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

Peng Shi, Frank Vanclay, Jin Yu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)
44 Downloads (Pure)

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number237
Number of pages22
JournalLand
Volume11
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb-2022

Keywords

  • Development induced displacement and resettlement
  • Disaster risk reduction
  • Livelihood enhancement
  • Livelihoods
  • Multi-group SEM analysis
  • Natural resource management
  • Policy coordination
  • Social impacts
  • Targeted poverty alleviation

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