Differential Evolution of Farmers’ Livelihood Strategies since the 1980s on the Loess Plateau, China

Abstract

Understanding the evolution of farmers’ livelihood strategies (FLS) is crucial for maintaining the sustainable development of farmers’ livelihoods, especially on the arid Loess Plateau, China. This study constructed a novel analytical framework for analyzing the evolution of FLS and the critical influencing factors. Changwu County, an apple cultivation region, was selected as a case study. The results suggest that four types of livelihood strategies (crop-planting, apple-planting, work-oriented, and part-time comprehensive) have emerged since the 1980s. The evolutionary process of leading FLS varies across geographic location. In the loess tableland region and economic fringe region, this evolution followed a progressive path from the crop-planting type to the apple-planting type to the work-oriented type, while in the loess gully region, loess ridge region, and economic core region, FLS jumped directly from the crop-planting type to the work-oriented type. The geographic location, training opportunities, garden area, cultivated land area, production and living materials, loan opportunities, and education level were found to be the critical factors influencing the differentiation and development of FLS. The analytical framework proposed here is also applicable for studying the evolution of FLS in other counties on the Loess Plateau, considering the representativeness of the selected case.