The Role of Cross-Scale Social and Environmental Contexts in Household-Level Land-Use Decisions, Poyang Lake Region, China

Abstract

As rural households worldwide become increasingly engaged in urban economies and regional and global markets, agricultural land use is increasingly under influences of macrolevel forces. Investigating the cross-scale processes behind land-use decisions of rural households is important for understanding the deferential effects of macrolevel forces across local social and environmental contexts. We combined quantitative analysis of household surveys and qualitative analysis of interviews and participant observations in eight villages in the Poyang Lake Region of China to investigate how macrolevel forces associated with policy reforms in China (i.e., urban job markets and agricultural markets) interact with microlevel factors (i.e., the biophysical environment, location, and household demographics) to shape land-use decisions of rural households. We also found differential regional government interventions that reinforced preexisting biophysical conditions to affect household crop choices, contributing to the maintenance of intensive two-season rice production in select agricultural bases. Our use of multilevel modeling and qualitative analysis enabled an improved understanding of the cross-scale processes behind household land-use decisions, which has practical implications for securing food production and promoting sustainable land use.