The Impact of Rural Industrial Development on Farmers’ Livelihoods—Taking Fruit-Producing Area as an Example

Abstract

Analyzing the impact of industry development on farmers’ livelihoods is of great significance for promoting rural revitalization and the sustainable development of farmers’ livelihoods in China. In this paper, taking Dali County of the Guanzhong Plain as an example, in accordance with the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA), we adopted the comprehensive index method, statistical analysis method and relevant analysis method to explore the impact of rural industry development on farmers’ livelihoods by analyzing the evolution of farmers’ livelihood strategies in different times (2000, 2010 and 2019) and the differentiation of forms of livelihood capital and livelihood outcomes among different types of farmers in 2019 under the background of industrial development. The main conclusions were as follows: The degree of commercialization of the agricultural industry has improved, and the overall development of the rural industry presents an obvious trend away from agriculture. With the upgrading of the rural industrial structure, the leading livelihood strategies of farmers have gradually changed from the crop-planting type to the work-oriented type, and forms of livelihood capital and livelihood outcomes differ significantly among farmer households. Compared to traditional agriculture, the development of the fruit industry and service industry and the degree of participation in these industries are conducive to the accumulation of farmers’ livelihood capital, while migrant work alone has a negative impact on the improvement in farmers’ livelihood capital. The development of the fruit industry and nonagricultural industries and the degree of participation in these industries are more conducive to the improvement in farmers’ livelihood outcomes than is participation in traditional agriculture.