Comparative analysis of China and Nigeria agricultural reforms in the advancement of food sustainability on a national scale

BOHR International Journal of Civil Engineering
and Environmental Science
2023, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 41–49
DOI: 10.54646/bijcees.2023.05
www.bohrpub.com
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
Comparative analysis of China and Nigeria agricultural
reforms in the advancement of food sustainability on
a national scale
Nchedo Josephine Oguine*
Department of Political Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria
*Correspondence:
Nchedo Josephine Oguine,
josephineoguine001@gmail.com
Received: 21 March 2023; Accepted: 20 April 2023; Published: 13 May 2023
Due to the rapidly growing population of China and Nigeria, a top government objective is ensuring food
security. Dietary security is the ideal in which everyone has physical, social, and economic access to adequate
requirements and food preferences for a healthy and active life, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United States (1). The differences and similarities in reforms regarding agricultural policies, programs, and
structure of Chinese and Nigerian nations are discussed and analyzed. This study also correlates the findings
between the two countries. It investigates, enhances, and deepens the understanding of various reforms in the
countries. Its strengths, weaknesses, and impacts on agricultural production were also appraised; a conclusion
and recommendations were drawn as a result. The data source method was purely secondary, and the theoretical
modernization framework was adopted to deepen the understanding of the social edifice.
Keywords: comparative politics, agriculture, reforms, food security, China, Nigeria
Introduction
Since the 1949 Revolution, when Mao Zedong Tse-
Tong transformed China from an Agrarian society to an
industrialized economy, the idea of actualizing food security
has always been a mirage. Urbanization due to technological
advancement in China in the 1960s caused a decline in
production. Still, in the early 1980s, several reforms had
further enabled farmers to embark on the farming profession
to raise productivity (2). After the Household Responsibility
System was introduced, the collective farming policy was
discarded. In 1978, Deng Xiaoping, the Communist Party
leader, initiated China’s Rural Reforms to boost agricultural
output, allow enterprises to use farm labor, reduce poverty,
and improve the quality and amount of food consumed.
The particular plan comprises promoting additional rural
financial growth, supporting land transfer, and providing
technical help to farmers, particularly those in rural areas
who were wholly engaged in agriculture. The policy reform
has aided in revitalizing and shaping the agricultural sector.
For Nigeria, the activities of the colonialists in the early
19th century disarticulated the traditional society commonly
characterized by food crop production and little cash crop
production for barter trade to mainly cash crop production in
the quest to get a cheap and steady supply of raw material for
the industries in the colonialist countries (3). In the colonial
era, over 75% of Nigeria’s annual revenue was accrued from
agricultural export commodities such as oil palm, cocoa,
groundnut, and rubber Ekpo and Egwaikhide (4).
Food crop production is at a crossroads to ensure food
security in the two countries. Several policies and programs
have been initiated from pre-colonial to post-colonial times.
The strands of programs include the Tax and Quota policy,
Farm Settlement Scheme, Green Revolution, Operation Feed
the Nation, Fadama program, National Special Programme
for Food Security, Agricultural Transformation Agenda, and
Agricultural Promotion Policy. Still, at one time or another,
a few programs have been initiated by both governments to
improve productivity. Apart from the policies that distorted
food crop production in the 1970s, the emergence of the oil
41

42 Oguine
boom further caused a decline in agricultural output due to
neglect of the sector. The discovery and exploration of oil in
commercial quantities in 1958 was another event that caused
negligence in both food and cash crop production. Some
third- world countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia, once
rated in the same strata and strength as Nigeria, now have a
more prolific output and have contributed massively to their
respective economies’ economic growth (5).
Review of empirical literature
Why reforms in the sector?
China’s population exceeds 1.36 billion; in Nigeria, over
200 million people consider feeding their people the most
important goal for the country’s economic and social growth
(6). As mentioned earlier, both countries’ agricultural sectors
continue to modernize in the quest to actualize the goal.
As countries develop, the attention allocated to agriculture
should be transformed to suit contemporary demand. With
this effect, changing the sector is very con-sequential with the
view that some fundamental problems with the structure and
mechanism must be fixed to curb the emerging challenges
to usher in the desired result. To increase output, farmers
need to have the necessary abilities, from subsistence to a
commercialized level, to increase commodity production and
generate economic revenues.
Reforms in the sector
Land tenure reform
Land reforms involve changing land ownership laws,
regulations, or customs (7). This comprises property
redistribution on agricultural land that is initiated or
supported by the government. Agricultural activities have
moved from labor-intensive to capital-intensive modes
of production (8). In China, villages and subvillage
levels collectively control their rural land. Typically, it
is categorized based on its purpose, importance, and
availability. Among the factors of production, land has
various uses. Fertile arable lands are mainly used for
agricultural commodity production. Land could also be used
for other purposes, such as infrastructural development. The
government of China has sought to promote large-scale
farms Central Committee of the Community Party and the
State Council (9). Farmland is consolidated into large plots
to allow for greater automation and more efficient use of
resources, and this aim can only be achieved by taking steps
to promote the development of the market for the transfer of
rural land rights for agricultural outputs.
The land size allocation is dependent on the size of
the household or the availability of labor, with land usage
confined to agricultural uses. The initial length of land
allocations/contracts was 5 years, followed by extensions of
15 years in 1984 and 30 years in the late 1990s (10). In China,
land allocation is characterized by inequitable distribution
of land holdings, a process that has created a number of
problems for agricultural goods. China started implementing
governmental measures to ensure food security, including a
“red line” requiring farmlands to remain above 120 million
hectares to fulfill the goal of 95% grain self- sufficiency.
Table 1 and Figures 1–5 shows that the stipulated size of
China’s average farm is between 0.5 and 0.6 hectares com-
pared to other countries of the world. In 2012, China had
0.6 hectares, the smallest average farm size compared to some
countries under a government experiment. To consolidate at
least 5,000 farmer cooperative associations, Hukou Reform
provided subsidies and hectares of arable farmland, which
was able to sustain 95% grain self-sufficiency; this, in turn,
increased the income of the farmer, both the smallholders
and commercial farmers concerning the forces of demand
and supply (12). But Nigeria is lagging in food grain
production except for rice grain production (13). In 2014,
the rice production measured 6.2–7.5 million metric tons;
in 2017, the production reduced to 6.61 mmt; in 2018, it
recorded 6.81 mmt; and in 2019, it stepped down to 5.1 mmt;
compared to its production capacity of 2.5 mmt in 2006 (11).
The statistical report showed that periods recorded
applaudable production and confirmed reductions in
productivity at one time or the other.
Hukou reform
FAO (11) reported that China has the smallest farm size
per hectare; as such, it has initiated the Hukou reform
TABLE 1 | Table of farm size.
Country Average farm size (hectares)
Brazil 73
Columbia 25
Ghana 1.6
India 1.3
Indonesia 0.8
Japan 1.2
Kenya 0.5
Malawi 0.4
Niger 2.9
Nigeria 0.5
Thailand 3.2
Turkey 3.2
Uganda 0.5
Vietnam 0.7
Country average farm size (hectares).
Source: FAO (11); Huang et al. (10).

10.54646/bijcees.2023.05 43
FIGURE 1 | The effects of land reforms on farm size and agricultural
productivity.
FIGURE 2 | Indigenous crops: a lucrative business for some, an
unaffordable luxury for others.
FIGURE 3 | Smart farming. Growing crops and harvesting plants with
futuristic technologies, drones on field and GPS vehicles.
to improve land resource allocation by promoting the
rural adjustment process to reduce the migration rate.
Rural laborers who wanted to relocate to urban areas
were subjected to discrimination under China’s household
registration system (Hukou) centers and scrambled for
white-collar jobs, abandoning farm work due to a lack of
basic social amenities (14).
More than half of the migrant workers in China in
2013 lacked an employment contract. The Hukou system
increased disparities between urban and rural areas by
restricting urban migration and encouraging infrastructural
investment in rural areas. One significant challenge of the
Hukou reform was that it “funded” no new pro- vision
of public service and infrastructure to the rural dwellers;
consequently, the reform could not achieve its statements.
A land tenure system is a manner in which a party occupies
or holds some areas of land; it entails land access or control of
land through land ownership. This practice varies within or
among communities, regions, and countries (15). Although
in Nigeria, the 1978 Property Use Act nevertheless protects
the current title and rights to possession of the land, it offers
a new standard tenure structure. The government’s mantra
is to diversify agriculture and optimize the value chain in
the agricultural sector. The Nigeria land system has been
compounded by the Property Use Act of 1978 to distribute
arable land to users for agriculture and other purposes (16).
Redistribution of land from an individual to a group,
community, or person is the most prevalent sort of reform
(17). According to the Act, a landowner may own the
property for a maximum of 99 years. Land ownership can
raise the scale of operation by expanding or contracting
the farm; expansion means either adding to the holding
or consolidating the scattered arable land, or vice versa.
Redistribution’s effects vary according to its structure and
the limitations placed on it. This redistribution tool’s
draw- back is that it can result in small-scale farms,
which might impede advancements in technology, capital
investment, and diversity.
Comparing the reforms in land distribution and
acquisitions, the period of acquiring and use of land in
Nigeria is 99 years. At the same time, China’s land allocation
and utilization have been reformed from 15 to 30 years.
Despite the elongated timeline for land acquisition and use,
its impact on the Nigerian agricultural sector is not much felt
due to several impeding factors.
Subsidy on farm inputs
Farm inputs are required in farm production and are
classified as fertilizer and chemicals, seeds and planting
materials, and machinery and equipment. In comparison
to Nigeria, China uses more nitrogen fertilizers per unit of
arable land. Because of government incentives, such as the
exemption from the value-added tax on nearly all fertilizer
products and grants for fertilizer transportation, artificial
manure is likely used excessively in China (10). Small-
scale farming, a lack of technological know-how, and an
increase in agricultural farmers are further causes of overuse;
this has also shot up the cost of production. Furthermore,
land policies that encouraged land transfer from mediocre
farmers to specialized agriculture producers were introduced
to reduce the excessive use of fertilizer. Technical assistance
for farmers and a hike in price distribution from the fertilizer
market were also introduced to curb the challenge.
In response to rising concerns for farm income and
food security, China has initiated a direct seed subsidy
program, traditionally given to seed producers in order
to create premium or innovative seed varieties. The seed
variety subsidy policies aimed to offset the rising production
cost to grain producers. It can be adjusted based on the
principle of demand and supply of agricultural inputs and

44 Oguine
FIGURE 5 | Sustainable food cycle and its components.
outputs. Several policies have encouraged the modernization
of agricultural production and supported earnings in rural
areas, including subsidies for new crop varieties and
machinery purchases. According to the machine purchase
subsidy, buyers get a 30% discount on approved equipment,
albeit the amount they may spend on the item cannot be
more than 50,000 RMB (18); the list of these products is
changed every 3 years.
Oseni and Winters (19) asserted that low agricultural
productivity had been attributed to everyday fertilizer use.
In 2017, the International Fertilizer Development Centre
predicted an exponential increase in fertilizer consumption
by Nigerian farmers by 63%, rising from 954,364 metric
tons in 2016 to 1,564,816 metric tons because of a remark-
able improvement in the local blending of the input subsidy
under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) of the
government (11). The rise in fertilizer usage is linked to
the Federal Government’s PFI program, which was designed
to increase local manufacturing of fertilizer through the
revival of the moribund blending plants and conceivably
establishing new ones.
Farmers in Nigeria face significant hurdles in the
usage of local seed systems on a large scale for better
varieties developed through biotechnological methods. In
many developing nations, informal seed networks, such
as farm- saved seeds, farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges,
and seeds acquired from local marketplaces, provide the
majority of the seeds used in farming (20). The informal
seed system, in most cases, plays a significant role in
conservation. It meets the desire for inexpensive inputs while
preserving regional landraces and other priceless genetic
resources. However, the seed supply frequently falls short
of expectations. Additionally, the seeds provided by the
official production and distribution networks are usually
more expensive and inaccessible to farmers with modest
incomes. Government help in underdeveloped nations may
take into account offering financial incentives (subsidies) to
farmers to persuade them to plant higher-yielding varieties
that will ultimately earn the farmer more money.
However, the allegation of corruption, abuse, and lack
of benefits for the farmers has propelled the government
to monetize the subsidies to farmers; as such, the value
of improved seed subsidies has increased rapidly, rising
ten times between 2004 and 2012 (21). However, this has
promoted megafarm size and yields among farmers in
developing nations.
Finance
Farmers need capital saved or made available for farming
purposes to grow its value over time. The farmers in
China’s agricultural sector are also embedded with the
problem of accessing financial aid to boost production.
Economic reforms in the industry have been evolutionary
rather than revolutionary, characterized by pragmatism and
gradualism. China’s 2009 Rural Policy Review high- lighted
the significance of continuing reform to increase funding
available to boost agricultural products in rural areas (2).
FIGURE 4 | Farmer typology to understand differentiated climate change adaptation in Nigeria.

10.54646/bijcees.2023.05 45
The rural financial system has undergone a significant
restructuring from 1978 to date. In China’s provinces, the
Rural Credit Cooperatives, which had dominated the lending
industry during the pre-reform era, were progressively
transformed into Rural Commercial Banks and Rural
Cooperative Banks. These banks are required to provide a
specific portion of their lending portfolios to agricultural
goods (22).
Over the years, China has also introduced various
microloan schemes to enhance financial regulating
restrictions under the government to discourage non-
secured lending (23). This scheme has provided funds to
small and medium-scale farmers to accelerate production.
However, the reform is bound by constraints like delay
in securing the loan, bottlenecks in the bureaucratic
process, fund misappropriations, and non-compliance with
the payback period.
The evolutionary stages in Nigerian agriculture have called
for reform in finances. Farmers in the feudal era could source
funds from personal savings (owners’ equity), friends, and
relations. Aftermath, aside from individual efforts, Farmers’
Cooperative Societies and local money lenders are another
resort. Seemingly, in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, farmers at
all production levels need funds from the designated financial
institutions, agricultural banks, and other stakeholders to
support farming activities. The typical range of lending rates
is still 10–30%. However, the borrower is still regarded as
prime and has access to low-cost financing options offered
by the government at a less than one-digit interest rate of
9% through government-designated policies, especially in
conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the World
Bank (24).
Farmers can now access loans or grants via agricultural
banks, banks of industry, commercial banks, or microfinance
and credit institutions. Most production systems are
enshrined with inevitable lags between investments in the
inputs (such as machinery, seeds, fertilizers, packaging,
and stocks) and proceeds from the outputs. During these
lag periods, some individuals or institutions must finance
the investment. Farmers are constrained from financial aid
from designated institutions due to strict lending conditions
and requirements Eluhaiwe (25). The monetary policy
reforms for both countries run in parallel and have similar
characteristics; thus, financial institutions are involved in
providing funds to farmers but are constrained by similar
factors reported in the case of the farmers in China.
Contract farming
The reform in the farming system ushered in the contract
farming model; this happens when a farmer and a buyer
reach an agreement under which the farmer commits to
produce a product in a specific manner and the buyer agrees
to acquire it at a specific date. The farm’s produce must
adhere to particular requirements, and the buyer frequently
offers the farmer’s inputs like fertilizer, loan options, and
technical support.
First, it establishes a direct distribution route between
farmers and the market. Second, it can relieve financial
limitations by supplying inputs and loan options via a
financial institution to confirm that a farmer has a reliable
income. Third, extension services for farmers guarantee
cutting-edge technology and best practices. Last but not
least, it does increase food security by enforcing standards
by the customer (26). Smallholder farmers make up a
sizable portion of the farming population in China, and
the government uses contracts to bridge the gap between
their requirements and those of market farming. In contract
farming agreements, the government frequently plays a
crucial role in forming connections between the purchasing
company and farmers. The participating businesses are
required to offer technology and training, and they also get
special benefits such as access to land and government loans
(27). The government acquires food reserves to support
local production in the event of a surplus.
In Nigeria, farming support is not readily available to
reach farmers at the needed time and place. Nigeria’s
farming system has an iota of contract farming but has
been appropriately defined as such; accessing assistance
from the government is difficult except for a few off-
takers who engage in this practice to actualize specific
values. Farmer’s involvement with firms and off-takers faces
technical and institutional challenges, such as planting
period, high production cost, and specifications. Difficulty in
accessing funds and sometimes, on the part of the farmer, a
breach of contract specifications due to “majeure force” could
also result in low commodity productivity.
In China, the contract farming model is practiced
mainly by the parties; thus, there is reasonable government
participation in the farming arrangements via legislation
to ensure sanity and transparency. However, this farming
model is not commonly practiced in Nigeria. Several studies
reviewed that farmers under contract farming are relatively
better off regarding net production, returns, and welfare (28).
Innovation in China’s agricultural sector
The productivity of China’s agriculture industry has
benefitted from policy environments that promote
innovative capability in addition to changes that improve
resource allocation. Innovations’ potential to increase
agricultural productivity has made a desirable impact.
Agricultural invention also encompasses exposure to new
foreign technologies and intelligent agriculture across
the country- side in China. In the case of stored grains,
technology has helped to fast-track the processes. These
include sampling, weight measurement, and unloading (10).
For instance, while Sinograin China Grain Reserve Company

46 Oguine
has invested to ensure sound administration and high
quality of China’s Grain Reserve, more should be invested
in scientific and technology research (artificial intelligence),
the deployment of the Internet of Things, Big Data, and
other technologies. China has also advanced in the fields
of agricultural breeding, crop genetics, crop biotechnology,
and crop evolution.
The Chinese nation transformed the traditional way of
trading farm produce into e-commerce to build and support
modern cold-chain logistics networks for fresh produce and
quality agricultural products; it has shortened the chain
from farm to fork. In this way, farmers can sell directly
to consumers; knock off the involvement of intermediaries
to maximize profit (3). Rural development has increased
the presence of foreign investors; foreign direct investment
has aided in providing modern technologies, facilities,
and infrastructures to enhance production and encouraged
entrepreneurial activities to reduce unemployment (29).
To effectively serve the requirements of the farmers, the
conventional agricultural extension program must become
more contemporary. The likelihood of food losses and
product contamination will decrease as farming techniques
become more advanced and new technology is more
integrated into the food production process. Nations seek
to diversify their economies; the advancement in agriculture
has called for the use of biotechnology to improve crop
seed production via genetically modified organisms (30).
Therefore, technology uptake is an abiding concern for
improving food security, even for small-scale farmers.
The Agricultural Transformation Agenda is a set of
agricultural policies and programs that have supported
Information Communication Technology (ICT) by
promoting target impact subsidies through e-wallets.
Its policy thrust supports e-commerce and trading to make
agricultural marketing more efficient and communicate
effectively (31). ICT has given rise to the global information
highway and reduced the world to a global village. Electronic
commerce/business systems are rapidly replacing the
traditional modes of payment and business that involve
personal contact between buyers and sellers. For example,
the electronic payment system entails online financial
transactions that utilize a digital financial device such as an
e-token, e-cash, and checks (32).
Regarding technology, strands of the literature showed
that China is more technologically advanced. As such,
Nigeria needs to involve in systematic Research and
Development (R&D) to create a positive change in the
system via vital innovations. To buttress this point, Igwe (33)
established that poor farming technology is another factor
that has impeded the performance of the agricultural sector
in Nigeria. This technological backwardness encompasses a
lack of modern farming methods and storage facilities. In his
argument, facts were gathered from existing literature; as the
numeric values to supply information on the magnitude of
the poor technological impact were not given, the gap was
somewhat generalized.
Food storage and safety
Given the efficient use of rural land, reducing food losses
in agricultural goods will increase productivity and farm
revenues. Inadequate agricultural storage, infrastructures,
and capabilities frequently lead to production losses and
food waste from the farmer to the consumer level. Over
the past few decades, there have been multiple occasions
when food safety issues have increased, including when
residues of cancer-causing medications supplied by farmers
in turbot were discovered in Beijing and Shanghai (12).
Because customers believe they are harmful, the health
risk has increased the rate at which alternatives for
domestic items are imported. As an illustration, as a
result of the widespread infant formula contamination
in 2008, demand for imported baby formula products
increased and began to displace domestic products.
Consequently, farmer education and modernization of
production may increase the market for Chinese agricultural
producers and raise the dangers or after-effects of the
technological enlightenment.
The recently proposed legislation will sort out such a
challenge that will strengthen the responsibility for important
activities involving food security and sustainability.
Statistics have shown that the pre-harvest losses of grain
in China are often estimated to be approximately 7% of
the overall production, with many losses related to pests
and calamities. Losses after harvest are about 5% of the
production (5). Due to poor handling and storage facilities,
7% of the outputs are lost (34). Farmers who do not
understand effective pest management and seedling practices
may experience pre-harvest losses. In contrast, inadequate
or subpar storage facilities may be the cause of post-harvest
losses. This statistical result reflects why the government and
approved organizations handle most of China’s grains.
The food loss in China can also be attributed to the
overuse of chemical fertilizers in the production process
against organic manure. The government’s commodities can
be protected amid food storage; the accommodation of
governmental organizations like the China Grains Reserves
Corporation (Sinograin) or commercial enterprises manage
the reserves. Government subsidies cover the storage and
operating expenses for these businesses to increase food
security and ensure the availability of the commodity. In the
case of a glut, the grains are purchased at a particular policy
price to reduce price volatility in the agricultural market.
Such storage facilities are capital intensive to construct and
manage because of their sensitive nature and characteristics
in mechanical ventilation, interior temperature regulation,
and electronic temperature measurement. A daily check,
intelligence monitoring, and prediction of the safety of the

10.54646/bijcees.2023.05 47
food stored would aid the continuous rotation of food
crops with a drastic reduction in losses from infestation
or moisture damage; this, in turn, increases the income of
farmers. Consequently, hundreds of modern, high-calibrated
agricultural technologies have been erected for smooth
farming processes.
Guei et al. (35) argued that lack of knowledge, technical
capability, and logistics for timely delivery of advice to
farmers describe the majority of extension services in
Africa; Nigeria is not an exception. Food storage is very
imperative along the value chain to ensure safety in
the harvested agricultural produce. Nigeria must quickly
implement innovative storage solutions throughout its
agricultural sector, given the post-harvest loss rates of
up to 60% for perishable commodities that are now the
norm. Nigeria recently spent 66 billion Naira to build
33 silo complexes, 25 grain aggregation facilities, and 9
Blumberg warehouses, which have now been privatized
under a concession. The initiative seeks to hold 5% of
the nation’s production in storage, with varying degrees of
completion or output (13); this will not guarantee food
security throughout the year in Nigeria. This storage facility
could be expensive for farmers to adopt against government-
public enterprises.
The Nigeria Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI)
is saddled with the responsibility to enable better and
more efficient agricultural storage facilities to curtail losses
that farmers incur from improper handling and storage
after harvest. Post-harvest losses in fruit and vegetables
are about 50% annually (24). The institute developed the
Evaporative Cooling System, a “self-chill solar cold-room”
powered by solar, for storing fruits and vegetables for about
2 weeks. Another alternative to preserving fruits such as
tiger nuts, dates, and vegetables to ensure availability
all year round is by drying using the appropriate drying
technology to avoid excessive loss of food value and nutrients.
NSPRI has a patent on Inert Atmosphere silos, which store
large quantities of grain over a long period of time. The
institution also has a patent on NSPRIDUST (non-chemical
pesticide), which could also be called bio- pesticides and is
much safer than chemical pesticides, to ensure sustainable
development in the sector.
The 60–7% gap in food loss between China and Nigeria
is enormous. Nigeria’s efforts to achieve adequate food
storage and safety are pretty applaudable, but much
must be done to improve the food value chain. China’s
technology in ensuring food safety is innovative-driven
because of the use of artificial intelligence in monitoring
the storage well-being of the products to ensure long-
term food security and sustainable development. Innovative
ideas and smart agriculture are worth rivaling to achieve
the desired aim.
Factors impeding reforms in the
agricultural sector
Environmental degradation
China’s grasslands continue to deteriorate despite recent
government reforms, which have an impact on long-term
economic and ecological aspects. By acting as a carbon
sink, vegetation reduces storms and soil erosion while also
helping to balance greenhouse gas emissions. Recently,
China implemented regulations, including the “Grassland
Protection Mechanism,” which aims to restore damaged
grassland to lessen grazing and provide herders with
remuneration (12). The sustainability of China’s grassland
resources is severely threatened by the issues of overgrazing,
deforestation, and pests. More than one-sixth of the grassland
in the nation was unusable in 2013. The pressure on grazing
pastures might get worse in the next few years due to the
rise in livestock output and the rising demand for animal
products (2).
Reducing animal livestock and encouraging farmer
education about proper species selection are crucial in
relation to the problem of environmental degradation. The
ability of a grassland patch to collect and store greenhouse
gases may now be measured using new techniques (6). With
the use of this innovative technique, farmers who restore
grassland regions might get government compensation in
exchange for the decrease in emissions that occurs in non-
agricultural enterprises and agricultural tourism.
Soil acidity is another problem that led to the long- term
use of inorganic manure for crop production. Subsequently,
in the next few decades, the country is anticipated to
increase its market share in aquatic creatures and fish because
of nitrogen run-off that can influence lakes, rivers, and
coastal waterways (6). The supply of drinking water may be
potentially impacted by this pollution. In China, the chemical
fertilizer sector has contributed to the release of air pollutants
and greenhouse gases (36).
Infrastructural development
Infrastructural decay in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, like
China’s, has posed many challenges to farmers. Inadequate
infrastructures such as roads, electricity, and market and
network systems have also impeded agricultural activities in
China’s agricultural sectors. Aside from supporting farming
activities, it also helps to enhance the livelihood of rural
dwellers. The central government mainly funds China’s rural
infrastructure; the unit cost tends to be lower when village
elders manage the building themselves (36). The reforms on
land can have much impact before the availability of social
amenities to support youths venturing into a farming career.
In the same vein, infrastructural access has caused unsteady
poverty and food insecurity in Nigeria.

48 Oguine
The Rural Dibao program in China has an institutional
framework committed to modernizing agriculture and the
rural economy by 2050, which attempts to increase income,
usually by giving households a one-time payment in the
amount of the gain plus a predetermined minimum. The
number of beneficiaries increased to 50% between 2007 and
2010 and to 65% in 2013. According to Golan et al. (37),
the instances of corruption reported in the administration
sector have been logged, and as such, rigid policies have been
outlined to control this threat. Nigeria’s government is silent
on rural revitalization to encourage a farming career in rural
areas. Most of the nation’s able- bodied youth migrate to city
centers in search of menial or white-collar jobs to earn a
living, abandoning farming due to a lack of modern farming
implements and social amenities.
Conclusion
Modernization is a lengthy process that is evolutionary
and not revolutionary; it may take generations or even
centuries to be actualized; thus, this has brought about a
paradigm shift in the development of traditional society.
Modernity policies intend to raise the standard of living
of the vulnerable, which often consists of disseminating
knowledge and information about more efficient production
techniques. For example, agriculture modernization involves
encouraging farmers to try new crops, advancing production
methods, embracing technology, and widening marketing
skills Ellis and Biggs, (38). Agricultural practices are
consequently considered contemporary when they exhibit
particular pedigrees, and the degree to which they exhibit
indicates the notch of modernity (39). Conclusively, aside
from land reform, science and technological advancement is
the key to China’s agricultural development; in Nigeria, much
work must be done to improve research and development to
enhance technology.
Lesson for both countries
Subsidies on fertilizers for both countries should be
regulated to reduce the overuse of such products by
farmers and must be implemented to ensure sustainable
development. Government agricultural extension services
should be initiated to provide vital information, technologies,
and assistance in seed and fertilizer selection. Land is a
production factor that, when combined with capital and
labor by an entrepreneur, forms a whole package that
enhances business or production activities. It also regulates
and provides more venues for open exchange of ownership
rights to development land and the transfer of farming
operations. The term of the agricultural contract right in rural
areas can be increased from 30 to 70 years in China, and the
contract is automatically renewable on expiration in Nigeria.
To improve the management of income assistance in rural
regions, minimum prices must progressively be replaced
and other agricultural products with direct payment to
farmers and constructing viable storage facilities. There
should be a collaboration between local units and the
government to improve rural residents’ quality of life
by building affordable, high-quality infrastructure and
encouraging robust production. In addition, expanding
coverage for various poverty-alleviated areas and providing
adequate funds to cater for vulnerable areas through
the central government are imperatives. Notably, a
sustainable food cycle should be adopted holistically
to ensure the policy thrusts of the policies and reforms are
actualized, as shown below.
As societies evolve, emerging challenges erupt. More
advanced technologies should be developed and adopted in
both countries to ensure food safety and nutrients, promote
the value chain, and encourage food availability in and out of
season for sustainability.
Author contributions
The author made substantial contributions in drafting the
article or revising it critically for important intellectual
content; submitted it to the current journal; gave final
approval of the version to be published; and agreed to be
accountable for all aspects of the work.
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