Understanding the Resilience of Different Farming Strategies in Coping with Geo-Hazards: A Case Study in Chongqing, China

Abstract

Adjusting farming strategies are adaptive behaviors to cope with hazard risks. However, few studies have studied rural and remote mountain areas in China with little known about “farmers’ adaptation under the impact of geo-hazards”. Unlike traditional farmers’ behavioral adaptation studies, in this study, we focused on the resilience of farmers’ behavioral mechanisms to address local hazards such as geo-hazards. Our data were acquired through questionnaire responses (N = 516) in mountainous hazard-prone areas in Chongqing, China. The binary logit model and multinomial logit model were used to investigate the obstacles to different farming strategies and the determinants of adaptation strategy choice, focusing on the effects of disaster experience and social support on the adaptation strategy resilience. The results show that the most common adaptation strategy was adjusting crop varieties, and the largest adaptation obstacle was a lack of funds. Additionally, the age of the smallholder, farming acreage, agricultural income, social support, and disaster experience significantly increased the possibility of farmers adjusting their agricultural production. Of these, smallholder agricultural income, state disaster subsidy, the presence of disaster prevention construction, the smallholder’s property, and the presence of disaster-caused crop loss experience were the most important factors affecting a farmer’s adaptation strategy. In particular, farmers were more sensitive to disaster-caused property loss than to disaster-caused crop loss. This study can provide implications for the government to formulate disaster mitigation measures and for farming strategies at the smallholder level.

Does labor out‐migration affect the sustainability of disaster mitigation? Insight from the social–ecological system perspective

“…In the survey, it was found that most farmers are more inclined to participate in free DM activities, such as escape drills. This finding is similar to that of Peng et al (2019, 2020). They found that the factor that affected farmers' ability to adjust their crops was lack of money; factors that discourage farmers from buying disaster insurance also include economic costs.…”

Spatio-Temporal Variation and Decomposition Analysis of Livelihood Resilience of Rural Residents in China

“…The above studies have mainly focused upon the livelihood resources available to rural residents, but less attention has been paid to the impact of rural residents’ interactions with the external environment upon livelihood resilience. However, some scholars have constructed a new research framework that incorporates the adaptive capacity [ 23 , 39 ], or disaster resilience [ 7 , 40 ], of rural residents, arguing that the ability to choose livelihood strategies in response to changing external conditions is equally critical. On this basis, LRRR could be measured through disturbance, sensitivity, and adaptability at the farm level [ 41 ].…”

“…Compared to rural residents, urban residents have higher levels of livelihood and better livelihood security [ 5 ]. This is mainly because, firstly, rural residents principally depend upon agricultural income, and the agricultural economy is extremely susceptible to environmental changes and human activities [ 6 , 7 ]. In general, rural residents have lower incomes, less social capital, and are less advantaged in the face of abrupt political or economic changes and devastating natural disasters than are urban residents, who have more opportunities for education and employment [ 4 , 8 ].…”

“…Biased economic and social policies and the fiscal expenditure structures of local governments have resulted in a wide gap between urban and rural basic public services, mainly in the form of poorer infrastructure and public service provision in rural areas that is inadequate to protect people’s livelihoods [ 5 , 11 ]. In addition, due to limited access to public resources, rural residents recover more slowly after natural disasters [ 7 ]. Thus, compared to urban residents, rural residents are disadvantaged in terms of livelihood capacity.…”

Multifaceted Social and Environmental Disruptions Impact on Smallholder Plantations’ Resilience in Indonesia

“…A number of experts try to break down resilience into several dimensions of ability or capacity [47]. Resilience is acknowledged as adaptability [24,48,49], recoverability (preventive and protective) [50][51][52], anticipation [50][51][52][53][54], and innovation level [54][55][56][57]. While organizational theory approaches resilience measurement by assessing the ability of systems to detect, respond, and adapt to disturbances [58] and defend themselves in the midst of a challenging environment and then recover from the after-efects [53].…”