Self-sufficiency Rate Research Articles

Evaluation of County Economic Resilience in Henan Province Based on the Entropy Weight-Normal Cloud Model

As new urbanization constantly develops, the county economy plays a vital role between country and city, and high economic resilience is necessary to support and safeguard for smooth functioning of the county development. The paper constructs the index system of county economic resilience in Henan Province from three dimensions: risk resistance ability, self-stability, and sustainable development ability, and to empirically analyze the economic resilience of 104 counties and cities in the province from 2013 to 2020 using the entropy weight-normal cloud model. The results show that Henan counties’ economic resilience increases slowly over time and decreases spatially from the center to the surrounding region, with Zhengzhou as the main center and Luoyang and Sanmenxia as the subcenter; risk resistance ability and self-stabilization are more influential than the sustainable development ability; the key indicators affecting economic resilience are GDP per capita, retail sales of social consumer goods per capita, financial self-sufficiency rate, education expenditure per capita, and population mobility. Therefore, the counties in Henan should find the right positioning to improve economic resilience; central cities such as Zhengzhou and Luoyang should play their strong functions, while strengthening support for peripheral counties.

Techno-Economic Potential of Urban Photovoltaics: Comparison of Net Billing and Net Metering in a Mediterranean Municipality

Solar photovoltaic self-consumption is an attractive approach to increase autarky and reduce emissions in the building sector. However, a successful deployment in urban rooftops requires both accurate and low-computational-cost methods to estimate the self-consumption potential and economic feasibility, which is especially scarce in the literature on net billing schemes. In the first part of this study, a bottom-up GIS-based techno-economic model has helped compare the self-consumption potential with net metering and net billing in a Mediterranean municipality of Spain, with 3734 buildings in total. The capacity was optimized according to load profiles obtained from aggregated real measurements. Multiple load profile scenarios were assessed, revealing that the potential self-sufficiency of the municipality ranges between 21.9% and 42.5%. In the second part of the study, simplified regression-based models were developed to estimate the self-sufficiency, self-consumption, economic payback and internal rate of return at a building scale, providing nRMSE values of 3.9%, 3.1%, 10.0% and 1.5%, respectively. One of the predictors with a high correlation in the regressions is a novel coefficient that measures the alignment between the load and the hours with higher irradiance. The developed correlations can be employed for any other economic or demand scenario.

Configuration Optimization of Hydrogen-Based Multi-Microgrid Systems under Electricity Market Trading and Different Hydrogen Production Strategies

Hydrogen-based multi-microgrid systems (HBMMSs) are beneficial for energy saving and emission reductions. However, the optimal sizing of HBMMSs lacks a practical configuration optimization model and a reasonable solution method. To address these problems, we designed a novel structure of HBMMSs that combines conventional energy, renewable energy, and a hydrogen energy subsystem. Then, we established a bi-level multi-objective capacity optimization model while considering electricity market trading and different hydrogen production strategies. The objective of the inner model, which is the minimum annual operation cost, and the three objectives of the outer model, which are the minimum total annual cost (TAC); the annual carbon emission (ACE); and the maximum self-sufficiency rate (SSR), are researched simultaneously. To solve the above optimization model, a two-stage solution method, which considers the conflicts between objectives and the objectivity of objective weights, is proposed. Finally, a case study is performed. The results show that when green hydrogen production strategies are adopted, the three objectives of the best configuration optimization scheme are USD 404.987 million, 1.106 million tons, and 0.486, respectively.

Energy System Low-Carbon Transition under Dual-Carbon Goals: The Case of Guangxi, China Using the EnergyPLAN Tool

Guangxi is a typical developing region on the southern coast of China. The current issues encountered in the region’s development are that fossil energy accounts for about 80% of the energy structure, fossil fuels are heavily dependent on imports, and the self-sufficiency rate of resources is only 32%. These challenges have created a disparity between the current regional development state and the country’s dual carbon target. Under the premise of comprehensively considering the multi-sectors of electricity, industry, transportation, and heating, this paper presents a study on the energy system transition towards low-carbon development for Guangxi in four steps. Firstly, to demonstrate EnergyPLAN’s capability in energy modeling, a reference scenario for Guangxi is created using official yearbook data from 2020. Then, a short-term scenario is formulated to analyze the development of Guangxi’s energy system during the 14th Five-Year Plan. Furthermore, two mid-term scenarios are established, revealing that Guangxi is anticipated to reach its carbon emission peak between 2025 and 2030. Finally, three long-term scenarios are proposed for Guangxi’s energy system for 2050. These scenarios encompass the expansion of photovoltaics, nuclear, and wind power in the electricity system and emission reduction policies in the industrial, transportation, and heating sectors. As a result, compared with the 2020REF scenario, Guangxi can achieve a carbon emission reduction exceeding 57% and the share of non-fossil energy consumption can reach about 70% in the 2050 scenarios, despite a substantial increase in energy consumption, which makes it possible to achieve carbon neutrality in 2060 and to establish an energy system with less than 20% of fossil energy consumption.

A New Approach to Evaluate the Sustainability of Ecological and Economic Systems in Megacity Clusters: A Case Study of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Bay Area

An emergy analysis is used to assess the sustainability of urban agglomerations’ eco-economic systems, which are generally measured by emergy–value sustainability indicators using a combination of several system indicators. However, this assessment approach is not applicable to economically developed high-density urban agglomerations. The application of the traditional entropy value evaluation method needs to be expanded to further strengthen the sustainability of the complex eco-economic–social relationships in megacity cluster regions. In this study, taking the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) as a case study, we study a new evaluation method for evaluating the sustainable development capacity of cities. This method is based on the entropy power method and is used to construct the evaluation system of all indicators of the social–economic–natural subsystems of the eco-economic system, and it couples the development degree with the coordination degree. (1) This study shows that the new method is applicable for the sustainability assessment of high-density megacity clusters and is more accurate and comprehensive. The sustainability rankings are provided for Zhaoqing, Jiangmen, Huizhou, Guangzhou, Macau, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Zhuhai, and Shenzhen. Hong Kong is the most representative, with a high sustainability index, but has the lowest level of coordination and a clear incoherence within the system. (2) The current emergy structure of the GBA city cluster is extremely unreasonable. The GBA city cluster is a resource-consuming city with a common characteristic of a low level of coordinated development. Although urban clusters have some potential in terms of renewable emergy and resources, the recycling rate of waste is low, and the consumption rate of nonrenewable resources is high. The effective use of land resources has become an important factor in the bottlenecking of sustainable development, and all other cities face such problems, except Zhaoqing, Jiangmen, and Huizhou. (3) The GBA city cluster can be divided into three categories according to the new method. Category 1 mainly includes Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Zhuhai, which have coordinated development degrees ranging between 0.0 and 0.135 and the highest emergy density (ED) values but are extremely dependent on external emergy. They have high levels of emergy use per capita (EUC), high living standards, and high quality of life. The effective use of land resources severely restricts sustainable economic development, resulting in extreme ecological and environmental carrying pressure. Category 2 includes Guangzhou, Macau, Foshan, and Zhongshan, whose coordinated development degrees range from 0.143 to 0.179. The sustainable development capacity of these cities is at the middle level amongst the whole GBA. Their main emergy characteristics are emergy flow and subsystem evaluation indices that are between category 1 and category 3, but each has its own characteristics. The category 3 cities include Zhaoqing, Jiangmen, and Huizhou, whose coordinated development degrees are between 0.192 and 0.369. These cities are characterized by relatively low ED and EUC values, living standards, and quality, but their land resources have certain potential. These cities have a high emergy self-sufficiency rate (ESR) and natural environmental support capacity, but their environmental loading ratio (ELR) is still much higher than the national average. In terms of the economic development and innovation development levels, these cities are ranked as category 1 > category 2 > category 3. In terms of the ecological and environmental conditions and blue–green space protection, these cities are ranked as category 1 < category 2 < category 3. The results of this study can provide cities in the GBA with more scientific and consistent directions for the coordinated development of their ecological–economic–social systems to provide sustainable development decision-making services for megacity cluster systems.

Local Fiscal Pressure and Enterprise Environmental Protection Investment under COVID-19: Evidence from China

Increasing local fiscal pressure and insufficient enterprise environmental protection investment are considerable problems in China. Based on the data of A-share-listed companies in heavily polluting industries in China from 2015 to 2021, this paper uses COVID-19 as an exogenous shock of local fiscal pressure and investigates the impact of local fiscal pressure on enterprise environmental protection investment by the continuous DID method. The study found that local fiscal pressure significantly reduces enterprise environmental protection investment and has a greater impact on non-state-owned enterprises, large enterprises, enterprises located in the “two-control-zone” cities and enterprises located in cities with low fiscal self-sufficiency rates. The mechanism of analysis shows that local governments ease fiscal pressure by “increasing revenue” and “cutting expenditure”. The former increases the non-tax burden of enterprises, while the latter reduces enterprise environmental protection subsidies, which leads to a decrease in environmental protection investment. The findings of this paper indicate that it is necessary to focus on solving the local fiscal pressure dilemma to increase green investment and achieve green development.

A bi-level reinforcement learning model for optimal scheduling and planning of battery energy storage considering uncertainty in the energy-sharing community

Sharing of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the energy community by reflecting the real world can play a significant role in achieving carbon neutrality. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a bi-level reinforcement learning (RL) model of BESS considering uncertainty in the energy-sharing community for the following optimization strategies: (i) short-term scheduling model for optimal electricity flows considering operational objectives (i.e., self-sufficiency rate (SSR), peak load, and economic profit); and (ii) long-term planning model for optimal BESS plan (i.e., install, replace, and disuse) along with battery types (new or reused batteries). A case study in the South Korea Nonhyeon neighborhood was conducted to evaluate the developed bi-level RL model feasibility based on future scenarios considering the time-dependent variables. The developed model increased economic profit by up to 18,830 USD compared to the rule-based model. Compared to the case where BESS was not installed, SSR increased by up to 7.79% and peak demand decreased by up to 1.31 kWh. These results show that the developed model could maximize the economic feasibility of community-shared BESS by reflecting the uncertainty in the real world, ultimately benefiting participants in the energy-sharing community.

Food Production and Consumption in Ordos of Inner Mongolia

Ordos is an ecological fragile area in the upstream and midstream of the Yellow River and a component of the ecological security barrier on the northern frontier of China. With population growth in recent years, the contradiction between human beings and land resources has become increasingly prominent, leading to increased food security risks. Since 2000, the local government has implemented a series of ecological projects to guide farmers and herdsmen to transform from extensive production to intensive production, which has optimized the pattern of food production and consumption. It is necessary to study the balance between food supply and demand to evaluate food self-sufficiency. Here, we used the panel data from 2000 to 2020 collected based on random sampling surveys to reveal the characteristics of food production and consumption, the changes in food self-sufficiency rate and the dependence of food consumption on local production in Ordos. The results showed that food production and consumption dominated by grains have been increasing. The residents' diets were characterized by excessive consumption of grains and meat, and insufficient consumption of vegetables, fruits, and dairy foods. On the whole, the locality has achieved self-sufficiency, because the food supply exceeded the demand during the two decades. However, the self-sufficiency of different food types varied greatly, as some foods, such as wheat, rice, pork, poultry, and eggs, have not been self-sufficient. Due to the increased and diversified food demand of residents, food consumption became less dependent on local production and more dependent on food imported from the central and eastern China, which threatened local food security. The study can provide a scientific basis for decision-makers for the structural adjustment of agricultural and animal husbandry and the structural adjustment of food consumption, to ensure food security and sustainable utilization of land resources.

Why is agricultural policy not more environmentally ambitious? Comparing failed attempts in Switzerland

Switzerland is a country that has ambitious agri-environmental objectives, but its targets are continuously missed. The paper at hand examines this contradiction by describing and analysing three recent attempts to transform agricultural policies and change the unfortunate situation. The three cases were compared in a qualitative multimethod research design and along dimensions that are potentially relevant for explaining reform failures. While the attempts depicted involved distinctive governance pathways, they all failed to meet their objectives because of the large disadvantages their realisation would have generated. These included, above all, a reduction of the national self-sufficiency rate. It is concluded that the strategy of providing incentives for mere extensification has reached a dead end. New strategies to tackle food consumption patterns appear to be more promising. • Recent attempts to “green” Swiss agricultural policy have failed, albeit on different levels. • A common reason for failure was an apparent target conflict with self-sufficiency. • Need to shift from national production intensities to broader food policy measures.

국내 인증용 에너지 성능 평가 도구의 태양광발전시스템 생산량 분석 방법 고찰 및 개선방안

Purpose: Using renewables has been considered as one of the reliable solutions for building applications to achieve zero-energy building goals. Photovoltaic (PV) systems are a highly applicated option because of their ease of installation and cost-effectiveness. Effective evaluation methods and tools are needed to determine the building energy efficiency rate and acceptable zero-energy building certifications. This study aims to examine the PV generation analysis method of the evaluation tool for advancing the PV system evaluation method. Method: This study considers different PV calculation methods (e.g., ECO2, simple, one-diode, and PVWatts) and investigates the calculation characteristics of each approach to compare with the evaluation tool. Among the PV calculation methods, the most used one-diode model is adopted to compare the details of PV input variables and thus evaluate power generation performance under various simulation conditions for the improvement potential of the current evaluation tool. Result: Various input parameter conditions need to be reflected to improve the PV system analysis method of the evaluation tool. The evaluation tool should adopt the installation azimuth conditions for analysis and application scalability. In addition, the subdivision of the inclination is suggested as an improvement measure for further analysis options. The expansion of the installation azimuth can affect the utilization of the roof and elevation on the north side. The subdivision of the inclination enables a reliable zero-energy certification grade to improve through the calculation of more precise energy self-sufficiency rate evaluation results in a detailed manner.

A Battery Capacity Configuration Method of a Photovoltaic and Battery System Applied in a Building Complex for Increased Self-Sufficiency and Self-Consumption

Photovoltaic (PV) systems have been growing in popularity as an energy conservation and carbon reduction approach. Generally, battery storage is integrated with a PV system to solve the intermittent and fluctuant problems of solar resources, enhancing the relative independence of the PV–battery (PVB) system. In consideration of the economic benefits and system efficiency, it is necessary to investigate battery capacity allocation methods. A battery capacity configuration method was established in this study to increase the self-sufficiency rate (SSR) and self-consumption rate (SCR) of the system for a building complex by exploiting the battery resources. The PVB system designed for the building complex is divided into two categories: distributed and centralized storage. The SSR and SCR significantly increase with the increasing battery capacity for both schemes. The SCR of centralized storage is always higher than that of distributed storage, considering different battery and PV capacities. However, the SSR of distributed storage scheme was found to be slightly higher than that of the centralized storage scheme when the energy generated by PV is half of the energy consumed by the building load. For instance, when the battery capacity is four, SSR values for optimal distributed and centralized storage schemes are 47.62% and 47.19%, respectively. For the distributed storage scheme, there is a slight difference between the optimal allocation ratios achieved by SSR and SCR, considering that they have the same total battery capacity. In addition, the effects of converter loss, complementarity in load curves, and centralized batteries were analyzed to achieve greater SSR and SCR. The comparison results of this study can be used as a guide for battery capacity design in the PVB systems of building complexes.

Effects of multidimensional urbanisation on water footprint self-sufficiency of staple crops in China

Rapid urbanisation in developing countries has exerted ever-increasing pressure on food and water resource systems. Existing studies mostly focus on impacts of population urbanisation on agricultural water use, disregarding the multidimensional characteristics of urbanisation. Accounting for four dimensions of urbanisation: population, economy, spatial distribution, and society, we assessed the impact of multidimensional urbanisation on the water footprint self-sufficiency rate (WFSS) of three staple crops, that is, the ratio of the water footprint (WF) of crop production to the WF of crop-related consumption, through the case for China over 2000–2017. The socio-economic driving factors and spatial heterogeneity of crop WFSS were further tested. Results show that <30% of high-crop WFSS provinces supplied more than 70% of low-crop WFSS provinces. Social urbanisation and economic urbanisation were the governing positive and negative driving factors of the rice WFSS, respectively. Population urbanisation was the dominant factor attenuating wheat WFSS during the study period, while playing a reverse role in maize WFSS. Impacts of different dimensions of urbanisation on crop WFSS were heterogeneous and even contradictory depending on the crop type, the different processes of urbanisation, and the water endowment and economic level of the provinces. The quantile regression results further indicate that population urbanisation, spatial urbanisation and social urbanisation had greater impact on the higher WFSS (i.e., resulted in virtual water export) of rice and wheat. The current analysis challenges the conventionally monotonous urbanisation-water relationships, and suggests that additional dimensions of urbanisation should be considered when assessing the effects of urbanisation on agricultural water use.

Techno-economic analysis of the transition toward the energy self-sufficiency community based on virtual power plant

Distributed energy resources are important measures to increase energy self-sufficiency and overcome the global carbon reduction problem. However, individual planned renewable energy generation poses a significant threat to the power grid. Therefore, virtual power plant (VPP) is attracting considerable attention as a means of aggregating distributed energy in urban areas. This study proposed a VPP model consisting of updating high-efficiency appliances and photovoltaic and energy storage systems. A comprehensive analysis for assessing the technical, economic, and environmental benefits derived from the VPP was presented, indicating the feasibility of a smart community to achieve power self-sufficiency with the support of the VPP. A smart community in Japan was selected as the research object, with a peak power demand of 57,350 kW. The VPP’s load leveling performance, return on investment (ROI), and CO2 emission reduction were analyzed. In addition, external factors, such as electricity price changes and FiT policies, are considered to assess the impact on the economics of the VPP. The results show that the introduction of the VPP system in the community can effectively stabilize the grid load with a peak shaving rate reaching 42.55% and improve the energy self-sufficiency rate of the region reached 100%, besides providing superior economic and environmental benefits (16.26% CO2 emission reduction) on the demand side. Furthermore, the economic performance of VPP shows a good prospect with the fall in equipment prices and the future trend of carbon tax growth. This study provides important insights into the development of VPP in other countries, especially for low-energy self-sufficiency regions.

Detection method for genetically modified potato using an ultra-fast PCR system.

Genetically modified (GM) potatoes having resistance to insects and viral diseases, low reducing sugar contents, and black spots for high quality continue to be developed. However, no GM potato has been approved as food or feed in the Republic of Korea as the country adheres to a zero-tolerance policy to unauthorized genetically modified organisms (GMOs). When the self-sufficiency rate is low, a detection method to assess GMOs in crops or other products is necessary. Therefore, a rapid method for two GM potato events (SPS-Y9 and EH92-527-1) using an ultra-fast PCR (UF-PCR) system has been developed, and its specificity, sensitivity, and applicability were demonstrated. UF-PCR can decrease the runtime of PCR by more than half of that needed in conventional methods. However, UF-PCR is not a common method for GMO analysis. This rapid detection method may be useful for GMO analyses in field conditions.

Factors affecting the techno-economic and environmental performance of on-grid distributed hydrogen energy storage systems with solar panels

Deployment of on-grid distributed hydrogen energy storage (HES) systems, which are more economically advantageous than off-grid systems, requires not only optimization for minimizing system costs but also analysis for clarifying the factors that affect the optimization results. In this study, an on-grid system with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, an electrolyzer (EC), fuel cell, hydrogen tank, and compressor was modeled. This model was used to analyze the changes in the system cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission with an increase of device capacities under different PV capacities and self-sufficiency rates (SSRs). The analyses quantitatively showed that the optimization under massive PV implementation, which generated large amounts of surplus electricity and did not need seasonal storage for more than half a year, makes HES system more economically attractive while reducing the GHG emission. The unit cost reduction of the HES devices made the optimal EC capacity increased, which reduced the curtailment of surplus electricity. When an SSR constraint was imposed, the unit cost reduction of the HES devices decreased the optimal PV capacity while reducing the curtailment of surplus electricity. The maximum installable PV capacity in a microgrid was also discussed in terms of the electricity demand density and grid transmission capacity.

Resource exergy analysis of the Chinese society in 2017.

China has made huge efforts to increase the efficiency of its resources and change its resource-intensive economic trajectory. A question which should be raised is whether the impacts of such shifts can be measured. Exergy analysis provides a unified method of ecological diagnosis of resource allocation and metabolism in social systems from a biophysical perspective. This paper explores the resource utilization pattern within Chinese society by employing an exergy-based accounting method. Nationally total resource consumption amounted to 153.7 EJ in 2017, and non-biological resources reached 137.1 EJ. China's resource self-sufficiency rate was revealed as 79.1%. After China experienced a transition period with a medium-high economic growth rate, the total net resource input into Chinese society marked an increase of around 1% from 2012 to 2017. The per capita resource consumption dropped from 112.0 GJ in 2012 to 110.6 GJ in 2017. The proportion of resource exergy consumption in the tertiary sector was upregulated from 10.0% in 2012 to 17.6% in 2017. To be specific, the exergy conversion efficiency of the domestic sector rose from 1.3% in 2012 to 20.6% in 2017. The results confirm that the resource exergy utilization structures and the conversion efficiencies of the main social sectors in China's economic transition period were significantly optimized towards a more sustainable future. A reasonable analysis of the resource exergy utilization pattern provides a solid reference for assessing the comprehensive effect of the changed development speed, industrial structure, and driving force of a developing society.

Multi-objective capacity optimization configuration of independent wind-photovoltaic- hydrogen-battery system based on improved MOSSA algorithm

Under the background of large-scale and rapid development of renewable energy, in order to improve the economic benefit of the system and ensure the reliability of the system, this paper introduces hydrogen production and energy storage into the independent wind/photovoltaic/hydrogen/storage capacity optimization configuration method. In order to minimize the total planning cost and self-sufficiency rate of system power supply, a capacity optimization allocation model was established. On the basis of this model, the Multi-objective Salp Swarm Algorithm (MOSSA) was improved in Algorithm structure, Tent chaotic mapping was introduced to initialize the population, and the positions of leaders and followers were updated based on the adaptive spiral search strategy. The validity of the algorithm is verified by test function. Finally, the specific example is solved by MATLAB programming, and the improved multi-objective Salp Swarm Algorithm (IMOSSA) is used to obtain the capacity configuration scheme, which provides reference for the optimization design of independent photovoltaic hydrogen storage system.

Constructing a Database of Reference Hydrothermal Sources for a Zero-Energy Building Certification Rating in South Korea and Analyzing the Renewable Energy Self-Sufficiency Rate Achieved by Water-Source Heat Pumps

This study aims to institutionalize an evaluation methodology to assess water-source heat pumps (WSHPs) when designing a zero-energy building. Thus, regions where zero-energy buildings were designed were subdivided into 66 sub-regions, thereby standardizing the temperatures on the source side of WSHPs using river water and pipeline water. Based on these data, ground-source and water-source heat pump system-based simulation (new and renewable energy self-sufficiency rate compared to building energy consumption) values were derived for cases whose condition (region or heat source) was different among the buildings certified as zero-energy buildings. The application of the standard meteorological data and reference hydrothermal data to the ECO2 program and outcome evaluation led to the following findings: in all cases (reference: Seoul), ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs) showed a higher self-sufficiency rate than WSHPs (ground source &gt; pipeline water &gt; river water). The self-sufficiency rate of GSHPs was 11–33% higher than that of WSHPs. In a regional comparison among the cold (Jeongseon), central (Seoul), and southern (Jeju Island) regions, WSHPs exhibited higher energy self-sufficiency rates than GSHPs under the conditions of higher water temperatures in winter and lower water temperatures in summer, as in the southern region.

DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN CHINA: STRUCTURE, TRENDS AND INVOLVEMENT IN THE GLOBAL TRADE FLOWS

The paper reveals the issues of agricultural development and trade in China for the period 2014-2022. The rapid growth in the output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery in China is marked, highlighting the distinctive advantages of regions specializing in these areas. It was found that despite using only 7% of its own arable land, China manages to feed 20% of the global population, achieving a 95% self-sufficiency rate in cereals. This study employs policy investigation and comparative analysis to assess the evolution of China's agricultural policies and their impact on the industry. The paper further explores the balance in the supply and demand of major crops like rice, wheat, and corn, and the substantial improvements in national food security. Additionally, the international trade of agricultural products has expanded, showcasing China's comparative advantages and efficient resource utilization. It identifies the achievements and challenges in China's agricultural development and emphasizes the importance of international cooperation and sustainable development strategies, such as the "Belt and Road" initiative, in enhancing global food security. Keywords: agriculture, rural development, periphery regions, agricultural trade, agricultural export and import, China, global product security

Is Wheat Self-Sufficiency in Algeria, a Myth?

Algeria is one of the largest wheat importers in the world. Despite the importance of this staple food for the population, the country remains heavily dependent on imports due to its inability to produce enough wheat to meet its own needs. With a focus on food sovereignty, this paper aims to explore the feasibility of achieving wheat self-sufficiency in Algeria. A historical review of the trends in wheat production, import, and consumption from 2001 to 2018 was conducted to understand the dynamics of the wheat market in Algeria. The review reveals that despite government efforts to increase wheat production, it has remained sluggish, while consumption has continued to grow rapidly. The widening gap between these two magnitudes is a reflection of the country’s inability to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat. The wheat self-sufficiency rate is calculated as the ratio of wheat production to consumption, and the findings of this study indicate that this rate is unlikely to reach the value of 1, which means that self-sufficiency in wheat remains an elusive goal for Algeria. The slow growth of wheat production and the rapid increase in consumption highlight the need for a more comprehensive approach to addressing the wheat self-sufficiency challenge in Algeria, which would involve improving agricultural policies and practices, increasing investment in the sector, and promoting technological advancements. In conclusion, this paper highlights the critical need for Algeria to prioritize the development of its agricultural sector, specifically its wheat production, to achieve food sovereignty and reduce its dependence on imports. The study provides valuable insights into the challenges and limitations of achieving wheat self-sufficiency in Algeria and offers recommendations for future action to address these challenges.