The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a loan of US$255 million to support a program that will reduce methane emissions, improve irrigation and drainage services, and provide agricultural support for climate-resilient rice production in Hunan province, China’s largest rice production area.
For China and other nations that grow rice, it will produce knowledge and experiences that are reproducible and scalable.
According to Mara Warwick, Country Director for China, Mongolia, and Korea at the World Bank, “The Methane-Reducing and Water-Saving Paddy Rice Program will provide creative solutions to promote climate mitigation in China’s agriculture sector.” The initiative offers an integrated strategy that will help farmers, the environment, and the world at large by providing incentives for changing behaviour.
“The program will spend five years creating a sustainable rice production model, with a total investment of $1.24 billion funded by the World Bank loan and Chinese government funding.
The program is in line with the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for China for FY2020 to 2025 from the World Bank, which intends to assist China in promoting greener growth and contributing to global public goods, particularly by lowering greenhouse gas emissions related to the food system, as highlighted in the recent China Country Climate and Development Report.