The impact of urban expansion on agricultural land use intensity in China

China's urbanization has resulted in significant changes in both agricultural land and agricultural land use. However, there is limited understanding about the relationship between the two primary changes occurring to China's agricultural land – the urban expansion on agricultural land and agricultural land use intensity. The goal of this paper is to understand this relationship in China using panel econometric methods. Our results show that urban expansion is associated with a decline in agricultural land use intensity. The area of cultivated land per capita, a measurement about land scarcity, is negatively correlated with agricultural land use intensity. We also find that GDP in the industrial sector negatively affects agricultural land use intensity. GDP per capita and agricultural investments both positively contribute to the intensification of agricultural land use. Our results, together with the links between urbanization, agricultural land, and agricultural production imply that agricultural land expansion is highly likely with continued urban expansion and that pressures on the country's natural land resources will remain high in the future.     

Food security,the labor market,and poverty in the Brazilian bio‐economy

This article deals with the social implications of ethanol expansion in Brazil. The evolution of the labor market in sugarcane production in the country is analyzed together with its regional patterns of expansion, to illustrate how changes in the recent expansion are modifying the traditional pattern of labor demand in the activity. At the same time, the distributional effects of sugarcane expansion, as well as it's impacts on food security and land use change was approached with the aid of general equilibrium simulation models. The analysis shows that both the average earnings and the average years of schooling in sugarcane production are actually higher than in general agriculture in Brazil, and that this is linked to the growing increase in production in the Southeast and Central‐West. Sugarcane production in these regions is more capital intensive and has a much higher productivity than in other traditional regions in Northeast Brazil. The study concludes that the expansion in sugarcane production according to actual patterns does not have a negative effect on poverty, and has only minor impacts on food prices and deforestation. The increase in the regional economic imbalances within the country appears to be the problem that requires attention.     

Using soil and water conservation techniques to rehabilitate degraded lands in northwestern Burkina Faso

Agricultural productivity in West Africa is low and cropping systems are hard to sustain. Farmers generally make little use of improved seeds or mechanization, and rely on organic matter to improve the fertility of their soils. Soil and water conservation techniques (SWCTs) can help secure agricultural output in unpredictable climates, and have been promoted in northwestern Burkina Faso for several decades. Rock bunds, filter walls, zaï, half-moons and agroforestry are now widespread. This paper describes the agroecological conditions in Burkina Faso and discusses the agroforestry and SWC technologies most widely applied in the country. SWCTs have contributed to improvements on the ground, helping secure livelihoods and reduce rural poverty and vulnerability to drought and famine.     

Sustainable agricultural intensification in forest frontier areas

The Lore Lindu region in Indonesia—as in many forest frontier areas in Southeast Asia—has experienced rapid deforestation due to agricultural expansion in the uplands, at the forest margins. This has resulted in aggravated problems of erosion and water availability, threatening agricultural productivity growth. At the same time, technical progress is promoting agricultural intensification in the lowlands. In this article, we examine how improved technologies for paddy rice cultivation in the lowlands have affected agricultural expansion and deforestation in the uplands. The question of a “forest‐saving” or “forest‐clearing” effect related to technical innovation is important from a sustainable development perspective and remains a controversial issue in the literature. We address this question for the Lore Lindu region with an empirical model in which expansion in the lowlands and the uplands is estimated simultaneously. We use data from an extensive village survey conducted in the region, combined with GIS data. To guide the empirical analysis, we develop a theoretical framework based on a Chayanov‐type agricultural household model. The model analyzes farmers' land allocation decisions, taking into account the lowland–upland dichotomy in the agricultural sector. The empirical findings, corroborated by the analytically derived results, show how technical progress for lowland production affects land use at the forest margins and how these effects depend on the factor‐intensity of the technology. The findings imply specific rural development policies for sustainable agricultural intensification in forest frontier areas.     

旅游乡村用地格局演变微尺度分析*——以北京市怀柔区西庄村为例

［目的］乡村振兴战略将乡村旅游作为我国农村扶贫的重要手段,而旅游业的发展对乡村用地格局产生了深远影响。对典型城郊旅游村庄西庄村的用地格局演变展开研究,识别当前旅游用地模式中存在的问题,对合理划定村级“三生空间”和推动乡村旅游转型升级具有重要意义。［方法］文章基于Google Earth高精度遥感图像,运用参与式农村评估法（PRA）、ArcGIS空间分析和马尔科夫模型,对1985—2017年西庄村用地格局演变进行定量研究。［结果］在旅游业影响下,西庄村旅游用地和其他商服用地持续扩张,耕地、园地和林地持续缩小; 用地功能由传统的农业生产和居住向旅游用地和其他商服用地的多功能转变,且各阶段转变的主导类型不同; 以旅游用地为主的建设用地扩展强度呈倒“U”型趋势,不同阶段表现为渐进式蔓延扩展、爆炸式多点扩展、填补式内涵挖潜和稳定有序扩展模式; 旅游区位优势、旅游市场需求、先锋农户带动及政府乡村旅游政策是典型城郊旅游乡村用地格局演变的主导因素。［结论］乡村旅游业发展应结合村级“三生空间”划定,科学划定产业用地空间,控制旅游用地无序扩张,促进乡村空间有序发展。     

Migration and technical efficiency in cereal production: evidence from Burkina Faso

This article uses a double bootstrap procedure and survey data from Burkina Faso in a two‐stage estimation to explore ways in which continental and intercontinental migration determine efficiency in cereal production of rural households. Findings suggest that continental migration has a positive relation and intercontinental migration no relation with technical efficiency. For continental migrant households, migration has removed surplus male labor, a cause for inefficiency in production. Intercontinental migration leads to a gender imbalance in the household, which cannot be compensated for by investments in farm equipment. The failure of intercontinental migration to transform cereal production from traditional to modern is attributed to an imperfect market environment.     

Cropland use,yields, and droughts: spatial data modeling for Burkina Faso and Niger

For countries with recurrent droughts, the design of drought impact mitigation measures could benefit from analyses of determinants of yields and prices of local crops at regional and district level. This study applies dynamic spatial panel data regression models to yields and prices of four major food crops across regions of Burkina Faso and Niger, over sample periods between 1984 and 2006. Results lend support to mainly simultaneous spatial spillovers, particularly for millet and cowpea prices and sorghum yields in Niger, and maize yields in Burkina Faso. After accounting for these effects, most crop yields are found to be weakly price‐responsive, as envisaged by a supply‐side geographical diffusion hypothesis. Seasonal rainfall elasticity estimates suggest that dominant food crops have slight advantage margins in terms of relative resilience to rainfall shortages. However, this result is to be weighed against low millet yields in Niger, and marked drops in sorghum yields during officially declared droughts in Burkina Faso.     

Hired labor use decisions in cassava-producing households of sub-Saharan Africa

Sub‐Saharan Africa is the only developing region of the world where agricultural output has been trailing population growth for most of the last three decades. Farming systems in the region are inherently risky because they are fundamentally dependent on the vagaries of weather. In addition, it is a region of crises; poverty, civil strife, and HIV/AIDS. Attention must therefore be focused on improving the production of crops that could thrive under these circumstances. Because of its tolerance of extreme drought and low input use conditions, cassava is perhaps the best candidate in this regard. And cassava is a basic food staple and a major source of farm income for the people of the region. The use of hired labor is important for its production growth because cassava root yield responds positively to the application of hired labor. This article, based on farm‐level information collected from six major cassava‐producing countries of Africa, within the framework of the Collaborative Study of Cassava in Africa, identifies strategic variables affecting the hired labor use decisions of producing households. The characteristics of the household head (age and number of years of formal education), the size of the household farm, good market access, and population pressure are found to motivate households to apply hired labor in cassava production. These observations underscore the need for investing in people—education—and in infrastructure—market access—as possible tools for improving food production in the region. The positive effect of farm size also suggests that some kind of land reform, which would put more farmland at the disposal of farm households, could be favorable to improving cassava production.     

Factors influencing the profitability of fertilizer use on maize in Zambia

Fertilizer use remains very low in most of Africa despite widespread agreement that much higher use rates are required for sustained agricultural productivity growth. This study uses longitudinal farm survey data to estimate maize yield response functions in a relatively high-potential zone of Zambia to determine the profitability of fertilizer use under a range of small-farm conditions found within this zone. The theoretical framework used in this study incorporates agronomic principles of the crop growth process. We generalize the asymmetric production models and define a concept of yield scaling factors. The model distinguishes different roles of inputs and non-input factors in crop production. We estimate the effects of conventional production inputs as well as of household characteristics and government programs on maize yield. The results indicate that recommended fertilizer application rates in the two specific years were often unprofitable, given observed price conditions and the yield response to fertilizer. However, there was substantial variability in yield response to fertilizer based upon the rate of application, the timeliness of fertilizer availability, the use of animal draught power during land preparation, and whether the household incurred the death of an adult member in the past three years. These modifying factors, as well as variations in input and output prices due to proximity to roads and markets, substantially affected the profitability of fertilizer use on maize.     

矿农复合区农户耕地利用集约度影响因素分析——以晋城市泽州县22个村为例

[目的]矿农复合区耕地利用方式关系区域生态经济可持续发展,分析不同生计类型农户耕地集约利用水平及影响因素对协调区域人—地矛盾、提高耕地资源利用率和推进土地有序流转具有现实意义。[方法]以晋城市泽州县长河流域22个村为研究区,基于385份有效农户问卷,选用mlogit多值选择模型分析影响矿农复合区农户耕地集约度的因素。[结果]矿农复合区不同农户类型的耕地利用集约度及其内部结构存在较大差异,基本呈现人力资产型矿农复合型自然资产型基本型缺失型的规律。制约耕地利用集约度的因素包括农户家庭土地资源禀赋、劳动力状况和采煤土地损毁情况,政策因素对其影响不显著。[结论]应加大对缺失型和基础型农户的土地修复补偿费,加快健全土地流转市场,形成以发展型农户为主体的家庭农场,进而提高农民农业生产积极性和耕地利用集约度。     

郑州市典型产业用地效益与碳排放强度的关系研究——基于181家企业的调查

研究目的:从企业视角探讨用地效益与碳排放强度的关系,并提出低碳、集约的产业用地方式和发展模式。研究方法:基于郑州市2012—2015年181家典型企业的调研数据,运用多因素综合评价法和Tapio脱钩模型等方法分析不同产业用地效益和碳排放强度的关系。研究结果:(1)产业用地效益水平整体不高且行业差异明显,其中,电力、热力生产和供应业用地效益水平最低,烟草制品业用地效益水平最高;(2)大多数产业碳排放强度小于0.1 t/m2,且年际变化波动较小,碳排放强度最大的是电力、热力生产和供应业,最小的是汽车制造业;(3)不同产业用地效益和碳排放强度的相关性差异明显,且两者间的脱钩状态随时间波动较大,2012—2015年以扩张负脱钩和强脱钩为主。其中,农副食品加工业、酒、饮料和精制茶制造业等产业为扩张负脱钩;煤炭开采和洗选业、食品制造业等产业为强脱钩。研究结论:不同产业用地效益和碳排放强度的相关性和脱钩状态差异明显,建议未来应采取差别化的发展模式和策略,比如农副食品加工业、酒、饮料和精制茶制造业等产业应重点通过提高能源效率降低碳排放,而煤炭开采和洗选业、食品制造业等产业则应重点通过土地集约利用降低碳排放强度。     

Spatio-temporal pattern and driving forces of construction land change in a poverty-stricken county of China and implications for poverty-alleviation-oriented land use policies

Sustainable land use, targeted poverty alleviation (TPA) and integrated urban/town development are key issues for the poverty-stricken counties of China. This paper explored the spatio-temporal pattern and driving forces of construction land change in Longzhou, a typical poverty-stricken border county in southwest China, based on high-resolution remote sensing images and field investigations. The results showed that, from 2011 to 2016, the construction land in Longzhou increased by 10.08%. The largest increase shown by urban built-up areas (37.74%) followed by rural residential (25.48%), industrial and mining (20.96%), and transportation areas (15.49%) as well by tourist facility areas (0.33%). The accelerated urban development, rural housing construction, and construction of industrial parks and transportation facilities are main factors driving construction land expansion, while the implementation of TPA strategy and the booming of border trade activities are important policy drivers of the construction land expansion. Some of the major implications for improving poverty-alleviation-oriented land use policies were further discussed. The authors argue that land use policy innovation could play a key role in breaking the Matthew effect (poor get poorer, rich get richer) of China's uneven regional development and generating and accelerating the transformation development of poverty-stricken counties. It is fundamental to meet the demand of construction land for TPA, meanwhile raise the intensive level of land utilization. The authors suggest that the government need to further improve and implement preferential land use policies for poverty-stricken counties from the provincial level, appropriately increase the quotas of construction land, and effectively strengthen the rational, efficient and intensive use of the quotas of construction land, and provide solid land policy support for poverty alleviation and thus achieve the Sustainable Development Goals with higher quality.     

Semi‐Subsistence Farming: An Elusive Concept Posing Thorny Policy Questions

The massive expansion of semi‐subsistence farming in the European Union after the Eastern enlargements poses a real challenge to rural development. The problems of semi‐subsistence farms are low cash incomes and incidence of poverty, sub‐optimal use of land and labour, a lack of capital and poor contribution to rural growth. However, they play an important welfare function in some rural areas in Europe; they manage more than 11 million ha of agricultural land and deliver ecosystem services. The Common Agricultural Policy will have to accommodate this now widespread production system, through existing or new policy packages. Particularly important is support for commercialisation to incentivise and smooth the transition to commercial agriculture, and agri‐environmental payments to compensate the semi‐subsistence farmers for the provision of ecosystem services.     

中国农地流转对农业碳排放强度的影响 及作用机制研究

研究目的：探明农地流转对农业碳排放强度的影响效应及作用机制，为实现农业碳达峰碳中和目标建言献策。研究方法：双固定效应回归模型、工具变量模型、中介效应模型。研究结果：（1）农地流转对农业碳排放强度产生显著负向影响，农地流转面积扩大会降低农业碳排放强度；（2）农业化学化水平在农地流转降低农业碳排放强度过程中发挥中介效应，农地流转主要通过降低农业化学化水平而降低农业碳排放强度；（3）农业机械化水平在农地流转降低农业碳排放强度过程中发挥遮掩效应（削弱作用），农地流转会提升农业机械化水平进而降低其对农业碳排放强度的减量效应。研究结论：农地流转对农业碳排放强度具有显著负向影响，建议通过加快农地流转、提升农业化学物资使用效率、推动清洁型农业机械应用等措施进一步发挥农地流转对农业碳排放强度的减量效应。     

新疆自治区农地流转规模效益与风险分析

中国的农业现代化必须建立在农业适度规模经营的基础上,农业生产走规模经营的路子也是现代化的需要。因此,农村土地承包经营权流转作为扩大农业经营规模、提高农业生产效益的手段不断被加以推广。新疆地区地域广阔,南北疆自然及社会经济条件差异大,因此不同区域农地流转条件和效果不同。本文在实地调研的基础上,将新疆的农地流转情况分为四大类型,统计分析农地规模,以探讨农地流转后是否能产生规模效益和农地流转的风险为主,运用DEA模型和案例比较的方法,对新疆地区农地流转的规模效益与风险进行分析。研究发现：以玛纳斯县为代表的北疆棉区棉农在农地转入后,农地总面积增加、户均每块地面积也增大,这表明农地流转使得植棉规模扩大并且产生规模效益,南疆则存在一定流转风险,主要分3类：生计风险、经营风险和交易风险。因此应分区分类指导流转。     

陕西省耕地利用转型与粮食产量耦合关系研究

[目的]研究陕西省耕地利用隐形变化与产量的耦合关系,以此优化粮食生产系统的指导方式,提高陕西省粮食产量,协调陕西省耕地利用转型与粮食产量的耦合关系。[方法]文章运用变异系数法,以粮食生产的"投入指标"为评价依据,耕地利用强度由地均化肥施用量、有效灌溉比、复种指数及地均农业机械动力表征等4个指标构成,以及利用2005~2015年陕西省粮食产量,分析其耕地利用转型和粮食产量耦合关系时空演变。[结果]2005~2015年间陕西省各地市耕地利用强度数值上逐年增大,但空间布局变化较分散;从粮食产量方面来看,陕西省各地市粮食产量整体有所增长,空间分异特征较为明显;耕地利用转型与粮食产量高耦合值区增加,低耦合区值逐渐减少;从空间上看,陕西省中部地区耕地利用转型与粮食产量耦合度越来越高。[结论]陕西省耕地利用转型与粮食产量耦合度在2005~2015年间呈现耦合度逐渐增加的态势,耕地利用转型对粮食安全具有有利影响。     

土地利用结构与能源消耗碳排放的关联测度及其特征解释

研究目的:测度土地利用结构与能源消耗碳排放的关联度,解释地区内与地区间的两者关联差异,利用关联差异寻找可以控制能源消耗碳排放实现土地低碳利用的路径。研究方法:灰色关联分析,演绎法。研究结果:土地利用结构与能源消耗碳排放关联度存在差异。东、中部居民点及独立工矿用地与能源消耗碳排放的关联度最高,建设用地的关联度明显大于农用地;西部耕地与能源消耗碳排放的关联度最高,建设用地关联度大于农用地,但两者接近。东、中、西部之间,除耕地外,各地类与能源消耗碳排放的关联度东部大于中部,中部大于西部。研究结论:调整土地利用结构控制能源消耗碳排放是可能的,因地制宜地控制建设用地蔓延,优化居民点及独立工矿用地利用,注意农用地利用中的碳排放作用,有助于实现土地低碳利用。     

不同类型建设用地扩张的时序及空间特征——加速失效模型在静海区的应用

研究目的：分析城市扩展中交通用地、商住用地和工业用地扩张的时序特征、空间关系以及扩张时点的影响因素。研究方法：农地—建设用地转换最优时机理论;加速失效模型。研究结果：（1）不同类型建设用地在扩张过程中具有相互关联的时序和空间特征;（2）静海区交通用地引导了其他建设用地扩张的方向,而不同级别交通用地由于对建设用地和农用地影响的差异,加快或延缓了建设用地扩张的时机;（3）商住和工业用地在200— 400 m 范围内相互集聚,且商住用地产生的集聚效应强于工业用地。研究结论：细化建设用地类型以分析城市扩张的特征和机制,有助于城市扩展区的布局优化和集约发展。     

Global food demand,productivity growth,and the scarcity of land and water resources: a spatially explicit mathematical programming approach

In the coming decades, an increasing competition for global land and water resources can be expected, due to rising demand for food and bio‐energy production, biodiversity conservation, and changing production conditions due to climate change. The potential of technological change in agriculture to adapt to these trends is subject to considerable uncertainty. In order to simulate these combined effects in a spatially explicit way, we present a model of agricultural production and its impact on the environment (MAgPIE). MAgPIE is a mathematical programming model covering the most important agricultural crop and livestock production types in 10 economic regions worldwide at a spatial resolution of three by three degrees, i.e., approximately 300 by 300 km at the equator. It takes regional economic conditions as well as spatially explicit data on potential crop yields and land and water constraints into account and derives specific land‐use patterns for each grid cell. Shadow prices for binding constraints can be used to valuate resources for which in many places no markets exist, especially irrigation water. In this article, we describe the model structure and validation. We apply the model to possible future scenarios up to 2055 and derive required rates of technological change (i.e., yield increase) in agricultural production in order to meet future food demand.     

The impacts of biofuels targets on land‐use change and food supply: A global CGE assessment

We analyze the long‐term impacts of large‐scale expansion of biofuels on land‐use change, food supply and prices, and the overall economy in various countries or regions using a multi‐country, multi‐sector global computable general equilibrium model augmented with an explicit land‐use module and detailed biofuel sectors. We find that an expansion of biofuel production to meet the existing or even higher targets in various countries would slightly reduce GDP at the global level but with mixed effects across countries or regions. Significant land re‐allocation would take place with notable decreases in forest and pasture lands in a few countries. The expansion of biofuels would cause a moderate decrease in world food supply and more significant decreases in developing countries like India and Sub‐Saharan Africa. Feedstock commodities (sugar, corn and oil seeds) would experience significant increases in their prices in 2020, but other price changes are small.