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By Julie Mollins
- Climate-smart farming practices are helping rural communities in China boost yields, restore degraded land, and reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers
- Women are taking on expanded leadership and economic roles through targeted support, training, and new income opportunities, strengthening gender equality in rural development.
- Upgraded rural infrastructure and increased private sector investment are improving market access, reducing losses, and helping farming communities scale sustainable practices.
New climate-smart agriculture strategies China is introducing to the southeast province of Jiangxi are leading to more efficient, equitable, and profitable farming, putting women at the center of rural development.
Farmers working with the World Bank‑led Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration Impact Program (FOLUR), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) are changing how land is used through improved agricultural techniques, supported by efforts to strengthen both human and physical rural infrastructure needed for long‑term transformation.
The FOLUR China project is focused on tackling challenges caused by previous use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in rice and Xinyu Sweet Orange agricultural systems in the Yushui District of Jiangxi.
Farmers are now growing low‑carbon, drought‑tolerant rice varieties and using greener practices, including eco‑friendly pest control on about 3,000 mu (around 200 hectares) of demonstration fields.
Restoring land and strengthening rural infrastructure
Farmers established Xinyu Sweet Orange orchards on previously degraded hillsides through measures such as straw mulching and soil amelioration, effectively restoring vegetation cover, said Chunsheng Yao, GEF Portfolio Officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), who coordinates the project.
These improvements also help create a more supportive, business‑friendly environment for small farmers and cooperatives.
The project introduced integrated water and organic fertilizer management and intercropping of cash crops, including soybean, sweet potato, sesame, and watermelon. Intercropping fresh soybean generated significantly higher yields, resulting in an estimated increase of RMB 1,200 (US $175) per mu (.06 hectares).
The project has also restored more than 2,400 square meters of irrigation ponds and canals, essential physical infrastructure that reduces production risk and enables farmers to invest with greater confidence.
“Previously barren hills are now revegetated, the integrity of the region’s characteristic low‑hill landscape ecosystem has been restored, soil water‑holding capacity has increased, and the ecosystem’s resilience to climate variability has been significantly strengthened,” said Yinghao Xue, deputy director of the project from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).
These efforts have substantially cut chemical fertilizer use, while boosting rice yields by as much as 11 percent, and adding about RMB 130 per 1 mu in annual income. Compared with three years ago, the soil organic matter has risen by as much as 19 percent, showing that the land is recovering its natural fertility.
Delong Cooperative invested more than RMB 2 million to build a cold storage facility and two post‑harvest processing lines to sort and package fruit and vegetables efficiently, cutting losses by more than 15 percent. The facility also extends the supply season from the end of October to the spring, instead of ending earlier in the winter — a strong example of how private‑sector investment can help scale up climate‑smart agriculture by strengthening market access and rural value chains.
A circular biogas system now turns livestock manure and crop waste into energy and organic fertilizer, linking livestock farms, crop producers, and local residents in a cleaner, more efficient rural economy and demonstrating how local private‑sector participation can help scale low‑carbon solutions.
Women leading rural transformation
In 2024, the program included 6,750 people – 3,570 women – with cooperatives and small farming households making up the main beneficiaries.
Yushui District has built gender equality into its rural policies. Through various levels of government guidance, project funding, and support from the Women’s Federation, women are being encouraged and supported to lead in ecological planting, agricultural machinery services, processing, and marketing — strengthening human‑capital infrastructure and expanding women’s roles in local markets.
Peng Peng, a female representative, founded the Longsheng Cooperative, which serves over 1,000 farmers annually, with machine-planted areas reaching tens of thousands of mu. The cooperative's annual output value exceeds RMB 2 million, providing nearly 100 women with job opportunities close to home. During the off-season, the seedling nursery absorbs dozens of women workers, increasing their per capita annual income by over RMB 4,000 —a growth rate 17 percent higher than the disposable income of rural residents in the district.
More than 400 rural women have gained steady off‑season work in activities like fruit sorting and nursery management. Their annual incomes have risen by as much as RMB 6,000.
“Against the background that the per capita disposable income of local rural residents was RMB 22,936 in 2021, this increase is very significant,” said Zhenxia Huang, an official of Jiangxi Province.
The project shows that the challenge of increasing yields, while reducing chemical fertilizers and pesticides without expanding the overall cultivated land area can be addressed through integrated landscape management, the adoption of new crop varieties, and the application of high‑efficiency fertilizers and pesticides — supported by the right infrastructure, incentives, and private‑sector partnerships.
