The Influence Of Grassland Ecological Subsidy Policy On The Employment Of Farmers And Herdsmen And Its Mechanism

Grassland is an important national ecological barrier and an important material basis for sustainable development of grass and livestock industries.It plays an important strategic role in ecological civilization construction and economic and social development.In order to curb the accelerated degradation of the natural grasslands and ensure the ecological safety of the grasslands,China has introduced and started a series of grassland ecological protection policies and ecological governance projects.The grassland ecological protection subsidy and reward policy is a subsidy and reward mechanism implemented by the state in 2011 for Ningxia and other eight key grassland grazing provinces and autonomous regions in order to ensure the ecological security of grassland.It enables farmers and herdsmen participating in the project of returning grazing to grassland to maintain a certain economic level while reducing livestock and banning grazing.Employment is the foundation of people’s livelihood.The employment situation of farmers and herdsmen living in the interlacing zone of agriculture and animal husbandry under the constraint of the grassland ecological subsidy policy and facing the dual pressure of economic development and ecological protection should be paid more attention.Only by properly handling the relationship between the employment of farmers and herdsmen and the protection of grassland ecological environment can we promote the income increase of farmers and herdsmen and promote the coordinated development of local economy and ecology.Yanchi County of Ningxia is a concentrated producing area of Yanchi Tan sheep,a geographical agricultural product.It is also a typical grazing forbidden area implemented by the national project of returning grazing land to grassland and the policy of grassland ecological compensation.In Yanchi,the output value of animal husbandry,mainly Tan sheep,accounts for60% of the total agricultural output value and is the pillar industry for local farmers and herdsmen to increase their incomes.Since the implementation of the policy,the local ecological environment has been effectively improved,but it has also brought great impact on the livelihood of local farmers and herdsmen.Therefore,to explore the impact of grassland ecological subsidy policy on the employment of farmers and herdsmen is the key to further improve and perfect the policy,improve the effectiveness of the policy,and promote the income increase of farmers and herdsmen.Based on the micro data of 232 farmers and herdsmen in Yanchi County,Ningxia,this study firstly constructed the evaluation index system of grassland ecological subsidy policy,and evaluated the implementation effect of the policy from three aspects: natural benefit,economic benefit and social benefit.Secondly,the method of qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis and entropy weight method are used to calculate and explain the current situation of employment of farmers and herdsmen and the capital endowment of local farmers and herdsmen under the background of the implementation of grassland ecological subsidy policy.Finally,using the binary logit model and the linear regression model,the farmers and herdsmen in Yanchi County were placed under the environment constrained by the grassland ecological subsidy policy,and the impact of the grassland ecological subsidy policy on the employment of farmers and herdsmen was empirically studied from two dimensions of employment mode and employment quality.It also verifies the intermediary role of capital endowment in grassland ecological reward mechanism and provides decision-making reference for improving the employment and income of farmers and herdsmen in the farming-animal husbandry intercropping area.The conclusions of this study are as follows:(1)Grassland ecological subsidy policy has a significant impact on the employment mode of farmers and herdsmen.Farmers and herdsmen with higher compensation amount are more likely to choose agriculture-related employment than non-agricultural employment.This indicates that farmers and herdsmen in Yanchi at the present stage,after receiving the subsidy for the prohibition of animal husbandry,still tend to put the subsidy into farming and animal husbandry or only put a small part of it into nonagricultural labor,and have a stronger willingness to continue to engage in farming and animal husbandry production.It is difficult for the farmers and herdsmen under the grassland ecological subsidy policy to transfer from farming to cities in a short period of time.(2)Grassland ecological subsidy policy can significantly positively affect the employment quality of farmers and herdsmen.The higher the compensation amount,the higher the stability of the income of farmers and herdsmen.In other words,the implementation of grassland ecological subsidy policy can significantly promote the income stability of farmers and herdsmen and improve their employment quality.(3)The capital endowment of farmers and herdsmen in Yanchi County of Ningxia is generally low,and the difference is large.The sample farmers were divided into three groups: low capital endowment farmers and herdsmen households,medium capital endowment farmers and herdsmen households,and high capital endowment farmers and herdsmen households.Seventy-nine households were above the average,and 88.8%of farming and pastoral households were in the low capital endowment range.From different dimensions,the average level of human capital endowment and social capital endowment of farm and pastoral households is relatively high.The level of physical capital endowment is relatively low,and the difference between samples is small.(4)Capital endowment has a significant mediating effect on the grassland ecological subsidy policy on the employment mode and employment quality of farmers and herdsmen.Natural capital endowment and material capital endowment are important mediating variables,and both have significant positive mediating effects on the employment of farmers and herdsmen in the two dimensions of grassland ecological subsidy policy.Therefore,it is suggested to explore and innovate ways to improve the capital endowment of farmers and herdsmen.By setting up vocational skills training courses for farmers and herdsmen,providing local employment practice opportunities for farmers and herdsmen in non-agricultural and animal husbandry,developing characteristic tourism industry in coordination with ecological protection and other forms,we should strengthen non-agricultural skills training,improve the employability of farmers and herdsmen in non-agricultural and animal husbandry,and create more non-agricultural jobs.To guide farmers and herdsmen to choose,try part-time or non-agricultural employment,promote income.