Fig. 5. Impacts of the “grain-for-green” and grazing exclusion practices in the desertification-prone region.

At present, 3.2 million and 48.3 million hectares of land are used for farming and grazing in the desertification-prone region, respectively. These available farmland and grassland provided 24 million tonnes of grain and 1.6 million tonnes of meat in 2020 (Supplementary Fig. 7) and generated 15,000 RMB (2,100 USD) of disposable income per capita (Supplementary Table 5). However, the practices of “grain-for-green” and grazing exclusion practices have resulted in decreases of 13%, 24%, and 15% in grain production, meat production, and incomes of framers and herdsmen, respectively, and have contributed only 13% to vegetation restoration (Fig. 3; Supplementary Table 4).