MOTIVATION
The Yellow River Basin is considered the “cradle of Chinese civilization,” but it has suffered severe water scarcity. The basin’s specific climatic conditions, rapid socioeconomic development, and absence of defined water rights have led to excessive water use; during the last 50 years, agricultural water use has increased by more than 250 percent and water demand for industrial and domestic use has risen even more steeply. At the same time, irrigation in China remains crucial for global food security. A reduction in irrigation water availability by 30 percent in the Yellow River Basin alone by 2030 would lead to international wheat prices increasing 6 percent, maize prices increasing 4 percent, and rice prices increasing 3 percent.
OUTCOMES
Together with partners at the Yellow River Conservancy Commission, Beijing Normal University, Tsinghua University, and the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, as well as the University of Illinois in the United States, IFPRI researchers analyzed water-poverty linkages, climate change impacts, irrigation, and basin-wide water trading to identify ways of enhancing basin-water allocation. Results were disseminated in a series of policy briefs published in both English and Mandarin. The insights from the water-reform research will help inform Chinese irrigation policy in the future, as evidenced by their uptake in subsequent studies on water pricing and irrigation reform.
