Effects of agricultural carbon footprints and malnutrition on life expectancy in China

This study explored the impact of carbon footprints and malnutrition on life expectancy in China over the periods of 2000 and 2021. Data from the World Bank Indicators database was utilized, and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) was employed to analyse the extracted data. The results show that over the periods of 2000 and 2021, agricultural carbon footprints in China experienced a first sharp decline in 2015. In contrast, per capita food production in China rose from 88.29% in 2011 to over 108% in 2021. Within a space of a decade, the undernourished population in China was reduced by 78.8%. Moreover, per capita food production had a positive impact on life expectancy in China. Conversely, malnutrition exerted a negative and significant influence on life expectancy. Agricultural carbon footprints contributed a positive but insignificant impact on life expectancy, and GDP per capita growth increased life expectancy significantly in the country. We conclude that policymakers in China are should ensure that all citizens have access to food necessary to improve life span of the country`s population.