Farmer Initiatives and Livelihood Diversification: From the Collective to a Market Economy in Rural China
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: This paper explores how, despite relatively undifferentiated economic, cultural and land tenure conditions, some farmers in a rural area of Hebei Province, north‐east China, have managed to devise innovative livelihood activities that provide them with better living standards than the majority of villagers. The research concludes that the dynamics of farmer innovations emerge from a variety of factors: the building of effective social networks and sources of information, ‘enlightenment’ deriving from small‐group interactions, and the construction of trust relations, self‐help and cooperation. These factors belong to the sphere of social resources rather than to those of natural, physical, human or financial assets. Hence it is social components that constitute the mobilizers of change in regard to farmers’ livelihood development.
Source: Journal of Agrarian Change
Authors: JINGZHONG YE, YIHUAN WANG, NORMAN LONG
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2134889464