Post-Resettlement Support Policies, Psychological Factors, and Farmers’ Homestead Exit Intention and Behavior

Peng Shi, Frank Vanclay and Jin Yu
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Peng Shi: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China
Frank Vanclay: Department of Cultural Geography, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
Jin Yu: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-22

Abstract: Ex situ poverty alleviation relocation (ESPAR) is a Chinese government program created to address rural poverty and land management issues. Affecting around 10 million people, the process involves encouraging smallholder farmers to leave their rural homesteads and move to new housing. By consolidating people into medium density accommodation, the amount of land available for other purposes can be increased. However, some farmers were reluctant to move, and many of those who accepted new housing failed to demolish their homestead and rehabilitate the land as required. This paper applies the ‘extended theory of planned behavior’ to examine the factors that influence farmers’ exit intention and behavior. Face-to-face interviews were carried out in Southern Shaanxi Province, China. Data relating to 830 farmers were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling. Our most important finding is that farmers had a poor perception of the post-relocation support, and this retarded their exit intention and behavior. We conclude that it is essential to improve post-relocation support, enhance the autonomy of farmers, and formulate relocation plans according to people’s age and likely future occupation.

Keywords: targeted poverty alleviation; development induced displacement and resettlement; natural resource management; social impacts; livelihoods; livelihood enhancement; disaster risk reduction; policy coordination; multi-group SEM analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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