Smallholder participation in the land rental market in a mountainous region of Southern China

Impact of population aging, land tenure security and ethnicity

authored by

Shi Min, Hermann Waibel, Jikun Huang

Abstract

Rural land rental markets in China play an increasingly important role in the transformation of the agricultural sector. This study focuses on the rural land rental market in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Southern China, a mountainous region, where rapid changes in land use have taken place with the transition from traditional agriculture and a tropical rainforest to rubber monoculture. Notably, we assess the impacts of population aging, land tenure security, and ethnicity on the participation of smallholders in the land rental market. The analysis suggests that a higher proportion of older people in a household increases the likelihood of renting out land and reduces the probability of renting in land, implying that population aging fosters land rental market development by transferring land from older to younger farmers. We also confirm that the availability of a land tenure certificate has a significant and positive impact on the renting out of land. Furthermore, ethnic minority groups are less likely to rent out land, indicating that land rental markets are ethnic sensitive. Additionally, specialization in rubber farming, household wealth and the altitude of household location also influence participation in the land rental market.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Development and Agricultural Economics

External Organisation(s)

Peking University

Type

Article

Journal

Land Use Policy

Volume

68

Pages

625-637

No. of pages

13

ISSN

0264-8377

Publication date

11.2017

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Forestry, Geography, Planning and Development, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 15 - Life on Land

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.08.033 (Access: Closed)