Relationship analysis between livelihood assets and livelihood strategies:A Heihe River Basin example

The security and quality of the livelihood of farmers is of paramount concern in rural areas of China. Livelihood stability would force the related polity to act coordinately while eradicating poverty and promoting resource sustainability. For this study, the livelihood approach was used as a framework of analysis that is based upon Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, the core of which is livelihood assets. Livelihood capitals provide substantial contributions to the well-being of numerous rural dwellers. However, the level and degree of reliance on livelihood capital differ across households. Factors that contribute to the economic reliance of households on a particular economic activity in general and on livelihood capital in particular may vary depending upon the type of resource endowment, household demographic, and economic characteristic as well as exoge- nous factors such as markets, prices, policies, and technologies. This study identifies factors that influence a household＇s live- lihood strategy choice with a particular focus on livelihood assets. The study applies a preliminary investigation concerning the relationship between livelihood assets and livelihood strategies, that is, the allocation of assets. Environmentally augmented household livelihood assets were collected from 300 sample households within the Heihe River Basin. Results show that physical assets possess a maximum value （0.609） for farmers and human assets possess a relatively high value （0.516） fol- lowed by social assets （0.354）. Besides, financial and natural assets possess relatively low values （0.286 and 0.241, respec- tively）. An increment of one unit should reduce the occurrence of choosing non-agricultural activities for natural capital while an increment of one unit should increase the occurrence of choosing non-agricultural activities for financial capital, while other variables remain constant. Governments, therefore, should enhance funding and technological support to achieve livelihood diversity and strengthen the facility of farmers by way of establishing relevant polity. It would enable farmers and provide themselves with the ability and asset reserves to transition from agricultural production to secondary and tertiary industries in order to improve the livelihood of farmers overall.

Impact of farmer households＇ livelihood assets on their options of economic compensation patterns for cultivated land protection

With rapid urbanization and the socio-economic transformation, cultivated land protection has gradually become a major concern in China. The economic compensation plays a crucial role in promoting cultivated land protection and improving the utilization ratio of cultivated land. Farmer household＇s satisfaction has a great influence on the effectiveness of compensation. Therefore, households＇ willingness to select the economic compensation pattern for cultivated land protection has been considered and re-examined. By employing Participatory Rural Appraisal method （PRA）, 3 villages and 392 households were investigated and sampled in mesa and hilly areas of Chongqing. Then a quantitative analysis framework of household livelihood hexagon has been developed to quantify the livelihood assets of differ- ent farmer households. Finally, the Gray Relation Model and Probit Regression Model have been employed to explore the coupling relationship between the household livelihood assets and their compensation pattern options. The results show that there are both qualitative and spatial heterogeneity in household livelihood assets. We found that the inequality of livelihood assets is evident for five household types. There is a spatial trend that the higher the eleva- tion, the less livelihood assets are. In addition, their options of economic compensation pat- tern vary from Chengdu Pattern to Foshan Pattern due to their difference in livelihood assets and difference in location. In detail, there is a coupling relationship between household live- lihood assets and their compensation pattern; negative correlation is observed between natural assets value and household pattern options, while the other livelihood assets have positive impacts on compensation pattern in varying degrees, which from the top are psy- chological assets, human assets, physical assets, financial assets, and social assets respec- tively. A conceptual compensation pattern system has been designed to meet the demands for farmer households mainly according to their shortage in livelihood assets. In addition, compensation method, compensation standard, the basis of compensation and the source of compensation funds have been proposed accordingly.

Grassland tenure,livelihood assets and pastoralists’resilience:evidence and empirical analyses from western China

Pastoralists in western China are highly vulnerable due to harsh natural conditions and the poor socioeconomic environment they confront.More than 50%of the pastoralists in major grassland areas are living below the survival line;moreover,around 90%of the usable grasslands in China have been degraded to some degree,and the degradation expands at a rate of two million ha per year.Enhancing pastoralists’resilience is desirable for the economic development and social stability in pastoral areas.As an important aspect influencing livelihoods,grassland tenure in China has not been well studied to learn how it affects the welfare of pastoralists,and what can be done to strengthen their resilience.Based on the evidence from four periods of fieldwork conducted by the authors during 2005-2014,the study applies an analytical framework adapted from the sustainable livelihood theory to examine the interactions of grassland tenure,livelihood assets of pastoralists and their resilience.Main findings show that the existing grassland tenure arrangements cause unbalanced and decreased livelihood assets,which in turn reduce the resilience of pastoralists by lowering their capacities of coping with stresses or shocks.Of the policies and measures aiming to enhance the pastoralists’adaptive capacity and ongoing development,building social capital is critical.Developing functional livelihood asset markets such as grassland rental markets and financial markets will also contribute to a more robust livelihood structure.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Farm Household Livelihood Assets in a Western Mountainous Area of China: A Case Study in Zunyi City

As the foundation of farm household structure,livelihood asset status is the basis for farmers to gain opportunities,adopt livelihood strategies,resist livelihood risk,and engage in positive livelihood achievements.Quantifying farm household assets identifies future development trends that are fundamentally necessary to predict farm household vulnerability and strategy,as well as understanding farmers’current living situations.Using Zunyi City in China’s western mountainous area as a case study,we conducted stratified sampling and participatory rural investigation appraisal to collect data on the attributes of farm households’livelihood assets and livelihood strategies to establish an index evaluation system and enable evaluation and analysis of farm households with different livelihood strategies.Our research indicates that due to structural differences,total livelihood assets of farm households with different livelihood strategies are similar.Rural households have an abundance of natural and material assets and deficiencies in human,financial and social assets.Non-rural households and part-time households are abundant in human,financial and social assets and deficient in natural and material assets.

Livelihood changes and evolution of upland ethnic communities driven by tourism:a case study in Guizhou Province,southwest China

As an effective livelihood approach to alleviate poverty without rural population migration, ethnic tourism has become the primary choice of economic development in ethnic areas worldwide in addition to traditional livelihood approaches. This article applies the theories of livelihood to study the community evolution driven by tourism livelihood and examine three mountainous tourism communities in different stages of tourist area life cycle. Drawing on the methods of GIS spatial analysis, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires, this article proposes a sustainable livelihood framework for ethnic tourism to explore the evolution of ethnic tourism communities by identifying changes in livelihood assets(natural, financial, social, cultural and human capitals) in the process of tourism development. The results show that the development of ethnic tourism has led to changes in the increase of building land, and the diversification of land use functions with a trend of shifting from meeting local villagers' living needs to satisfying tourists, income composition and uneven distribution of tourism income spatially. Ethnic tourism also led to the deterioration of traditional social management structure, collapse of neighboring relationship, the over- commercialization and staged authenticity of ethnic culture, as well as the gradual vanish of agricultural knowledge with a trend of increasing modern business knowledge and higher education. In addition, these changes, involving livelihood assets from natural, economic, human, social and cultural aspects are interrelated and interactive, which form new evolution characters of ethnic community. This study reveals the conflicts over livelihood approaches which have formed new vulnerabilities to impact on sustainable evolution of ethnic communities. This research provides implications for achieving the sustainable development of ethnic communities with the driving force of tourism livelihood.

Livelihood diversification of farmers and nomads of eastern transect in Tibetan Plateau

Livelihoods of farmers and nomads in Tibetan Plateau are severely affected by grassland and herbal resources degeneration. How to help them achieve livelihood diversi- fication is a key sustainable development issue. This paper examines livelihood assets, live- lihood diversification level and livelihood strategies of farmers and nomads in 3 regions of eastern transect in Tibetan Plateau. The results show that livelihood diversification is a popular strategy. From high mountain gorge region to mountain plateau region and plateau region, livelihood diversification level is reduced, and livelihood activities and proportion of extended livelihood also decrease. Livelihood assets and livelihood diversification level decrease with the increase of elevation, mainly shown in human assets and natural assets. Livelihood diversification level is highly correlative with livelihood assets, mainly shown in natural assets, human assets and social assets. Livelihood improvement strategies of farmers and nomads are still based on existing livelihood assets, mainly raising livestock and digging herbs, and less farmers and nomads consider off-farm employment or doing business. Nomads in plateau region should learn much from experiences of extended livelihoods of people in high mountain gorge region and mountain plateau region. Therefore, aids of governments should focus on relieving restricted factors of livelihood diversification and help them improve their abilities to build up extended type livelihoods.