Landscape changes and livelihood outcomes in rural tea farming communities: A case study in Fuding City, Fujian Province, Southeast China

Abstract

Landscape changes driven by cash crop plantations have been prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide in recent decades. Investigating the landscape changes and concluding livelihood outcomes are fundamental to figure out the solutions for rural sustainability. This paper examined the landscape changes which was caused by land use changes in tea plantations as well as investigated the resultant livelihood impacts, based on a case study in Fuding City, Southeast China. A questionnaire survey of 114 rural households in four sampled villages was conducted. Results demonstrated that expansion and intensification of tea plantations were two major proximate causes of landscape changes in recent decade. Our survey indicated that some existing intensively-managed tea plantations had derived from intensification and expansion of tea plantations, respectively. We identified four underlying driving forces of landscape changes, including economic benefit, governmental policies, wildlife destruction on grain crops, and rural return migration. Our study confirmed that landscape changes have significant positive effects on farmers’ livelihoods, including increasing employment and incomes, raising living standards, enhancing livelihood assets and livelihood sustainability. Especially, the aged rural populations could have a relatively decent living standard. Meanwhile, the excessive expansion of tea plantations may impair livelihood resilience. Lastly, three policy suggestions based on different time scales have been put forward to promote rural households’ livelihood sustainability and resilience.