Land use changes to cash crop plantations: crop types,multilevel determinants and policy implications

Cash crop plantation has recently become an expanding global phenomenon. Characterizing the dynamics of cash crop plantations and the corresponding determinants should provide critical references for land use policy. Using aerial photos and geographic information system, this paper investigated the trends of four types of cash crops (tea, fruit, mulberry and nursery) and their relations to other land use changes within Hangzhou region in subtropical China. Results showed that the total cash crop cultivated surface increased by 541.3 ha from 2004 to 2014. Most of the new tea and fruit plantations were established in places previously used as forest and woodland. Mulberry and nursery mainly expanded by replacing paddy, woodland and forest. By combining household survey, geospatial techniques and multilevel regression, multilevel determinants of cash cropping probability and cash crop expansion were quantified. At the parcel level, tea and fruit plantations inclined to occur on hilly land with gentle slope. Mulberry and nursery plantations were likely to be observed in flat areas with low elevation. Parcels covered by high quality soils and with convenient communications experienced greater cash cropping probability. At the household level, households constituted of female and old-aged labor or with low agricultural labor intensity demonstrated high probability of tea and mulberry plantations. Conversely, households constituted of middle-aged labor or with high agricultural labor intensity tended to grow more fruit and nursery. Besides, wealthier households were prone to establish fruit and nursery plantations but were reluctant to involve in tea and mulberry cropping. At the village level, population density was a significant determinant of cash cropping probability, but was an insignificant determinant of cash crop expansion. Greater occurrence of cash cropping was observed in villages with higher proportion of migrant labor and leasing land. Distance to county road and distance to provincial road were identified as negative determinants. Policy was evidenced to be of significant influence on cash cropping probability and cash crop expansion. We argue that a balance should be achieved between cash cropping promotion and natural resources protection in formulating the local land use policy.     

Analyzing the behavioural mechanism of farmland abandonment in the hilly mountainous areas in China from the perspective of farming household diversity

Revealing the mechanism under the occurrence of farmland abandonment from the perspective of farming household diversity is conducive to proposing well-directed farmland protection policies. With a thorough consideration and study of cases in some hilly mountainous areas in China, this paper uses behaviour decision models of farming households to systematically understand and analyse the behavioural mechanism leading to farmland abandonment by different types of farming households, including aged households, stable part-time households, unstable part-time households and pure households. The mechanism is empirically analysed with a logistic regression model by household survey data collected from Jiangxi and Guizhou, 2 Chinese provinces, and the results observed as follows: (1) age is a key determinant of farmland abandonment of aged households, and as the age of farm labourers increases by one year, the probability of farmland abandonment increases by 8.5 %; (2) off-farm labourers is a key determinant of farmland abandonment of stable part-time households, and for each additional number of off-farm labourers, the abandonment probability increases by 41.4 %; (3) plot features such as land quality, irrigation and distance to home, are the main determinants affecting farmland abandonment of pure households; and (4) high possibility for unstable part-time households not to abandon farmland. A series of policy measures targeted for diverse farming households are therefore finally proposed to alleviate the farmland abandonment in hilly mountainous areas and other areas with similar problems.     

我国耕地撂荒机理及盘活对策研究

基于遥感与抽样调查结合等手段从高分影像获取的2017年全国耕地撂荒数据表明,现阶段我国耕地撂荒呈现撂荒面积、撂荒率双增长,撂荒现象趋于普遍和由贫瘠、破碎地块向肥沃、连片耕地蔓延的新特征。自然环境、经济、社会、政策与制度都是当前城镇化进程中耕地撂荒趋势加剧的诱因。针对当前农户耕地撂荒的动因,撂荒耕地盘活对策:一是改善农田基础条件与设施,提升耕地综合质量;二是因地制宜调整耕地布局与产业结构,发展特色农业;三是推行多元化土地使用权转让,推进规模化经营;四是创新农产品销售、流通渠道,加速农产品市场价值转换;五是推行社区型、中心村型整合,全面实现乡村振兴目标;六是开展耕地撂荒盘活试验示范,分区分步组织实施。     

基于农户家庭资源禀赋的灵山县农地流转成因分析

[目的]分析农户土地流转行为与家庭资源禀赋之间的关系,为提高农地节约利用水平提供一定科学参考价值。[方法]文章选择灵山县为例,采用7个行政村4个居委120个农户的抽样调查数据,从劳动力、收入水平和土地资源等方面分析了流转农户家庭资源禀赋特征,并简要分析了流转地块规模及其地理位置特征,最后通过建立二元logistic模型,解析了农户家庭资源禀赋对农地转入行为和转出行为的影响。[结果](1)农户家庭非农收入占家庭收入比重大;家庭劳动力以非农业为主;户主文化程度主要以小学初中为主;距离集市较远的农户家庭耕地总面积比集市周边农户多。﹙2﹚流转耕地主要是破碎,偏远,较贫瘠的地块。﹙3﹚农户转出行为与外出家庭劳动力数,户主文化程度及年龄与呈正相关;地块类型及面积,位置呈也正相关。农户转入行为与农户家庭种植业,畜牧业收入比,农业机械呈正相关,与农户劳均耕地地面积,距离集市距离等因素呈负相关。[结论]目前与农户耕地流转相关最重要的是农户家庭劳动力数,农户非农收入占比和农户家庭地块大小的自然特征,尤其是地块地理位置对农户流转有重要的推动作用。     

A Note: Reducing Cropland Abandonment in China – Do Agricultural Cooperatives Play a Role?

Cropland abandonment occurring both nationally and globally threatens food security and environmental sustainability. We explore whether agricultural cooperatives help reduce cropland abandonment, using data collected from 5,593 households in 229 villages in China. By estimating a two-stage residual inclusion approach, we provide evidence that the existence of agricultural cooperatives in rural villages reduces the probability of cropland abandonment and the abandonment ratio. Further analysis shows that cooperative effects on cropland abandonment and the abandonment ratio are heterogeneous across geographic locations.     

Reducing land fragmentation to curb cropland abandonment: Evidence from rural China

Reducing land fragmentation can theoretically curb cropland abandonment, thus ensuring food security. However, few studies have quantified this relationship using large-scale survey data at the household level. This study adopts a two-way fixed-effects (TWFE) model to examine the effect of land fragmentation on cropland abandonment using nationally representative panel data from the China Rural Household Panel Survey (CRHPS). The panel data set contains 15,138 households across 29 provinces in 2017 and 2019. We find that land fragmentation has a significant and positive relationship with cropland abandonment. The mechanism analysis reveals that this relationship is due to high labor costs and difficulties in renting out the fragmented land. The heterogeneity analysis indicates that farmers with poor human capital and those living in non-plain areas are at a higher risk of abandoning their cropland due to land fragmentation. Furthermore, the association between land fragmentation and cropland abandonment tends to vary across different land rent-in scenarios. For instance, an increase in the number of plots in the case of land rent-in is not necessarily associated with cropland abandonment. These findings are conducive to correcting the underestimation of the role of land fragmentation in cropland abandonment, and their implications may be extended to various countries.     

Policies for sustainable development in the hillside areas of Honduras: a quantitative livelihoods approach

In this article, we use data for 376 households, 1,066 parcels, and 2,143 plots located in 95 villages in the hillside areas in Honduras to generate information needed by decision makers to assess the needs and opportunities for public investments, and design policies that stimulate natural resource conservation. We develop a quantitative livelihood approach, using factor and cluster analysis to group households based on the use of their main assets. This resulted in seven household categories that pursue similar livelihood strategies. We use a multinomial logit model to show that livelihood strategies are determined by comparative advantages as reflected by a combination of biophysical and socioeconomic variables. While 92% of the rural hillsides population in Honduras lives on US$1.00/capita/day or less, households that follow a livelihood strategy based on basic grain farming are the poorest because they often live in isolated areas with relatively poor agro‐ecological and socioeconomic conditions. Opportunities for off‐farm work tend to be limited in these areas and household strategies that combine on‐farm work with off‐farm work earn higher incomes. Per capita incomes can be increased by improving road infrastructure, widening access to land, policies that reduce household size and dependency ratios, and adoption of sustainable land management technologies that restore soil fertility. We used probit models to show that the latter can be promoted by agricultural extension programs and land redistribution. Investments in physical assets should be directed toward households that pursue livelihood strategies based on off‐farm employment or coffee production, while agricultural training programs are best focused on livestock producers.     

Factors influencing land fractioning in the context of land market deregulation in Ecuador

Land fractioning is a continuous process that could lead to land abandonment. In this work, the relationship between the speed of land market dynamics and land fractioning were studied and compared in two rural parishes of Ecuador. For this study, a database with relevant information extracted from land property deeds was generated for both study areas. Additionally, 193 land buyers and sellers were surveyed to determine the factors influencing/motivating land transactions. We observed a gradual increment of land fractioning with the mean ‘fractionated parcel surface’ independent of the speed of land market dynamics. Instead, the purpose assigned to the land by the actors involved in the land market seems to be the factor influencing the mean fractionated parcel surface and average parcel surface the most. The similarities of the studied areas with others inside and outside Ecuador makes the study relevant in a wider context. Our results could aid local governments in improving their land administration strategies in a deregulated land market context.     

Trade-offs of European agricultural abandonment

Agricultural land abandonment is a policy challenge, especially for areas with unfavorable conditions for agriculture and remote and mountainous areas. Agricultural abandonment is an important land use process in many world regions and one of the dominant land use change processes in Europe. Previous studies have shown that abandonment can have both positive and negative effects on several environmental processes, influenced by location and scale. Preferred policies and management of these areas are debated given concerns for the loss of (traditional) agricultural landscapes and potential impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. We present a European-scale impact assessment of the possible effects of agricultural abandonment, based on eight indicators that are on the forefront of the agricultural abandonment debate. Using a multi-scale modelling approach, we expect between 71.277 and 211.814 km² of agricultural abandonment in 2040. Impacts on the indicators and trade-offs between the impacts are spatially variable. A typology of typical trade-off bundles at a 1 km² resolution resulted in four typical trade-off clusters. All clusters identified are characterized by a loss of agriculture-related values, such as agro-biodiversity and cultural heritage. For two clusters, this was accompanied by positive effects on indicators such as carbon sequestration, nature recreation and mammal habitat suitability. Overall, our results indicate that location and scale are key to assess the trade-offs originating from agricultural abandonment in Europe. Identification of typical trade-offs bundles can help to distinguish potential desirable outcomes of agricultural abandonment and assist in targeting measures to areas that face similar management challenges.     

中国农户土地租佃行为实证研究

本文利用福建省和黑龙江省的农户调查样本数据，通过建立土地租佃行为的经济计量模型，从微观层面定量分析了影响农户土地租佃行为的各种因素。计量结果表明，农户土地租佃行为受到户主年龄、户主是否接受过专业技术培训、家庭劳动力人数、人均纯收入、非农收入比重、农户是否饲养役畜、交易成本等多方面因素的影响，并随着这些因素的变化而不断变化。     

Drivers of cropland abandonment in mountainous areas: A household decision model on farming scale in Southwest China

Cropland abandonment has emerged as a prevalent phenomenon in the mountainous areas of China. While there is a general understanding that this new trend is driven by the rising opportunity cost of rural labor, rigorous theoretical and empirical analyses are largely absent. This paper first develops a theoretical model to investigate household decisions on farming scale when off-farm labor market is accessible and there is heterogeneity of farmland productivity and distribution. The model is capable of explaining the hidden reasons of cropland abandonment in sloping and agriculturally less-favored locations. The model also unveils the impacts of heterogeneity of household labor on fallow decisions and the efficiency loss due to an imperfect labor market. The model is empirically tested by applying the Probit and Logit estimators to a unique household and land-plot survey dataset which contains 5258 plots of 599 rural households in Chongqing, a provincial level municipality, in Southwest China. The survey shows that more than 30% of the sample plots have been abandoned, mainly since 1992. The econometric results are consistent with our theoretical expectations. This work would help policy-makers and stakeholders to identify areas with a high probability of land abandonment and farming practice which is less sustainable in the mountainous areas.     

Chinese land policies and farmers’ adoption of organic fertilizer for saline soils

Soil salinization has become a global concern and poses a great threat to food production and sustainable land use. Land use policies are the main driver of saline soil farmland use in ecosystems. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for analyzing how saline soil farmland use is affected by land use practices of individual farm households. An empirical study, using an ordered probit model, was conducted based on questionnaire responses from farm households in 8 towns and 14 villages in eco-fragile areas in Shandong, Jilin and Xinjiang provinces. The results suggest that land tenure, state systems agricultural support, characteristics of a field parcel and characteristics of the farm households have different influences on farmer's land use in three regions. The adoption of organic fertilizer by individual households is constrained by the lack of stability and integrity in land tenure. Furthermore, the parcel of a field is generally small, sparsely distributed and often fragmented, which increases costs. Even subsidizing organic fertilizer does not necessarily help in its adoption. Given these challenges, this study makes recommendations for different regions that may promote the adoption of improved saline soil farmland cultivation methods by farmers.     

农户禀赋对农户融入农产品供应链意愿及方式的影响基于西南地区的农户调查

目的 通过对微观农户调查数据的分析，探究人力资本禀赋、社会资本禀赋、经济资本禀赋和自然资本禀赋对农户融入农产品供应链意愿及方式的影响。方法 文章运用二元Logit模型分析农户禀赋各变量对农户融入农产品供应链意愿的影响，运用多项Logit模型分析农户禀赋各变量对“农户+合作社”“农户+公司”和“农户+合作社+公司”3种融入方式影响。结果 缺乏经营经验、农业收入高、不能筹资、耕地面积小的农户融入农产品供应链的意愿较低。户主受教育程度高、学习能力强、耕地面积大的农户更倾向以“农户+合作社”方式融入供应链。学习能力差、家庭人口少、家里有村干的农户选择以“农户+公司”方式融入供应链的可能性较大。有经营经验、培训经历、亲戚数量少、家庭收入高、农业收入低、能筹资的农户更倾向以“农户+合作社+公司”方式融入供应链。交通便利及靠近乡村旅游地区的农户对所有融入农产品供应链的方式均不感兴趣。结论 要破除农户融入农产品供应链的禀赋障碍，科学引导农户以合适的方式融入农产品供应链，重视条件适宜地区农户进行农产品直销的优势和意愿。     

Tenure security, resource poverty, public programs, and household plot-level conservation investments in the highlands of northern Ethiopia

Land degradation poses a serious problem for the livelihoods of rural producers. Furthermore, there is rarely enough private investment taking place to commensurate the scale of the problem. This article examines the role of tenure insecurity, resource poverty, risk and time preferences, and community‐led land conservation on differentiated patterns of household investment in land conservation in northern Ethiopia. We control for biophysical, household characteristics, market access conditions, and village level factors. Investments in soil bunds and stone terraces are specifically studied so as to capture the link between these various factors and the durability of conservation investments. We introduce the distinction between the determinants of the decision to invest and how much to invest in conservation. Regression results show that publicly led conservation programs seem to significantly stimulate private investment. A host of plot‐level variables and household perceptions of returns on conservation investments, expressed in terms of perceived improvements in land quality and increased crop yields, were found to be critical to the decision to invest and intensify soil conservation. The evidence on the significance of households' attitudes toward risk aversion suggests the important role of risk and the household's risk‐bearing capacity in the decision to intensify conservation measures. At the same time, tenure security indicators and households' resource endowments (resource poverty) had weaker effects in increasing willingness to invest and the level of investment made. The policy implications of these results point to the importance of agricultural research and extension efforts that target technologies which reduce household risk and poverty while enabling sustainable investments in conservation measures by individual households.     

Rural electrification in Cambodia: does it improve the welfare of households?

This study uses subsamples of socio-economic surveys from 2004 and 2011 to construct village panel data and apply the difference-in-differences (DID) method to examine the impact of rural electrification on household consumption and children’s education in Cambodia at the village level. Conditional on the DID assumption and observed village and household characteristics, rural electrification increased household consumption by approximately 16.6%. This study also finds that higher-quintile households benefited more. Additionally, rural electrification increased boys’ years of schooling completed by 0.85 and girls’ years of schooling completed by 0.62. It also increased the probability of having ever been enrolled in primary school for boys by approximately 9.7% but did not increase the probability of having ever been enrolled for girls.     

An assessment of farmers’ satisfaction with land consolidation performance in China

Rural land consolidation has been a very important and efficient development tool all over the world for a century and is now an indispensable instrument for rural sustainable development in China. The Chinese central government has devoted large sums of money to rural consolidation projects each year in an effort to help protect cultivated land, to improve agricultural production, to enhance the socio-economic development of rural communities, and to help build rural landscapes. However, little attention has been paid to evaluating the performance of land consolidation projects from the view of community members, which is sorely needed. Household satisfaction with land consolidation projects is a key indicator of consolidation performance. Understanding the factors that influence household satisfaction is an effective way of dealing with problems in the interactions between land restructuring and human behaviors in rural areas and can help improve project performance. This paper examines the performance of land consolidation in terms of rural households’ levels of satisfaction in rural China and analyses the most influential factors of satisfaction. Data were gathered via questionnaires and analyzed with a probit model. Results indicated three significant points. First, overall satisfaction rate was 76.5%, meaning that most rural households in the regions of Hangzhou, Changsha, and Guiyang were satisfied with land consolidation projects. Second, 11 factors significantly affected rural residents’ satisfaction with consolidation. These factors included farmers’ level of education, employment characteristics, family size, input level of agricultural production, agricultural produce transportation methods, level of agricultural mechanization, the characteristics of land transfer in the village and within their own families, the perceived importance of land consolidation, their level of social insurance support, and their participation in rural production cooperatives. Third, six of these factors had positive effects on performance; four had negative effects, and one (employment characteristics) demonstrated a significant influence.     

Analyzing the deviation between farmers' Land transfer intention and behavior in China's impoverished mountainous Area: A Logistic-ISM model approach

China’s land transfer is an inevitable requirement for implementing the rural revitalization strategy in the new era. The speed and extent of land transfer are related to the sustainable development of China's agriculture and the process of realizing rural agricultural modernization. In practice, due to the imperfect land transfer market and related systems, the property income of the transfer farmers is insufficient, which leads to inconsistency between the intention and behavior of the farmers. Based on a field survey of rural households in Gansu Province's impoverished mountainous area, we first employ cross-analysis to qualitatively assess the deviation between farmers' land transfer intention and behavior. Second, we use a logistic-interpretative-structural model to empirically analyze the factors influencing such a deviation and the internal logical relationships of these factors. We find that a substantial deviation exists between farmers' land transfer intention and behavior, with 57.64 % of respondents having the intention to transfer, but no actual transfer behavior. Moreover, among the 12 factors identified that significantly affect this deviation, agricultural production enthusiasm is superficially the main direct factor, while agricultural production scale, non-agricultural income, satisfaction in agricultural subsidy policy, and the impact of disasters are the secondary, indirect factors. Meanwhile, the deep-rooted factors are the head of household's age, the presence of village cadres in the household, non-farm working hours, the size of the household's labor force, and difficulty in obtaining land transfer information, land types, and property rights intervention. Therefore, we conclude that in the process of land transfer, the leading role of village cadres should be strengthened, a transfer information exchange platform should be established, land policy should be strictly implemented, land adjustment should be reduced, the rural land exit guarantee mechanism should be improved, and the doubts of farmers regarding land transfer should be eliminated. These steps would make sure that the deviation between farmers’ land transfer intention and actual behavior is minimized.     

Adoption of Multiple Sustainable Agricultural Practices in Rural Ethiopia

The adoption and diffusion of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) has become an important issue in the development‐policy agenda for sub‐Saharan Africa, especially as a way to tackle land degradation, low agricultural productivity and poverty. However, the adoption rates of SAPs remain below expected levels. This study analyses the factors that facilitate or impede the probability and level of adoption of interrelated SAPs, using recent data from multiple plot‐level observations in rural Ethiopia. Multivariate and ordered probit models are applied to the modelling of adoption decisions by farm households facing multiple SAPs, which can be adopted in various combinations. The results show that there is a significant correlation between SAPs, suggesting that adoptions of SAPs are interrelated. The analysis further shows that both the probability and the extent of adoption of SAPs are influenced by many factors: a household’s trust in government support, credit constraints, spouse education, rainfall and plot‐level disturbances, household wealth, social capital and networks, labour availability, plot and market access. These results imply that policy‐makers and development practitioners should seek to strengthen local institutions and service providers, maintain or increase household asset bases and establish and strengthen social protection schemes in order to improve the adoption of SAPs.     

Strategies to increase agricultural productivity and reduce land degradation: evidence from Uganda

This paper estimates a structural econometric model of household decisions regarding income strategies, participation in programs and organisations, crop choices, land management, and labour use, and their implications for agricultural production and soil erosion; based upon a survey of over 450 households and their farm plots in Uganda. Many factors have context-specific impacts and involve trade-offs between increasing production and reducing land degradation. Government agricultural extension and training programs contribute to higher value of crop production in the lowlands, but to soil erosion in the highlands. By contrast, non-governmental organization (NGO) programs focusing on agriculture and environment help to reduce erosion, but have less favourable impacts on production in the lowlands. Education increases household incomes, but also reduces crop production in the lowlands. Poverty has mixed impacts on agricultural production, depending on the nature of poverty: smaller farms obtain higher crop production per hectare, while households with fewer livestock have lower crop production. Population pressure contributes to agricultural intensification, but also to erosion in the densely populated highlands. Several household income strategies contribute to increased value of crop production, without significant impacts on soil erosion. We find little evidence of impact of access to markets, roads and credit, land tenure or title on agricultural intensification and crop production and land degradation. In general, the results imply that the strategies to increase agricultural production and reduce land degradation must be location-specific, and that there are few 'win-win' opportunities to simultaneously increase production and reduce land degradation.     

Determinants of Smallholders’ Decisions to Leave Land Fallow: The Case of Kosovo

This article investigates why farmers in Kosovo leave land fallow when their farms’ total land area is small and households, almost fully dependent on farming for their livelihoods, are large. It uses a comprehensive survey carried out during the agricultural year 2005/2006 to explore agricultural households’ perceptions of production, market conditions and general security 6 years after the end of the military conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Several locational, household and farm characteristics empirically approximate the significance of different factors for the amount of land left idle. Two different econometric models are used to address the characteristics of the dependent variable distribution by accounting for endogeneity. The main determinants of the share of land left fallow are found to be related to the economic and institutional structure, and to the general feeling of insecurity.