Sustainable Livelihood Of Farmers At Forest Margins Of Xiaolong Mountains And Mountainous Area Of The Loess Plateau In Tianshui Gansu

Sustainable livelihood analysis framework is a key method for understanding poverty in rural areas. By taking multidimensional features of poverty into account, it analyzed factors which lead to poverty of farmers or factors which restrict their sustainable livelihoods. Sustainable livelihood analysis can contribute to the more accurate identification of poor households and causes of poverty in the process of accurate poverty alleviation. Based on questionnaire surveys and interviews, this paper investigated livelihood capitals and livelihood activities of farmers at forest margins of Xiaolong Mountains and mountainous area of the Loess Plateau in Southern Gansu, and analyzed the relationships between livelihood capitals and livelihood activities. Differences in livelihood capitals and livelihood activities of farmers in these two areas were compared further. It is found: the arable land of the farmers at forest margins of Xiaolong Mountains is very limited, and thus grain production is low and livestock feeding is very limited; farmers encounter with threats of rainstorm and geological disasters such as landslides and debris flows; transportation is inconvenient, and students have to live at or near school; wood available from nearby forests is the main fuel of local farmers; and farmers can get adequate water from mountains wells for daily life. Although farmers at mountainous area of the Loess Plateau have more arable land and climate there is more appropriate for agricultural production, grain production can only meet their own demands; agricultural production absorbed only parts of labors, and a large number of young labors are surplus. Farmers at both areas have little productive material capital and financial capital, and their social capitals are mainly relationships with relatives and neighbors. These three kinds of capitals have little compensation for farmers’ livelihoods which are restricted by natural capital. Salaries from nonagricultural sectors in another region or city are the main source of income for most of households, and the amount of labor is the most important capital affecting the livelihoods of peasant households.There are differences in livelihood capitals and livelihood activities of farmers at two areas. Farmers at mountainous area of the Loess Plateau have more arable land than farmers at forest margins of Xiaolong Mountains and quality of land is better also, and so farmers’ natural capital in the former area is significantly higher than that of the farmers in the latter area; differences in natural capitals among farmers at mountainous area of the Loess Plateau are smaller than those among farmers at forest margins of Xiaolong Mountains; higher percentage of labors at mountainous areas of the Loess Plateau is engaged in agricultural production. The income sources of farmers at mountainous area of the Loess Plateau are more diversified than those at forest margins of Xiaolong Mountains. At forest margins of Xiaolong Mountains, most of students have to live at or near school, rather than live at home; in contrast, most of students at mountainous areas of the Loess Plateau live at home. Farmers at forest margins of Xiaolong Mountains mainly use wood as fuel, while farmers at mountainous area of the Loess Plateau use coal and electrical energy as the impotant fuel except wood.Finally, measures for promoting sustainable livelihoods of farmers at two areas were put forward.