Sustainability analysis of urban agriculture in Beijing, China - Research Paper Example

Number 7 April Sustainability Analysis of Urban Agriculture in Beijing, China Introduction The agricultural sector is the main stage for producing food worldwide. Historically, agricultural production has managed to satisfy the food demands from a rapidly increasing population. However, the scenario at present is totally reversed. There is an apparent decrease of food supply leaving over 1 billion people hungry. Jiang stated that the International Fund for Agriculture Development projected that the food supply will need to increase by 60% to sustain mankind (par. 7). The dilemma on food production can be tightly connected with the increasing rate of urbanization. The rapid growth of the world economy and exponential increase in the world population may be considered as some of the reasons for the increasing urban areas. Associated with this change is a large shift of human activities towards the urban areas with significant effects on the agricultural sector. In 2008, the rural population has been exceeded by the urban population for the first time. The world’s urban population as projected by the United Nations will continue to grow by more than a billion people between 2010 and 2025, while the rural population which is viewed to be the agricultural producers, will hardly grow at all. The insignificant growth in rural areas can suggest that the proportion of the global population may not suffice the demands of increasing population not producing food (Satterthwaite et. al. 2809). One way to increase the food availability especially on cities is through urban agriculture as an alternative for conventional agricultural food production in rural areas. This method of food production can be done both in urban and peri-urban areas where it is expected to be integrated into the economic and ecological system (RUAF Foundation par. 1). One of the countries that have enormous population in urban areas is China. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics 2009, the number of urban residents in China had already reached 622 million - a population well over twice the size of the entire U.S. but still just 47% of China’s total (Kwan par.1). Around the many very large and fast-growing cities in China, Beijing is one of the cities wherein intensification of agricultural production is taking place at an accelerated pace (Wolf et. al. 142). In this regard, it is reported that the country will push forward urbanization in an active and stable manner, focusing on gradually transferring farmers qualified for urban household permits into cities (“China expects urbanization rate to be at 51.5% by 2015” par. 2). This opens the opportunity for China to adopt urban agriculture. In fact, Beijing has an increased adoption peri-urban agriculture since 1950’s. The technology proved to sustain some non-staple foods such as milk and vegetables and improved the quality of food available as opposed to quantity in the city (Jianming 40). Despite of the good news that urban agriculture brought to the food supply chain, one must also examine its sustainability. As part of the world’s intensification of agriculture to increase productivity, maximum concern must be placed for the long-term environmental and economic sustainability (Gilis par. 3). It has been defined by Gold (par. 4) of United States Department of Agriculture that sustainability in agriculture involves the long-term integrated system of plant and animal production that will “satisfy human needs, enhance environmental quality and natural resources based on agricultural economy, efficiently use of nonrenewable resources and on-site resources, sustain economic viability and enhance the quality of life of farmers and society as a whole.” This paper aims to analyze the existing urban agriculture and its contribution to the development of the region. The impact of practicing agriculture in urban areas of Beijing, China will be assessed based on the economic, social and environmental aspects as its sustainability criteria. Significance of the problem Urban agriculture provides a promising countermeasure to the dwindling supply of food and agricultural activities brought about by global changes. However, it is important to identify the positive and negative consequences of this technology as an aid in developing action plans and strategy framework on its implementation. The sustainability criteria focused on the economic, social and environmental impacts of urban agriculture in Beijing will generate knowledge and understanding not only for policy makers, potential investors, but also on the general public as well. Scope and Limitations An analysis of sustainability of urban agriculture with focus on Beijing, China is only presented in this paper. The discussions are only limited on the identification of its impact on the socio-economic and environmental aspects and possible action plan that can be derived. The economic determinants only involve agriculture inputs, increase in income, and prices. The social determinants only involve job generation, access to food supply and poverty alleviation. The environmental determinants only involve water use & quality, land use, fertilizer & pesticide and green house gas emissions. Review of related literatures This section will provide the background of the problem. It presents the underlying issues and concepts that are related to sustainability, agriculture and urbanization. Urbanization Urbanization, in its demographic sense, can be defined as the increase in the share of a nation’s population living in urban areas with a consequent decline of share living in rural areas. Most urbanization is the result of net rural to urban migration. The level of urbanization is the share itself. The change in the share through time is viewed as the rate of urbanization. This definition draws the boundaries between the definitions of urban population growth or those of the physical expansion of urban areas, both of which are often treated as synonymous with urbanization (Satterthwaite et. al. 2810). In addition, Satterthwaite et al. (2810) stated that a nation’s urban population can grow from natural increase (births minus deaths), net rural to urban migration and reclassification. This is agreed by United Nation Population Division (8) where they reported that rapid economic development has encouraged rural inhabitants to migrate to urban areas to improve their economic opportunities and access to services. The rural-to-urban migration is also caused by such “push” factors as the inability of households to sustain livelihoods in rural areas for economic reasons, conflicts and environmental changes. Furthermore, assuming that fertility in urban and rural areas is comparable, roughly half of urban population growth comes from rural-to urban migration and reclassification of rural areas as urban; the rest is due to population growth. Those nations with rapid economic growth and relatively low rates of natural increase such as China over the past few decades have most of their urban population growth from urbanization (Satterthwaite et. al. 2810). It is expected that China’s urbanization rate will rise from 47.5 percent in 2010 to 51.5 percent by the end of 2015, with an average annual increase of four percent, according to a government plan (“China expects urbanization rate to be at 51.5% by 2015” par. 1). For a more extensive projection, China aims to achieve a 67% rate of urbanization by 2030 by shifting 280 million people to cities within two decades (Kwan 1) as shown in the figure below. Figure 1. Urbanization rate projection for US and China from 1975 to 2030. Source: Population Division of the U.N.’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (which estimates China’s urbanization rate to reach 62% by 2030 vs. 87% in the U.S. and 60% global) as adopted by Kwan (1). The Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific (7) indicated that in 2010, Beijing alone ranks as the seventh in the works as the most populated city with population of 16.58 million. The table below presents the most populated cities in Asia and Pacific countries. Table 1. Largest 30 urban agglomerations Asia and the Pacific countries by international ranking, 2010. World Rank Order Country Urban Agglomeration Population (millions) 1 2 4 7 8 9 10 13 15 16 19 20 22 23 24 26 28 Japan India India China India Bangladesh Pakistan China Philippines Japan Russian Federation Turkey Republic of Korea China Indonesia China China Tokyo Delhi Bombay Shanhai Calcutta Dhaka Karachi Beijing Manila Osaka-Kobe Moscow Istanbul Seoul Chonqing Jakarta Shenzhen Guangzhou, Guangdong 36.67 22.16 20.04 16.58 15.55 14.65 13.12 12.39 11.63 11.34 10.55 10.52 9.77 9.40 9.21 9.01 8.88 Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2010). World Urbanization Prospects, the 2009 Revision. ESA/P/WP/215. New York. as adopted by Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific (8). Beijing lies in the northern tip of the North China Plain which covers an area of 16,808 km2. Beijing metropolis has experienced rapid economic and urban growth which has brought along some new challenges: a sharply increasing disparity between urban and rural incomes (now 3:1), a vast inflow of migrants (estimated at 4 million), rapid loss of farmland, and a quick deterioration of the urban environment. Beijing faces a shortage of arable land and a shortage of water. To help cope with these problems and make the city more livable and sustainable, the municipal government - in cooperation with other stakeholders - is actively promoting urban agriculture (RUAF Foundation, par. 1 & 2). Urban Agriculture To put it simply, urban agriculture is defined by Bailkey and Nasr (6) as the “the growing, processing, and distribution of food and other products through intensive plant cultivation and animal husbandry in and around cities”. Brown and Carter (3) stated that the Council on Agriculture, Science and Technology (CAST) provided a very comprehensive definition of urban agriculture as a complex system encompassing a spectrum of interests, not only limited to agricultural activities and consumption but as well as its added benefits like recreation and leisure; economic vitality and business entrepreneurship, individual health and well-being; community health and well-being; landscape beautification; and environmental restoration and remediation. In Beijing, peri-urban agriculture is developed along two major lines: modernization and its multi-functionality. Modernization seeks the intensification of agricultural production using updated and improved technologies and the diversification from grains to other agricultural products. Recreational agriculture or agro-tourism is also developed as seen with their harvest festivals with strong support from government. This development by the government has brought significant income to the urban communities (RUAF Foundation par. 4) In this connection, land use planning of Beijing metropolitan area has divided the city into different zones to encourage different functions according to their comparative and competitive advantages. These zones are: Intra-urban: green spaces and parks, agro exhibitions, allotment gardens; Sub-urban: sightseeing, agro-parks, ecoeducation, landscape management; Peri-urban plains: intensive high-tech agriculture and livestock keeping; mountainous areas: village-based agro tourism, ecological protection and cultural heritage (RUAF Foundation par. 12). These zones are shown in the figure below. Figure 2. Division of Metropolitan area of Beijing into four different zones. Source: Beijing (China - RUAF Resource Management. Web. 7 April 2012. Before the assessment of urban agriculture for its sustainability, it is best to define sustainability and determine its deciding factors. Sustainability development The sustainability development has been widely defined as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987). Criteria must be established to characterize this sustainability concept. The development of sustainability indicators that are relatively easy to characterize is a key to addressing the quest for sustainable development. A model of three overlapping circles is quite familiar. The model adopted from the Arizona State University (par. 6) depicts the three foundational concepts for sustainability as shown below. The area where they intersect is the area wherein the three of these concepts can be together achieved. However, interventions can be made in the form of technology innovations or cultural influences that can enhance this model. Figure 3. The sustainability model Source: Issue of our age - Arizona State University, Web, 7 April 2012 Walker (330) provides some indicators or factors for sustainability assessment. They can be measured and used to assess the condition and sustainability of the land from the farm to the regional level. They can be used to confirm that current farming practices and land-use systems are effective in maintaining the resource base or economic status, identify problems and highlight potential risks. Indicators provide useful information for initiating change or deciding on future on-ground investments as shown below. Table 2. Composite indicators and attributes used by SCARM (1998) to assess sustainability in Australian agriculture, together with some additional attributes required for a more complete assessment. SCARM indicators Attributes assessed by SCARM (1998) Attributes not assessed by SCARM (1998) Long-term real net farm income Real net farm income Total factor productivity Farmer’s terms of trade Average real net farm income Debt servicing ratio Costs of land degradation Costs and benefits from remediating degraded resources Water use efficiency Natural resource condition Phosphate and potassium balance Soil condition Rangeland condition & trend Diversity of agricultural species Water use by vegetation N and S balances Extent of soil structural decline Water reserve exploitation Land salinization Catchment condition Off-site environmental impacts Chemical residues in product Salinity in streams Dust storm index Impact on native vegetation Impacts of soil erosion on river water quality Non-reserve native vegetation on farms Managerial skills Level of farmer education Training and landcare Sustainable practices Adoption by industry of best management practices Farmer access to technology Socioeconomic impacts Age structure of the agricultural workforce Access to key services Capacity of rural communities to change Diversification Current infra, policies, and laws support sustainable agriculture Source: Walker, Joe. Environmental indicators and sustainable agriculture (33). The Sustainability of Beijing Urban Agriculture Sustainable urban agriculture is an essential tool that addresses a city’s problems in innovative ways. The development of Beijing has been widely affected by several factors including its agricultural sector and its increasing migration to the urban areas. To examine the extent of urban agriculture’s contribution to Beijing development, the sustainability must be fully analyzed. Economic Sustainability It is believed that urban agriculture contributes to the increase of the income for enterprises as well as the government and individual household farmers as observed in the development of Beijing. Any economic development and community revitalization are achieved when neighborhoods take pride in a community garden, when inner-city residents gain the ability to grow and market their own food, and when inner-city farmers’ markets provide new opportunities for entrepreneurs and commercial farmers. By 2007, the RUAF Foundation (par. 7) indicated that some 1032 agro-tourism parks and 630 agro-tourism villages had been developed, of which 65 high-level resorts in Beijing. Altogether, these parks and resorts received over 26 million guests in 2007, and earned a total gross income of RMB 1.8 billion. The prospects for further development of recreational agriculture in Beijing are promising since the income and leisure time of the urban people is growing. The urban agriculture has produced high income ratio through the participation of the municipal government. From the Beijing Statistical Yearbook 2004, agricultural enterprise has the highest income ratio in peri-urban Beijing compared to prevailing service and production based enterprises (Veenhuizen 199). On the household level, incomes of farmers quickly rose with nearly 300,000 farm households earning around RMB 9,600 Yuan per capita as of 2002 which is higher than the average income in Beijing that time (Veenhuizen, 199). However, it is important to take note that some agricultural inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizers used in urban agriculture are expensive, which can cause the selling price of products to be not competitive with existing large-scale farms and imported goods. Furthermore, small scale resource poor farmers can have limited to no access at all of the high cost of inputs. Brown and Carter (3) tell us that purchasing food that is sourced from urban areas can decrease energy needs and costs associated with long distance travel and refrigeration. Furthermore, energy savings can be realized from this technology since current food system in most industrialized countries like China use over four times more energy during logistics than in the actual farming practice itself (Dee Zeeuw et al. 4). Environmental Sustainability In the urban areas where an environmental practice is not well observed, urban agriculture can make a positive impact. The stewardship for the environment can be enhanced through urban agriculture’s efforts to green cities. The city’s residents can benefit from cleaner air, lower summer temperatures and recycled waste water and trash (Brown and Carter 3). The city of Beijing has created three large-scale tree belts including a 240 square kilometers of green belt from 2006 (Douglas 25). It is viewed to play a vital role in urban environment and climate change adaptation of cities by maintaining green open spaces and enhancing vegetations with important adaptive benefits. The risk of flooding or landslides can be reduced and living conditions can be improved. Furthermore, urban wastewater can be recycled for irrigation/ fertilization of horticultural crops and forest trees and help reduce use of fresh water (De Zeeuw 5). However, despite of its advantages brought to Beijing on the urban environment, this technology proved to have negative consequences. The water use and quality of the city has been primarily affected by urban agriculture. Surface and groundwater quality in China has seriously deteriorated as a result of pollution from point sources associated with rapid urbanization, industrial development and rising population, and diffuse pollution (nutrients, biocides) from agriculture (Wolf et. al. 143). Due to this excessive extraction and the insufficient protection of groundwater, quality has deteriorated since the 1980s. According to one investigation, the amounts of toxic and hazardous chemicals detected in groundwater increased and the frequency at which environmental standards were exceeded ranged from 22.5 per cent to 47.4 per cent of the time for most water quality tests (Wolf et. al. 143). Furthermore, the area covered with excessive amounts of nitrates increased that affected groundwater source in Beijing. He added that only half of the total Beijing Municipality area has shallow groundwater that meets the quality requirements for producing drinking water. The intensive use of agrochemicals is also one of the major issues of urban agriculture. In a study conducted in the Beijing metropolitan region by Han, et. al. (485), the nitrogen input from nitrogenous fertilizer is one of the largest sources of net anthropogenic nitrogen accumulation. This has potential impact to the nation-wide water quality degradation For land use and conversion, Duncan, et. al. (20) has reported that in India and China, peri-urban housing estates are occupying farm land and increasing food prices for rich and poor alike. Spectacular urban spread occurs around Shanghai and Beijing is observed, from rural to urban areas (reclassification). Social Sustainability Urban agriculture has been proven to have positive social impacts in Beijing especially on poverty alleviation and social integration. It can also possibly decrease the spread of disease since it controls the increasing density in urban areas which makes people more vulnerable to diseases. The vegetation and green spaces can provide the buffer areas (Yan, et. al. 20). The accessibility and control of urban people to the food system enhances individual health and responsibility. The extent of urban agriculture includes transportation, commerce and even catering which can be significant source of job for most people in Beijing. In fact, the laborers in peri-urban Beijing engaged in agriculture related activities increased by 3.67% from 1995 to 2003, despite the fact that urban Beijing is expanding and agricultural land is reduced (Veenhuizen, 197). Mushroom products produced in the Fangshan (urban) district of Beijing account for 56 per cent of the city’s total output. In 2005, there were about 3.6 million migrants in Beijing. Of these migrants, over 600,000 (17%) were engaged in activities directly related to urban agriculture (Yan, et. al. 21). Furthermore, urban agriculture is one of the key for the urban poor to have access to quality food and generate sufficient real for survival in the cities and other urban areas (Dima et al. 8). Market-oriented agricultural production systems have the capacity to absorb workers from other urban sectors when needed. The urban agricultural lands in Beijing, China especially in the urban margins are owned by village committees, but migrants without local household registration primarily cultivates the lands (Jiang et al. 7). Urban agriculture can also play a role in the social inclusion of marginalized groups. The job generated can teach them to generate income and support their families while enhancing their self-esteem, self-management and entrepreneurial capacities (Dee Zeeuw et al. 3). However, most developing and established cities like Beijing, viewed intra-urban agriculture mainly as a source of problems due to perceived health and environmental risks like use of toxic chemicals, contaminated soils, or other associated with UPA as well as being a nuisance to traffic and neighbors (Dee Zeeuw et al. 1). Sustainability Analysis of Beijing’s Urban Agriculture The environmental contribution of urban agriculture in Beijing is deemed to be not sustainable in the long run if problems within the operations and processing of products will not be taken into the spotlight. One way to assess the environmental sustainability of urban agriculture as part of Beijing development is through Life Cycle Analysis. This process is a holistic inventory of environmental impacts of urban agriculture products along its production chain, including relevant energy and material inputs and waste discharges. Figure 4. Life cycle of products in the urban development by Jian et al. (703). The system boundary of agricultural production in urban areas can be patterned on the model made by Jian, et. al. (703). It is notable that urban projects are usually longer, energy and material inputs are much more compared to life cycle of general products. Based on environmental impacts made by urban agriculture, mainly on water and land quality, the characteristics of inputs such as chemicals and energy must be reviewed to minimize its detrimental effects on the environment. The reduction of inputs through improved process efficiency and optimization of co-product utilization must be strongly implemented. It is recommended to perform a carbon debt analysis using the model in figure 4 as the system boundary. Inventory of carbon emissions during urban agricultural activities must be done to fully account its green house gas contributions in terms of carbon dioxide. In this way, the urban agriculture of Beijing can be compared with its rural agriculture in terms of its CO2 contribution to the environment. In the long run, simple carbon payback period can be made to determine the time needed to repay the carbon debt of urban agricultural products through production and utilization in the urban areas (FAO 62). The urban agriculture in Beijing has been deemed to have a significant share in increasing food production and security and contributes to employment and income generation as well as social development. In Beijing, China, specific UA activities are promoted in the different peri-urban zones. Such zones are normally more sustainable if located in areas that are unsuitable for construction or where construction is undesirable, as on flood plains, under power lines, in parks or in nature conservation areas, and if effective guidelines are developed with active farmer participation on the management practices to be adopted by each type of UA in the different location (FAO 62). To maintain the viability of products, prices must be standardized with existing agricultural commodities. To make the socio-economic benefits that Beijing is experiencing more sustainable, famers must be continuously empowered through training, creation of market linkages and proper technology development. Challenges and Policy Directions The efforts toward achieving the sustainability of urban agriculture must be done in a collaborative way. Aside from the factors discussed previously, government regulations and policy support must be implemented especially for our urban farmers of Beijing. To be effective, problems and constraints for sustainability must be identified. Some of these are presented in the table below. Table 3. Technical and regulatory factors that affects sustainable urban agriculture. Main constraints encountered by urban farmers Favorable conditions for the development urban farming • Restrictive urban policies and regulations • Lack of organization and representation of urban producers • Limited access to land and insecure land tenure; • Limited access to sources of credit and financing • Lack of support services (agricultural extension, veterinary services, small enterprise development support, etcetera) • Inadequate technologies and management practices (often not well adapted to the specific urban conditions) • High production risks in the urban context (pollution, theft, land insecurity, conflicts with local authorities or neighbors) • Relative competitive advantages of urban agriculture as compared to rural agriculture • Specific urban demands for products and services not covered by the rural agricultural sector • Abundant labor force (among others due to rural –urban migration) • Growing interest in productive reuse of urban wastes • Growing recognition of the potentials of urban agriculture and attention for multipurpose land use in the peri-urban zone (agricultural production plus other functions) • Growing involvement of the farmers in planning and management of the peri-urban zones and green belts and public-private cooperation in the management of open spaces, urban forests, etcetera. Source: The development of Urban Agriculture; some lessons learnt by De Zeeuw (14). To address these problems especially in Beijing, I would like to summarize some policy recommendations made by De Zeeuw (15-16). Firstly, the creation of a healthy institutional environment is necessary wherein a tasked working group shall organize, strengthen and oversee farmers during their concerns and needs. Secondly, participatory research must be continuously conducted to assess the effects of urban agriculture on the three aspects of sustainability. Thirdly, urban policies and planning strategies must strongly integrate agriculture. Proper zoning, land classification and ownerships must be defined. Fourthly, ecological farming practices must be promoted to lessen the adverse effects of agrochemicals and other toxic substances used during production. In addition, rewards and incentives can be generated for farmers. Importantly, education and training must be launched for farmers to provide them update and access to existing technologies and innovations. The tendency of some farm produces in urban areas to be not competitive with large scale or imported products is still possible. However, the government can intervene by establishing priority dispatch and adjusted pricing mechanisms to be able for the urban agricultural prices to be competitive. Conclusion The urban agriculture in Beijing has significantly contributed to the advancements of the socio-economic status of the people and agricultural enterprises in the city and its surrounding towns. However, the only way to achieve sustainability for this promising technology is to address key concerns especially on the environmental and social aspects. A participatory approach is necessary between regulators and urban agriculture players especially the farmers. 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