TY - JOUR

T1 - Smallholder participation in the land rental market in a mountainous region of Southern China

T2 - Impact of population aging, land tenure security and ethnicity

AU - Min, Shi

AU - Waibel, Hermann

AU - Huang, Jikun

N1 - Funding information: This study was conducted within the framework of the Sino-German “SURUMER Project”, funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) , FKZ: 01LL0919A . We also acknowledge funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project #: 71333013). We are particularly grateful to the XSBN biological industry office and local officials for facilitating the field survey of smallholder rubber farmers in XSBN.

PY - 2017/11

Y1 - 2017/11

N2 - Rural land rental markets in China play an increasingly important role in the transformation of the agricultural sector. This study focuses on the rural land rental market in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Southern China, a mountainous region, where rapid changes in land use have taken place with the transition from traditional agriculture and a tropical rainforest to rubber monoculture. Notably, we assess the impacts of population aging, land tenure security, and ethnicity on the participation of smallholders in the land rental market. The analysis suggests that a higher proportion of older people in a household increases the likelihood of renting out land and reduces the probability of renting in land, implying that population aging fosters land rental market development by transferring land from older to younger farmers. We also confirm that the availability of a land tenure certificate has a significant and positive impact on the renting out of land. Furthermore, ethnic minority groups are less likely to rent out land, indicating that land rental markets are ethnic sensitive. Additionally, specialization in rubber farming, household wealth and the altitude of household location also influence participation in the land rental market.

AB - Rural land rental markets in China play an increasingly important role in the transformation of the agricultural sector. This study focuses on the rural land rental market in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Southern China, a mountainous region, where rapid changes in land use have taken place with the transition from traditional agriculture and a tropical rainforest to rubber monoculture. Notably, we assess the impacts of population aging, land tenure security, and ethnicity on the participation of smallholders in the land rental market. The analysis suggests that a higher proportion of older people in a household increases the likelihood of renting out land and reduces the probability of renting in land, implying that population aging fosters land rental market development by transferring land from older to younger farmers. We also confirm that the availability of a land tenure certificate has a significant and positive impact on the renting out of land. Furthermore, ethnic minority groups are less likely to rent out land, indicating that land rental markets are ethnic sensitive. Additionally, specialization in rubber farming, household wealth and the altitude of household location also influence participation in the land rental market.

KW - Ethnicity

KW - Land rental market

KW - Land tenure security

KW - Population aging

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028510399&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.08.033

DO - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.08.033

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85028510399

VL - 68

SP - 625

EP - 637

JO - Land Use Policy

JF - Land Use Policy

SN - 0264-8377

ER -