogeneous sector, as well as conducts some investigation of the economic impacts of policy measures and options on pastoral households.

• Other policies. Apart from the Grasslands Law and related regulations and programs, there are many other policies that impact on pastoral households such as vertical integration, household specialization and livestock industry development and marketing policies. Many of these policies are general policies originally designed for agricultural areas. However characteristics of the pastoral region present special challenges for these policies and the study examines ways in which these policies could be better tailored to the conditions of the pastoral region. It also investigates ways of enhancing the synergies between these policies and grassland regulations as well as avoiding or at least minimizing unintended or unforeseen side effects of these other policies.

• Industry and administrative structures. Industry and administrative structures are a key aspect of sustainable livelihoods and resource management at all levels, including at the household level. This part of the analysis examines the relative merits of a top-down or bottom-up approach to industry development and environmental management. Various organizational forms (such as groups, associations, enterprise-household contracts) are evaluated in terms of their ability to facilitate (either or both) access of small households to premium markets and desirable resource management practices and outcomes. To operate effectively, some of these organizational structures require support or access to services such as extension and information. As such, the analysis seeks to identify what role the government may have in the provision of these services. Another aspect of this part of the analysis is an investigation of household specialization in terms of incomes, risks, the opportunities it affords and challenges it presents.

The size of the current project limits the extent to which these policy areas can be explored and there is considerable scope to expand the regions and policies investigated as well as the depth of analysis. In addition, rigorous economic modeling and analysis of the impact of alternative activities, management practices and grazing regulations on the profitability and viability of households is needed to aid formulation of future grazing policies and livestock systems.