The Impact Of Livestock Insurance On Livestock Production Strategies Under Climate Change

In the face of the increasing impacts of climate change,academics and governments around the world are currently focusing on adapting to climate change.As a production strategy,livestock insurance in pastoral areas on the Tibetan Plateau,as one of the production strategies,is a major policy initiative launched by the Chinese government in recent years,similar to the market-based production strategies promoted by other countries to help pastoral herders better adapt to climate change.Pastoralists face a growing number of production strategies and have a wider range of options.While research has focused on the role of livestock insurance in adapting to climate change in agricultural settings,few studies have focused on pastoral natural environments.The study of pastoral insurance fills the gap in production efficiency and provides new perspectives for herders to better conduct livestock production and adapt to climate change.Therefore,we used case villages from pastoral areas on the Tibetan Plateau for analysis to assess the changes in pastoral production strategies adopted by herders and their impact on livestock production before and after the introduction of livestock insurance in the local area.Specifically,this article aims to explore: 1)After the introduction of livestock insurance in the local area,has the adoption of herders’ production strategies,especially market-based production strategies,changed? What are the implications? 2)Changes in production strategies have brought about differences,and have these differences led to different results in livestock output? What has changed? 3)The mechanism behind producing these changes.The research group collected first-hand data from the case village in Zorge County in 2014(before the implementation of animal husbandry insurance),2017(animal husbandry insurance began to promote)and 2020(animal husbandry insurance coverage).Literature research methods,questionnaire surveys and empirical analysis methods were used for research.Comparing the three years,the analysis not only promoted the understanding of the production strategies adopted by herders in adapting to climate change at different times,but also enriched the impact of livestock insurance on production strategies before and after the introduction of pastoral areas and the impact of changes in the final production strategy on the outcome of livestock production.Based on the above analysis,the following research conclusions are drawn: 1)The introduction of livestock insurance in pastoral areas will promote other production strategies such as the purchase of forage,the input of renting grassland,and the resulting complementary relationship rather than extrusion or substitution.2)The introduction of livestock insurance can reduce the post-disaster losses of herders,stabilize their livestock income,and help them recover their herds as soon as possible.3)In the case of insurance on the impact of production strategy,livestock mortality has been effectively reduced,increasing the total income of herders,but the increase in overall production costs has not really improved the yield of animal husbandry,this study has a wider application and reference value in other pastoral areas in China and even in the world.According to the research conclusions,the corresponding policy recommendations are put forward: 1)A single production strategy can only produce effects in a certain aspect,and the introduction of policies in pastoral areas must be comprehensively considered.2)It should be combined with the original local production strategy to better improve the adaptability of herders and the results of animal husbandry output,better improve animal husbandry insurance,pastoral financial market,promote the improvement of pastoral animal husbandry trading market,and protect the trading rights and interests of herders.The shortcomings of the research are that there are still some shortcomings in the acquisition of statistical data below the county level,ecological measurement,the types of insurance products,and the market risks faced by herders,and it is hoped that further research can be done in the future.