Livelihood Capital Effects on Famers’ Strategy Choices in Flood-Prone Areas—A Study in Rural China

Yibin Ao, Ling Tan, Qiqi Feng, Liyao Tan, Hongfu Li, Yan Wang, Tong Wang and Yunfeng Chen
Additional contact information
Yibin Ao: College of Environment and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Ling Tan: College of Environment and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Qiqi Feng: College of Environment and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Liyao Tan: College of Environment and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Hongfu Li: College of Environment and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Yan Wang: Department of Engineering Management, Sichuan College of Architectural Technology, Deyang 618014, China
Tong Wang: Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
Yunfeng Chen: School of Construction Management Technology, Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 12, 1-19

Abstract: The global climate change has resulted in huge flood damages, which seriously hinders the sustainable development of rural economy and society and causes famers’ livelihood problems. In flood-prone areas, it is imperative to actively study short and long-term strategies and solve farmers’ livelihood problems accordingly. Following the sustainable development analysis framework proposed by the Department for International Development (DFID), this study collects empirical data of 360 rural households in six sample villages in the Jialing River Basin of Sichuan Province, China through a village-to-household field questionnaire and applies the Multinominal Logit Model (MNL) to explore the influence of farmer households’ capital on livelihood strategy choice. Research results show that: (1) In human capital category, the education level of the household head has a significant positive impact on the livelihood strategies of farmers’ families; (2) In physical capital category, farmer households with larger space have more funds to choose among flood adaptation strategies; (3) In natural capital category, house location and the sale of family property for cash have the greatest negative impact on farmers’ livelihood strategies; (4) Rural households with more credit opportunities in financial capital are more willing to obtain emergency relief funds; (5) Farmers’ families helped by the village for a long time will probably not choose to move to avoid floods, but are more likely to choose buying flood insurance. This study provides an empirical reference for effective short and long term prevention and mitigation strategies design and application in rural in flood-prone areas.

Keywords: farmers’ household; flood disaster; capital; livelihood strategy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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