June 5, 2008

China to import more grain as economy flourishes


China will be forced to import more grain to feed its expanding wealthy population, leading environmentalist, Lester Brown said Wednesday.

Brown, the president of the Earth Policy Institute, observed that China currently imports little wheat or corn, but may soon have to buy more from abroad as citizens change their eating habits.

Around 4 billion people worldwide are seeking to switch from grain-based diets to meat-based diets, which demand more farm resources, Brown explained.

If China imports only 10 percent of its grain needs, it will become the world's largest importer of grain, he said.

Furthermore, the dwindling of water resources in China and a fall in crop yields brought on by global warming, will also push China to purchase from foreign grain markets.

However, Brown pointed out that China's rising appetite for more grain is not the culprit behind global food inflation.

China's consumption of more meat, milk and eggs as it moves up the food chain is resulting in a two-million-tonne increase of grain consumption per year. Yet grain for the production of ethanol in the US last year amounted to 20 million tonnes, Brown said.