The Dominant Livelihood Types of Farm Households and Their Determinants in Key Ecological Function Areas

Abstract: The dominant livelihood types of farm households have become increasingly differentiated in recent years, which has attracted the attention of researchers. Identifying the characteristics and driving factors of household livelihood differentiation is of great significance for revealing man-land relationship and policy making. Based on the interview data of farm households in typical villages in key ecological function areas of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China, we analyzed the pattern of the dominant diversified livelihood types and the livelihood characteristics among different farm households. Then we assessed the driving forces of livelihood diversification by optimal scaling regression. The results indicated that: (1) In the study area, the dominant livelihood types show two trends of agriculturally dominant livelihood (accounting for 53.07%) and non-agriculturally dominant livelihood (accounting for 46.93%). Moreover, farm households in the agro-pastoral areas are mainly agriculturally dominated (accounting for 75.68%), while farm households in the mountainous areas are mainly non-agriculturally dominated (accounting for 66.93%). (2) The labor allocation and income source of different types of farm households are consistent with their dominant livelihood types. The farm households with agriculturally dominant livelihoods have more natural resources than those with non-agriculturally dominant livelihoods. In terms of housing conditions, farm households with agriculturally dominant livelihoods are inferior to those with non-agriculturally dominant livelihoods. (3) The farm labor, dependency ratio, agricultural income, supplemental income and locational conditions have negative impacts on the non-agricultural trend of farm household livelihood decisions, while off-farm labor, non-farm income, education level and the per capita amount of compensation have significant positive impacts on it.