Conclusions

From its reading of the claims made for CEA up to 1992, the World Bank suggested that the various trial sites for CEA:

appear to be model rural communities in which the design of crop, livestock and fish production and the use of human and animal wastes and crop by-products result in a self-contained, sustainable system. Production of biogas as fuel and heavy or exclusive use of organic fertilisers appear to be main features. Proponents claim that yields and revenues on these sites are significantly higher than averages in other areas (World Bank, 1992b, p.87).

It went on to say,

However it is not clear what inducements or incentives the sponsors provide to villagers to adopt these systems or whether these systems are financially attractive in the long run. Moreover, it is unclear how the findings and techniques are to be extended to the rural population at large. It would clearly be worthwhile to further investigate this ambitious program and the conclusions emerging from it (World Bank, 1992b, p.87, emphasis added).

My research involved the closer investigation of CEA sites called for by the World Bank in 1992 and a consideration of the appropriateness and ease of CEA extension into the wider Chinese countryside. The results are set out below.