Rural Poverty Identification and Comprehensive Poverty Assessment Based on Quality-of-Life: The Case of Gansu Province (China)

Abstract

Rural poverty has received extensive attention worldwide. Eliminating poverty and achieving common prosperity are the major tasks for China to build a well-off society in an all-round way. Based on the evaluation results of quality of rural life (QRL) and relative poverty index (RPI), this paper identifies and classifies the poor objects using importance–Performance analysis (IPA) method and poverty degree model. The results were as following: (1) QRL has obvious regional differences, and its value gradually decreases from west to east, which is opposite to the spatial distribution pattern of RPI. In areas with high QRL value, the RPI is lower. (2) Fifty counties and districts are clustered in the second quadrant of IPA quadrant map, i.e., Low QRL-High RPI, and the lower quality-of-life corresponds to the higher degree of relative poverty. (3) The coincidence between the poverty-stricken counties and the poverty-stricken counties of the country identified as 84.48% by IPA method, which indicates that the accuracy of poverty delineation based on income is high. (4) Gansu Province is dominated by highly impoverished areas, accounting for 60% of the total number of impoverished counties. The results of comprehensive poverty classification are in line with the actual situation of impoverished counties. In counties with higher CPL, the poverty level is deeper. It is more difficult to get rid of poverty. This study can provide theoretical basis and decision-making reference for the formulation and implementation of Poverty Alleviation Policies in the late stage of underdeveloped areas in western China.

Between the Social and Economic Dimensions of Sustainability in Rural Areas—In Search of Farmers’ Quality of Life

“…The quality of life of inhabitants is an important indicator of rural economic development [99][100][101]. Taking into account that in many countries, farmers are the main social and professional group of village inhabitants, it can be assumed that their QoL determines the general picture of rural areas.…”

“…Also, Bernard's study [107] conducted in Czechia presented some disadvantages of rural areas rather specific to Eastern European Countries (e.g., limited availability of jobs, problems with access to certain services). Some authors have indicated that the reason for the urban-rural gap was rapid urbanization and industrialization, which can be seen as a significant determinant of rural sustainable development [99,108]. On the other hand, living in rural areas can be seen as more comfortable than in cities, especially when we include environmental aspects and social surroundings [109].…”

Social Innovation for Food Security and Tourism Poverty Alleviation: Some Examples From China

“…The problem in rural China is worsened by the fact the parents who manage to move into urban areas in an attempt to change their economic conditions are not allowed by the government to take their children with them ( Song et al, 2019 ). As a consequence, the current government policies and practices have largely failed in ensuring food security and mitigating poverty within the countryside ( Paudel Khatiwada et al, 2017 ; Ma et al, 2019 ). However, the private sector has made significant contributions to China’s food industry through social innovation, specifically in food production and distribution.…”

Evaluation and Analysis of Poverty-Stricken Counties under the Framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: A Case Study of Hunan Province, China

“…Therefore, it is necessary to establish a scientific and feasible national or regional SDG indicator system as soon as possible to enable more comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of the SDG process [11][12][13][14][15] and provide a better reference for regional, mid-and long-term, sustainable development planning. A wealth of results has been obtained regarding the construction of a poverty index assessment system [16][17][18][19][20][21]. Scholars suggest that poverty has multidimensional attributes.…”

“…Some previous studies have applied physical geographic factors to represent poverty attributes and included factors such as average slope and nighttime light intensity in poverty index evaluation systems [16,21]. Other studies have selected only socioeconomic poverty attributes, such as lifestyle, education, medical care and development [17,20]. However, physical and geographic factors affect poverty rather than reflecting poverty.…”