Rural Poverty Alleviation Research Articles

China's poverty alleviation “miracle” from the perspective of the structural transformation of the urban–rural dual economy

PurposePoverty alleviation has been a major theme of China's modernization process since the founding of New China. This paper points out that China's poverty alleviation process presents three stylized facts: “Miraculous” achievements of poverty alleviation have been made on a global scale; the poverty alleviation achievements mainly occurred in the high growth stage after reform and opening up; the poverty alleviation process is accompanied by the structural transformation of the urban–rural dual economy.Design/methodology/approachTherefore, a logically consistent analytical framework should form among the structural transformation of the dual economy, economic growth and the achievements in poverty alleviation. In logical deduction, the structural transformation of the dual economy affects rural poverty alleviation through the effects of labor reallocation, agricultural productivity improvement, demographic change and fiscal resource allocation.FindingsThe first two refer to economic growth, and the latter two are alleviation policies. The combination of economic growth and poverty alleviation policies is the main cause for poverty alleviation performance. China's empirical evidence can support the four effects by which the structural transformation of the dual economy affects poverty alleviation.Originality/valueChina's socialist system and its economic system transformation after reform and opening up provide an institutional basis for the effects to come into play. After 2020, China's poverty alleviation strategies will enter the “second-half” phase, namely, the phase of solving the problems of relative poverty in urban and rural areas by adopting conventional methods and establishing long-term mechanisms. This requires the facilitation of the reconnection between poverty alleviation strategies and the structural transformation of the dual economy in terms of development ideas and policy directions.

Commercializing-based Rural Poverty Alleviation Model (CBRPA Model) and Internal Cycle Growth

This paper explores and brings forth a persistent resilient self-motivated or self-growth-driven rural poverty alleviation model based on the commercializing-based rural poverty alleviation (CBRPA) model. The CBRPA model encompasses systems or mechanisms of integrated contract farming, regional integrated processing, and agricultural association. Although China has made brilliant achievements in rural poverty alleviation since opening-up in 1978, it still lacks a self-growth-driven rural poverty alleviation system or mechanism. Thus, this paper discusses the rural poverty alleviation achievements and policies of China. It explores various solutions, formulates proper structure, and proposes a CBRPA model. Implementation of the CBRPA model requires the establishment of the agricultural association, integrated contract farming companies (ICFCs), and regional integrated processing companies (RIPCs). The paper also discussed the importance and contribution of rural poverty alleviation to economic growth as well as China’s major economic strategy of double cycle growth. As the CBRPA Model generates a self-growth-driven rural poverty alleviation pattern that is implemented all over the country, it makes an important strategy for internal cycle growth to mutually facilitate external cycle growth.

The nonlinear effects of tourism on rural income inequality and urban–rural income inequality: Evidence from China

Tourism’s relationship with income inequality is a hot spot in the academic community; however, few studies focus on how tourism shapes rural income inequality, despite its significant role in rural poverty alleviation. This article investigates the nonlinear effects of tourism on urban–rural income inequality and rural income inequality based on data from China’s provincial regions over the period 1995–2018, using the dynamic panel data approach. This study further examines the regional heterogeneity of such effects. The results demonstrate that for the national sample, there exists a significant cubic curve relationship between domestic tourism and rural income inequality. However, inbound tourism’s relationship with rural income inequality is not significant. Besides, there exists an N-shaped Kuznets curve between domestic or inbound tourism and urban–rural income inequality. The effects of tourism on rural income inequality and urban–rural income inequality vary significantly across the eastern, middle, and western regions. From east to middle to west, the significance of inbound tourism’s influence on income inequality decreases gradually. This study also highlights some critical theoretical and practical implications. Unlike prior studies, this article builds the first comprehensive research framework consisting of tourism, rural income inequality, and urban–rural income inequality.

Geotourism and geoparks for sustainable rural development and poverty alleviation: Huanggang Dabieshan UNESCO Global Geopark, China

The Dabieshan area in China is rich in geodiversity, in terms of representative and comprehensive system of granite landscapes, with huge scientific value for studying the Phanerozoic orogenic belt magmatism, as well as aesthetic, recreational and cultural values for tourism. The importance of granite landscapes in Dabieshan was globally recognised when the Huanggang Dabieshan UNESCO Global Geopark (DBGG) was accepted in the Global Geoparks Network in 2018. With over 10 years of experience and a concerted effort to develop geotourism and alleviate poverty, the DBGG has followed a mature system of development, providing a well-developed example of successful geotourism and poverty alleviation in China. This study explores the current geotourism and geopark activities in relation to sustainable rural development and poverty alleviation in the DBGG and proposes expanding the geotourism industry, emphasising the cultivation of agricultural pillar industries and supporting policies and projects as an effective measure to alleviate poverty in the geopark area. Geodiversity, geotourism and geoparks exhibit essential credentials for poverty alleviation and sustainable rural development in the Dabieshan area. Through these effective measures and unremitting efforts, the DBGG has become a major tourist destination that can be used as a model for the development of geotourism and poverty alleviation. KEY POINTS Huanggang Dabieshan UNESCO Global Geopark is rich in geodiversity that has huge scientific value for studying the orogenic belt magmatism. Measures have been undertaken to alleviate poverty in the Huanggang Dabieshan UNESCO Global Geopark area. Huanggang Dabieshan UNESCO Global Geopark provides a model for the development of geotourism and poverty alleviation in China.

The Role of Internal and External Migration on Rural Poverty Alleviation In Pakistan: A Case Study of Multan District

Migration has become an important part of the current global economy. People migrate from their homes for different purposes although this study endeavors to estimate the role of internal and external migration on poverty alleviation in rural areas of the Multan district. Binary logistic regression is applied to the data of 170 rural households. Poverty has been measured by the headcount index, poverty gap, and squared poverty gap, estimates show the high incidence of poverty in rural areas of Multan district. The findings reveal that rural to urban migration, foreign remittances, educational attainment of the household head, household head age and livestock population turn out to be discouraging aspects of poverty while physical disability and household size turn out to be encouraging aspects of poverty. To eradicate poverty easiness in internal and external migration should be ensured by the government.

Rural Poverty Alleviation Strategy in Nigeria

Rural Poverty Alleviation Strategy in Nigeria

Impact of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act on Enhancing Socio-economic Conditions of Rural Households

Employment is fundamental pre-requisite to raise per capita income and eradicate household poverty. After independence and particularly from the Fifth Five Year Plan onwards, Government of India has initiated several rural development programmes for raising rural employment for the alleviation of rural poverty. The present study was carried out over 240 respondents in Samastipur district of Bihar to find out Impact of MGNREGA on the socio-economic conditions of the rural people. The study revealed that the impact of the Act has been found to be of medium level as have been reported by 52.92% of the beneficiaries. The components wise impact in terms of economic, social, health, psychological, environmental, infrastructural and institutional impact were evaluated. The results revealed that under economic impact employment in agricultural lean period with the mean score value of 2.64% observed first and under social impact the substantial impact have been recorded in the area of increased social mobility. In case of impact on health and hygiene, majority of male beneficiaries (46.67%) represent that there was a substantial impact on improvement in the nutritional security. While in case of psychological, environmental, infrastructural and institutional impact was found in the thought is being developed to become self-employed in near future, conservation of natural resources, enhanced rural connectivity and strengthening grass-root democracy, respectively. Keywords: Impact, MGNREGA, Socio-economic conditions, Beneficiaries.

Soil properties characterization for land-use planning and soil management in watersheds under family farming

Environmental monitoring of small, rural watersheds was one of the components of the Natural Resources Management and Rural Poverty Alleviation Program (RS-Rural) in southern Brazil. The purpose of the monitoring was to assess the impact of promoting soil conservation and environment management practices adopted by farmers and funded by the Program. In four small monitored watersheds, in a total of 95 plots representing distinct land use and soil management, surface soil was collected to characterize ground-zero of the Program by determining several soil physical, chemical and microbiological properties. Principal component analysis (PCA) shows soil physical, chemical and biological properties were decisive in defining the agricultural soils in the rural watersheds with family farming. The sensitivity to chemical properties provides an opportunity to improve soil quality if soil management focuses on altering those properties. Soil management practiced by tobacco farmers leads to rapid, intense degradation of some natural soil properties, especially those related to the dynamics of soil organic matter, compared with more conservationist uses (forest, regrowth, and grassland). Thus, soil management must be reoriented to avoid the progress of degradation and recover soil physical and biological quality. Cover crops and by land-abandonment to allow natural vegetation are important management strategies for the degraded soils used for tobacco production, increasing soil organic matter, nutrients and microbial activity and thus allowing further crop production. In conclusion, watersheds with tobacco cropping have soils with lower quality than when under no-tillage grain production, requiring changes in land use and soil management.

Evaluating the Impacts of Smallholder Farmer’s Participation in Modern Agricultural Value Chain Tactics for Facilitating Poverty Alleviation—A Case Study of Kiwifruit Industry in Shaanxi, China

Market-based initiatives like agriculture value chain (AVC) are becoming progressively pervasive to support smallholder rural farmers and assist them in entering larger market interventions and providing a pathway of enhancing their socioeconomic well-being. Moreover, it may also foster staggering effects towards the post-era poverty alleviation in rural areas and possessed a significant theoretical and practical influence for modern agricultural development. The prime objective of the study is to explore the effects of smallholder farmers’ participation in the agricultural value chain for availing rural development and poverty alleviation. Specifically, we have crafted the assessment employing pre-production (improved fertilizers usage), in-production (modern preservation technology), and post-production (supply chain) participation and interventions of smallholder farmers. The empirical data has been collected from a micro survey dataset of 623 kiwifruit farmers from July to September in Shaanxi, China. We have employed propensity score matching (PSM), probit, and OLS models to explore the multidimensional poverty reduction impact and heterogeneity of farmers’ participation in the agricultural value chain. The results show that the total number of poor farmers who have experienced one-dimensional and two-dimensional poverty is relatively high (66.3%). We also find that farmers’ participation in agricultural value chain activities has a significant poverty reduction effect. The multidimensional poverty level of farmers using improved fertilizer, organizational acquisition, and using storage technology (compared with non-participating farmers) decreased by 30.1%, 46.5%, and 25.0%, respectively. The multidimensional poverty reduction degree of male farmers using improved fertilizer and participating in the organizational acquisition is greater than that of women. The multidimensional poverty reduction degree of female farmers using storage and fresh-keeping technology has a greater impact than the males using storage and improved storage technology. Government should widely promote the value chain in the form of pre-harvest, production, and post-harvest technology. The public–private partnership should also be strengthened for availing innovative technologies and infrastructure development.

Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China

The diffusion of e-commerce has played a significant role in recent rural economic development in China. E-commerce is also considered as an efficient channel to alleviate poverty in rural China. Voluminous studies have investigated the contribution of e-commerce to agricultural development, yet it is lacking empirical evidence as to the effects of e-commerce on rural poverty alleviation. Since the year of 2014, in order to develop rural e-commerce, Chinese government launched the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project. This gradual involvement policy offered a natural experiment for evaluation of e-commerce. Based on village-level survey data from rural China and Heckit method, our study finds that rural e-commerce has a significantly positive effect on rural income. Moreover, the effect is inverted U-shaped for the relative-poverty villages. The estimation of the propensity scores matching model confirms that the results are robust. The following policy recommendations are proposed: (1) policy support to rural e-commerce should prioritize the poverty-stricken villages. By doing so, the marginal income effects of e-commerce will be maximized. (2) Investment in internet infrastructure and establishment of human resources for e-commerce in rural areas will have spillover effects, increasing rural income through the “digital dividend”.

Status, Prospects and Challenges for Non-Timber Forest Products Conservation in Nepal: A Critical Review

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) consist of goods of biological origin other than wood, derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests. The importance of NTFPs for sustaining rural livelihoods, fostering rural poverty alleviation, enhancing biodiversity conservation, and facilitating rural economic growth is well known in Nepal. In spite of these facts, NTFPs have not received the sustained and systematic support. With the gradual rise in population, unsustainable harvesting and depletion of resources, sustainable management of NTFPs has become a challenge. Similarly, the increasing global demand of NTFPs leads to over-exploitation of these resources that further leads to dwindling and adversely affecting the biodiversity. In this context, this paper intends to explore and analyze the conservation status, prospects and challenges for efficient and sustainable management of NTFPs in the context of Nepal.

A Study on Women Empowerment of Self Help Groups in Thoothukudi District

This study examines the women empowerment of self help groups in Thoothukudi district. It aims to analyze the demographic profile of the respondents and characteristics of the Self Help Group members and to evaluate the impact of service quality of SHGs. The data collected from 125 respondents selected using random sampling method covering the villages of Ottapidaram, Pudur, Vilathikulam and Kayathar. It concluded that the economic activities of SHGs are quite successful. In this way, SHGs in four blocks from Thoothukudi District were very successful in women empowerment in rural areas and poverty alleviation.

Zoonotic parasites in farmed exotic animals in China: Implications to public health.

Several species of wild mammals are farmed in China as part of the rural development and poverty alleviation, including fur animals, bamboo rats, and macaque monkeys. Concerns have been raised on the potential dispersal of pathogens to humans and other farm animals brought in from native habitats. Numerous studies have been conducted on the genetic identity and public health potential of Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, and Enterocytozoon bieneusi in these newly farmed exotic animals. The data generated have shown a high prevalence of the pathogens in farmed wildlife, probably due to the stress from the short captivity and congregation of large numbers of susceptible animals. Host adaptation at species/genotype and subtype levels has reduced the potential for cross-species and zoonotic transmission of pathogens, but the farm environment appears to favor the transmission of some species, genotypes, and subtypes, with reduced pathogen diversity compared with their wild relatives. Most genotypes and subtypes of the pathogens detected appear to be brought in from their native habitats. A few of the subtypes have emerged as human pathogens. One Health measures should be developed to slow the dispersal of indigenous pathogens among farmed exotic animals and prevent their spillover to other farm animals and humans.

The economic–environmental trade-off of growing apple trees in the drylands of China: A conceptual framework for sustainable intensification

Agricultural intensification has turned the drylands-dominated Loess Plateau (LOP) of China into the world’s largest apple production area, which has greatly contributed to increasing farmer’s income and reducing rural poverty in the past two decades. However, substantial environmental trade-offs are evident, including (i) severe deep soil desiccation, which lowers resistance to extreme droughts; (ii) low soil organic carbon sequestration, which undermines apple tree’s ability to mitigate climate change; (iii) high soil erodibility, which increases the risks for orchards suffering serious erosion; and (iv) severe residual nitrate pollution, which threatens drinking water and planetary health. We propose a conceptual framework for addressing those environmental externalities, which will incorporate a nexus of scientists and technicians, policymakers, social enterprises, and smallholder farmers (SPES) to emphasize good governance, green-production technologies (GPTs), and collaboration as the route toward sustainable intensification and the realization of SDG 1 (alleviation of rural poverty), SDG 6 (reduction of soil and water pollution), SDG 13 (provision of important carbon sinks), and SDG 15 (positive water cycling and soil and water conservation). This framework may also offer insight into the sustainable development of orchards in dryland areas with similar environmental issues.

Agricultural infrastructure public financing towards rural poverty alleviation: evidence from West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) States

The paper examines the effects of public financing in agricultural infrastructure on rural poverty alleviation in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) States. To conduct this macroeconomic analysis of poverty, a dynamic panel was used to study the effects of public spending on agricultural infrastructure on rural poverty and to understand the persistence of poverty. We used secondary data of a macroeconomic nature from World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) databases for the period 2000–2016. To correct the endogeneity generated by the dynamic nature of the panel, the estimation is made by the system generalized moment method (GMM). The results showed that the quality of road infrastructure contributes to increasing farm income and thus reducing rural poverty. On the other hand, irrigation does not have a significant effect on rural poverty. In view of these result, it is recommended that WAEMU States make efforts in the allocation of public resources in the area of agricultural infrastructure to boost the development of the agricultural sector and significantly reduce rural poverty.

The Impact of The Rural Culture and Cultural Attractions on Poverty Alleviation: The Moderating Effect of Tourism Resources

This study aims to investigate the impact of rural culture and cultural attractionson poverty alleviation and the moderating effect of tourism resources on rural, culture, wildlife, nature and physical. Convenience sampling was applied in selecting 520 respondents. The Statistical Package for Social Science was used to analyse the descriptive statistic while Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the hypotheses. The results show both rural culture and cultural attractions have a positive effect onpoverty alleviation. Besides, tourism resources have a positive moderating effect on rural culture and poverty alleviation. Poverty reduction through tourism, communities right to use tourism resources and accommodate different cultural views are supported by Human Development Theory on the positive findings. However, tourism resources a negative result on cultural attractions and poverty alleviation. Therefore, this study suggests that preserving cultural attractions such as cultural buildings, landscapes, monuments, traditions, arts, crafts, food, and customs should be encouraged for socio-economic benefits.

Agricultural cooperatives contributing to the alleviation of rural poverty. The case of Konjic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

In contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina, rural poverty is an unresolved issue, despite farming having been a poverty coping strategy for many rural dwellers, especially after the end of the Balkan war. Eradicating poverty is among the priorities of the national government that aims at EU candidacy and accession. Being the most dynamic among agricultural sectors, berry farming is a key agricultural activity at the national level and had been the subject of rural development interventions, including the establishment of agricultural cooperatives. This article provides evidence from the largest agricultural cooperative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to inform decision making and policy planning. The article aims at describing and analyzing the status and dynamics of poverty at the farm household level while highlighting their contributing factors, as well as at proposing possible development strategies based on the voice of local actors. Given the complexity and multifaceted features of the investigated issues, the methodological approach of this study relies on a mixed-methods research design, where the quantitative findings from the analysis of poverty status and dynamics and their contributing factors are complemented by qualitative findings from participatory activities. The results of the study pinpoint the successful contribution of the cooperative to the improvement of farmers' working conditions and market access and suggest that supporting collective action among berry farmers can be an effective rural development intervention to alleviate rural poverty and prevent poverty fallouts. To date, structural characteristics of farm holdings and households and climate and market-related conditions have significantly contributed to the farmers' poverty as well as to farmers’ exposure to poverty. Furthermore, bridging the gender gap is still a challenge in Bosnia and Herzegovina which should be addressed urgently to mitigate the problem of social exclusion and to promote bottom-up innovation.

RETRACTED: Agricultural operation mode selection and development mechanism in ecological fragile areas under the background of china’s rural revitalization

Ecological civilization construction and rural revitalization is a strategic decision made by the central government to solve the problems of ecological protection and rural sustainable poverty alleviation. At present, the dominant agricultural operation modes in China can be roughly divided into three types: family farm mode, agricultural enterprise mode and cooperative mode. Practice has proved that different agricultural operation modes have different effects. In ecological fragile areas, how to adopt agricultural operation modes can not only promote agricultural prosperity and increase farmers' income, but also protect the ecological environment and promote the coordinated development of ecology and economy needs further analysis. Based on the current rural revitalization strategy and ecological protection background, this paper analyzes the operation mechanism of agricultural operation mode from the principal-agent and ecological land rent theory, and analyzes the development dimensions of advantageous agriculture of various modes. On the basis of rural and farmers, this paper provides references for the selection of agricultural operation mode in different regions. There are many factors that need to be considered in the choice of agricultural operation mode in ecological fragile area. In the future, each region should conduct analysis and treatment according to its own actual situation.

Tourism Development and Rural Poverty Alleviation in China

Journal of Anthropology and Archaeology is a peer-reviewed international journal, which publishes original papers promoting theoretical, methodological and empirical developments in the discipline of socio-cultural anthropology.

How Digital Economy Helps Rural Poverty Alleviation and Rural Revitalization in China

In the context of the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, the development of the digital economy closely connects with it. The realization of rural revitalization needs to make full use of the advantages of the digital economy to promote the process of rural revitalization. The digital wave is a huge opportunity for the poor to bridge the gap between rich and poor, seize digital opportunities, share digital dividends, achieve sustainable poverty alleviation, and prevent intergenerational transmission of poverty. The article will focus on two aspects of rural e-commerce and mobile payment. Through the discussion of the aspects, this paper gives the suggestion to the government, platforms, enterprises and farmers to work together to promote agricultural development and realize industrial digitalization by using existing resources.