IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v164y2026ics0264837726000517.html

Co-benefits of major land consolidation projects for sustainable agricultural production and ecosystem protection in China

Author

Listed:
  • Liang, Chen
  • Zhou, Yang

Abstract

Ensuring food security and conserving terrestrial ecosystems are two critical objectives of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. China implemented 14 major land consolidation projects (MLCPs) between 2007 and 2013 to support national food security. However, evidence on the socio-economic and ecological impacts of MLCPs remains scarce, especially causal identification based on large-sample sizes. This study develops a nature-based land consolidation (NBLC) analytical framework and evaluates the agricultural and ecological impacts of the MLCPs using a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) model combined with spatial analysis, drawing on high-resolution panel data from Chinese townships spanning 2000–2022. The results reveal that MLCPs foster dual benefits for sustainable agricultural production and ecosystem protection, resulting in a 13.6 % increase in total agricultural output and a 4.2 % rise in per-unit output, along with a 1.6 % increase in NDVI within the project areas. NBLC has alleviated the issues of water scarcity and land degradation in northern regions, fostering sustainable agricultural development there. Through the reclamation of abandoned farmland and the development of high-standard farmland, MLCPs have achieved efficient land resource utilization, resulting in mutually beneficial outcomes for agricultural production and ecological protection. These findings provide evidence-based guidance for sustainable land governance under increasing global farmland pressures.

Suggested Citation

  • Liang, Chen & Zhou, Yang, 2026. "Co-benefits of major land consolidation projects for sustainable agricultural production and ecosystem protection in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:164:y:2026:i:c:s0264837726000517
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2026.107967
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837726000517
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2026.107967?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Luo & Liu, Zhenjie & Gong, Jianzhou & Wang, Lu & Hu, Yueming, 2019. "Quantifying the amount, heterogeneity, and pattern of farmland: Implications for China’s requisition-compensation balance of farmland policy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 256-266.
    2. Alary, Véronique & Aboul-Naga, Adel & Osman, Mona A. & Daoud, Ibrahim & Abdelraheem, Sahar & Salah, Ehab & Juanes, Xavier & Bonnet, Pascal, 2018. "Desert land reclamation programs and family land dynamics in the Western Desert of the Nile Delta (Egypt), 1960–2010," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 140-153.
    3. Guo, Beibei & Fang, Yelin & Jin, Xiaobin & zhou, Yinkang, 2020. "Monitoring the effects of land consolidation on the ecological environmental quality based on remote sensing: A case study of Chaohu Lake Basin, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    4. Du, Xindong & Zhang, Xiaoke & Jin, Xiaobin, 2018. "Assessing the effectiveness of land consolidation for improving agricultural productivity in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 360-367.
    5. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    6. Abubakari, Z. & van der Molen, P. & Bennett, R.M. & Kuusaana, E.D., 2016. "Land consolidation, customary lands, and Ghana's Northern Savannah Ecological Zone: An evaluation of the possibilities and pitfalls," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 386-398.
    7. Shouying Liu & Baojin Wang, 2022. "The decline in agricultural share and agricultural industrialization—some stylized facts and theoretical explanations," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(3), pages 469-493, April.
    8. Yang, Hao & Zou, Runyan & Hu, Yueming & Wang, Lu & Xie, Yingkai & Tan, Zhengxi & Zhu, Zhiqiang & Zhu, A.-Xing & Gong, Jianzhou & Mao, Xiaoyun, 2024. "Sustainable utilization of cultivated land resources based on "element coupling-function synergy" analytical framework: A case study of Guangdong, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    9. Zhou, Jian & Cao, Xiaoshu, 2020. "What is the policy improvement of China’s land consolidation? Evidence from completed land consolidation projects in Shaanxi Province," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    10. MacDonald, James M. & Hoppe, Robert A. & Newton, Doris, 2018. "Three Decades of Consolidation in U.S. Agriculture," Economic Information Bulletin 276247, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    11. Tao, Zhou & Guanghui, Jiang & Wenqiu, Ma & Ruijuan, Zhang & Yingying, Tian & Qinglei, Zhao & Yaya, Tian, 2024. "A framework for identifying the distribution of revitalization potential of idle rural residential land under rural revitalization," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    12. Shouying Liu & Baojin Wang, 2022. "The decline in agricultural share and agricultural industrialization—some stylized facts and theoretical explanations," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(3), pages 469-493, April.
    13. Wang, Ziyang & Wang, Wenxiong & Yu, Lihong & Zhang, Dongli, 2022. "Multidimensional poverty alleviation effect of different rural land consolidation models: A case study of Hubei and Guizhou, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    14. Zhao, Yu & Li, Yuheng & Liu, Yansui & Yuan, Xuefeng, 2025. "Evolution of rural human-earth system in midstream of China’s Yellow River and its implications for land use planning: A study of Lingbao County, Henan Province," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    15. Zhang, Dongli & Wang, Wenxiong & Zhou, Wei & Zhang, Xiaoling & Zuo, Jian, 2020. "The effect on poverty alleviation and income increase of rural land consolidation in different models: A China study," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    16. Cao, Yueming & Bai, Yunli & Zhang, Linxiu, 2020. "The impact of farmland property rights security on the farmland investment in rural China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    17. Sheoran, Parvender & Basak, Nirmalendu & Kumar, Ashwani & Yadav, R.K. & Singh, Randhir & Sharma, Raman & Kumar, Satyendra & Singh, Ranjay K. & Sharma, P.C., 2021. "Ameliorants and salt tolerant varieties improve rice-wheat production in soils undergoing sodification with alkali water irrigation in Indo–Gangetic Plains of India," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    18. Zhou, Yang & Li, Yamei & Xu, Chenchen, 2020. "Land consolidation and rural revitalization in China: Mechanisms and paths," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    19. Zhou, Yang & Guo, Liying & Liu, Yansui, 2019. "Land consolidation boosting poverty alleviation in China: Theory and practice," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 339-348.
    20. Janus, Jaroslaw & Markuszewska, Iwona, 2019. "Forty years later: Assessment of the long-lasting effectiveness of land consolidation projects," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 22-31.
    21. Zhou, Yang & Li, Peixuan & Zhang, Qi & Cheng, Guoqiang, 2025. "Socio-economic impacts, challenges, and strategies for whole-region comprehensive land consolidation in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    22. Tao Jin & Taiyang Zhong, 2022. "Changing rice cropping patterns and their impact on food security in southern China," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(4), pages 907-917, August.
    23. Qin, Yu & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2016. "The Road to Specialization in Agricultural Production: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-16.
    24. Wang, Wenxiong & Lan, Yuanqin & Wang, Xu, 2021. "Impact of livelihood capital endowment on poverty alleviation of households under rural land consolidation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    25. Cui, Yongzheng & Wang, Wenxiong & Meng, Yihao & Li, Qiufang & Zeng, Huiyizi, 2024. "Impact of structural dependence on the formation of multi-subject collaborative network for comprehensive land consolidation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    26. Wang, Jieyong & Zhang, Ziwen & Liu, Yansui, 2018. "Spatial shifts in grain production increases in China and implications for food security," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 204-213.
    27. Stańczuk-Gałwiaczek, Małgorzata & Sobolewska-Mikulska, Katarzyna & Ritzema, Henk & van Loon-Steensma, Jantsje M., 2018. "Integration of water management and land consolidation in rural areas to adapt to climate change: Experiences from Poland and the Netherlands," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 498-511.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Ge & Li, Xiaoqiu & Gao, Yingjie & Zeng, Chen & Wang, Bingkun & Li, Xiangyu & Li, Xintong, 2023. "How does land consolidation drive rural industrial development? Qualitative and quantitative analysis of 32 land consolidation cases in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    2. Li, Hanbing & Jin, Xiaobin & McCormick, Barbara Prack & Tittonell, Pablo & Liu, Jing & Han, Bo & Sun, Rui & Zhou, Yinkang, 2023. "Analysis of the contribution of land consolidation to sustainable poverty alleviation under various natural conditions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    3. Shuchang Li & Wei Song, 2023. "Research Progress in Land Consolidation and Rural Revitalization: Current Status, Characteristics, Regional Differences, and Evolution Laws," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-24, January.
    4. Dongli Zhang & Lihong Yu & Wenxiong Wang, 2022. "Promoting Effect of Whole-Region Comprehensive Land Consolidation on Rural Revitalization from the Perspective of Farm Households: A China Study," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-24, October.
    5. Yan Sun & Xiaojun Song & Jing Ma & Haochen Yu & Xiaoping Ge & Gang-Jun Liu & Fu Chen, 2021. "Assessing the Effectiveness for Achieving Policy Objectives of Land Consolidation in China: Evidence from Project Practices in Jiangsu Province from 2001 to 2017," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Lili Zhang & Baoqing Hu & Ze Zhang & Gaodou Liang & Simin Huang, 2023. "Comprehensive Evaluation of Ecological-Economic Value of Guangxi Based on Land Consolidation," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-25, March.
    7. Yin, Qiqi & Sui, Xueyan & Ye, Bei & Zhou, Yujie & Li, Chengqiang & Zou, Mengmeng & Zhou, Shenglu, 2022. "What role does land consolidation play in the multi-dimensional rural revitalization in China? A research synthesis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    8. Zhou, Jian & Cao, Xiaoshu, 2020. "What is the policy improvement of China’s land consolidation? Evidence from completed land consolidation projects in Shaanxi Province," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    9. Zhou, Yang & Li, Peixuan & Zhang, Qi & Cheng, Guoqiang, 2025. "Socio-economic impacts, challenges, and strategies for whole-region comprehensive land consolidation in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    10. Zang, Yuzhu & Yang, Yuanyuan & Liu, Yansui, 2021. "Toward serving land consolidation on the table of sustainability: An overview of the research landscape and future directions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    11. Jian Zhou & Chao Li & Xiaotong Chu & Chenying Luo, 2022. "Is Cultivated Land Increased by Land Consolidation Sustainably Used in Mountainous Areas?," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-14, December.
    12. Cheng, Xin & Chen, Jia & Jiang, Shiwei & Dai, Yan & Shuai, Chuanmin & Li, Wenjing & Liu, Yue & Wang, Chaofan & Zhou, Min & Zou, Lianghui & Zhang, Pan & Kang, Xiwen, 2021. "The impact of rural land consolidation on household poverty alleviation: The moderating effects of human capital endowment," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    13. Xiaoyan Han & Shuqing Cao & Jiahui Xiao & Jie Lyu & Guanqiu Yin, 2025. "Transforming Rural Livelihoods Through Land Consolidation: Evidence from China’s High-Standard Farmland Construction Policy," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-19, October.
    14. Jian, Yuqing & Liu, Zhengjia & Gong, Jianzhou, 2022. "Response of landscape dynamics to socio-economic development and biophysical setting across the farming-pastoral ecotone of northern China and its implications for regional sustainable land management," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    15. Akmal, Freshteh Avatefi & Mohammadi, Yaser, 2025. "The nexus of agricultural land use change and food security: A comprehensive systematic review," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    16. Wang, Ziyang & Wang, Wenxiong & Yu, Lihong & Zhang, Dongli, 2022. "Multidimensional poverty alleviation effect of different rural land consolidation models: A case study of Hubei and Guizhou, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    17. Shuai Xie & Guanyi Yin & Wei Wei & Qingzhi Sun & Zhan Zhang, 2022. "Spatial–Temporal Change in Paddy Field and Dryland in Different Topographic Gradients: A Case Study of China during 1990–2020," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
    18. Xie, Xiang-xiang & Zhang, An-lu & Cai, Yin-ying & Zhang, Yu, 2020. "How government-led land consolidation efforts achieve grain production stability? An empirical analysis in Hubei Province, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    19. Borui Chen & Zirou Huang & Wei He & Min Wang, 2024. "Comprehensive Land Consolidation as a Development Strategy for Rural Revitalization: The Political Ecology Mechanisms and Benefits of the Pastoral Complex," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-28, June.
    20. Katarzyna Kocur-Bera & Jacek Rapiński & Monika Siejka & Przemysław Leń & Anna Małek, 2023. "Potential of an Area in Terms of Pro-Climate Solutions in a Land Consolidation Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-25, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:164:y:2026:i:c:s0264837726000517. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.