Case study
Rapid Growth of Selected Asian Economies. Lessons and Implications for Agriculture and Food Security. Synthesis Report
China’s economy has experienced remarkable growth since economic reform initiated in 1979. The rapid economic growth has been associated with unprecedented progress in poverty alleviation. Based on China’s official poverty line, the absolute level of poverty incidence fell from 33 percent in 1978 to less than 3 percent in 2004. Even based on World Bank’s US$1/day (in PPP terms) poverty line, rural poverty incidence also fell from more than 30 percent in the early 1990s to about 8 percent in 2004.
While past accomplishments are impressive, there are still great challenges ahead. Income disparity rose with economic growth. There is also growing concern regarding the implications of China’s rapid growth upon the rest of the world.
The overall goals of this study are three-fold:
1.outline the main changes in agriculture, food security and rural development and policies that have been associated with overall economic growth;
2.extrapolate these trends in the future and assess the implications for internal food security; and
3.assess the implications of the overall rapid economic growth of China for sustainable food security and agricultural development in other countries, particularly in Asia with significant attention to the greater Pacific Rim.
See country case studies:
- China and India
- Republic of Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam