Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management
Rural Transformation: The challenge of Sustainable Agriculture, Environmental Pollution, Urban-Rural Income Inequality and Ageing Rural Population
Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management 13(1) (2025) 1--12 | DOI:10.5890/JEAM.2025.03.001
John\_CG Lee$^1$, Eko Ganis Sukoharsono$^2$
$^1$ The Renmin University of China, 59 Zhongguancun St, Haidian District, Beijing 100872, China
$^2$ Universitas Brawijaya, Gedung Rektorat Lantai 1, Jalan Veteran, Malang, 65145, Indonesia
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Abstract
In recent time China rural sector has made remarkable achievements but
is facing major new challenges. As a signatory of the UN SDG's and the
Paris Climate Accord, China is committed to sustainable agricultural practices
and achieving net zero carbon emission by 2050. The four new sets
of challenges are 1) sustainable agriculture, 2) environmental pollution, 3)
urban-rural income inequality, 4) depopulation and underdevelopment of
the rural region. This study aims to explore and analyses the rural transformation
processes in the case of Jilin province, North-East China with
respect of these four challenges. A qualitative approach was adopted, involving
focus group discussions (FGD) and the data is derived from
thirty-two participants recruited then divided into two groups of equal
number for separate FGD and thematic analysis to examine the data.
The results of the study are, in the context of sustainable agriculture and
environmental pol-lution, current farming practices are traditional, highly
prone to diseases outbreak, polluting the soil and waterway. Income gap
remains significant as measured by the urban-rural income ratio but has
been decreasing since 2013.This study finds whilst past and present
government policies and ef-forts have improved farm incomes,
agricultural production and rural living, it has not reversed the mass
migration of the young and able-bodies to the urban and thus the rural
remain hollowed out. On a case-to-case basis, the finding of this study is
generalizable for policymakers and stakeholders facing identical or similar
challenges. [1,2]
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