Coupling Coordination Analysis of Livelihood Efficiency and Land Use for Households in Poverty-Alleviated Mountainous Areas

Abstract

The interaction between livelihood means and land use pattern of households is the core of the interactive coupling of the human-land system. This study focuses on Qinba mountainous area in southern Shaanxi province, a typical poverty-alleviated mountainous area. With the help of the coupling coordination degree model, kernel density estimation, and trend surface analysis, this study constructs the coupling coordination degree of livelihood efficiency and land use for households, and analyzes the differences between households’ livelihood efficiency and land use level, as well as the coupling coordination relationship between households livelihood efficiency and land use in different types and regions. The research conclusions are as follows. (1) For households in the Qinba mountainous area, southern Shaanxi province, the livelihood efficiency is at a medium level of 0.681, the land use is at a low level of 0.127, while the coupling coordination degree 0.526 is at the primary coordination state. (2) With the increase of nonagricultural degree, the coupling coordination degree of households increases first, and then decreases. (3) The coupling coordination degree for households east-to-west is “sagging”, while south-to-north diagram is “hogging”. (4) The distribution of the coupling coordination degree for agriculture-dependent households east-to-west (the “sagging” diagram) is opposite to the other types of households. By analogy, the distribution of the coupling coordination degree for nonagriculture and agriculture-dependent households north-to-south (the “hogging” diagram) is opposite to the other types of households. The coupling coordination between the households’ livelihood efficiency and land use level is affected by the households’ regional development level, natural resources, geographic location, infrastructure availability and many other factors. Making appropriate livelihood development plans based on the types of households and regional space can both effectively improve the livelihood conditions, as well as offer guidance in promoting regional human-land activity coordination and ensuring sustainable development.

The Influence of Seasonality on the Sustainability of Livelihoods of Households in Rural Tourism Destinations

“…In addition, this study finds that livelihood strategies with a combination of two work practices were more efficient than those with a combination of three work practices during the off-season. This result further supports the findings by Su et al [23], suggesting that while diversified livelihood strategies help households to resist livelihood risks, such as seasonality, over-spreading resources and inefficient participation in multiple livelihoods can reduce overall livelihood efficiency.…”

“…Livelihood efficiency is the extent to which a rural household can maximize output per unit of capital factor invested in the process of adopting single or multiple livelihood strategies in a given period, using the rural household as the production unit [60]. It is an important indicator of the level of sustainable livelihoods of rural households, which integrates the degree of rational allocation and effective use of rural household livelihood capital, as well as the degree of correct decision-making and the efficient combination of livelihood strategies [23]. To compare the differences in livelihood efficiency among different villages and rural households with different livelihood strategies in the study area, this research uses a DEA model for analysis.…”

“…Then, a quantitative index system is constructed based on the theoretical model. Referring to previous studies, the concept of livelihood efficiency is introduced [23] to quantitatively assess the sustainable livelihood level of rural households. Meanwhile, the study conducts a comparative analysis of the livelihood capital and livelihood efficiency of rural households with different livelihood types in the Yulong River basin.…”

The Coupling Synergy Effect of Economic and Environment in Developed Area: An Empirical Study from the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration in China

“…Compared with other methods, the Coupled Coordination Degree Model can characterize the interaction among multiple systems and reflect the coordinated relationship and situation among them [ 29 ]. Scholars use coupling coordination models to study different scales and disciplines, such as economy [ 30 ], ecology [ 31 ], tourism [ 32 ], land [ 33 ], urbanization [ 34 ], urban resilience [ 35 ], etc.…”

Exploring the frontiers of sustainable livelihoods research within grassland ecosystem: A scientometric analysis

“…SLs are closely related to specific environment, societies and cultures, and are often used as a starting point for understanding resource utilization and potential welfare. Differences in natural geographical environment and social–ecological conditions in different regions lead to significant differences in people’s value orientation, resource utilization methods and levels, resulting in different livelihood tools ( Su et al., 2021 ; Yan et al., 2010 ). The spatial differentiation of livelihoods is not only reflected in livelihood assets but also in livelihood mode, livelihood risk, livelihood security and livelihood vulnerability.…”