Prospects of basket production in promoting sustainable rural livelihoods in the Okavango Delta,Botswana

This paper uses the concept of sustainable rural livelihoods and income diversification to assess the role that basket making as a cultural tourism activity can play in improving rural livelihoods in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Using both primary and secondary data sources, this paper points out that shocks and natural causes such as drought, disease and changing flood levels in the Okavango River, particularly the drying of the Thaoge (one of the distributaries of the Okavango), have contributed to a decline in livestock and crop yields and increased poverty levels in the region. Therefore, alternative livelihood options that can diversify rural incomes from agricultural production need to be identified. This paper argues that basket making has the potential to diversify rural incomes and improve livelihoods in the Okavango. Baskets are a cultural tourism product that can raise income earning and employment opportunities for rural residents in the Okavango. For this to be successful, basket making will need to be developed as part of cultural tourism. A sustainable cultural tourism sector where baskets are key products requires the sustainable use of natural resources used for basket making. These resources are at present overharvested and are threatened with depletion. There is also a need to promote the empowerment of basket weavers particularly in entrepreneurship and managerial skills in the tourism business, attract young and educated people and promote the preservation of traditional basket making skills, which are important in the development of cultural tourism. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

论"社会排斥"与农村"新贫困"

近年来,中国农村贫困人口减少的速度趋于缓慢,农村"新贫困"现象严重.本文分析了中国农村新贫困特点,运用"社会排斥"理论着重分析了农村返贫致贫的制度性原因,在于农民经济、政治、社会权利缺失.     

国内外精确农业发展现状与对策

概述了精确农业的内涵和特点,介绍了国外在“3S”应用基础上精确农业的发展趋势,我国“3S”系统及农业信息技术在农业上的应用,提出了适合我国国情发展精确农业研究和实践等的建议。     

关于西部地区缓解城乡就业矛盾对策探讨

随着西部大开发战略的提出,西部迎来了经济发展的机遇和挑战。西部有丰富的人力和资源优势,但由于生产力水平低,人口、资源和环境矛盾突出,城乡就业问题异常严重,成为西部地区社会、经济、文化落后的重要原因。缓解城乡就业是推动西部地区经济腾飞,促进人口、资源和环境协调发展的关键。     

可行性能力：农村妇女的贫困与反贫匪——基于广水市C乡的实证研究

农村妇女面临着经济上贫困化和政治上边缘化,如何实现农村贫困妇女的反贫困,使她们自身和家庭的生存条件有所改善,实现她们的生存权和发展权。有关学者已从社会性别、公共政策、小额信贷、地权、法律、教育等视角进行研究,文章的着力点在提升农村妇女反贫困的可行性能力的研究上,从分析农村妇女贫困的现状和原因入手,阐明了从可行性能力视角进行切入的必要性。     

关于加快贫困国有林场脱贫步伐的建议

在对全国4507处国有林场全面摸底调查的基础上,指出全国目前有3700个林场属贫困林场。这些林场存在基础设施极为薄弱,生产生活条件极为艰苦、经济十分危困等问题。提出了实施规模扶贫、创新脱贫模式等推进改革创新的思路。     

风险冲击对农村居民家庭相对贫困的影响——基于CFPS数据的实证分析

目的 试图从微观农户层面研究风险冲击对相对贫困的影响及作用路径,以期为增强农村居民家庭风险抵御能力、缓解相对贫困提供实证支撑。方法 文章基于中国家庭动态追踪调查（CFPS）数据,运用面板probit模型和固定效应模型实证分析风险冲击对农村居民家庭相对贫困的影响,用异质性分析和面板门槛回归模型探讨不同收入水平的农村居民家庭风险应对方式差异。结果 （1）风险冲击会增加农村居民家庭相对贫困的可能。其中,灾害冲击是导致农村居民家庭相对贫困的首要原因,其次是教育冲击和婚丧嫁娶、孩子出生等重大事件冲击,失业冲击和健康冲击的影响相对较小。（2）不同收入水平农村居民家庭的风险应对机制差异是导致相对贫困家庭无法摆脱相对贫困的重要原因。与高收入的农村居民家庭相比,低收入的农村居民家庭遭受风险冲击时会减少更多的农业生产投资,增加更少的人力资本投资,导致家庭现有的资源配置无法提升家庭未来的收入能力,使其囿于相对贫困无法脱离。结论 政府应构建更具韧性的国家治理体系、更具弹性的社会帮扶体系,在此基础上提高农村居民家庭的可持续生计能力,从而减少农村居民家庭陷入相对贫困的可能。     

论退耕还林与减缓山区贫困的关系

现有扶贫开发模式以改善贫困地区生产条件和开发资源为导向,但是对生态较为脆弱的大多数贫困山区来讲,若不考虑社区生态系统的保护,开发式扶贫有可能导致越扶越贫。本文在分析山区贫困的一般特征基础上,通过对有关环境与贫困相互关系的理论认识,结合正在推进的退耕还林工程实践,提出林业扶贫是减缓山区贫困的有效途径,指出应从落实山区林权制度、建立生态移民制度、改善农业补贴制度以及强化山区扶贫管理体制等方面创新山区扶贫开发模式。     

发展农村经济的理性思考

科学认识城乡经济不平衡的原因是统筹发展解决“三农”问题的前提和基础;在分析了世界各国城乡经济不平衡原因的基础上,提出了利用经济规律发展农村经济的途径,指出边远农村当前不应大力发展农村经济,应积极推进城市化和促进剩余劳动力的转移。     

Stochastic dominance and decomposable measures of inequality and poverty

In this paper, we characterize some new links between stochastic dominance and the measurement of inequality and poverty. We show that: for second-degree normalized stochastic dominance (NSD), the weighted area between the NSD curve of a distribution and that of the equalized distribution is a decomposable inequality measure; for first-degree and second-degree censored stochastic dominance (CSD), the weighted area between the CSD curve of a distribution and that of the zero-poverty distribution is a decomposable poverty measure. These characterizations provide graphical representations for decomposable inequality and poverty measures in the same manner as Lorenz curve does for the Gini index. The extensions of the links to higher degrees of stochastic dominance are also investigated.