“Crossing the river while feeling the rocks”

Between 1978 and 1984, a massive shift from collective to household agricultural production took place in China. These incremental reforms, which Deng Xiaoping called “crossing the river while feeling the rocks,” eventually gave 95 percent—160 million rural Chinese families—the right to oversee household plots, leading to stunning gains in productivity.

Highlights from Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development

Millions fed

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