Changes in the agricultural system and evaluation of the livelihood resilience of farmers in a typical town in a major grain-producing area of China： a case study of Gaoyangdian Town, Henan Province

Abstract

为探寻粮食主产区农业系统韧性和农户生计韧性提升的路径，以传统农区河南省高杨店镇为例，分析不同阶段农业系统的适应性循环过程及变化特征，采用CRITIC-TOPSIS法定量评价不同类型农户生计韧性，并揭示农业系统韧性与农户生计韧性的关联机制。结果表明： 20世纪50年代以来，高杨店镇农业系统经历了两个完整的适应性循环，从自给自足的小农经营逐步过渡到规模化经营和新型农业经营主体培育阶段，农户生计逐步多样化。气候变化、制度变革、政策响应、工业化和城镇化以及技术革新是农业系统适应性循环演进的主要驱动力。根据农户收入来源及其占比，研究区农户生计类型可划分为种养殖型、工资保障型、自主创业型、社保依赖型、兼业均衡型5种，且不同类型农户的生计韧性存在显著差异。农户生计分化受到农户自主发展能力与国家政策、市场力量、社会关系等内外部力量共同驱动。农业系统韧性和农户生计韧性存在尺度嵌套和相互影响，当农户生计韧性累积到一定程度即表现为农业系统整体的韧性。

To explore ways to improve the resilience of the agricultural system and rural households in major grain-producing areas in China, a case study was performed in Gaoyangdian Town, which is located in a traditional agricultural area in Henan Province. The process of the adaptive cycle and characteristics of the agricultural system in different phases were analyzed. Additionally, the livelihood resilience of different rural households in the study area was quantitatively evaluated using the CRITIC-TOPSIS method. The study explored the correlation mechanism between the resilience of the agricultural system and farmers' livelihoods. The results showed that since the 1950s, the agricultural system of Gaoyangdian Town has experienced two complete adaptive cycles. Farmers' livelihoods gradually diversified from subsistence smallholder farming to large-scale operations and cultivation of new agricultural management entities. Climate change, institutional reform, policy responses, industrialization and urbanization, and technological innovation were the main drivers of the adaptive cycle. Based on the source and proportion of farmers' income, rural households in the study area were divided into five types： traditional farming, regular earnings, self-employment, social security dependent, and part-time balance. Significant differences in livelihood resilience were evident among these types. The differentiation of farmers' livelihoods resulted from the joint action of farmers' independent development ability and external forces, including national policies, market forces, and social relations. Nested scales and mutual influences were observed between the agricultural system's resilience and farmers' livelihood resilience, which manifested as the resilience of the agricultural system as a whole when farmers' livelihood resilience accumulated to a certain extent.