Abstract
Ex situ poverty alleviation relocation (ESPAR) is a Chinese government program created to address rural poverty and land management issues. Affecting around 10 million people, the process involves encouraging smallholder farmers to leave their rural homesteads and move to new housing. By consolidating people into medium density accommodation, the amount of land available for other purposes can be increased. However, some farmers were reluctant to move, and many of those who accepted new housing failed to demolish their homestead and rehabilitate the land as required. This paper applies the ‘extended theory of planned behavior’ to examine the factors that influence farmers’ exit intention and behavior. Face-to-face interviews were carried out in Southern Shaanxi Province, China. Data relating to 830 farmers were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling. Our most important finding is that farmers had a poor perception of the post-relocation support, and this retarded their exit intention and behavior. We conclude that it is essential to improve post-relocation support, enhance the autonomy of farmers, and formulate relocation plans according to people’s age and likely future occupation.
Highlights
Academic Editor: Hualou LongChina’s rural poverty is associated with its environmental and geographical conditions and is mostly concentrated in the remote mountainous, border, and minority areas in central and western China [1]
Ex situ poverty alleviation relocation (ESPAR) became regarded as the best hope for lifting the remaining rural poor out of poverty, especially when they lived in mountainous regions, had low educational attainment, poor health, poor living conditions, or a combination of these
The purpose of this paper is to explore the key factors that influenced the intention and behavior of farmers in relation to homestead exit facilitated by ex situ poverty alleviation relocation (ESPAR)
Summary
Academic Editor: Hualou LongChina’s rural poverty is associated with its environmental and geographical conditions and is mostly concentrated in the remote mountainous, border, and minority areas in central and western China [1]. As the level of poverty of the not-yet-assisted rural people worsened, it was determined that only by relocating them out of their spatial poverty traps could the environmental, economic, and social conditions that produce poverty be avoided [3]. Ex situ poverty alleviation relocation (ESPAR) became regarded as the best hope for lifting the remaining rural poor out of poverty, especially when they lived in mountainous regions, had low educational attainment, poor health, poor living conditions, or a combination of these. Spanning 22 of mainland China’s 34 provinces, ESPAR involved relocating around 10 million people from their original homes to various new sites that had better facilities and more convenient locations (in terms of provision of services by the state)
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