Spanish Journal of Rural Development, DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05

Spanish Journal of Rural Development, Vol. VI (3-4): 45-56, 2015

Copyright © 2015 Ignacio J. Díaz-Maroto Hidalgo

DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05

Options and strategies for livelihood sustainability in mountainous region of the upper Minjiang

River basin, Sichuan Province, China

Sati, V.P.

1

*, Wei, D.

2

, Xue-Qian, S.

2

1

Department of Geography and Resource Management, Mizoram University (Central), 796004-Aizawl,

India.

2

Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS, Chengdu, China

*Corresponding author: vpsati@mzu.edu.in

Received: 23 October 2014 Accepted: 07 September 2015

Abstract

Short title: Options and strategies for livelihood sustainability

This paper examines the options and strategies for livelihood sustainability in mountainous region. Three villages of the upper

Minjiang River basin, Sichuan province, China, were studied based on their altitudes and distances from the road. These villages are characterized by high landscape vulnerability and fragility, as this area is prone to severe natural hazards mainly flash floods and earthquakes.

Sustainable livelihoods approach was applied and a household level survey was carried out to gather data on livelihood capitals such as natural, human, financial, physical and social. The ecological services are abundant in the form of water and forest resources and agroecological conditions provide a suitable base for horticultural farming, which is already in practice. Farming land is limited and cultivation is carried out mainly on the terraced fields. Suitability in the climatic conditions further enhances the scope for tourism development.

Economic and social factors vary with altitudes and distance from the urban centres. Community participation and institutional support in the developmental processes is remarkable in all three locations. This study reveals that the future sustainability of livelihoods is dependent on all above-mentioned capitals, particularly on the optimal use of natural resources, horticultural farming and tourism.

Keywords: Livelihood capitals, natural resources, horticulture, tourism, upper Minjiang River

1

. Introduction

Mountains of the world are economically underdeveloped and geographically remote. They are very sensitive in terms of livelihood sustainability. The geo-environmental and socioeconomic conditions of mountain regions are very peculiar in terms of to access sufficient livelihoods. In spite of possessing huge natural resources reservoir, in the forms of land, water and forest, the socio-economic conditions of these regions are lagging behind and the people living in these areas are comparatively poor. This is mainly because of the high landscape vulnerability and limited access to infrastructural facilities, as mountain regions are isolated and far away from the mainstream of development. However, livelihood options are abundant in the forms of huge ecological services – land, forest and water, which are in fact untapped. Optimal use of these ecological services can play a significant role in livelihood sustainability. These suitable conditions further contribute to development of the region through ecotourism and hydroelectricity generation.

The terms ‘livelihoods’ and ‘livelihood strategies’ have been defined by many social scientists and economists worldwide. In the very onset,

Chambers and Conway (1992) describe, ‘a livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets

(stores, resources, claims and access) and activities required for a means of living; a livelihood is sustainable which can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, and provide

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DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05 sustainable livelihood opportunities for the next generation; and which contributes net benefits to other livelihoods at the local and global levels and in the short and long-term’ . Chamber (1995) further defines it as ‘livelihood is the means of gaining living.’ A mobile and flexible term, livelihood is a contribution of the resources used and the activities undertaken in order to live

(Scoones, 2009). Land use has been considered as one of the important factors influencing livelihood of the rural people. Cash, savings and credit are the basic indicators for livelihood assessment.

Physical asset comprises of basic infrastructure and producer goods needed to support livelihoods. road head and on the right bank of Zagunao River, a tributary of the Minjiang River at an altitude of

1580 m. The second village (LS) is located in the

Mao county about 10 km away from Feng Yi town at an altitude of 1878 m. A perennial stream Yang

Wu, a tributary of Minjiang River, flows from this village. Village HL is located in Mao County about five km away from Feng Yi town and about

3 km away from the road, at an altitude of 2000 m.

A small perennial stream ‘Mo’, a tributary of

Minjiang River, flows here. Water supply is plenty in all three villages due to presence of perennial

Livelihood strategy is an activity undertaken by smallholder households to provide a means of living. A key goal of livelihood strategies is to ensure household economic and social security

(Koczberski et al., 2001). Further, the mixed livelihood strategy is an approach for capturing the diversified means of raising household (HH) streams. The study area has abundance of natural resources – land, forest and water. The landscape is fragile and slope gradient is high. The whole area is vulnerable to terrestrial and atmospheric hazards – earthquake and flash floods, respectively. Rural settlements are sparsely located, mostly in the valleys and the midaltitudes. Warm temperate climate, low rainfall and long dry season are the prime characteristics. income. Under the livelihood strategies, the rural

HHs always attempts to diversify their sources of income (Ellis, 1998; Barrett et al ., 2001; Jansen et al ., 2006; Tittonell et al ., 2010). They adopt survival strategies depending upon resource endowments, and in the context of the policy and institutional framework (Mary, et al ., 2009).

Mean annual temperature is 11 ºC and mean annual precipitation is 495 mm. Drought is the major factor affecting agriculture (Bao et al .,

2000). Rain occurs during the summer season mainly in June and July. This season is hot and moist. December and January are the coldest months when medium to heavy snow falls. The

Agricultural intensification, to achieve livelihood security, is a key livelihood strategy that has been adopted by the rural HHs (Scoones, 1998; Ellis,

2000). Sustainable livelihood approaches were developed by many scholars and development agencies (Chambers and Conway, 1992; Scoones,

1998; Carney 1998, 2002; Ashley and Carney

1999; Gieryn, 1999; Farmer, 1977; Walker and

Ryan, 1990). other months remain dry. The altitude of the case study villages ranges from 1500 to 2100 m.

Impact of surrounding mountain ranges (height

3000 m) on climatic conditions is enormous. This mountain is called Long Meng, which is very rich in biodiversity resources. There are ten national level natural reserves in this mountain. More than

200 hydropower projects are located within 100 km distance, along the Minjiang River. Athough, each hydropower project is producing electricity from five to 15 MW only yet, their cumulative effect is high.

The present study illustrates options and strategies for livelihood sustainability in the upper Minjiang

River basin, Sichuan Province, China. Unlike the other mountain regions of the world, the upper reaches of this area are significantly developed.

They are well connected by the road transportation. Further, the socio-economic status of the people is moderate to high. Horticultural farming is the main occupation; mainly the temperate fruits are cultivated. Fruits and vegetables are intercropped. The main objective of this study is to examine the options and strategies of livelihoods through applying the sustainable livelihood approaches. It also illustrates the potentials of horticultural farming for livelihood sustainability in the case study villages.

2. Study area

Farming practices are the mainstay of the populace. In China, more than 615 million people are dependent on natural resources and on primary occupation for their livelihoods (Fang

2014). However, in the upper Minjiang River basin, about 60% of rural households are still dependent on agriculture (Fang et al ., 2014).

Practicing farming is the basic social and economic unit and its development has a decisive effect on the well-being of society (Chen et al et al

.,

.,

2007). It is also a major source of income in the study area where per capita income is of average level (Fang et al ., 2012). Cultivation of fruits; mainly cherry (all varieties), apple, plum, peach, pear, apricot, grapes (all varieties) and walnut are dominating in the farming systems and it is the

The three villages – Muka (MK), Le Shi (LS) and

Hui Long (HL) are located in the upper Minjiang

River basin, Sichuan Province, China in the three different locations and altitudes (Figure 1; Table

2). MK village is located in Lixian County on the major source of livelihoods in the study villages.

Area under fruit crops is the main farming land use pattern. Bao et al . (1999a) estimated that about

3.3 million ha land is under apple cultivation in

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DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05

China, which is half of the total apple cultivation of the world. Similarly, the Sichuan province accounts 3.5% of the countries production.

Hengduan Mountain and Maoxian County obtain about 18% area and 16% yield of apple cultivation in Sichuan province. In this region, about 20 apple based intercropping types were identified by the late 1990s (Bao et al., 1999b). Pleasant climatic conditions, mostly during the summer season, determine the important of forest products to rural communities (Falconer, 1994; Townson, 1995;

Van Dijk, 1999; Ambrose-Oji, 2003; Brashares et al ., 2004; East et al ., 2005; Degrande et al ., 2006).

Random sampling method was used.

3.1. The Sustainable Rural Livelihood framework

(after Carney, 1998) attract a large number of tourists to visit this region. It assists to enhance income and economy of the region.

3. Materials and methods

The sustainable rural livelihoods framework proposes three variables for livelihood strategies.

These variables are livelihood assets including natural, human, financial, physical and social capitals; institutional and policy context – public,

Qualitative approach was applied in this research.

Data were gathered mainly from the primary sources. Methods of Participatory Rural Appraisal

(PRA) were adopted and HH level survey and interview of the rural people was carried out to gather the data for understanding livelihood strategies. As combination of these methods help to active a more complete understanding of private and NGO sectors; law, culture, policies and institutions; vulnerability context that includes shocks, trends and seasonality. Livelihood outcomes are more income, increased wellbeing and reduced vulnerability, improved food security and more sustainable use of natural resources base

(Figure 2). A sustainable livelihood means when income is more than the expenditure and there is a handsome saving of HHs (Sati, 2014). livelihood strategies (Ellis, 2000; Homewood,

2005). A structured questionnaire was framed to investigate the various sustainable livelihood capitals. Natural capital – land water and forest; human capitals – population, education and working force; financial capital comprises – income, expenditure and assets; physical capital – building, road and infrastructural projects; and lastly social capital – network and institutional support were widely illustrated.

3.2. Sustainable Livelihood approach context and its application in the study villages

Sustainable Livelihood approach defines livelihood assets as livelihood capitals (Scoones,

1998). The five livelihood capitals – natural, human, financial, physical and social are an essential sustainable livelihood approach, were applied in all the three case study villages. Table 2 shows the description of livelihood capitals and their details are given in the preceding paragraphs.

This study was conducted during two periods: 17 th and 18 th

June, 2014 and from 5 th

to 9 th

July, 2014.

During the first visit of the Lixian and Maoxian

Counties, we investigated the whole area and finally selected three villages for the study; one village from Lixian County and two villages from

Maoxian County. The village studies tradition is an important, empirically-based alternative to other economic analyses of rural situations (Lipton and Moore, 1972). The selection of these villages was based upon the different socio-economic and geographical indicators such as occupation, location, distance and altitude. After investigating and selecting villages, we conducted in-depth HH level survey. Table 1 shows total number of HHs, number of HHs we surveyed and percentage of surveyed household.

3.3. Natural capital potentials and its role in

Livelihood Sustainability

3.3.1. Land

Farming is one of the components of land and one of the most important natural capitals in the case study villages. It plays a significant role in livelihoods. Average 74.6% people from the three villages are engaged in the farming practices. The agro-climatic conditions further promote its cultivation. Cultivation of fruits is the main economic activity. Its types are varied according to an elevation (Table 3). In village MK (1580 m),

13 types of fruits are grown. Among them three varieties of cherry and two varieties of grapes are famous. Cherry is the main fruit, is known as economic fruit. During the summer season, mainly in the month of June, a large number of tourists visit this village, as it is located on the national

The HH level survey was conducted mainly on farming system, forest, population, income and expenditure, HHs assets and vulnerability context.

Farming systems research was encouraged in a range of countries, with the aim of getting a more integrated, systems perspective on farm problems.

Later, agro-ecosystem analysis (Conway 1985) and rapid and PRA approaches (Chambers 2008) were added to the repertoire, expanding the range of methods and styles of field engagement.

Numerous studies have used HH surveys to highway. This is the time when cherry are ripened and are sold to tourists. The people from this village also have small shops on the roadside where the tourist stay and buy the fresh cherry and other fruits. In terms of productivity, cherry has the highest (5,000 kg per mu) followed by grape

(1,500 kg per mu).

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DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05 are located on the gentle to steep slopes yet, irrigation system is well developed.

Productivity of apple fruit is 520.36 kg per mu and it is followed by peach with 467.86 kg per mu.

The other fruits in village MK are pomegranates, pear, plum, apricot, walnut and loquat. There productivity is almost equal (average 250 kg per mu). But, in comparison to the other two villages, area (83.85 mu), production (32,787 kg) and productivity (392 kg per mu) of village MK is less. Village LS (1878 m) has only three fruit

3.3.3. Forest

Temperate forest characterizes the forest types in

LS and HL villages. The main forests are spruce,

Masson pine and locust. Bamboo trees are also grown and bamboo shoots are widely used as vegetables. Village MK is located in the valley, have sub-temperate forests but, the area is limited. crops i.e. apple, pear and plum but, the area under fruit crops is 288.9 Mu, production is 475,620 kg and productivity is 1,646.3 kg per mu. Plum crops dominate in area and production (228.1 mu and

361420 kg) while productivity is low (1584.5 kg per mu) than the other two crops. In area, production and productivity, apple ranks second

(58.8 mu, 110200 kg and 1874.2 kg per mu,

These forests are economically viable and used for making furniture and constructing houses. During the winter season, these villages receive many spells of snow, forest woods are used to warm rooms. Non-timber forest products including bamboo shoots and medicinal plants have a significant role in economic development. respectively). Peer has the highest productivity

(2000 kg per mu) with less area and production.

The third village HL, only two fruit crops – plum and pear are grown. Plum is grown in 177.9 mu land with 216500 kg productions. The average productivity of two fruits is 1646.3 kg per mu.

This interpretation of data shows that although, the diversity in fruit crops is less in the villages located above 1800 m yet, the area under fruit crops, production and productivity is higher.

3.4. Human capital: Population size, Literacy rate and workforce

Human capital is very important asset in livelihood sustainability context. Literacy, sex ratio and workforce are the indicators of development. Table 4 shows age group and percentage of total population in all three villages.

It shows that the highest population is found in the

Vegetables are grown for self consumption. There are 19 types of vegetables grown in MK village in

18.32 mu land. The highest area and production is of tomato crop (5.3 mu and 19125 kg). Total production of vegetable is 76245 kg and total productivity is 4161.8 kg per mu. Village LS has age group of 15-39, 40%; followed by age group

40-65, 33%. About 10% population is registered

>65 age group. In the rural areas, such percentage of population >65 years age is a sign of low mortality rate and high medical facilities.

However, this led to the situation of population ageing.

13 types of vegetables with 85.75 mu land, 39540 kg production and productivity is about 461.1 kg per ha. The highest area is under celery (15.55) and cabbage (22.15). Lettuce production is high

(18725) while the highest productivity is of golden melon (2500). The highest area under vegetables and their production is registered by village HL, i.e. 337.6 mu and 954,335 kg, respectively. In this village, the highest area is under celery (170.4 mu) followed by lettuce (143.9 mu). Production of lettuce is 665500 kg and celery is 264,500 kg.

Average productivity of vegetable crops of the village is 2826.8 kg per mu while, total number of crops is only six. The data reveals that with increase in altitude, area and production of vegetable crops increases while, the number of crops is less.

3.3.2. Water

Water availability is abundant and it is well managed. Village MK is located on the bank of

Zagunao River, village LS on the Yang Wu stream and village HL on the Mo stream. Every village has a hydropower project. These streams and power projects supply plenty of water and 24 hours electricity. Although, LS and HL villages

Table 5 shows average family size is 4, average literacy rate is 82.1, workforce is 88% and sex ratio is 958 in all three villages. It also varies village wise. Literacy rate is decreasing with increasing altitude. In village MK, it is 84.7, while, it is 82.6 in village LS and 79 in village HL.

On the other hand, sex ratio is increasing with increase in literacy rate. In Village MK, female/1000 male are higher (1008) whereas in the other villages, LS and HL, it is 960 and 909, respectively.

Level of education (average of three villages) is shown in Table 6. In terms of male-female education level, it is almost equal to all levels.

However, the highest percentage of educational level is primary education (34.2%); followed by secondary (30.5%). Tertiary education means under graduation and above and in this category, only 17.9% people are registered. Because, there are lacking of the higher education institutions and the people have to come to Chengdu. From the higher altitude villages – LS and HL, the people don’t want to go outside as the out-migration is almost nil from these villages, only few people go to the nearby towns for daily wages (29% people from village MK, 14% from LS and 5% from HL),

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DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05 during the off-season. The people >60 years are illiterate and their percentile is 17.9. villages and main occupation of above 90% people.

3.5. Financial capital: Income-expenditure analysis

Financial capital plays very significant role in carrying livelihoods sustainably. In this component, we analyzed income and expenditure.

Livelihood is sustainable when income is higher than expenditure. As much as the saving is, livelihood is sustainable at that level. We collected data from the three villages of the total 180 households. Total income of HHs was about 13

411144 CNY and total expenditure was about 20

844660 CNY. Total balance was -7 433516 CNY.

In terms of per capita income, it was 21924 CNY in MK, which is the highest in all villages. Village

LS has 21717 per capita income while, village HL has only 10269 CNY. It shows that per capita income is higher in the villages located in the lower altitude. This is also the case with expenditure. For example, village MK is located at the lower elevation, it has 33004 CNY per capita expenditure, it is followed by village LS which has 23855 per capita expenditure. The highest per capita expenditure is of HL village which is 26713

CNY. The data shows that expenditure is higher than income and therefore, they do not have saving. This situation is negative for livelihood sustainability. Meanwhile, when we look into the asset values of each HHs, it is very high in all three villages.

Similarly, data on the major heads of expenditure were gathered from the three villages. They were analyzed and score and rank were given to the major heads of expenditure. Uniformity in the expenditure on housing repair and decoration was noticed in all villages. It is the major proportion of expenditure. In village MK, 76% of the total expenditure is used in housing repair and decoration. It is 40.9% in village LS and 52.8% in village HL. In MK village, expenditure on social purposes ranks second (8.1%). On education and food commodities, it is almost equal (about 4%).

Small amount of expenditure is used on health purposes. The other heads of expenditure are fuel, pesticides/fertilizer, insurance, cosmetic and animal feed. In village LS, expenditure on social purposes scores 14.1% and it ranks second and followed by expenditure on food commodities and pesticides and fertilizers (ranks third and fourth).

In HL village, expenditure on pesticides and fertilizer ranks second and it scores 10.4% of the total expenditure. It is followed by social purposes and then food commodities and education.

Expenditure on Travelling scores 2.4%.

Table 7 and Table 8 show major sources of income and expenditure on the major head in all three villages. Income and expenditure was calculated in percentage and rank was given to each source and head, respectively. In village MK, the major source of income is from government services (42.7%) followed by private services.

Income from horticultural practices ranks third with 22.1%. In this village, tourism plays a vital role in economic development as 4.6% of the total income is coming from tourism. Meanwhile, tourism practiced in this village is in an initial stage. The other sources of income are pension, trade, agriculture, artisans, forest products, animal husbandry and farm labour. In village LS, horticultural farming is the main source of income, obtains about 79.5%. Income from private services contributes 12%. Tourism is also practiced in this village, ranks fourth in terms of income. Very few people are engaged in the governmental services.

Income from the other sources is very less.

Horticultural farming is the main occupation of the people of HL village. Income from it is 82.1% of the total. Income from private sources is 11.2%.

Other sources have negligible score. It is very clear from the fact that horticultural farming is the main source of income of the farmers of the

Some conclusions have been derived from this analysis. The first is that the major expenditure is on house repair and decoration. Each HH has big and modern type houses. They have plenty of furniture and other assets. Therefore, to maintain them, a large proportion of their income is used for repair and decoration purposes. In the highland village, the main occupation of the people is horticultural farming. Therefore, they use much more pesticides and fertilizers and a major proportion of their income is used for that purpose. Many of the villagers like to visit big cities of China every year; thus they utilize some proportion of their income. But, expenditure on health and education is comparatively less. It is because of that the health facilities are almost free and education is free up to the senior secondary level.

3.6. Assets and their valuation

Total asset value was calculated average 42.7 million CNY while, per capita asset value was average 71.5 thousand CNY. In terms of number of assets in all villages, the highest number was of cell phones followed by televisions, refrigerator and washing machine. Every HH has each of the above articles. Total number of small trucks was

94 while total number of cars was 50 which mean that every second HH has a truck and every third

HH has a car. These small trucks are used for transportation of their horticultural products to the market for sell.

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3.7. Physical capital: Buildings, road connectivity and development projects

Physical capital includes buildings – private and public, road connectivity and number of

This region has received a high intensity earthquake (> 8 magnitude) in 2008. Flash floods are common during the two months of summer when high rainfall occurs. In terms of financial, physical and social vulnerability, the probability is development projects. They are the indicators of development. Their availability show that there are very high opportunities for livelihood sustainability. The three villages, we studied are low as there is sufficient financial support from the government and people are self-sufficient in carrying their livelihoods.

4. Conclusions located in the different altitudes and they have different access to road and market. One capital is common in these villages and that is private houses. Every household has its own modern furnished house with all accessories. Village MK is located in a national high way, connecting highlands with lowlands. It has one medium size

In this paper, we have applied sustainable livelihood approach theory into practice. All five capitals of sustainable livelihood approach were discussed with reference to the case study villages.

These villages have abundant natural resources – land, forest and water. The land resource is well managed and cultivation of fruits and vegetables is hydropower project. Many development projects are going on and it is one of the developed villages. Electricity supply and irrigation facilities are well developed. This is the case with the other two villages. Every village has micro-hydropower project.

3.8. Social capital: Institutional support and community involvement in development processes

The social capital is one of the means of livelihood sustainability. Institutional support and community involvement in the developmental processes is very high. This can be observed from the fact that after 2008 earthquake, the reconstruction of settlements and other developmental projects was tremendous and within a time period of four years, this whole region was reconstructed with high quality and quantity of materials. The institutional support as cash compensation and wages against the labour was more than sufficient. For reconstruction of houses, the government paid cash compensation of average about 20,000 CNY to each and every HH.

In addition, bank loan was provided without interest. The community people have their own agenda in terms of development of the village. All the developmental works from constructing road inside the village to construction of canal for irrigation, pipe line for drinking water and others are done by the villagers and in lieu of that they get daily wages. The institutional-community network has proven its relevance in the development processes of these villages.

3.9. Vulnerability context: Natural and financial

The geographical location of these villages is different. MK village is located in the flat river terrace, village LS located in the mid-altitude with moderate to high slope and village HL is located in the high slope gradient. The natural risk and vulnerability of these villages are slightly varied and increasing with increasing altitudes. In general, the terrestrial and atmospheric hazards as earthquake and flash floods are moderate to high. practiced in all villages. There is enough and pure water for drinking and irrigation. Forest diversity is high along with high value of temperate forests.

This region is very rich in medicinal plants and bees and bee-keeping. Literacy rate is high.

Working population is > 90%. Number of people

> 66 years is more than 10% thus, population is ageing. Income level of people is average and they are able to carry their livelihood sustainably.

Meanwhile per capita expenditure is higher than income, though; each HH has a large number of valuable assets. The level of community participation in developmental works and institutional support in enhancing livelihoods is tremendous. This study suggests that the optimal use of natural resources – land, forest and water will lead to sustainable livelihoods. Horticultural farming particularly, cultivation of plum, apple, pear, peach and grapes, is best suited to the agroclimate of the region and there is also possibility of extension of crop fields in the mountain niche.

More emphasis should be given to horticultural farming in a sustainable manner. Cultivation of fruits will not only enhance livelihoods but also will restore the fragile ecology of the region. This region provides ecological services to the lowland areas. A suitable payment of ecological services should be given to the people of this region.

Acknowledgements

This study was carried out under the Chinese

Academy of Sciences scheme of Visiting Scholars from the Developing Countries, Project No.

2013FFZA0004 with the collaboration of the

Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment,

Chengdu, China. The authors acknowledge the financial support from CAS and official support from IMHE.

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Scoones, I. 1998. Sustainable rural livelihoods: a framework for analysis. IDS working paper 72.

Brighton, England.

Tittonell, P., Muriuki, A., Shepherd, K.D.,

Mugendi, D., Kaizzi, K.C., Okeyo, J., Ver-chot,

L., Coe, R., Vanlauwe, B. 2010. The diversity of rural livelihoods and their influence on soil fertility in agricultural systems of East Africa – a

Townson, I.M. 1995. Incomes from Non-Timber

Forest Products: Patterns of Enterprise Activity in the Forest Zone of Southern Ghana Main Report.

Oxford Forestry Institute, Department of Plant

Sciences, University of Oxford.

Van Dijk, H. 1999. An assessment of non-wood forest product resources for the development of sustainable commercial extraction. In: Sunderland,

T.C.H., Clark, L.E., Vantomme, P. (Eds.). The non-wood forest products of Central Africa: current research issues and prospects for conservation and development: 37-50. FAO,

Rome.

52



DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05

Walker, T., Ryan, J. 1990. Village and household economies in India’s semi-arid tropics. Johns

Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.Table 1. Number of HHs Surveyed in the Selected Villages

Village No. of HHs HHs surveyed % of total HHs

MK

*LS

115

155

60

65

52.2

41.9

HL

Total

134

404

55

180

41.0

44.6

*Village LS is a cluster of four villages and second biggest village in Mao county. Total number of HHs in this village is about 1100. For this study, we have selected only one village with the above information.

Table 2. Livelihood capitals in the case study villages

Sustainable

Livelihood

Capitals

Types

MK

Village

LS HL

Natural

Capital

Human

Capital

*Farming

Water

Forest type

Population

(Number)

Literacy rate (%)

Workforce

(Number)

Land: 11,540 Mu

Altitude: 1580 m

Latitude: 31 o 34’N

Longitude: 103 o 21’E

Abundant

Sub-temperate

249

84.7

97

9,721 Mu

1878 m

31 o 40’N

103 o 52’E

Abundant

Temperate

247

82.6

78

9,150 Mu

2000 m

31 o 38’N

103 o 51’E

Abundant

Temperate

252

79.0

91

Financial

Capital

Per capita land

**Per capita income

Expenditure

Average assets value

46.3 Mu

21,924.13 CNY

33,004.34 CNY

14 247,600 CNY

39.4 Mu

21,717.41 CNY

23,865.79 CNY

36.3 Mu

10,269.19 CNY

26,713.21 CNY

15 344,600 CNY 13 096,600 CNY

Building

Road Connectivity

60 65 55

Physical

Capital

High Moderate Low

Development

Projects

Numerous Numerous Numerous

Social

Capital

Network

Institutional Support

High

High

Moderate

Moderate

Low

Moderate

Association

Vulnerability Context***

Very high

Natural vulnerability high

Natural vulnerability

High

Natural vulnerability

*Mu is a unit of land measurement: 1 Mu is equal to 666.7 square meters. **CNY means Chinese Yuan: I

USD is equal to 6.36 CNY (Sept 4, 2015). ***Vulnerability context is moderate in all villages and generally, it is natural vulnerability.

53



DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05

Table 3. Area, production and productivity of fruits and vegetables

Village

MK

LS

HL

Altitude (M)

1580

1878

2000

Fruits

Area

83.5

288.9

178.9

*Production

32,787

475,620

217,750

MK

LS

HL

1580

1878

2000

Vegetables

18.3

85.8

335.6

76,245

39,540

939,335

* Production of crop in kg; **Productivity in kg/Mu

Table 4. Age group and percentage of total population

Age group

< 14

15-39

40-64

> 65

Total

MK

14.5

38.6

34.5

12.4

100

Percentage of total population

LS

16.2

42.5

32.8

8.4

100

**Productivity

392.6

1,646.3

1,217.2

4,161.8

461.1

2,799.0

HL

20.6

39.3

31.7

8.3

100

Village

MK

LS

HL

Average

Table 5. Village wise family size, literacy rate, workforce and sex ratio

Family size

4

3

4

4

Literacy rate

84.7

82.6

79.0

82.1

Workforce (%)

97

78

91

88

Female/1000 male

1008

960

909

958

Education

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary

None

Total

Table 6. Level of education (average of three villages)

Percentage of male population

33

35.9

17.5

13.6

100

Percentage of female population

35.5

24.9

17.2

22.4

100

Total %

34.2

30.5

17.4

17.9

100

54



DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05

Table 7. Major Sources of Income

Sources

Government Services

Private Services

Horticulture (Fruits and

Vegetables)

Tourism

Others

Pension

Trade

Agriculture

Artisans

Forest Products

Animal Husbandry

MK

Score (%)

42.7

24.4

22.1

4.6

1.7

1.7

2

1

0.4

0.1

0.01

Rank

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

LS

Score (%)

0.8

12

79.5

1.2

5.7

0.7

0.04

Rank

5

2

1

7

6

4

3

Farm Labour 0.01 12 0.03 8

Source: Data collected from the primary sources and calculated by the authors

Table 8. Expenditure on major heads

HL

Score (%) Rank

2.9

11.2

3

2

82.1

1.1

0.1

1.0

0.03

0.2

1.4

1

7

8

6

5

9

4

Sources MK

Score (%) Rank

LS

Score (%) Rank

HL

Score (%) Rank

Housing

Repair/Decoration

Social Purposes

Education

Food Commodities

Cloths

Travelling

Health

Fuels

Pesticides/Fertilizer

Insurance

Cosmetic

Animal Feed

Others

76

8.1

4.3

4.1

2.3

1.4

1.3

1.1

0.8

0.3

0.1

0.03

-

1

4

5

2

3

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

40.9

14.1

8.8

10.2

3.0

5.5

3.9

1.4

9.4

0.8

0.05

2.2

0.1

1

3

8

2

5

6

7

10

4

11

13

9

12

2.4

3.3

1.3

10.4

0.2

0.09

2.3

1.9

52.8

9.0

4.7

8.1

3.2

12

13

9

10

8

6

11

2

1

4

7

3

5

55



DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05

Figure 1.

1a) location map; 1b) village MK; 1c) village LS; 1d) village HL

56

Figure 2. The Sustainable Rural Livelihoods framework (after Carney, 1998)

Spanish Journal of Rural Development, DOI: 10.5261/2015.GEN3.05

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