Health vulnerability and health poverty of rice farmers: evidence from Hubei province in China

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to measure farmers' health poverty, (2) to examine the effect of health vulnerability on health poverty and (3) to identify countermeasures that may alleviate health poverty in rural China.Design/methodology/approachThis study built a health poverty measurement model based on the multi-dimensional poverty framework to evaluate farmers' health vulnerability. Further, this paper used an econometric model to assess the impact of health vulnerability on health poverty. The sample for this study comprised 1,115 rice farmers from Hubei province, China.FindingsThe medical affordability poverty ratio was 17.95%, where farmers in the low-income group faced severe medical affordability poverty (27.46%). Results from the multi-dimensional analysis showed that, the health poverty ratios were 17.95 and 30.50%, respectively. Our results indicated that climate change vulnerabilities, living habits, medical facilities and medical accessibility were positively related to health poverty, whereas the regular physical examinations reduced mental health poverty.Research limitations/implicationsBased on this study's findings, we proposed that: (1) to address illness-induced poverty among members of the agricultural community, national and provincial strategies and programs grounded on a multi-dimensional health poverty framework ought to be formulated and implemented, (2) mechanisms of health knowledge exchange may facilitate the improvement of farmers' health status, (3) robust and comprehensive metrics should be employed to understand and improve farmers' ability to absorb and mitigate the negative health impacts and (4) the improvement in both quality and quantity for medical facilities and medical affordability in the rural areas should be key priorities in governmental-wide initiatives.Originality/valueExisting studies for alleviating poverty caused by disease mainly focus on medical service support to those economic vulnerabilities after a disease happens. However, few studies have focused on the root causes of poverty caused by disease, particularly from the preventive perspective of health vulnerability. To fill this gap, this study, therefore, proposes the health poverty index and analyzes the impact of health vulnerability on health poverty.

Policy-driven food security: investigating the impact of China’s maize subsidy policy reform on farmer’ productivity

“…The elasticities of physical capital, land, and labor in the maize production function are 0.377, 0.496, and 0.026, respectively, which are highly consistent with the characteristics of resource endowment for maize production in China. Land is the most rare element in maize production, capital plays an equally important role, and only labor is affluent (Li et al, 2010). The sum of the three coefficients is 0.899, indicating that maize production is diminishing returns to scale, which is consistent with the findings of Chari et al (2021).…”

“…Referring to existing studies (Wu et al, 2005;Li et al, 2010;Gao et al, 2017), this paper controls for other influencing factors affecting maize productivity. They are as follows: (1) Sex of household (Gender), male is 1, female is 0; (2) Age of household (Age), expressed as the age of the head of the respondent's household in weeks; (3) Educational level of household (Education), expressed as the number of years of education received by the head of the household; (4) Health status of household (Health), 1 to 5 are excellent, good, medium, poor, and incapable of labor, respectively; (5) Whether the household has a professional training in agriculture (Train), assigned a value of 1 when the respondent has participated in vocational training, and 0 vice versa; (6) Area of land under cultivation operated by households at the beginning of the year (Farmland), the area of cultivated land owned by the household at the beginning of the year; (7) Number of family laborers (Family labor); (8) Family's total annual income (Income), is the sum of the household's income in a year, which is taken as the natural logarithm in this paper; (9) Whether the family is a party member household (Party), assigned a value of 1 when the respondent's household is a party member household, and vice versa; (10) Whether the household has access to the Internet (Internet), assigned a value of 1 when the household has access to information on the Internet, and 0 otherwise.…”

Unveiling the influence of reproductive health on poverty: a cross-sectional study in Magwi County, South Sudan

“…This aligns with the findings of prior research that have examined poverty and its determinants. For example, Li et al [15] found that vulnerabilities related to climate change, living habits, and medical accessibility were positively associated with health poverty among rice farmers in China. Khan et al [16] highlighted the financial risks and potential poverty resulting from large and unpredictable health payments in Bangladesh.…”

Examining the Effects of Environmental Knowledge and Health Insurance Coverage on Health Status

“…Over the past decade, the disparity in employment opportunities, medical services, and household income for those in rural areas [12][13][14][15] has led to a migration of male farmers-particularly young and middle-aged-seeking improved employment opportunities and higher income. These in-migration dynamics strain women left in rural areas who must simultaneously provide for household public goods (e.g., caring for the elders and children) while working more frequently in agricultural production.…”