Sensitivity of Rural Households’ Livelihood Strategies to Livelihood Capital in Poor Mountainous Areas: An Empirical Analysis in the Upper Reaches of the Min River, China

Xiaolan Wang,Li Peng,Xuxi Wang,Dingde Xu

doi:10.3390/su11082193

Abstract

Exploring the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to livelihood capital is of great significance for improving rural households’ livelihood levels. This paper selects 23 livelihood capital measurement indicators and conducts an in-depth survey of rural households. In addition, the entropy method and a weighted comprehensive model are used to explore the basic characteristics of rural households’ livelihood capital in the upper reaches of the Min River, China, in 2017. Furthermore, econometric models are used to analyze the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to livelihood capital. As indicated from the research, the livelihood capital levels of different types of rural households in the study area are not equivalent. The types of rural households with different livelihood strategies can be ordered in terms of quantity as follows: non-agricultural type > non-agricultural dominant type > agricultural dominant type > pure agricultural type. Livelihood strategies have different sensitivities to different livelihood capital measurement indicators. Among these indicators, cash income, the number of relatives and friends available for financial assistance, and the number of civil servants have positive effects on the livelihood strategy selection of non-agricultural dominant rural households and non-agricultural rural households. However, the average age of laborers, area of cultivated land and gardens, number of livestock and poultry, and present value of production tools have negative effects. These evaluation results can provide a scientific decision-making basis for the formulation of poverty alleviation policies by relevant government departments.

Highlights

Livelihood is “a means or way of life” and a way of making a living based on ability, capital, and activity [1]
Livelihood strategies refer to different types of livelihood activities adopted by rural households, and the ability of rural households to implement different livelihood strategies depends on the status of their livelihood capital [14,15]
The descriptive statistical analysis of the data was conducted in SPSS 18.0 software, and the mean value and standard deviation (SD) of each livelihood capital measurement indicator for the different types of rural households were obtained (Table 3)

Summary

Introduction

Livelihood is “a means or way of life” and a way of making a living based on ability, capital, and activity [1]. With the deepening of research on livelihood issues conducted by relevant scholars, the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) has gradually developed in theory and practice [7,8,9,10], and the framework for sustainable livelihood analysis proposed by the U.K.’s Department for International Development (DFID) is the most typical This framework consists of five parts: vulnerability background, livelihood capital, organizational structure and policy system, livelihood strategy, and livelihood status; it regards rural households as the activity subjects in the vulnerability background and reflects the rural households’ livelihoods from the aspects of livelihood capital, livelihood strategies, and livelihood status [2,11]. Corresponding to the differentiation process of rural households is the continuous adjustment of rural households’ livelihood capital structure and livelihood strategies; the sensitivity of livelihood strategies to various types of livelihood capital is continuously changing

Methods

Results

Conclusion