| As a transitional zone and ecologically vulnerable areas between the agricultural and pastoral areas,the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China has long faced the dual pressure of protecting the grassland ecology and improving the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen.In order to cope with the increasingly severe problem of grassland ecological degradation and improve the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen,China has implemented the grassland ecological compensation policy in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China since 2011.Since the implementation of the grassland ecological compensation policy,the grassland ecological environment in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China has been significantly improved,and its effectiveness and influence have been affirmed.But it cannot be ignored that there is still a serious incentive incompatibility between the government's desire for ecology and that of farmers and herdsmen for livelihood.Under the background of the implementation of the measures to ban grazing and balance grass and livestock,the cost of animal husbandry of farmers and herdsmen generally increases,and the livelihood vulnerability is high,and the sustainability is low.As a result,the compensation cannot effectively mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers and herdsmen to protect the grassland ecology,which restricts the realization of the policy objectives.Combined with the current background that the contradiction between protecting the grassland ecology and improving farmers and herdsmen's livelihood is still outstanding,it is urgent to explore the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen in the context of the implementation of the grassland ecological compensation and the impact of the policy on the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen.So as to we can by the way of improving the grassland ecological compensation policy to realize the organic combination of grassland ecological protection and livelihood improvement of farmers and herdsmen.On the basis of sorting out the domestic and foreign research on the impact of grassland ecological compensation policy on the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen,we constructed a theoretical analysis framework of the impact of grassland ecological compensation on the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen in agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China based on the theory of external,public goods,farmers and herdsmen's differentiation,sustainable livelihood,eco-economic man.And then based on the field research data of the core area of agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China,this paper summarizes the current situation and problems of the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen under the background of the implementation of grassland ecological compensation policy in agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China,makes an empirical analysis on the mechanism of the impact of grassland ecological compensation policy on farmers and herdsmen' differentiation,livelihood assets,animal husbandry livelihood,livelihood dependence on the grassland resources,income and income stability.At the end,from the perspective of perfecting grassland ecological compensation and improving the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen,this paper puts forward some specific suggestions in order to provide some theoretical and empirical support for the organic combination of the dual goals of grassland ecological protection and livelihood improvement of farmers and herdsmen.The mainly conclusions are as follows:(1)At present,although the implementation of grassland ecological compensation policy in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China has achieved good results at the macro level,but farmers and herdsmen's livelihood still has such problem as weak livelihood buffer capacity,livelihood activities about livestock are contrary to policy objectives,high livelihood dependence on grassland resources,single income source and low stability.The implementation of the grassland ecological compensation policy in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China plays an important role in promoting the restoration of grassland ecology,increasing farmers and herdsmen's income,changing the mode of animal husbandry production,and adjusting the structure of animal husbandry production.That means it has achieved good ecological,economic and social effects at the macro level.According to the field research data,farmers and herdsmen generally believe that the implementation of the policy causes a significant increase in the production cost of animal husbandry,which has limited effect on the increase of family income,and the overall satisfaction of farmers and herdsmen on the plocy is not high.Under the background of grassland ecological compensation policy,there is an obvious trend of differentiation among farmers and herdsmen.Farmers and herdsmen's livelihood still has such problem as weak livelihood buffer capacity,livelihood activities about livestock are contrary to policy objectives,high livelihood dependence on grassland resources,single income source and low stability.How to realize the organic combination of the dual goals of grassland ecological protection and livelihood improvement of farmers and herdsmen is still the key problem to be solved in the implementation of grassland ecological compensation policy in agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China.(2)The grassland ecological compensation policy promoted the horizontal differentiation of the occupation dimension of farmers and herdsmen,but had no significant effect on the vertical differentiation of the income dimension.The result of horizontal differentiation of the dimensions of farmer and herdsman occupation measured by the proportion of non-agricultural and pastoral employment shows that since the implementation of the policy,more and more farmers and herdsmen choose to transfer their family labor force from agriculture and pastoral husbandry employment to non-agriculture and pastoral husbandry employment.And the results of empirical regression show that the grassland ecological compensation has a significant positive effect on the horizontal differentiation of farmer and herdsman occupation dimensions.According to the differences in the proportion of non-agricultural and pastoral income and the degree of livelihood dependence on livestock production,five types of farmers and herdsman are identified: livestock-based,agriculture-based,balanced,highly multiple occupations and deeply multiple occupations.The descriptive statistical results of the sample data show that the vertical differentiation of the income dimension of farmers and herdsmen and the amount of compensation presented a trend of polarization,that is,the higher the degree of part-time employment,the less the amount of compensation,the higher the income and livelihood dependence on pastoral husbandry,the higher the amount of compensation.The results of empirical analysis show that although the compensation has no significant effect on the vertical differentiation of the income dimension of farmers and herdsmen,it has a negative influence on the direction of the influence,and the implementation of the policy has strengthened the integration of the vertical differentiation of the income dimension of farmers and herdsmen.(3)At present,the livelihood capital stock of farmers and herdsmen in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China is low,and the buffering capacity is weak,however,grassland ecological compensation can enhance the livelihood capital of farmers and herdsmen by affecting natural capital and physical capital.At present,the gross value of livelihood capital of farmers and herdsmen in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China is relatively low,the livelihood buffer ability is very weak,and the livelihood capital has the difference between the attributes,which shows that natural capital and social capital are relatively scarce,and human capital,financial capital and physical capital are relatively abundant.The empirical results show that the grassland ecological compensation has significant positive influence on total value of farmers and herdsmen's livelihood capital,the more compensation,the higher the livelihood capital of farmers and herdsmen.The grassland ecological compensation with cash compensation plays a positive role in enhancing the livelihood capital of farmers and herdsmen.It is feasible to increase the total value of livelihood capital and livelihood ability of farmers and herdsmen by raising the standard of compensation and increasing the compensation income.Grassland ecological compensation can enhance the livelihood capital of farmers and herdsmen by affecting natural capital and physical capital.(4)There is a stable u-shaped relationship between the compensation amount and farmers and herdsmen's behavior of reducing livestock and a sound inverted u-shaped relationship between the compensation amount and livestock breeding number and willingness to continue to engage in pastoral husbandry.There is a stable u-shaped relationship between the compensation amount and farmers and herdsmen's behavior of reducing livestock,and it is on the left side of the u-shaped curve.That is to say,the current grassland ecological compensation policy has a negative impact on farmers and herdsmen's behavior of reducing livestock,and the negative impact will continue to deepen due to the low compensation income.Non-agricultural and pastoral employment has a significant promoting effect on farmers and herdsmen's behavior of reducing livestock.And it also can play an active regulatory role in the relationship between grassland ecological compensation policy and whether farmer and herdsman have reduced livestock.But the regulatory role in the relationship between grassland ecological compensation policy and livestock reduction rate is not significant.That is to say,by increasing farmers and herdsmen's non-agricultural and pastoral employment income can alleviate the negative impact of grassland ecological compensation policy on whether farmer and herdsman choose to reduce livestock.But it cannot alleviate the negative impact of grassland ecological compensation policy on livestock reduction rate.There is a sound inverted u-shaped relationship between the compensation amount and livestock breeding number and farmers and herdsman's willingness to continue to engage in pastoral husbandry.In addition,due to the current low standard of compensation,the compensation income of farmers and herdsmen is not high,and the relationship between the compensation and the scale of livestock breeding and the willingness of farmers and herdsmen to continue to engage in pastoral husbandry production is mostly on the left side of the inverted u-shaped curve.The livelihood diversification of farmers and herdsman has a negative impact on the expansion of livestock breeding scale,and it also has a moderating effect on the relationship between the grassland ecological compensation policy and livestock breeding scale.That is to say,on the left side of the inverted u-shaped curve,with the increase of farmers and herdsman's part-time employment,the promotion effect of grassland ecological compensation policy on the expansion of livestock breeding scale gradually weakens;to the right of the inverted u-shaped curve,livelihood diversification tends to help to slow down the negative effect of compensation policy on livestock breeding scale,and help to avoid the sharp decline of livestock breeding scale caused by the increase of compensation amount.(5)There is a significant inverted u-shaped relationship between the grassland ecological compensation and the dependence of the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen on grassland resources measured by family livelihood activities and income.Moreover,livelihood capital has mediating effect in the impact of grassland ecological compensation on the dependence of farmers and herdsmen on grassland resources.Empirical regression results show that there has an inverted u-shaped relationship between grassland ecological compensation and the dependence of the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen on grassland resources measured by family livelihood activities and income.Before the compensation income reaches the inflection point,the higher the compensation income is,the higher the dependence of the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen on grassland resources.Through the calculation results of the inflection point,it is concluded that because the current standard of compensation is low,the compensation income of farmers and herdsmen is generally lower than the value of compensation income required by the inflection point,so the dependence of farmers and herdsmen on grassland resources will increase with the increase of compensation income.The empirical regression results of livelihood capital included indicate that natural capital has a complete mediating effect on the impact of grassland ecological compensation on the dependence of the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen on grassland resources measured by family livelihood activities,while natural capital and physical capital have a partial mediating effect on the impact of grassland ecological compensation on the dependence of the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen on grassland resources measured by family income.(6)The grassland ecological compensation can focus on increasing the income of poor farmers and herdsmen and enhance their income stability.The compensation income has a significant effect on the increasing of poor farmers and herdsmen's income,especially on the middle income group of poor farmers and herdsmen.Indicating that the grassland ecologica l compensation can alleviate the poverty of poor farmers and herdsmen in agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China.The compensation income can significantly promote the increase of poor farmers and herdsmen's pastoral husbandry income,but it has no significant influence on agriculture and non-agriculture income.Indicating that grassland ecological compensation can alleviate poverty by promoting the increase of poor farmers and herdsmen's animal husbandry income.Compensation income can significantly promote the income stability of poor farmers and herdsmen.Indicating that the grassland ecological compensation can play a positive role in restraining poor farmers and herdsmen from returning to poverty in agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China.Based on the above conclusions,while carrying out the grassland ecological compensation policy,local pastoral husbandry resource endowment should be used and brought into play at the same time.Through the ecological poverty alleviation model of “grassland ecological compensation + animal husbandry industry”,the role of grassland ecological compensation policy in helping agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China shake off poverty can be better played.Based on the above conclusions,it is suggested that attention should be paid to the micro-interests of heterogeneous farmers and herdsmen during the implementation of grassland ecological compensation policy in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China.To further improve the mechanism of grassland ecological compensation by improving the standard of compensation;to improve the non-agricultural and pastoral employment capacity of farmers and herdsmen in order to guide the transfer of labor factors;to improve the livelihood capital of farmers and herdsmen and reduce their dependence on grassland resources.At the same time,combining with the current targeted poverty alleviation strategy,we should continue to promote the implementation of grassland ecological compensation and poverty alleviation policies... |
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