Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 282-295 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Ecological economics |
| Volume | 120 |
| Early online date | 14 Nov 2015 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2015 |
Abstract
Understanding rural livelihood strategies and environmental resource dependence can help to reduce and prevent livelihood stresses induced by environmental resource degradation. This study identifies livelihood strategies of farm households in rural Cambodia and explores their determinants with a focus on environmental resource dependence. The data are derived from a survey of 580 households in 30 villages of Stung Treng province in Cambodia undertaken in 2013. An activity-based two-step cluster analysis is conducted to identify different livelihood clusters and regression models are performed to determine the major factors affecting the choice of livelihood strategies and the extraction of environmental resources. The results demonstrate how different levels of environmental and household capital influence livelihood strategies. Environmental resources contribute a significant portion of household income (27%) and act as a means to reduce income inequality (7%) among households. The absolute environmental income is positively correlated with the total income but the relative environmental income decreases with an increase in total income. Thus, it appears that low income households are not to be blamed for environmental degradation, because they are unable to undertake activities with high return. The findings of this study suggest that promoting off-farm employment, education and social networking reduces the extraction of environmental resources.
Keywords
- Cambodia, Cluster, Environmental income, Livelihood, Regression models
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)
- Economics and Econometrics
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Ecological economics, Vol. 120, 12.2015, p. 282-295.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Rural livelihoods and environmental resource dependence in Cambodia
AU - Nguyen, Trung Thanh
AU - Do, Truong Lam
AU - Bühler, Dorothee
AU - Hartje, Rebecca
AU - Grote, Ulrike
PY - 2015/12
Y1 - 2015/12
N2 - Understanding rural livelihood strategies and environmental resource dependence can help to reduce and prevent livelihood stresses induced by environmental resource degradation. This study identifies livelihood strategies of farm households in rural Cambodia and explores their determinants with a focus on environmental resource dependence. The data are derived from a survey of 580 households in 30 villages of Stung Treng province in Cambodia undertaken in 2013. An activity-based two-step cluster analysis is conducted to identify different livelihood clusters and regression models are performed to determine the major factors affecting the choice of livelihood strategies and the extraction of environmental resources. The results demonstrate how different levels of environmental and household capital influence livelihood strategies. Environmental resources contribute a significant portion of household income (27%) and act as a means to reduce income inequality (7%) among households. The absolute environmental income is positively correlated with the total income but the relative environmental income decreases with an increase in total income. Thus, it appears that low income households are not to be blamed for environmental degradation, because they are unable to undertake activities with high return. The findings of this study suggest that promoting off-farm employment, education and social networking reduces the extraction of environmental resources.
AB - Understanding rural livelihood strategies and environmental resource dependence can help to reduce and prevent livelihood stresses induced by environmental resource degradation. This study identifies livelihood strategies of farm households in rural Cambodia and explores their determinants with a focus on environmental resource dependence. The data are derived from a survey of 580 households in 30 villages of Stung Treng province in Cambodia undertaken in 2013. An activity-based two-step cluster analysis is conducted to identify different livelihood clusters and regression models are performed to determine the major factors affecting the choice of livelihood strategies and the extraction of environmental resources. The results demonstrate how different levels of environmental and household capital influence livelihood strategies. Environmental resources contribute a significant portion of household income (27%) and act as a means to reduce income inequality (7%) among households. The absolute environmental income is positively correlated with the total income but the relative environmental income decreases with an increase in total income. Thus, it appears that low income households are not to be blamed for environmental degradation, because they are unable to undertake activities with high return. The findings of this study suggest that promoting off-farm employment, education and social networking reduces the extraction of environmental resources.
KW - Cambodia
KW - Cluster
KW - Environmental income
KW - Livelihood
KW - Regression models
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84946841052&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.11.001
DO - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.11.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84946841052
VL - 120
SP - 282
EP - 295
JO - Ecological economics
JF - Ecological economics
SN - 0921-8009
ER -