China fears food shortage, halts reforestation project

The Chinese government has ceased plans to reforest cultivatable land in light of food shortage concerns, say government officials. The reforestation project procured farmland in order to combat desertification and water shortages.

The country says it now needs the land for agriculture to feed its still growing population—the largest in the world—and the reforestation project would disrupt the fragile balance of food production. In recent years, Chinese farmland has dwindled dangerously close to the minimum needed for food self-sufficiency.