Agricultural water management at the village level in northern China

China’s water resource availability is among the lowest worldwide. The most recent estimate of the annual renewable internal freshwater resources per capita is 2,093 m³ (FAO, AQUASTAT), which is far below the estimated world average of 8,349 m³ (ESCAP, 2010). In addition, water resources are not evenly distributed. Northern China has only 21 percent of the country’s water endowment (Ministry of Water Resources of China, 2011). ¹ Northern China, however, remains an important region, with about 35 percent of the total population, 38 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and almost half of the grain production (NBSC, 2013).