Grain promotion and food consumption: analysis of chinese provincial data

jing zhu... [et all];

China has long struggled to achieve food security. In the era of a planned economy, local self-sufficiency was dictated by policy. With China�s transition to a market economy, however, different policy schemes have been utilized, with greater emphasis placed on the role of market forces, especially in onjunction with China�s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. Nevertheless, selfsufficiency
in grain production remains a deeply rooted goal, and interventionist
measures geared towards its achievement are still viewed as the most direct and effective means of food security. This paper examines how the well-being of China�s rural population, proxied by measures of food consumption, is affected by the promotion of grain production. Our findings suggest that targeted households bear a disproportionate burden of food security policy, as it is currently implemented.