The Influence of Farmers’ Livelihood Strategies on Household Energy Consumption in the Eastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China

Xueyan Zhao, Haili Zhao, Lu Jiang, Chenyu Lu and Bing Xue
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Xueyan Zhao: College of Geography and Environment Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Haili Zhao: College of Geography and Environment Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Lu Jiang: College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Chenyu Lu: College of Geography and Environment Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Bing Xue: Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e. V. (IASS), 14467 Potsdam, Germany

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: As an essential factor for sustainable development, energy plays a very important role in sustaining a modern lifestyle, particularly in poor rural areas. Considering that farmers’ livelihood in such areas is enormously dependent on services provided by environmental resources, it makes sense to investigate the relationships and interactions between farming households’ livelihood strategies and their energy consumption. The findings and outcomes would be expected to contribute to the body of knowledge and benefit local policy-making toward sustainable transformation in the long run. Taking Gannan as an example, this study employed a participatory rural appraisal approach, with first-hand data mainly from field surveys, using a stratified random sampling method to illustrate the influence of farmers’ livelihood strategies for household energy consumption in the eastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China. Seven townships in Gannan were covered, three of them in pure pastoral areas, two in farming-pastoral areas, and two in farming areas. From these, 230 households were selected as study samples, with a valid return of 217 questionnaires, among which 78 came from pure pastoral areas, 60 from farming-pastoral areas, and 79 from farming areas. The results show that livelihood has a significant impact on farmers’ household energy consumption patterns, and increasing family income level and education level and improving the availability of commodity energy resources will help farmers reduce the proportion of biomass energy consumption and increase the proportion of commodity energy consumption. Furthermore, measures such as developing nonagricultural industries, improving the energy infrastructure, and enhancing farmers’ energy-saving awareness should be seriously considered to optimize farmers’ living energy consumption patterns in these poverty-stricken and eco-frangible regions.

Keywords: farmers’ livelihood; household energy consumption; household energy structure; Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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