Assessment of sustainable livelihoods of different farmers in hilly red soil erosion areas of southern China

Livelihood vulnerability in environmentally fragile areas is emerging as a key issue due to its positive feedback to environmental degradation. Assessment of sustainable livelihoods is a crucial prerequisite for targeting interventions. However, aggregated analysis usually obtained ambiguous conclusions because they ignored the heterogeneity of rural households. Here, we evaluated the livelihood sustainability of different rural households by constructing an improved Livelihood Sustainability Index (LSI) in hilly red soil erosion areas of southern China. Changting County was selected as the study case by virtue of its unique representativeness in soil erosion and poverty. The results showed that livelihood sustainability among rural households was far from equivalent. Different from previous studies, higher nonfarm income share was not always consistent with higher extent of livelihood sustainability. Besides nonfarm employment, agricultural specialization could be another viable pathway to attain sustainable livelihoods. We also found that intergenerational sustainability was one primary cause for long-term livelihood differentiation of rural households. The poor education in rural areas would aggravate livelihood vulnerability of the poor and threaten the sustainable livelihoods of specialized agricultural households. Policy implications include further investment in rural infrastructure, irrigation and drainage, and stimulus for land transfer and concentration to facilitate agrarian specialization; enhancing investment in rural education to improve intergenerational sustainability; as well as targeting of the most vulnerable households, for example, promoting development of social insurance, social relief, and medical services for orphans and widows.     

Livelihood Diversity, Food Security and Resilience among the Caiçara of Coastal Brazil

To analyze the relationships between local livelihoods and vulnerability to food insecurity, using a resilience approach, we interviewed 350 households from seven mixed-heritage Caiçara communities in Paraty, Brazil. Fishing was a livelihood activity for 70 % of the households, and the main declared activity for 16 %. Fishing was combined with other activities such as day-wage jobs, tourism, agriculture, and commerce. Livelihood activities were not homogeneously distributed among communities, and a higher proportion of fishing households were found in generalist communities. Food insecurity appeared to be transitory (and not chronic), and fishing is central to food security. Small-scale fisheries cannot be seen in isolation from the diversity of activities that make up the livelihood portfolios of coastal communities. In view of rapid change in the area, pressures from protected areas, large-scale fisheries, tourism development and economic change in general, threaten the resilience of Caiçara livelihoods, with implications for future food insecurity.     

干旱区内陆河流域农户生计对生态退化的脆弱性评价——以石羊河中下游为例

生态退化对干旱区内陆河流域农业人口的负面影响非常显著,当前急需评估农户生计对生态退化的脆弱性,识别脆弱群体及脆弱性成因,并依此寻求降低生计脆弱性的对策措施。以石羊河中下游为研究区,基于366户农户调查数据,分析了不同类型农户对生态退化的暴露度、敏感性及适应能力,评估了农户生计对生态退化的脆弱性,探明了影响农户生计对生态退化脆弱性的关键因素。结果表明:(1)高收入及高文化程度农户的适应能力强,暴露度与敏感性高,生计脆弱性较低;(2)从纯农户到非农户、从单一生计农户到多种生计农户,适应能力依次增强,暴露度与敏感性递减,生计脆弱性降低;(3)改善生态环境质量,提高农户的富裕水平、受教育程度及社会资本,促进生计转型能够显著降低农户生计对生态退化的脆弱性。最后,提出了减轻农户生计脆弱性的对策建议及未来需进一步关注的问题。     

西南地区少数民族传统生计变迁与农户生计安全

少数民族农户生计及其安全对于民族地区的生态建设、区域发展和文化保护有着重要意义。在总结中国西南地区少数民族传统生计及其特点、传统生计变迁及其主要驱动力的基础上,主要从环境行为/生态后果、文化适应两方面分析了生计变迁的影响。资源配置家庭化是少数民族生计变迁后的一个显著特点,因此对于农户生计的研究应受到重视。当前针对农户生计的研究主要围绕可持续生计分析框架和农户生计安全而开展。农户生计安全是农村社会可持续发展的微观基础,与可持续生计密切相关。在考虑西南地区生态安全的背景下,生态脆弱性和生计后果是相关研究需要重点关注的内容,而针对少数民族生计的研究还需要突出民族文化的特点和作用。民族文化资本化是保护民族文化、发展民族地区经济的有效途径,将民族文化作为生计资本并纳入可持续生计分析框架将是对西南少数民族生计研究的有效补充。     

重点生态功能区农户相对贫困程度及影响因素——以陇南山区为例

重点生态功能区是全球生态系统保护与支撑人类可持续发展的核心区域。农户作为重点生态功能区生态保护的主体,其福祉水平直接关系到重点生态功能区主体功能的实现。科学评估重点生态功能区农户的相对贫困程度,精准识别相对贫困人口并揭示其影响因素对于促进重点生态功能区生计与生态协同发展至关重要。以地处秦巴山重要水源涵养区与生物多样性生态功能区的陇南山区为案例区,基于可持续生计分析框架,利用农户调查数据,通过构建相对贫困测度指标体系,系统识别相对贫困农户,并利用分层线性模型在"家庭-村庄"双重尺度上探索相对贫困的关键影响因素。结果发现：（1）陇南山区农户相对贫困程度存在分化,其中,高山区农户、补贴型农户和高家庭抚养比农户相对贫困程度较高。相对贫困农户占受访户的20.39%,且主要集中在高山区、家庭抚养比较高以及补贴型农户中。（2）农户的家庭属性是导致农户陷入相对贫困的决定性因素,脱贫内生动力及生计多样性提升是缓解相对贫困的关键因素,而医疗负担和教育负担增加会导致农户陷入相对贫困。（3）村庄特征放大了家庭特征对相对贫困程度的影响,村庄自然条件、社会经济条件、对外联系等通过影响家庭特征而强化了对农户相对贫困程度的影响。     

钱江源国家公园体制试点区农户生计资本评价及其空间特征

本研究以钱江源国家公园体制试点区(以下简称为钱江源国家公园)为例, 基于可持续生计分析框架, 构建农户生计资本评价指标体系, 运用熵权法、聚类分析和空间自相关分析, 开展钱江源国家公园农户生计资本评价, 并对其空间分布和集聚特征进行分析。结果表明: (1)不同农户类型的生计资本均值呈现非农户 > 兼业户 > 纯农户, 非农户的人力资本、社会资本和物质资本远高于兼业户和纯农户; (2)不同农户类型资产等级划分差异显著, 纯农户的中低资产较多, 非农户的高资产较多, 生计资本与生计活动类型密切相关; (3)农户生计资本总量在空间上呈现由西南向东北递增的趋势, 何田乡生计资本较为均衡, 齐溪镇、长虹乡和苏庄镇的生计资本搭配不合理; (4)不同功能区农户生计资本分布与功能定位和管理强度相关; (5)自然资本呈现显著空间自相关性, 其余资本及总量空间自相关性不显著。最后, 为改善钱江源国家公园农户生计状况提出了相关建议。     

可持续生计框架下连片特困区发展机理——以宁夏限制开发生态区为例

生计资本与农户收支有着密切关系,决定农户的生计策略,影响区域的发展机理与发展模式.基于参与式农村评估和数理统计方法,分民族、地形、农户类型对宁夏限制开发生态区农户生计资本与农户收支状况进行定量评估,创建农户非农性指数,揭示生计资本与农户收支和非农性指数的关系,结合研究区实际对农户可持续生计进行研究,探讨区域发展机理.结果表明: 研究区农户生计资本量整体偏低,其中,回族略高于汉族、川道农户高于山地农户、兼业户和非农业户显著高于农业户;区域发展与非农性指数和人力、物质等资本显著正相关,与自然资本显著负相关,需着力提升农户的非农性指数和人力、物质等资本量,同时引导农户对农业生产资料进行流转,促进自然资本两极分化.     

Regional Integration and Household Resilience: Infrastructure Connectivity and Livelihood Diversity in the Southwestern Amazon

The Inter-Oceanic Highway is among the first wave of large infrastructure projects under the auspices of the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America, which proposes regional integration as a means of economic development. Such projects have reignited debates over infrastructure impacts, which in many ways center on the ramifications for natural resource management. We pursue an analysis of the implications of highway paving for local livelihoods by focusing on the effects of market connectivity on livelihood diversity. Given that infrastructure brings shocks to affected regions, we argue that livelihood diversity is usefully interpreted in terms of household resilience to such shocks. We draw on rural household surveys from the tri-national frontier where Bolivia, Brazil and Peru meet in the southwestern Amazon, where the Inter-Oceanic Highway has recently been paved. The findings show that households more connected to markets in terms of travel time and road paving have less diverse livelihoods. This confirms concerns about regional integration and rural household vulnerability.     

To fish or not to fish: factors at multiple scales affecting artisanal fishers' readiness to exit a declining fishery

Globally, fisheries are challenged by the combined impacts of overfishing, degradation of ecosystems and impacts of climate change, while fisheries livelihoods are further pressured by conservation policy imperatives. Fishers' adaptive responses to these pressures, such as exiting from a fishery to pursue alternative livelihoods, determine their own vulnerability, as well as the potential for reducing fishing effort and sustaining fisheries. The willingness and ability to make particular adaptations in response to change, such as exiting from a declining fishery, is influenced by economic, cultural and institutional factors operating at scales from individual fishers to national economies. Previous studies of exit from fisheries at single or few sites, offer limited insight into the relative importance of individual and larger-scale social and economic factors. We asked 599 fishers how they would respond to hypothetical scenarios of catch declines in 28 sites in five western Indian Ocean countries. We investigated how socioeconomic variables at the individual-, household- and site-scale affected whether they would exit fisheries. Site-level factors had the greatest influence on readiness to exit, but these relationships were contrary to common predictions. Specifically, higher levels of infrastructure development and economic vitality - expected to promote exit from fisheries - were associated with less readiness to exit. This may be due to site level histories of exit from fisheries, greater specialisation of fishing households, or higher rewards from fishing in more economically developed sites due to technology, market access, catch value and government subsidies. At the individual and household scale, fishers from households with more livelihood activities, and fishers with lower catch value were more willing to exit. These results demonstrate empirically how adaptive responses to change are influenced by factors at multiple scales, and highlight the importance of understanding natural resource-based livelihoods in the context of the wider economy and society.     

城乡二元差异视角下横断山区县域尺度居民生计水平测度

城市化导致城乡居民生计差异凸显,区域尺度的居民生计研究需充分考虑该差异。采用可持续生计方法(SLA),基于县域尺度建立城乡差异化的居民生计测度体系,引入城乡差异因子测度了横断山区县域的居民生计水平。结果表明：(1)引入城乡差异因子能一定程度消除居民生计水平测度研究中城镇居民生计优势对区域整体生计水平的放大作用;(2)2000—2015年横断山区城乡二元性结构特征显著,期间城乡居民生计关键驱动因子差异明显,乡村居民生计发展逐步由自然资本驱动转变为物质资本驱动,城镇规模超过产业发展状况成为影响城镇居民生计发展的关键影响因子,城乡统筹来看,投资规模和信息获取能力开始愈发的显现其对于居民生计发展的积极作用;(3)横断山区县域居民生计水平总体偏低,发展动能总体不足,两极化发展趋势日益明显;(4)区域居民生计水平总体呈南高北低的空间分布格局,同海拔、坡度呈显著的负相关关系,区域内越是生计脆弱的县域,其居民生计发展越易受到自然环境的制约,同时县域居民生计水平同区域劳动力数量、经济规模显著正相关,劳动力充足、经济发展水平较高的县域其居民生计对自然环境扰动具有更强的韧性。总体来看引入城乡差异因子的可持续...     

The Importance of Bushmeat in the Livelihoods of West African Cash-Crop Farmers Living in a Faunally-Depleted Landscape

Bushmeat is an important resource in the livelihoods of many rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa and may be a crucial safety-net for the most vulnerable households, especially during times of economic hardship. However, little is known about the impacts of wildlife depletion on these functions. This study quantifies the role of bushmeat in diversified rural household economies in a wildlife depleted forest-farm landscape in Ghana, assessing its importance overall, as well as differentiated by the relative vulnerability of households. Using repeat socioeconomic questionnaires (N=787) among 63 households over a one-year period, the following hypotheses were tested: (a) vulnerable households harvest more bushmeat; (b) bushmeat contributes a greater proportion of household production in vulnerable households; (c) bushmeat is more important for cash income than consumption in vulnerable households; and (d) bushmeat sales are more important for vulnerable households. The bushmeat harvest value averaged less than US$1.0 per day for 89% of households and comprised less than 7% of household production value. Household wealth and gender of the household head had little effect on the importance of bushmeat. However, bushmeat harvest and sales were highest during the agricultural lean season. Overall, most harvested bushmeat (64%) was consumed, enabling households to spend 30% less on meat/fish purchases. These findings suggest that, despite heavily depleted wildlife and diversified livelihoods, bushmeat continues to have an important role in rural livelihoods by acting as a safety net for income smoothing and reducing household expenditure during times of economic hardship.     

Sustainable livelihood framework-based indicators for assessing climate change vulnerability and adaptation for Himalayan communities

This study evaluated the climate change vulnerability of Himalayan communities, and their potential to adapt to these changes, through assessing their perceived reactions and counter-actions to climate change. The evaluation was conducted through proposing and testing indices for vulnerability (Climate Vulnerability Index – CVI) and adaptation (Current Adaptive Capacity Index – CACI) based on the assumption that a community is an active dynamic entity and has tremendous capability to address the impacts of climate change through an ability to make adjustments based on perceived experiences. Both CVI and CACI include the five forms of capital leading to sustainable livelihood, i.e. human, natural, financial, social and physical capital, and were assessed for each of these forms of capital based on the IPCC framework of vulnerability assessment and its three dimensions (exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity). Data for the analysis were collected from randomly selected households located away from district headquarters (ADH) and near district headquarters (NDH). Each dimension was measured based on associated socio-environment-specific indicators for assessing vulnerability and sustainability at community level. The results showed that ADH households had higher human capital and natural capital vulnerability than NDH households. In contrast, NDH households had higher social capital and financial capital vulnerability than ADH households. Overall, ADH households had greater vulnerability than NDH households.These results improve understanding of the environmental and socio-economic changes affecting rural livelihoods and the measures needed to address their specific vulnerabilities by addressing bottlenecks in education and training facilities for skill up-grading, increasing interaction opportunities through local functions and creating opportunities for income generation and effective market and farm linkages. An attempt was made to reduce the gap between bottom-up understanding and top-down policies by suggesting precautionary and ongoing adaptation practices for the communities studied, leading to effective and efficient addressal of vulnerabilities. Vulnerability in the study context was taken to mean externally driven change leading to disturbance in the human environment that could alter internal and external livelihood settings.     

农户生计与生态系统服务关系的区域差异及驱动机制——以密云水库上游流域为例

深入揭示生态系统与农户福祉之间的关系,对实现农户差异化管理及区域可持续发展具有重要意义。本研究以密云水库上游流域(包括北京市和河北省的部分区域)为研究区域,基于1754份农户调查问卷数据,通过统计计量方法对比分析了流域内北京市、河北省农户福祉水平(以家庭总收入表示)与生态系统服务依赖性(以生态系统依赖性指数表示)的关系。结果表明: 流域内京冀农户生计与生态系统的互作模式均可分为4类,但京冀两地不同模式占比差异较大。北京农户样本中,占比最高的是高福祉-低依赖模式(33.9%),农户人均年收入显著高于河北农户,农户的各项生计资本也较河北省农户高;河北农户中,不提倡的低福祉-高依赖模式仍占比39.1%,对提升农户福祉水平至关重要的人力资本素质、社会资本、金融资本等均显著低于北京农户;河北农户主要依赖农业生产收入(41.2%),对土地的开发利用程度显著较高;相对于北京农户,河北农户的自然资源条件、人力资本素质对农户生计的影响更加显著。保持适当家庭规模、不断提高劳动力教育水平、提高低收入家庭的生态补偿标准是形成农户与生态系统良好互动关系(高福祉-低依赖型)的关键因素。     

Livelihoods and Fisheries Governance in a Contemporary Pacific Island Setting

Inshore marine resources play an important role in the livelihoods of Pacific Island coastal communities. However, such reliance can be detrimental to inshore marine ecosystems. Understanding the livelihoods of coastal communities is important for devising relevant and effective fisheries management strategies. Semi-structured household interviews were conducted with householders in Langalanga Lagoon, Solomon Islands, to understand household livelihoods and resource governance in fishing-dependent communities. Households were engaged in a diverse range of livelihoods. Fishing, shell money production and gardening were the most important livelihoods. Proximity to an urban centre influenced how households accessed some livelihoods. Perceptions of management rules varied and different reasons were cited for why rules were broken, the most common reason being to meet livelihood needs. Current models of inshore small-scale fisheries management that are based on the notion of community-based resource management may not work in locations where customary management systems are weak and livelihoods are heavily reliant on marine resources. An important step for fisheries management in such locations should include elucidating community priorities through participatory development planning, taking into consideration livelihoods as well as governance and development aspirations.     

Fishing success in a regulated commons

Abstract

The success of commercial fishermen and their attitudes about that success are dimensions which require consideration in implementing management regulations designed to limit entry, improve the livelihood of fishermen, and reduce costs to the consumer. This case study of the fishing success and attitudes of Oregon commercial fishermen reveals a diversity of attitudes about fishing success, about competition between harvesters, and about the relations with other harvesters. In addition, the measurement of the success of commercial fishermen is subject to a number of qualifications (Appendix). All of these factors operate to reduce recognition of the need for new forms of fisheries management.     

旅游与生计可视化分析

旅游发展对当地居民的生计具有重要影响,旅游与生计研究业已成为学术界关注的热点领域。以Web of science核心库中1994—2016年间收录相关主题的文献为基础,利用可视化软件Cite Space和Carrot2对旅游与生计研究的前沿热点、知识基础和合作网络进行分析。研究发现,旅游与生计研究涉及多个学科,主要集中在生态、环境、管理和地理等学科领域;"乡村旅游"、"保护区旅游"、"文化旅游"、"海洋旅游"等是旅游与生计研究的热点议题;旅游与生计研究的知识基础主要包括"保护区管治"、"成本效益分析"、"乡村旅游"、"乡村发展"等研究领域。     

The Contribution of Nearshore Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) to Food Security and Livelihoods in Solomon Islands

Fish aggregating devices, or FADs, are used widely in developing countries to concentrate pelagic fish, making them easier to catch. Nearshore FADs anchored close to the coast allow access for rural communities, but despite their popularity among policy makers, there is a dearth of empirical analysis of their contributions to the supply of fish and to fisheries management. In this paper we demonstrate that nearshore FADs increased the supply of fish to four communities in Solomon Islands. Estimated total annual fish catch ranged from 4300 to 12 000 kg across the study villages, with nearshore FADs contributing up to 45% of the catch. While it is clear that FADs increased the supply of fish, FAD catch rates were not consistently higher than other fishing grounds. Villages with limited access to diverse or productive fishing grounds seemingly utilized FADs to better effect. Villagers believed FADs increased household income and nutrition, as well as providing a source of fish for community events. FADs were also perceived to increase intra-household conflict and reduce fishers'' participation in community activities. FADs need to be placed within a broader rural development context and treated as another component in the diversified livelihoods of rural people; as with other livelihood options they bring trade-offs and risks.     

Market-resource Links and Fish Vendor Livelihoods in the Upper Zambezi River Floodplains

This paper examines small-scale fish vending in a southern African floodplain from two perspectives: as a link between natural resource use and consumption, and as a livelihood in itself. We used a combination of observation, surveys and semistructured interviews in a market in Katima Mulilo, Namibia, to determine sources of fish, preferences and constraints to vending, average investment and profit, as well different routes into fish vending and perceptions regarding vending. Most vendors come from fishing households, but their stock is often an accumulation of purchases from other fishers. There is little evidence of formal arrangements between fishers and vendors, yet most adapt to the highly variable natural and social environments of the region. Although all vendors ranked selling fish as their most important livelihood activity, a wide range of investment and profit exists among individuals. Our findings indicate that fisheries management proposed for the area must be developed with a careful understanding of how changes in access and use will affect vending livelihoods.

Livelihood diversification and implications on dryland resources of central Tanzania

The concern over sustainable livelihoods in African drylands is an issue that has received considerable attention from researchers and policy makers alike. Over the past two decades African rural areas have undergone rapid changes, whereby, rural income diversification has become the most salient feature. With a particular focus on dryland ecosystems, among the major challenges facing communities in these areas is recurrent drought leading to conditions of food insecurity. This paper draws on experience on coping mechanisms for food insecurity from an agro-pastoral community in Mvumi, located in the semiarid areas of central Tanzania. An understanding of livelihoods of people in this area has involved examining how communities have managed to adjust their livelihood in the midst of challenges resulting not only from drought but also from various forces such as socio–economic, political and ecological factors. It has been found out that, despite profound food crisis in this area, people are not always desperate and that there are possibilities for realizing some hidden potentials of dryland resources for livelihood diversification. The issue of sustainable natural resource management in such areas is, however, questionable because of some adverse environmental effects associated with some of the coping mechanisms.     

Rural-to-Urban Labor Migration,Household Livelihoods,and the Rural Environment in Chongqing Municipality,Southwest China

Rural migration and its relationship to the rural environment have attracted increasing research interest in recent decades. Rural migration constitutes a key component of human population movement, while rural areas contain most of the world’s natural resources such as land and forests. This study empirically evaluates a conceptual framework incorporating rural household livelihoods as an integrative mediating factor between rural migration and the rural environment in the context of rural-to-urban labor migration in Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China. The analysis draws on data collected through household surveys and key informant interviews from four villages. Results confirm the hypothesis that labor-migrant and non-labor-migrant households differ significantly in livelihood activities including agricultural production, agricultural technology use, income and consumption, and resource use and management. Implications for the subsequent environmental outcomes of rural labor out-migration and corresponding natural resource management and policy in rural origin areas are discussed.