Falling price induced diversification strategies and rural inequality

Evidence of smallholder rubber farmers

verfasst von

Shaoze Jin, Shi Min, Jikun Huang, Hermann Waibel

Abstract

While the expansions of natural rubber in the greater Mekong region from the 1990s were ambitious, the persistently low commodity price of rubber from 2012 makes smallholder rubber farmers suffer from vulnerable livelihoods. This study sheds light on the adjustments in livelihood strategies of smallholder rubber farmers when the upsurge in rubber prices came to an end. Based on the two-wave panel data from some 600 smallholder rubber farmers in the upper Mekong region, Southern Yunnan province of China, this study shows the diversification strategies of smallholders in response to falling rubber prices and examines the impacts of livelihood diversification strategies on farmer income and rural inequality. The results suggest that smallholder rubber farmers tend to shift family labor from farms to off-farm employment and diversify their livelihoods in the context of declining rubber prices. Notably, farmers with relatively low dependence on rubber are more likely to diversify their livelihoods. The falling price induced diversification strategy makes smallholders more resilient against future risks and narrows the rural income gap. The findings of this study advance the literature by providing evidence on how farmers' livelihood strategy and rural inequality change in the face of periodical rubber price volatility.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Entwicklungs- und Agrarökonomik

Externe Organisation(en)

Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China
Huazhong Agricultural University
Peking University

Typ

Artikel

Journal

World development

Band

146

ISSN

0305-750X

Publikationsdatum

10.2021

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Geografie, Planung und Entwicklung, Entwicklung, Soziologie und Politikwissenschaften, Volkswirtschaftslehre und Ökonometrie

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 2 – Kein Hunger

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105604 (Zugang: Geschlossen)