Diversification of rural livelihood strategies and its effect on local landscape restoration in the semiarid hilly area of the Loess Plateau, China

✍ Scribed by L. Wang; J.-L. Zhang; L.-M. Liu

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 304 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1085-3278
• DOI: 10.1002/ldr.978

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

This study is about the diversification of livelihood strategies and the interaction of farmers' livelihood with landscape change in Zhongzhuang small watershed, Pengyang County in Ningxia Autonomous region located in the Loess Plateau, western China. Farmers' livelihoods and landscape patterns during 1978–2007 in Zhongzhuang were analysed. In different stages, diverse limiting factors were discovered behind the diversification process of livelihood strategies. Before 1978, ‘planned economy’, ‘production team organization’, strict ‘household registration system’ and the scarcity of livelihood assets were the main factors restricting the diversification of livelihood strategies. From 1978 to 1993, the reform and open policy provided opportunities for local people to diversify their livelihood strategies, but livelihood strategies based on crop production still took an important role in their life. From 2000 to 2007, national policies brought assistance to help local farmers diversify their agricultural activities. However, the insufficient and incomplete credit and insurance market and lack of skill were the main factors constraining non‐farm activity diversification. Meanwhile, through analysis of the links between livelihood strategies diversification and landscape pattern change, we found that diversification of farmers' livelihoods contributed to the recovery of the landscape. Finally, using this relationship, steps for future landscape restoration is proposed, which provide a new view of landscape restoration research in the Loess Plateau. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.