Farmers’ response to agricultural drought in paddy field of southern China: a case study of temporal dimensions of resilience

Seasonal water scarcity in southern China has been an issue of concern for many years. The increased frequency of low precipitation in the growing season of rice created a flurry of discussions in the academic and policy arenas. These events severely disrupted the supply of irrigation water for agriculture in paddy field areas and posed a substantial threat to farmers’ livelihoods. Within a broader context of accessing farmers’ resilience to agricultural drought, this paper focuses on the response mechanisms and adaptive strategies adopted by farming households in three types of areas (Plain, Hill, Mountain) in Dingcheng, Hunan Province. With the increasing drought frequency and the pressure from the demand for livelihood improvement, farmers’ response mechanisms have evolved, expanding from short-term adjustments to long-term adaptations, and switching focus from securing reliable water sources to improving irrigation efficiency and diversifying both on- and off- farm productions. The three types of geographic units have different resilience profiles and have developed diverse patterns of adaptive processes that update the conceptual model of Disaster Resilience of “Loss-Response” of Location. It presents a temporal dimension to the study of resilience, which is largely missing from the current literature and provides insights into how to enhance farmers’ response capacities in the face of agricultural drought in southern China.     

The impact of severe natural disasters on the livelihoods of farmers in mountainous areas: a case study of Qingping Township,Mianzhu City

The ‘5.12’ earthquake in 2008 and the ‘8.13’ debris flow in 2010 brought huge losses of life and property to Qingping Township. Farmers’ livelihoods assets were also seriously affected and damaged. These led to a change in farmers’ livelihood styles and reduction in their income. A study of the impact of natural disasters on farmers’ livelihoods in mountainous areas would have significant importance for policy making. Based on field survey data from sample households, this study comparatively analyzed the assets, livelihood styles and income of farmers over three periods—2007, 2009 after the ‘5.12’ earthquake, and 2 months after ‘8.13’ debris flows. It presents the following findings: (1) livelihood assets suffered heavy losses; (2) livelihood styles were significantly changed; and (3) the sustainability of farmer income was adversely influenced. These results suggest that, during the process of post-disaster reconstruction work, affected farmers’ security, the carrying capacity of livelihood assets, and the enhancement of employment and livelihood choice are worthy of much attention from policy makers.     

Agricultural performance on marginal land in Eastern Inner Mongolia,China – Development in the pre- and post-1978 reform periods

Rapid economic development in the aftermath of the Chinese post-1978 reforms has resulted in a shrinking of grain grown area in the southern and eastern regions of the country which in turn is believed to have put the marginal northern regions under increased pressure. This paper examines key indicators of agricultural performance as well as cultivated land area development of the pre- and post-1978 reform periods focusing on the agro-pastoral Tongliao City Prefecture, eastern Inner Mongolia. The results are related to the village level development through a case study as well as to the provincial level. Average annual grain per capita production increased from about 400 kg in the late 1970s to more then 1000 kg in the late 1990s. This was achieved through a combination of intensification and reclamation of cropland, with the latter restricted to pastoral classified counties. Production variability, in particular for the low producing counties, has also increased possibly as an effect of the substitution of traditional mixed pattern of crops with HYV monocultures. Average living standards have improved but have been accompanied by widening income gaps. Poor farmers’ livelihoods continue to be insecure, particularly during dry years. Concern is raised regarding the sustainability of the rapid agricultural development; an increased use of costly fertilisers constrains poorer farmer’s economy and may lead to deteriorating water quality while increasing irrigation depletes water resources.     

Decline and re-emergence of nomadism: Tibetan pastoralists revive a nomadic way of life and production

Numerous examples worldwide demonstrate the displacement of a nomadic way of life and economy, with common features in the diverse regional contexts shown. Sometimes the pastoralists can respond with other forms of mobile herding, as for instance the current reindeer husbandry in northern Fenno-Scandia or Lapland suggests. An extensive form of herding management has succeeded an intensive one; nowadays the reindeer roam freely nearly all year round, and the reindeer owners live sedentary. Modern technologies support the animal husbandry. However, a decline in nomadism can also be followed by a revival. Records exist about re-emergence from, among others, the Mongolian Republic and the Tibetan plateau. The nomadic lifestyle of Tibetans was displaced, as in the other pastoral regions of China, for two decades. Its re-emergence in one region of the eastern Tibetan plateau in the early 1990s is analysed in this paper. Among the framework conditions which promoted the revival was the return of the livestock as family property. Some revived features of nomadism are identical to the pre-Collectivisation period. Other features were adapted to changed contexts. The revival had further a different impact on those groups which rely exclusively on animal husbandry and those which combine livestock breeding with field cultivation. However, the re-emerged nomadism is already disappearing again. In order to put the issues of mobile animal husbandry into a larger context, some comparative aspects of recent mobile animal husbandry in the pastoral regions of Sichuan province and Lapland are discussed.     

The production relations of contract farming in Honduras

Contract farmers in central Honduras have been producers of Asian vegetables for American markets since 1989. Contract farming holds the potential to provide benefits to small farmers who would otherwise be unable to access export markets but production relations between firms and farmers are often asymmetric and can be exploitative. Poor communication and legacies of mistrust between commodity agriculture and small farmers lead to ambiguities in the contracting system that are misinterpreted by both firms and farmers, creating social tensions between contracting parties. This article will consider how farmers’ navigation of the contracting system and competition between export firms has led to changes in the system. Through competition for a limited pool of outgrowers, firms adjust their policies in favor of farmers without explicit attempts of labor organization on the part of the farmers.

An assessment of the extent and causes of food insecurity in northern Ghana using a livelihood vulnerability framework

The article describes the food insecurity situation in three villages in northern Ghana. A livelihood approach is used emphasising the vulnerability of the peasants’ adaptation to a marginal and remote area. The peasant households are grouped according to level of food insecurity. It is argued that multiple income sources including non-farm activities are necessary to reduce food insecurity for all but a small part of the peasant households.     

The question of development and environment in geography in the era of globalisation

This paper focuses on how livelihood and the question of development and environment in a globalising era should be examined. It discusses various views in geography on the question of environment and development, and it explores the concept of sustainable livelihood. It concludes that a geographical conceptualisation of ‘development and environment’ may profit from the discussion on sustainable livelihood, provided that it does not become entangled in an actor-cum-local bias. Moreover, the diffusion of non-equilibrium concepts may broaden the analysis of man-land relations and open the way to an analysis of globalisation effects. Globalisation gives rise to new assortments of geographical entities and, as livelihoods adapt, they will shape constantly shifting regions with specific man-land arrangements. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

影响流域生态补偿中生态工人创新机制的因素分析——以石羊河流域为例

生态工人机制的引入,一方面有助于提高环境保护与维护工程、项目的实施效果,另一方面也为直接参与生态保护和维护的从业人员提供了一定的经济报酬。特别是对于生态环境脆弱地区因环境保护工程（如实施生态补偿退耕/牧还林/草）而造成收入、生计下降的居民来讲,在提高保护意识、参与保护实践的同时,增强了主动性与参与性。通过列举在流域生态保护与生态治理相关的10个生态职业岗位,以石羊河流域为例调查流域住民对生态工人的认知情况,分析影响农户成为生态工人的因素。从调查发现,支持生态工人机制的原因主要包括：主要收入来源;家门口务工;农闲打零工,贴补家用;不为挣钱,保护我周围的生态环境;造福子孙后代。拒绝接受生态工人机制的原因中"家里事情多,忙不过来"的单一原因最多,"工资收入无法保障"、"生态工人工资低"、"技术性太强,培训也做不来"分布较为集中,而"生态环境好坏与我无关"、"生态环境好坏与我无关"生态保护意识淡漠的原因较少,而"没有原因,就是不想参与"的直接抗拒性回答比重较大。     

莱芜市钢城区畜禽养殖用地管理的现状及建议

随着我国畜牧业的发展,饲养方式和结构发生了很大的变化,对规模化养殖提出了新的要求,该文结合莱芜市钢城区实际,对畜牧养殖用地方面当前存在问题进行了系统的分析,对今后的用地管理提出了切实可行的建议。     

西南岩溶小流域农业可持续发展优化模式研究

以贵州为代表的西南岩溶地区,农业人口众多,水土资源匹配程度低,人地矛盾突出,农业发展环境先天不足,农业发展缓慢。文章通过野外实地考察并结合相关理论分析认为,水土资源匹配问题并不是限制农业发展的关键,其关键在于现行农业发展模式收益普遍较低,农业生产要素外流,导致农业生产模式缺乏创新。现行传统农业发展模式下农户收益低,且农业生产机会成本高,导致农户对农业投入减少,农业生产要素外流严重。而提高农业生产收益就成为促进农业可持续发展的关键。因此,根据因地制宜突出特色、农户生计与环境保护兼顾和“外驱”与“内生”农业创新模式相结合的农业建设和发展原则,发展以商品化有机生态农业的发展模式、乡村旅游及农业生产复合发展模式和区域标准化农业联合生产模式为代表的,以保障提高农户收益为核心的新农业发展模式,从根本上促进生产要素回流农业生产,是实现农业生产创新和持续发展的根本所在。      

Desert knowledge: integrating knowledge and development in arid and semi-arid drylands

Globalisation presents particular challenges for deserts given that their sparse populations, which are amongst the world’s poorest in an absolute economic sense, tend to be remote from major markets and have only a distant, marginal voice in political and policy decision making. Here we are defining deserts as the arid and semi-arid drylands that encompass 70% of Australia and 25% of the world’s land surfaces. The value of the knowledge that local traditions and science have generated about living sustainably in deserts is being promoted and extended through the ‘desert knowledge’ movement in Australia. The Australian research reported here, together with a contribution from Niger that offers a contrast and some lessons for Australia, is largely underpinned by a neopopulist paradigm of development stressing respect for local knowledge, participatory practice and empowerment. Research in partnership with desert Aboriginal groups is contributing to their engagement with new livelihood opportunities. The local knowledge of livestock graziers is also being engaged to support sustainable management of desert water sources and landscapes for multiple values. The research reported here also addresses opportunities and challenges for local norms, identities, knowledge systems, governance and livelihoods from broader scale processes and institutions. In doing so it contributes to a ‘neo-ideographic approach’ wherein desert people might better harness their locality, knowledge and diversity in adaptations that shape their encounters with globalisation. It also points to considerable scope to mature such an approach.     

Determinants of farmers’ choice of coping and adaptation measures to the drought hazard in northwest Balochistan,Pakistan

This study identifies the coping and adaptation behavior of the farm households and also examines the factors that influence farmers’ choice for drought-induced adaptation strategies. The study employs a multivariate probit model on 215 farm households’ survey data from northwest Balochistan, Pakistan. The findings reveal that the farmers have shown considerable fortitude in coping with the impacts of drought on their agro-based practices and employed several adaptation initiatives both at on-farm and off-farm levels. These include crop management, water management, adjustment in agricultural inputs, income diversification, economization of expenditure and consumption smoothing, migrating to other places to seek alternative sources of income, assets depletion, and borrowing. Empirically, it is depicted that landholding, annual income, livestock ownership, credit access, farmer-to-farmer extension, GOs/NGOs support increase the probability of farmers’ decision to cope and adapt better with drought hazard. This study implies for specific policy and practice-oriented solutions in order to cope with and adapt in drought situation.     

生态补偿对农户生计资本的影响——以甘南黄河水源补给区为例

针对甘南黄河水源补给区实施的退牧还草工程, 基于"可持续生计框架", 建立生计资本指标, 利用农户调查资料, 测算生态补偿前后农户的生计资本, 采用均值比较分析和协方差分析评估生态补偿对农户生计资本的影响, 最后提出应建立多样化、差别化的补偿方式, 来提高不同地区农户的生计资本. 结果表明: 与退牧前相比, 农户的生计总资本显著增加, 由退牧前的0.216增至目前的0.277, 其中人力资本、物质资本、金融资本、社会资本分别增加了0.094、0.075、0.115、0.040, 自然资本显著下降, 降低了0.023. 生态补偿对农户生计资本结构的影响具有区域差异性, 生计资本总指数增幅最大的是半农半牧区, 依次是农区、纯牧区; 生态补偿对农户各生计资本关系的影响具有区域差异性, 实施生态补偿后纯牧区农户各生计资本之间的相关程度增强, 而半农半牧区和农区农户各生计资本之间的相关程度减弱.     

The Variation of Soil Organic Matter in a Forest-Cultivation Sequence Traced by Stable Carbon Isotopes

On the basis of different photosynthetic pathways.there is an obvious difference in δ^13C values between C3 and C4 plants,In terms of this characteristic,we analyzed the organic carbon content (forestlands:1.81%-16.00%;farmland:0.45%-2.22%) and δ^13C values(forestlands:-23.86‰--27.12‰;farmland:-19.66‰--23.26‰)of three profile-soil samples either in farmland or in forestland near the Maolan Karst virgin forest,where there were developed plant C3 plants previously and now are C4 plants.Results showed that the deforestation has accelerated the decomposition rate of soil organic matter and reduced the proportion of active components in soil organic matter and thus soil fertility.     

Facts behind the myth of conservative rurality: major determinants of rural farmers’ innovation adoption decisions for sustainable agriculture

Even though development is about change, conservative rurality associated with the refusal of rural societies to submit to technological, livelihood and socio-cultural changes has not received adequate focus in development studies and practice. Using the case of selected rural communities in Ghana and their response to the mass cocoa spraying intervention of government, the paper discusses the determining factors that influence innovation adoption decisions of rural farmers. The study followed mixed methodology with the application of Relative Importance Index to establish the order of importance of major factors that influence farmers’ innovation adoption decisions in the study area. We argue that, innovation adoption decisions of rural societies are rooted in their awareness, cost and benefit factors and applicability of introduced technology rather than the myth of adherence to socio-cultural heritage.     

The governance of nature as development and the erasure of the Pygmies of Cameroon

The Pygmies are among the remaining ‘savages’ in West and Central Africa. This paper demonstrates how the governance of nature through sedentarization, the creation of national parks as a mechanism of forestry conservation and the failure to endorse standard environmental safeguards in the creation of the Tchad-Cameroon pipeline project have led to the devastation of the livelihood of the indigenous pygmies. Simultaneously, by categorizing the Pygmies as a ‘primitive other’ despite the very dynamism of the concept of culture, the state of Cameroon has excluded them from the benefits of postmodernist development. I demonstrate that projects aimed at modernizing them, and achieving sustainability have instead accentuated their exclusion because of their presumed cultural isolation, led to their deep entrenchment in poverty and resulted in complete erasure. The failure of these projects is due to the clash between global and local perspectives and interests over the Western protectionism and nature aesthetics that underpin conservation and development schemes, and the government’s failure to ensure that developers fulfill their obligations to affected communities, as well as the non-recognition of the multiplex relationships between hunter-gatherers and farmers that is based on cultural, historical and political ecology. Against this backdrop, development has thus, become a process of erasure in which the livelihood of the Pygmies has been balkanized and their cultural existence and identity, negated.     

War on Terror,work in progress: security,surveillance and the configuration of the US workfare state

This paper evaluates the impact of recent shifts in the geopolitical outlook of the United States—specifically the ‘Global War on Terror’ and its domestic ramifications—on the prior project of reconfiguring the US state to an after-Fordist ‘workfare’ paradigm. In particular, the paper attempts to situate recent developments in the reconfiguration of the American welfare state within the context of debates over the ‘exceptional’ nature of US politics post-9/11. The extent to which this has had a bearing on work practices, welfare provision and workfarism is investigated, citing examples from the post-9/11 era. On the basis of such examples it has been suggested that the project of reconfiguring the US welfare state and labour relations does overlap and intersect with the emergency practices that the US state has instituted domestically as part of the War on Terror. However, the reconfiguration of the US welfare state towards a neoliberal or workfarist paradigm is, we argue, largely part of the ‘normal’ (as opposed to exceptional) fabric of US politics. The project of reconfiguring the US welfare state is ongoing and largely autonomous (although not entirely removed) from the use of exceptional practices in relation to the US security state. Investigation of this relationship, we assert, provides a potentially fruitful ‘new direction’ for both critical geopolitics and political economic geography, and grounds for interaction between the two.     

青海省东北部地区中晚全新世人类对动物资源的获取与利用——以青海湖盆地尖嘴遗址为例

青海省东北部地区复杂多样的地貌类型,为研究史前人类适应不同自然环境下的动物资源利用提供了条件.然而,已开展的动物考古研究主要聚焦在青海省东北部的河谷农业区,对于草原地带的研究相对薄弱,其先民对草原环境中的适应策略仍未得到充分讨论.本文选择农牧过渡带的青海湖盆地尖嘴遗址出土动物骨骼为研究对象,运用AMS 14C测年方法、动物种属鉴定和可鉴定标本数(NISP)统计,确认尖嘴遗址(3.2 ka B.P.左右)是一处卡约文化早期的人类活动遗迹,其先民以狩猎活动为主要生业策略,渔猎作为辅助生计,属"初级开发型"模式.在此基础上,结合青海省东北部地区已有动物研究资料,探讨了中晚全新世(8.0~2.0 ka B.P.)以来的动物资源获取利用及家畜饲养状态.结果显示:8.0~6.0 ka B.P.,本区先民以纯粹的狩猎经济为主,其猎取对象则为中小型哺乳动物,属"依赖型"生业模式;6.0~4.0 ka B.P.,本区先民获取动物资源方式仍以狩猎为主,并开始出现一定规模的家畜饲养(猪和狗),其生业属低水平的食物生产阶段,获取肉食资源的模式处于"初级开发型"阶段;4.0~2.0 ka B.P.,史前东西方文化交流的不断增强,驯化于西亚的家畜牲畜牛羊传入至青海省东北部地区,使得该区先民利用动物资源方式呈现多元化,构成了"初级开发型"和"开发型"两种生业模式,牛羊成为家畜饲养的主流.总体来讲,中晚全新世以来青海省东北部地区先民获取肉食资源的方式大致经历了由以狩猎-采集方式到家畜饲养方式的历时性转变,不同区域的自然环境差异及史前欧亚大陆东西方文化间的交流是起决定性作用的因素.     

A Janus-faced biodiversity change and the partiality of ecological knowledge in a world biodiversity hotspot in Ghana: Implications for biodiversity rehabilitation

The Gyamfiase-Adenya-Obom cluster of villages in the forest-savanna region of Ghana is located within one of Conservation International’s 34 “World Biodiversity Hotspots” of the most biodiversity-threatened regions of the world. In collaboration with local farmers in this area since 1993, the People, Land Management and Ecological Change Project in Ghana (PLEC-Ghana) has been working on promoting biodiversity rehabilitation to address problems of biodiversity change. This goal is expected to be achieved through agrobiodiversity or biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices. However, farmers’ employment of these practices has been lackluster, even while they acknowledge biodiversity changes, dominated by Chromolaena odorata and other herbaceous species, that are driving the decline in forests and their biodiversity. In interpreting the difficulties of biodiversity rehabilitation in Gyamfiase-Adenya-Obom, this study outlines the diverging ecological knowledge of non-residents/outsiders and local farmers about biodiversity change, which it describes as Janus-like with two diverging faces. One face of biodiversity change shows the detrimental impacts on biodiversity and its observers—non-residents/outsiders—insist on biodiversity rehabilitation that nurtures forests, and the growth and domination of tree species. The other face of biodiversity change shows its agronomic advantages and its observers—the local farmers—are skeptical of current biodiversity rehabilitation practices. Farmers see agronomic benefits in biodiversity change, in particular the benefit of faster soil regeneration within the predominant bush fallow system of farming. And as a result of this observation, farmers continue with practices that sustain a decline in forests and biodiversity. Based on social and ecological research that explores three biodiversity-friendly practices promoted by PLEC-Ghana (fallow management, mulching, and intensive weeding to protect tree seedlings), this article discusses the partiality of ecological perspectives that emphasize either face of biodiversity change but not both, and the implications for biodiversity rehabilitation.     

干旱区绿洲退耕还林工程绩效评价研究——以张掖市为例

退耕还林,重建生态环境,是当前实施西部大开发的根本切人点.退耕还林工程是通过把原本是林地或草地的耕地恢复成原来的土地利用类型,使受损或退化生态系统最终成为健康的生态系统,从而使当地生态环境更适合人类生存发展.从此目标出发,抛开经济利益而从自然生态系统恢复和社会心理影响等方面建立指标体系,利用主成分分析法综合评价了干旱区内张掖市的退耕还林绩效.结果表明:2002-2004年张掖市退耕还林工程执行效果较好,其中生态系统在数量上恢复较好的乡镇有明花乡;生态系统在质量上恢复较好的有明花乡和平川镇;工程执行过程中居民保护环境意识有较大提高的有民联乡和霍城镇;人们满意程度最高的是明花乡.总体上看,张掖市退耕还林工程执行绩效最好的是明花乡,其次是平川镇,最差的是永固镇,其余处于中间水平.最后,在分析张掖市退耕还林绩效差异基础上,针对提高退耕还林工程绩效提出一些建议.