June 15, 2015

By Lynda Kiernan

As Asia’s population continues to grow and gain wealth, urban and suburban development grows with it. Prime farmland is being lost to urban sprawl, posing a threat to food supplies and causing prices of remaining farmland to soar. All too often, government policies have not kept pace with these changes.

China: The Way We Protect Pandas

At the end of 2012, China’s arable land bank stood at 2 billion mu (135.1 million hectares), only 227 million mu above the line drawn by the Chinese government as the least amount of farmland needed to ensure food security. Since that time, pollution and urban sprawl may well have caused the country’s land bank to shrink further.

Within the past weeks, Chinese President, Xi Jinping has called on government authorities to enforce the strictest possible regulations on farmland conservation,instructing that “Arable land is the country’s most valuable asset… we should protect it the way we protect pandas.”

In addition, more efficient enforcement of the ‘land for land’ program was called for, requiring local and regional governments to develop an equal amount of arable farmland prior to existing farmland being taken out of production for non-agricultural use or development. Farmers will be given the rights to use, possess, benefit from and transfer contracted farmland, however, authorities were directed to improve land use efficiency and to focus on preventing agricultural land being used for non-agricultural endeavors after transfer.

Taiwan: Category 3 Status Required

Today people not involved in farming own 61.2% of all ‘farmhouses’ in Taiwan – rather these buildings and properties serve as factories, restaurants, inns, or second homes built on farmland. To address further encroachment and combat the development of farmland throughout the country, proposed regulations limiting the purchase or construction of farmhouses could be approved as soon as June 30 according to Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture.

In the years between 2008 and 2013, only 38.8% of the 16,338 applicants for permission to construct agricultural buildings had National Health Insurance (NHI) Category 3 status proving they were farmers, fishermen, were engaged in farming activity, associated with irrigation, or buying farmers’ insurance according to data from Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA).

The newly proposed regulations would require every applicant seeking to build on farmland to prove NHI Category 3 status, and would also limit development on said farmland to a maximum of 10% of the total arable land area.

Rampant farmland speculation following a 2000 amendment to the Agricultural Development Act, has resulted in the inflation of Taiwanese farmland values to a remarkable US$485,000 per hectare, making entering farming as a profession economically prohibitive. The amendment rescinded a policy limiting farmland to agricultural activity, and allowed for the building of architectural buildings on farmland parcels exceeding an area of 0.25 hectares.

Civil and non-government organizations (NGOs) however, warn that the country’s food production system has been fundamentally damaged by the constant development, and that the wording of the new regulations remains too vague, leaving loopholes for real estate developers and agents to use to claim more land.

Development not only takes arable land out of production, it negatively affects the ability for land still being farmed to produce. Nitrogen and run-off from household activities, including cleaning agents, human waste, food, and detergents can pollute area water sources and damage crop quality and yields, while asphalt and concrete block the elimination an absorption of rainwater causing dangerous and damaging floods.

As could be expected, real estate brokers, prospectors, and some farmers who have built high-end homes and are now planning to sell are lobbying against the new land conservation rules, while some legislators are concerned over the prospects of loan repayment, and the probable decline in land and home values this legislation will cause.

Myanmar: Ever Mindful

In Myanmar, urban developers are warning that unless laws are changed and regulations tightened to eliminate loopholes that are being manipulated by developers, agricultural land loss will continue.

Agriculture has historically been key to Myanmar’s economy, however, according to World Bank data, agriculture is dwindling in the face of industrialization. In 2001, agriculture, including livestock and fisheries accounted for 57% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) – by 2010, it accounted for 36%, and today it accounts for 32.8%, according to figures from the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.

Under current Farmland Law of 2012, which was enacted to establish a land use certification and registration system, it is quite easy to reclassify farmland in order to sell it for industrial or residential uses. This problem is playing out in and around Yangon, where agricultural land is becoming increasingly rare, rice production has declined, and food prices have been climbing over the past four years.

Without laws in place to prevent it, the government has been confiscating farmland to use for the development of Yangon’s industrial zones. As the population grows, low-cost, high-rise buildings are being built on farmland on Yangon’s outskirts in a hand-off designed to protect heritage sites and colonial buildings in downtown areas. In addition, the Yangon City Development Committee, in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, drafted a plan to expand Yangon’s urban area at the loss of more regional farmland.

Tough Decisions Lie Ahead

As population in emerging Asian economies continues to drive urbanization and industrialization, governments will be faced with challenging land use policy decisions in order to ensure adequate food supply. The implementation of urban planning schemes and laws that protect existing farmland from miss-allocation, confiscation, and pollution will become increasingly important toward achieving a future balance of economic growth, shelter, and food for growing populations.

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