Does Poverty Matter in Payment for Ecosystem Services Program? Participation in the New Stage Sloping Land Conversion Program

Abstract

Abstract:Poverty is increasingly stressed in Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes, from targeting to outcomes. As the world's largest PES scheme of its kind, the Sloping Land Conversion Program in China started its new stage (NSLCP), aiming to convert another 2.9 million ha sloping croplands into forest or grasslands. This paper examines whether and to what extent different dimensions of poverty impact households' participation in the NSLCP. By using the data collected from a key demonstration area, Wuqi County in 2015, based on Sen's capability theory, we measure the multidimensional poverty of the households, like poverty in education, physical health, food security, rights, assets and living standards. Then, we evaluate the effects of different poverty dimensions on households' participation in the NSLCP and their efforts to comply with the policy. We find that different dimensions of poverty had very different impacts, as revealed in the participating rate and the intensity of efforts to manage the enrolled lands through different methods. The households with poverty in education, food security, or rights were less likely to be enrolled in the NSLCP. Dimensions like income, health and assets were significant contributions to fulfill the practices required by the NSLCP. Besides, the degree of multidimensional poverty further weakened households' efforts to manage and protect the trees on enrolled lands.

Rural household income distribution and inequality in China: Effects of payments for ecosystem services policies and other factors

“…Hence, they are more likely to remain trapped in low-income subsistence agriculture after retiring some cropland for reforestation. At that time, the success of environmental conservation seem likely to be threatened in the absence of other development policies that focus on infrastructural or educational improvement (Zhang et al, 2008;Liu and Lan, 2015;Ren et al, 2018), aimed at the poorest rural households participating in the CCFP. In particular, we recommend technical training as an integral component of similar PES programs in the future for those with low education and skills to enhance and diversify their livelihood options, in coordination with other development programs to stimulate or subsidize their agricultural production.…”

Impact of Information Access on Poverty Alleviation Effectiveness: Evidence From China

“…Thirdly, another research direction mainly involves the summary of the experience for poverty alleviation in China [34], [38]- [41]. Some scholars emphasized the importance of public consultation and more tailored policy support in targeted poverty alleviation.…”

The Challenges of Implementing Payment for Environmental Services to Prevent The Agricultural Land Conversion

“…Pada skema PES di Cidanau, petani masih bingung dengan rincian kontrak PES, hal ini menunjukkan pengembangan kapasitas anggota masih lemah (Lapeyre et al 2015). Sistem pembayaran di muka dapat meningkatkan partisipasi masyarakat karena kebutuhan untuk investasi merupakan penghalang bagi rumah tangga miskin untuk berpartisipasi (Mahanty et al 2013) dan mengurangi biaya transaksi (Ren et al 2018). Kegiatan konservasi aktif yang menawarkan kesempatan kepada petani untuk menerima uang meskipun mereka tidak memegang hak atas tanah menunjukkan hasil yang cukup baik (García-Amado et al 2011).…”