Forest incomes and rural livelihoods in Chiradzulu District, Malawi

This paper examines forest income among rural dwellers in one of Malawi's most densely populated districts, Chiradzulu. 160 households were interviewed in two sites, only 20 km apart, purposely selected on the basis of access to a forest reserve. People are extremely poor, with 97% having incomes of less than 1 USD/day. Forest income constitutes around 15% of total income; only non-farm income (47%) and agriculture (28%) rank higher. The poorest segment depends more on forest income than the least poor group, but the medium income group exhibits the highest dependence. Fuelwood constitutes the major source of such income followed by fodder. The incomes mainly support current consumption. People with better access to the forest reserve have higher total income, forest income, and relative forest income. As revealed through a Gini-coefficient analysis, forest resources have an important income equalizing effect across rural households. A particular group of resource poor farmers (8.1% of sample), with little access to agricultural land and a high representation of female heads, derives an average of 65% of their income from the forest. An important policy lesson is that restricting people's access to forest resources can have substantial effects on household livelihoods and welfare, and would serve to increase income inequalities in the area. Livelihood researchers should now recognize the substantial income from forest resources.     

Indigenous livelihoods, slash-and-burn agriculture, and carbon stocks in Eastern Panama

Improved crop–fallow systems in the humid tropics can simultaneously sequester atmospheric carbon emissions and contribute to sustainable livelihoods of rural populations. A study with an indigenous community in eastern Panama revealed a considerable biophysical potential for carbon offsets in small-scale slash-and-burn agriculture through longer fallow periods, improved fallow management, secondary forest development, and agricultural intensification. Based on soil and biomass carbon measurements, estimated annual sequestration rates amount to 0.3−3.7 t C ha^− 1 yr^− 1. Despite such potential, the economic benefits of initiatives aimed at sequestration of carbon in the community are likely to be rather unequally distributed within the community. Heterogeneity in livelihood strategies and uneven asset endowments among households – factors often overlooked in the ongoing carbon and sustainable development debate – are expected to strongly affect household participation. Indeed, only the better-endowed households that have also managed to diversify into more lucrative farm and non-farm activities are likely to be able to participate in and thus benefit from improved crop–fallow systems that capture carbon. Economic, ethical, institutional, and technical concerns need to be taken into account when designing community carbon management and investment plans.     

Destined to Receive: The Impact of Remittances on Household Decisions in Armenia

The paper uses data from Armenia to test the implications of remittance flows on behavior of receiving households. We find that remittance‐receiving households work fewer hours and spend less on the education of their children. While saving more, these households are not leveraging their savings to borrow from the banking system to expand their business activities. This evidence suggests that the benefits of remittances might be overstated and emphasizes the importance of measuring their impact in a general‐ rather than a partial‐equilibrium context.     

The effects of exchange rate volatility on exports: evidence from Armenia

The article examines how the volatility of exchange rate affected Armenia’s export to its main trading partner, Russia, in the period from January 2007 to February 2016. Along with real foreign income and competitiveness, the exchange rate volatility is considered as a determinant of real export. The estimation results indicate that the exchange rate volatility has negative significant effects on real export both in the long run and in the short run.     

Sustainable livelihoods in a Coptis-planting based rural community: a case study in Shizhu County, China

Coptis chinensis is a medicinal herb used in traditional Chinese medicine.This research features a case study in Shizhu County,China.Participatory Rural Appraisal（PRA） is used as the main tool for data collection.The study demonstrates that the current method of Coptis planting leads to forest destruction.Even with reforestation measures,it leads to the loss of biodiversity in the forest.It also shows that farmers cannot get satisfactory economic returns from Coptis planting,as the return is unstable and unpredictable.One alternative to the current Coptis planting mode is to incorporate it into the agroforestry system.Water shield planting also serves as a good alternative to Coptis planting itself.Improved methods of management,post-harvest processing,and marketing of Coptis are also proposed and analyzed.The intended contribution of this paper to the theoretical debate of sustainability shall be the provision of an example showing how agricultural production affects forest conservation.It also presents redressable measures to the negative consequences.Besides,one alternative livelihood pathway for the rural community in this case study is suggested.     

Legal exclusions,private wealth and livelihoods: An analysis of work time allocation in protected areas

Do exclusionary forest access regimes have an unequal impact on livelihood activities? This paper analyzes primary data on time allocation to livelihood activities by forest communities in the Indian Himalayas to investigate this question. Estimation results are consistent with the hypothesis that forest access regimes affect both forest extraction behavior and other livelihood strategies. Residents of sanctuary forests, experiencing higher restrictions on forest use, decrease the proportion of time allocated to forest extraction and livestock activities, but compensate by increasing their time allocation to agriculture in comparison to residents of state-controlled protected forests. However, wealthy residents of the wildlife sanctuary expend a higher proportion of their time in managing livestock and extracting forest resources in comparison to its less affluent residents. Thus wealth enables circumvention of access restrictions despite legalization of exclusion. Findings of this study have implications for design of biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration policies.     

统筹城乡发展中的农村人力资源开发

统筹城乡即运用价值趋同与制度变迁理论,通过政策性、法治化调整使城乡获得平等的生存与发展权利,藉此消灭传统城乡差别。为此,通过实施科教兴农战略,运用现代教育手段开发农村劳动力资源,是我国破解传统二元经济结构发展难题,也是实现由人口大国向人力资源大国转变的必由之路。     

乡村工业化与乡村伦理问题

改革开放以来,乡村工业化日渐成为国家工业化进程中不可分割的一部分,乡村工业化的发展增加了农民收入,推动了农村城镇化、现代化的进程,极大地改变了乡村社会经济利益格局,从而使传统乡村伦理发生了重大变迁,而工业化的发展本身也提出了新的伦理课题.     

农村工业化以及人力资本在农村劳动力市场中的角色

农村劳动力市场从多个渠道给教育带来了回报。用Heckman模型估计 ,教育的工资回报在 1 991— 1 997年为 0— 5% ,而且不显著。但是教育显著提高了人们到工业部门工作的机会 ,由此带来的回报在 5%— 7%。教育还提高了人们到高工资部门工作的机会 ,改善了人们的工作方式。     

The effect of the cost of obstetric care on antenatal and postnatal healthcare utilization: Evidence from Armenia

The high cost of obstetric care is a common reason for late or no detection of preventable preterm labor, serious complications, long-term disabilities, and neonatal and maternal death. To resolve the debate of whether affordable, high-quality healthcare can be used as a policy tool to incentivize timely and more frequent checkups during and after pregnancy, we examine the causal effect of the Obstetric Care State Certificate (OSCS) program, which fully covered the costs of all antenatal services, consultations, medical exams, delivery and postnatal care in Armenia after 2008, on utilization of prenatal and postnatal care in the country. Evidence suggests that the reform had a significant, positive effect on care utilization during and after pregnancy, with the largest effects being elicited in the subsamples of women at high risk pregnancies, and mothers who have had a miscarriage or an abortion.     

财政支农结构对农村居民消费的影响分析

财政支农对农村居民消费的影响可能为正也可能为负。本文利用VAR方法对财政支农不同部分对农村居民消费的影响进行了考察。结果表明：（1）从长期来看,支援农村生产支出和农林水利气象事业费、农业科技三项费的支出对农村居民消费产生了“挤入效应”,而农村基本建设支出和农村救济费对农村居民消费产生了“挤出效应”。（2）从冲击大小来看,事业费对农村居民消费的贡献最大,农业科技三项费用次之,农村救济费第三,农村基本建设支出最小。最后提出扩大农村居民消费的政策建议是：增大财政支农力度,农村财政支出占财政总支出的比重应保持稳定增长;优化财政农业支出结构,加大事业费和科技费在财政支农支出中的比重;财政支农支出通过支持农业生产和提高农业综合生产能力能间接地增加农村居民收入,从而带动消费增长。所以应利用财政支农功能带动农民收入的增加。     

高校培育农村合作组织促进农村社会发展的研究

文章从我国农业推广主体的有限与广大分散农民技术的多元需求这一非对等的现实矛盾出发,提出了在政府的支持下,高校培育农村合作组织开展现代农业推广的模式和运行机制。阐述了通过多方协作,逐步形成专家基层服务组织、支农大学生社团和地方技术员的相辅相承关系;另外,通过在乡村社区建立农村合作组织以提高农民的组织化程度,强化农民的自我教育和技术辅导与培训,从而扎实地推进新农村建设进程,进而达到农村社会全面发展。     

中国农村收入分配与农村金融发展实证研究

本文运用1991~2008年的实际数据实证研究了我国农村金融发展与农民收入分配之间的相关性关系和影响机制。与已有的研究不同的是,本文的研究结果表明我国农村金融的发展并未起到抑制农村居民收入分配差距的作用,反而在一定程度上拉大了农村居民收入分配差距。此外,本文还发现发展中国家在抑制农村居民收入分配差距的问题上,光靠金融支持是不够的,还需要政府财政支农的积极配合。     

走向以农村为本的农村发展战略

文章对中国农村发展战略进行了全面的检视，认为其存在的根本缺点是按照城市的模式来改造农村，忽视了农村的基本特点和内在优势。中国的农村发展应该走以农村为本的发展道路．充分发挥农村的内在优势。文章还分析了实行以农村为本的发展战略面临的问题，并提出了相应的政策建议。     

新农村建设视野下的农村金融及其政策选择

新农村建设离不开农村金融的强力支撑,但由于体制性缺陷的原因,致使农村金融供求严重失衡.因此,必须从体制和制度创新入手,优化农村金融发展环境,加快建立农村金融体系,增强农村金融为新农村建设的服务功能.     

新农村建设背景下的农村金融改革探析

支持社会主义新农村建设的农村金融功能没有得到应有的充分的释放,究其原因在于农村金融体系建设的碎片化,导致农村金融市场发育的不完善,具体表现在农村金融供需的不平衡,农村金融的市场分割,政府管理的失灵。为此,必须采用系统论的方法,寻找突破农村金融体系建设困境的路径：完善农村金融市场的外围支撑体系,在两个＂统筹＂理念下完善农村金融市场体系。     

京津冀地区乡村功能分区及振兴途径

基于面向高维数据的聚类方法开展乡村功能分区,有利于挖掘乡村功能与社会经济发展的内在联系,进而提出合理的乡村振兴途径。文章以京津冀地区为例,从经济发展、农产品生产、社会保障和生态保育及旅游服务4个维度构建乡村功能评价模型,基于各项功能指数分析其特征;借助gCLUTO软件实现功能聚类,综合考虑地理探测器的q统计量和分区计算成本确定最适宜的功能区,进而提出乡村振兴途径。结果表明:①经济发展对乡村功能的贡献和结构合理性存在较大的地域差异,是制约区域乡村功能发展的主要因素。②京津冀地区最佳的乡村功能聚类数为11,在以经济发展功能为指示变量的前提下,不同的聚类结果呈现出一定的相似一致性;根据主要贡献功能和区间差异特征,将京津冀地区划分为经济—生产、经济—社会保障、生态—社会保障、社会保障—生态、生产—社会保障(Ⅰ和Ⅱ类)、社会保障、农产品生产(Ⅰ和Ⅱ类)和生态—生产(Ⅰ和Ⅱ类)等11个功能区。③建议立足当前功能区的发展特征,遵循"优化优势功能、强化中等功能、改善薄弱功能"等思路分层次、分阶段确定功能区未来发展定位,促使乡村由局部振兴转为全面振兴。     

School Participation in Rural India

This paper presents an analysis of the determinants of school participation in rural north India, based on a recent household survey which includes detailed information on school characteristics. School participation, especially among girls, responds to a wide range of variables, including parental education and motivation, social background, dependency ratios, work opportunities, village development, teacher postings, mid-day meals and infrastructural quality. Mid-day meals are particularly effective: the provision of a mid-day meal in the local school roughly halves the proportion of girls excluded from the schooling system. School quality matters, though it is not related in a simple way to specific inputs.     

农地股份合作制:中国农地产权创新的目标模式

现行农地产权制度必须创新。在已有的创新形式中,农地股份合作制应成为目标模式。农地股份合作制具有坚持土地 集体所有制、促成土地规模经营、利于农地规范流转、利于形成土地经营者的稳定预期等制度优势。在推行农地股份合作制过 程中,必须坚持农民自愿互利原则和不违背家庭承包制原则;同时,要搞好宏观政策环境建设。     

中国大陆的乡村建设

在香港中文大学中国研究服务中心举办的“中国大陆乡村建设”座谈会上,主持人熊景明女士和温铁军、黄平以及其他一些等专家学者,从乡村建设的必要性入手,对乡村社区建设、农民教育、农民组织与利益代表、专业人士的角色扮演等问题进行了探讨。他们提出许多建设性的意见。为此,我们摘要刊登这次座谈会的发言记录,以飨读者。