China's Policy On Agroecology-How Chinese Farmers Interact With Policies And Regulations

This thesis presents the findings of a survey conducted with a small group of family farmers practicing agroecology in China and describes their relation with policies and regulations on agroecology released by the Chinese government during the last years.The thesis uses a qualitative analysis based on case study method with the purpose of identifying the relationship of agroecological farmers with the examined policies,trying to individuate the way farmers receive these policies and regulations.After reviewing the literature on agroecology implementation across different continents,the research proceeds by analysing official documents related to ecological farming released by the Ministry of Agriculture of People's Republic of China.The case study is conducted by interviews realized through questionnaires and open interviews,while data is integrated with a field research in one of the agroecological farms in Beijing city.The findings reveal that the majority of the respondents are not aware of the policy implementation related with their activity.Although a part of the interviewees benefit from governmental subsidies,the majority of them are financially self-supporting.The main gaps with policies acknowledgment regard lack of information and lack of interest from farmers in knowing the policies in the first place,while the big challenges in opening an agroecological farm in China are access to market,lack of knowledge about farm management and lack of capital.These aspects are also related to the geographical position of the farms and farmers' socio-economic background,being some of them economically more advantaged than others to start this activity.This,however,does not guarantee a stable income for the first years and consequently many farmers abandon the practice.Agroecology is essential for realizing an ecological civilization in China,and more awareness about its potential and the main techniques may help policymakers to detect an efficient way of implementing policies addressed to small farmers who want to engage in agroecological farming.Promoting agroecological farming will contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture,helping China to become a model for the other developing countries and support cooperation among states of the Global South.