Livelihood Buffer Effect of Agriculture: Evidence from China’s Farm Household Survey During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Yuqing Yin, Jingming Liu and Xianhui Hou

Journal of Development Studies, 2026, vol. 62, issue 7, 1189-1206

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on the production and life of farmers; however, research on farmers’ active responses to minimise losses is lacking. This study examines the buffer effect of agriculture on farm household livelihoods using probit, propensity score matching, entropy balance matching methods. The results show that average health level, farmland area, and number of productive assets facilitated the return to agriculture; whereas, it was inhibited by the number of farmland plots and household deposits. Farmers reduced their income loss approximately 29% by returning to agriculture. Mechanism analysis reveals that when farmers returned to agriculture, they improved agricultural production scale and intensification level to increase agricultural production efficiency, therefore contributed agricultural output and reduced income loss. Agriculture is a shelter and safe haven for vulnerable farmers in development, and fostering rural revitalisation is imperative.

Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2025.2604693

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