Food,farmers, and the future: Investigating prospects of increased food production within a national context

With international food price shocks in 2008 and 2011, food security became a political priority in many countries. In addition, some politicians have recently adopted a more nationalistic stance. Against that background, this paper critically investigates the prospects of increased food production within a national context. We use a small, high-income country, Norway, as an empirical case. In 2012, the government set a goal of increasing agricultural food production by 20% by 2030. We ask: 1) How has food production in Norway developed before and after the goal was set? 2) What plans do farmers have, and what do they regard as the main obstacles to increased production? We apply a mixed method combining public statistics, a survey, and interviews. We analyze four production systems: a) milk; b) grass-based meat; c) combined pig and grain; and d) grain. These systems represent around 80% of the domestically consumed food produced on farms in Norway. Since 2000, aggregate food production has had a slight downward trend with periodic fluctuations. Based on a political economy approach, we identify land and labor as the most limiting factors. Capital is less of a hindrance and offers a potential for increased production. Farmers have modest expectations of increased production, though. This outlook resonates with the strong integration of agriculture into the wider economy, at both micro and macro levels, making it challenging to implement new policies and change farm practices on a broad basis. Increases in some specific products, however, are realistic.     

十七届三中全会后我国农村土地政策的变向共性分析

我国农村经济发展迅速,农转非数量居高不下,经济增长是以占用大量农地为代价的,方式相对粗放,因此土地问题已成为制约我国农村可持续发展的瓶颈。党的十七届三中全会制定的农村土地政策主要从保护耕地、集约用地等方面,在政策的界定、可执行性以及效用上做出了重要改变。该文通过十七届三中全会前后农村土地政策的对比,来分析其变向共性,以便更好地理解政策的价值目标并制定相关的法律法规。     

广东农村无地人口现状与获地途径研究

在落实了土地承包期30年不变的背景下,通过对广东省内传统的村庄、农户采取入户访谈的方式,就有关无地人口生产状态方面的问题进行调查后发现,在广东省内传统的农村地区,国家土地政策和各村是否严格执行国家土地政策对无地人口的数量有重要的影响,不断增加的无地人口对土地调整有影响,对土地转入没有直接影响却在一定程度上限制了农地转出,农村无地人口通过家庭继承的方式获取土地更普遍。     

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.     

论农地政策对农民财产权利的限制与扩张

农地政策反映国家和政府对农地问题的意志和态度。现行农地政策重在保障农村社会的稳定,提高农业生产,在相当长一段历史时期内适应了我国农村社会经济的发展。但是以严格限制农地流转和农地转用为特征,以行政控制为方式的农地政策不能适应社会化大生产对农村规模经济发展的要求。国外的农地政策大多也走过了从严格限制到相对宽松,从行政控制到市场调节的发展历程。本文通过对我国现有农地政策进行分析,并借鉴国外农地政策经验,提出农地政策不是僵硬的教规,灵活运用和适时改变农地政策可以增加农民财富,满足农民对农地利用的诉求。     

土地经营权入股的合伙模式研究

研究目的:明确土地经营权入股合伙模式的类型并提出规制建议。研究方法:采用文献分析法和案例分析法。研究结果:(1)正确处理合伙模式与其他土地经营权流转制度的关系,注意区分合伙模式与土地经营权出租,以及合伙模式在一定程度上可以替代有限责任公司模式。(2)明确确保入股的土地经营权权利没有瑕疵是土地经营权人的法定义务,从而保障合伙能够正常从事农业经营。(3)确定土地经营权入股合伙模式的法律性质是物权流转,合伙财产属于合伙人共同共有,以便合伙人可以通过土地经营权抵押贷款,解决资金困难。研究结论:土地经营权入股的合伙模式是土地经营权入股的重要模式,不能为股份合作社模式、农民专业合作社模式、有限责任公司模式所替代。     

Why David sometimes defeats Goliath: The power of actors in disprivileged land-use policy networks

Since the 19th century, Danish policies regarding land use in the wider countryside have been strongly influenced by two competing policy networks. In the period 1866–1970, a strong ‘land reclamation network’ was privileged at the expense of a weak ‘nature protection network’. In contrast, during the last couple of decades, the situation has been turned on its head. Here, a strong nature protection network has been privileged at the expense of a weaker ‘land reclamation network’. In each of the above stable periods, however, a detailed case study of decision-making regarding a rejected project shows that sometimes the weaker network is able to defeat a stronger network in relation to concrete project decisions regarding the use of water bodies. Why is it that even very strong policy communities cannot expect to have all projects they support implemented? Adding the concepts of policy venue and policy image [Baumgartner, F.R., Jones, B.D., 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London] to the rather static policy network approach provides an explanation—a theoretical framework which, for example, can be applied to decisions/non-decisions regarding nature restoration projects in those countries who during recent years have been trying to move beyond water body protection to restoration of water bodies to their natural state.     

关于国土资源档案管理现代化的探讨

本文分析国土资源档案的特点和国土规划管理的发展要求，从技术、方法、组织管理、人员素质等多个角度对国土资源管理现代化的内容进行了探讨。     

How do individuals and groups perceive wetland functioning? Fuzzy cognitive mapping of wetland perceptions in Uganda

Wetlands are critical natural resources around the globe, providing many direct and indirect benefits to local communities. However, wetland degradation and conversion to other land uses are widespread. Sustainable wetland management requires an understanding of stakeholders’ perceptions of the ecosystem and its management. This paper uses fuzzy cognitive mapping to capture individual stakeholder perceptions and group knowledge of wetland ecosystems in order to assess areas of consensus and opposing interests between different stakeholders and to develop future management scenarios. For this purpose, the Rushebeya-Kanyabaha wetland, which is one of the few wetlands in southwest Uganda that is still largely intact, is used as a case study. Our findings reveal differences in perceptions between different resource users. Papyrus harvesters, beekeepers, fishermen, wetland non-users, and hunters associate the largest livelihood benefits with a wetland conservation scenario, while farmers and government officials perceive increased agricultural production in the wetland area to be more livelihood enhancing. This poses a challenge to sustainable wetland management. The scenario results also suggest that centralized top-down laws and rules on wetland use are not sufficient for maintaining the wetland ecosystem. Therefore, there is a need to develop shared understanding through bottom-up approaches to wetland management that are nested within national regulatory frameworks, ideally combined with awareness building and knowledge sharing on the ecological benefits of the wetland.     

略论数字地质图的生产管理

论述加强数字地质图制图生产管理的必要性,生产规律系统的功能设计与实现原理,以及生产管理研究的技术难点和实现途径。     

Identifying livelihood strategies and transitions in rural China: Is land holding an obstacle?

Using nationally representative rural survey data from 2010 and 2014 in China, this paper quantitatively investigates the factors determining Chinese rural households’ livelihood strategies and dynamics in transitions. Using a multinomial probit regression and ordered logit regression (OLR), we find that human assets and transport facilities are the most important factors in improving the livelihood strategies of rural Chinese households. These factors also encourage upward livelihood mobility. However, factors such as land endowment, land renting-in, and land expropriation have a negative effect on rural Chinese households’ upward mobility in livelihood strategies.     

城镇建设用地增加与农村建设用地减少挂钩的探讨——以江西省定南县为例

农村建设用地减少与城镇建设用地增加相挂钩是当前土地管理的热点,也是促进土地集约高效利用、盘活存量土地、保障建设用地的有效手段之一,本文以定南县为例,在对31个居民点用地进行实地调查的基础上,分析了实施挂钩的可行性,并提出了城乡建设用地挂钩的政策建议。     

农村土地经营权流转实证分析——关于对宁阳县农村土地经营权流转的调查

研究目的:创新农业发展理念和运作机制,积极探索农村土地经营权流转的方式。研究方法:文献资料法、因果分析法。研究结果:培植农业龙头企业,延伸链条带动土地流转;发展农民专业合作社,搭建平台助推土地流转;做大劳务输出产业,拓宽就业渠道促进土地流转;发挥大户示范作用,扩张效应引导土地流转;建立健全管理机制,科学运作保障土地流转。研究结论:土地承包经营权流转是完善农村土地制度的方式。     

在日常国土房管工作中做好信访工作

信访工作是联系政府和人民群众的桥梁和纽带。本文根据在实际工作中的经验，围绕建设社会，提出了多途径解决信访问题的方法。     

An evaluation of contemporary China’s land use policy – The Link Policy: A case study from Ezhou,Hubei Province

Economic reform in China has resulted in rapid urbanisation over the past three decades, changing the urban and rural landscape dramatically. A large amount of farmland was developed, leading to conflict between construction demand and farmland protection. In response, the “Link Policy” was proposed in 2005 that seeks to concurrently preserve farmland while providing for urban expansion through land exchange. The effectiveness of the Link Policy has not been systematically investigated. The purpose of this study is to analyse and evaluate outcomes of the Link Policy objectives from both a participant and investigator’s interpretive perspective. Ezhou, the first experimental city to implement the Link Policy in Hubei Province in central China, was selected as a case study area. Eight different communities in Ezhou were visited and 160 semi-structured interviews were conducted with resettled rural residents in March 2016. A combination of interviews and investigator field observations were used to evaluate the Link Policy objectives. The results show that participants recognize and support improving rural living conditions and coordinating urban-rural development, but the Link Policy failed to achieve the objectives of preserving farmland, protecting farmers’ land use rights and interests, and facilitating agricultural production. Participants perceived concentrated resettlement communities to be more efficient in land use compared to more expansive rural settlements, but vacant apartments for commercial use in resettlement areas account for a large proportion of land suggesting inefficiency in the land exchanges. We suggest policy changes to achieve more successful implementation of the Link Policy.     

Managing China's pastoral lands: Current problems and future prospects

China has the second largest area of pastoral land in the world, and these lands and their peoples play a very beneficial role in the global environment. Because of China's huge population, rate of social reform, and economic development, the pastoral ecosystems are at a critical turning point. There is a conflict between national benefit and the land users (mainly herders) benefit. This paper introduces the scale of pastoral land, the history of its management institutions, past and current projects and programs, as well as the current framework of policy and law as relevant to land management. The challenges for pastoral management in terms of institutions, administration, technology and their shifting role in regional economies of scale are also analyzed. Opportunities for sustainable development in China's pastoral lands are presented. Finally, this paper highlights the available approaches for enhancing livelihoods and conserving pastoral land, including establishment of law and policy framework at the national level, redefining use rights for community management, promoting Integrated Ecosystem Management (IEM) as a basis for natural resource utilization, preserving and respecting cultural aspects of pastoral peoples, and shifting the focus from GDP generation to environmental protection.