Steps taken by the Chinese Communist Party since 1949 to Improve Agriculture
China's population is about 20% of the world population while itpossesses just 7% of the world's arable land. Feeding its people has,therefore, been the country's major concern through much of its history.When the Communist party of China (CPP) came to power in 1949 as a resultof the Communist Revolution, the country had been devastated due to yearsof civil war, foreign interference, social unrest and fragmentation. Itseconomy was in ruins and the communist party set out to revolutionize allaspects of the Chinese society including the economy. Since Mao-Zedong'sbrand of Communism was peasant-based rather than urban-based, the CommunistParty of China was particularly focused on agricultural reforms and tookseveral measures to improve the agricultural production and the livingstandards of the peasants. Although these policies have produced mixedresults, China is now by and large self-sufficient in food production. Inthis paper I shall discuss the various policies implemented by the CCPsince 1949 in the areas of agriculture and the peasantry and describe the The Peasant Base of CCP Mao Zedong was the undisputed leader of the CPP when it c
" The cooperative farms weregradually made part of larger "collectives. " While it hit the urbanpopulation the hardest, it did not improve the condition of the ruralpopulation either. Assessment of the Living Standards of the Peasants under the CPP Despite the constant upheavals during the Communist rule in China,particularly in the Mao era, the agricultural production and the livingstandards of the Chinese peasants has improved immeasurably. (Clunas et al, 2003) The land reforms were followed by a policy of "agriculturalcollectivization" that was implemented in stages. Outcome: After an initial surge in agricultural production, things beganto go horribly wrong. China had no industrial baseof note and hence no significant urban working-class population. Despite the setbacks, particularly duringthe ill-fated policy of the "Great Leap," Chinese agriculture and peasantryhas developed immeasurably under the CPP. Outcome: The post-Mao market reforms have increased China's agriculturaloutput, and also stimulated industrial development. As a result, China exhibited oneof the highest growth rates during the nineties and its GDP has doubledover the period. Most ofthe vast Chinese population were poor, ill-fed peasants who lived in thecountryside. The result was absolute disaster as the amount of grain available tothe people dropped almost 25 % and between 1959 and 1962, more than 20million people died due to a massive famine. )Besides farming, the "collectives" included other basic social servicessuch as basic health care units and primary education for their members. This eliminated the influence of the landowning elite in therural areas. Material incentives rather than political appeals wereintroduced to motivate the peasants and the labor force.
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