Loading...

Archive

    2021 Vol. 20 No. 4 Previous Issue    Next Issue

    Special Issue: Paths out of Poverty
    Section 1: Poverty governance and international experience
    Section 2: Poverty alleviation through industrial development
    Section 3: Innovation and inclusive development for poverty alleviation
    Section 4: Poverty alleviation through social safety net programs


      Cover illustration

    For Selected: Toggle Thumbnails
    Special Issue: Paths out of Poverty
    Editorial - Paths out of poverty
    NIE Feng-ying, BI Jie-ying, Apurv MARU
    2021, 20(4): 851-856.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(21)63647-X
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Introduction
    Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere is the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of the United Nations (2021a).  Progress towards this goal has varied but also been fruitful.  Between 1990 and 2015, over a billion people were lifted out of extreme poverty (World Bank 2018).  From 36% of the population under extreme poverty in 1990 to 10% in 2015 (United Nations 2021b).  The world achieved the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of reducing the poverty rate from 1990 by half in 2010, five years ahead of the year 2015 (United Nations 2020).  The poverty rate fell to approximately 9% in 2018 (World Bank 2020b).  These efforts reaffirm the commitment of the vital international body and the nations within it to prioritize resources for poverty alleviation.  . 
    However, with the emergence of COVID-19 and other challenges, the world is experiencing some of the worst setbacks in decades.  According to the Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020: Reversals of Fortune report, COVID-19 will substantially impact poverty alleviation efforts, with up to 150 million added into extreme poverty by 2021 (World Bank 2020a).  However, United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) estimates the figure to be up to half a billion people. This has resulted in poverty rising globally for the first time since 1990 (United Nations 2021b).
    Eight of the ten new poor are expected to be from middle-income countries, estimated to be between 119 and 124 million (Lakner et al. 2021).  The United Nations (2021a) had projected prior to COVID-19 that the total population under extreme poverty by 2030 would be 6%, thereby missing the target of having no more than 3% living on less than 1.9 USD
    a day (World Bank 2020b).
    Efforts with direct and indirect effects on poverty have been underway for decades.  Most of them were in the developing world.  Large countries, including China, Brazil, India, and Russia, are among the high-middle-income and low-middle-income countries, representing the highest numbers in poverty globally, whilst also being the most vulnerable to poverty, considerably so under COVID-19.  In 2020, China declared success in eliminating extreme poverty within rural regions.  These efforts reflect a strong commitment of leadership, institutions, and society to overcome poverty.  Medium and small countries such as Tanzania, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Mongolia have also made strides.  There are leading examples of moderate to highly successful poverty alleviation programs among all these and other countries. 
    In spite of these efforts, the goal of eliminating poverty remains ambitious for several reasons.  The concept of poverty itself has evolved with time from an economic-only to a multidimensional form, influenced by the dynamics of poverty and society.
    The developing world is seeking greater insight, pioneering solutions, and collaboration in addressing extreme poverty.  In reaching this goal, the Journal of Integrative Agriculture (JIA) has organized a special issue of “Paths out of Poverty” with a comprehensive review of the developing world in its fight against extreme poverty.  Enabling the developing world to share knowledge, learn from experience, and identify opportunities to collaborate with each other as part of the global initiative to achieve the first Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations.
    Paths out of poverty is an inclusive platform with an extensive review of wide-ranging poverty alleviation efforts across the world comprising of China, Mongolia, Brazil, Russia, India, Vietnam, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and others.  This special issue consists of twenty papers across four sections, encompassing poverty governance and international experience, poverty alleviation through industrial development, innovation and inclusive development for poverty alleviation, and poverty alleviation through social safety net programs. 
    Section 1: Poverty governance and international experience
    Governance is a key determinant of success in poverty alleviation.  Research from developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America validates this view as we examine their experience.
    Fan and Cho (2021) reviewed international efforts to achieve the first SDG.  With agricultural development as the paper’s focal point, they emphasize its critical role in paths out of poverty.  In Africa, agricultural growth is led by land expansion, and poverty alleviation has been the slowest.  In South Asia, agricultural growth is driven by the diversification of smallholder agriculture, and this has had a significant impact on poverty alleviation, though limited by rural–urban migration and job creation.  Latin America is increasingly focused on social protection programs.  In East Asia, China’s success was founded on agricultural reforms and rural development, which raised incomes and food availability at affordable prices.  Further, there was increased investment in nutrition, health, education, water, and sanitation.  
    The key lesson is that in land-scarce countries, smallholder-led agriculture growth can have the largest positive impact on poverty alleviation.  Non-farm employment and rural–urban migration must follow once agricultural productivity has reached a certain level, though a pre-mature exit may cause greater harm.  Prior to the exhaustion of large-scale sectoral and regional development for poverty alleviation, social safety net must be established to support those not benefitting from this transformation.  Productive social safety nets have proven to be cost-effective in many countries and should be inclusive of urban poverty as rural residents migrate to urban areas.
    Díaz-Bonilla and Constenla-Villoslada (2021) broadly illustrated the complexity in the differing debates of approaches adopted for paths out of poverty, from a microeconomic perspective on policies aimed at poverty alleviation such as the Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) to more systemic perspectives of growth and development strategies, and macroeconomic policies as associated with poverty alleviation.  This paper provides readers a very informative and comprehensive overview of poverty approaches, institutions, and their policy decisions as well as enforcement.
    Implementing decentralized targeted poverty alleviation (TPA) program in developing countries successfully can often face the challenge of elite capture.  One such was China’s TPA policy, which was later enhanced with a targeting correction mechanism called “follow-up checks” policy to exclude elite capture influences and other ineligible households (Cheng et al. 2021).  Two years after introducing this mechanism, no evidence of elite capture in TPA program was discovered, in sharp contrast to findings from TPA prior to the mechanism having been introduced.
    Leng et al. (2021) analyzed the impact of the PAR program on rural household income and the income effects on varied modes of relocation.  The results show PAR increases the income of both rural and urban resettlers and, in particular, has a significantly positive effect on agricultural and wage income.  This was attributed to agricultural technology training for rural resettlers and medical security for urban resettlers.  The author concludes that policies should focus on strengthening local industries’ development and training of agricultural technologies for rural resettlers, non-agricultural employment and public services in resettlement areas for urban resettlers.  
    Infrastructure for transport such as highways improves living conditions and contributes to poverty alleviation.  While most studies have focused on income distribution effects, few have assessed farmers’ resulting income gap.  Weng et al. (2021) used a fixed-effect model to test this impact and discovered a U-shaped effect among provinces.  National and provincial trunk highways helped to narrow the income gap of farmers.  The level of education, productive fixed assets investment, urbanization, and regional economic development also had varied effects on the income gap.  Finally, a U-shaped relationship between highways and the income gap of farmers was identified.
    Section 2: Poverty alleviation through industrial development
    Industrial development, a large-scale and organized effort combining government, business, technology, and labor has effectively delivered economic growth and poverty alleviation in major developing economies such as China. 
    Liu M Y et al. (2021) emphasized industrial development as integral to the “Five-pronged Poverty Alleviation Measures” policy of targeted alleviation adopted by China to achieve the Chinese dream.  The author evaluates the effects and measures farmers’ livelihood based on the framework of sustainable livelihood by employing propensity score matching combined with difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) approach.  Industrial development had a positive effect of the farmers’ livelihood capital, including human, social and financial capital, whilst not having a significant effect on natural and physical capital.  However, the effects indicated a greater impact on the non-poor than the poor, and the effects varied based on the region.
    Chen et al. (2021) focused on financial support through formal credit and its effects on rural household income.  The results show a significant increase in rural household income in deprived areas of western China.  Formal credit can promote reallocation of labor from the agricultural to the non-agricultural sector in a household and influence investment-consumption behavior.  However, formal credit may have widened inequality in rural households of western China.  Variation in characteristics and capital (material, human and social) can fluctuate the effect of formal credit on income growth. 
    Li et al. (2021) highlighted two phenomena of off-farm employment and poverty alleviation in rural China, with the impact on the latter by the former by linking them together to find correlation.  Assessment indicates when household participation in off-farm employment increased by 10 percentage points, the likelihood for a non-poor household to fall into poverty decreased by 0.88 percentage point, whereas the likelihood for poor household to climb out of poverty increased by 3.5 percentage points.  Therefore, off-farm employment not only prevents fall into poverty but assists in climbing out of it. 
    Many regions in Africa are drought-stricken, and irrigation systems are scarce.  Existing facilities run by farmer cooperatives are considered unsuccessful and dysfunctional in Tanzania by many researchers.  The fourth paper by Zhang et al. (2021) looked at a cooperative irrigation scheme that has some government intervention and external support.  Upon investigating the management and services of this scheme and analyzing its contribution to poverty alleviation, the following was observed.  The scheme faced several challenges due to constraints in resources, institutions, and low-level of human capacity in both management and members.  However, the results indicated the scheme enhanced smallholder farmers’ rice production, market opportunities, and net income.  The profit improved the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and led to greater employment opportunities in rural communities. 
    Section 3: Innovation and inclusive development for poverty alleviation
    Global value chains, accounting for 50% of the trade worldwide, give rise to close coordination between buyers and suppliers, and their higher value-added activities.  They are contributing to poverty alleviation.  Under these incentives and the new norms of economic development, innovations in digital opportunities, including e-commerce value chain, agricultural technology innovation, and ecological value chain for sustainable development in vulnerable regions are analyzed.
    Vos and Cattaneo (2021) observed urbanization, rising incomes, and changing diets have contributed to the expansion of food markets in Africa and South Asia.  This has offered vast opportunities for raising income and job security along food supply chains, and as a consequence, poverty alleviation.  The spread of COVID-19 necessitates interventions that enhance the resilience and inclusiveness of food systems.  The authors assess how this may be achieved with better functioning and interconnectedness of small and medium-sized enterprises and how policies can help smallholder farmers connect in more rewarding ways and pull them out of poverty.
    Digital technologies, including e-commerce, have presented opportunities and become a key driver in addressing developmental challenges such as poverty in rural and remote areas.  Haji (2021) reviewed the role of e-commerce across the BRICS countries and their growing prominence to facilitate rapid, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, which improves living standards and alleviates poverty.  The author explored areas for cooperation in e-commerce within the BRICS countries, e-commerce development across rural and remote areas, public and private initiatives supporting this, and evaluating existing challenges and risks.  The analysis indicates disproportionate e-commerce use across regions and limited cooperation within BRICS.   Further, recommendations are made to overcome the observed challenges and risks.
    Peng et al. (2021) investigated the effect of rural e-commerce on rural income based on village-level survey data from rural regions.  An inverted U-shaped relationship was identified on the impact of rural e-commerce with the robustness test of the propensity scores matching.  This indicates the importance of policy support in rural e-commerce in poor villages.  Meanwhile, investment in Internet infrastructure and enabling human resources of potential e-commerce players in rural areas will have spillover effects.  Finally, the authors conclude that if the digital divide were bridged, rural incomes could see an increase through the digital dividend.
    Wang et al. (2021) examined the consumption side of e-commerce and focused on Chinese consumers’ online ethical consumption.  The authors designed a within-subject survey and a between-subject survey to investigate Chinese consumers’ quality perception and preference for apples from poverty-stricken areas using the payment card elicitation method.  The “information shock” analysis reveals that the ethical attribute is the primary motivation for buying apples from poverty-stricken areas.  The quality perception of private attributes has a significant effect on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for apples from poverty-stricken areas, and trust in government supervision of e-commerce plays an essential role in motivating online ethical consumption. 
    Agricultural technologies can dramatically improve agricultural productivity, confront climate change challenges, and ultimately raise incomes as well as uplift rural households from poverty.  Africa has been experiencing a surge in smart agriculture technologies adoption, which contributes to a reduction in poverty, covering row planting methods and the use of chemical fertilizers on multidimensional poverty in rural households of Ethiopia.  The results in Habtewold (2021) showed a reduction in overall and living standard deprivations.   There were regional variations in the extent of reduction in deprivation, such as in the Amhara and Oromiya regions of Ethiopia, with greater impact in severely deprived households.  Effect on multi-dimensional poverty was channeled more through non-food expenditure.
    Ecological degradation and poverty are in a vicious cycle that needs to be broken.  Ecological poverty alleviation (EPA) can overcome these dual goals.  EPA is a complex system of multiple policy instruments, government agencies, social forces, and agents.  Lei et al. (2021) illustrated key elements of the system and their relationships to fulfil this vital role, particularly establishing the routine for communication among agents, internal elements of the subsystem, and the relationship between them to give a picture of the system’s operating mechanisms.
    Section 4: Poverty alleviation through social safety net programs
    Poverty is associated with lower health, education, and other human capital empowerment aspects.  Policies and practices can influence this relationship significantly.  Innovation in social safety nets can target poor and vulnerable households more effectively to lower inequality and reduce poverty.  It is also an effective mechanism to build resilience in volatile times and support countries’ rapid development.
    Yu and Li (2021) evaluated the effect of expenditure on the social safety net in reducing income inequality and rural poverty with China’s national statistical data on social insurance, social assistance, and social welfare in the period 1978–2018.  A positive but limited correlation between social security expenditure and the income gap of urban and rural residents was found.  Social security expenditure is helpful in reducing rural absolute poverty with an elasticity of –0.2255 on rural poverty incidence to social security expenditure.  This paper also recommends that social safety net should become one of the major anti-poverty strategies after 2020 in China in the relative poverty era. 
    Qin et al. (2021) assessed the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme’s (NRCMS) impact on rural households’ health-focused poverty alleviation in China.  The data indicated that the hospitalization of family members is a key factor for falling into poverty, and the NRCMS has reduced this risk.  The impact of NRCMS varied among groups with differing levels of income, with the least affected being the middle-high and high-income groups.  Regional differences were also evident in the impact of NRCMS, with greater impact on western regions and non-significant on central and eastern regions.  The author proposed raising the compensation ratio of the NRCMS, reform payment methods, developing a comprehensive healthcare system, strengthening medical security for the poor in remote areas, and enhancing the living environment for rural residents.
    Bai et al. (2021) studied the intergenerational transmission of poverty in rural China by estimating transmission of earnings with a perspective of human capital investment before the children enter the labor market.  The study discovered substantial transmission of earnings in rural China, especially between the pairs of father–children and parents–children.  The intergenerational earning elasticity, which was lower than urban areas, indicated better social mobility in rural areas.  Children with higher-income parents achieved high levels of education and skills.  Further, human capital investment in children prevented the intergenerational transmission of poverty and promoting social mobility.
    Gu and Nie (2021) analyzed the effect of a multi-component program on women’s empowerment, and consequentially, household poverty in Inner Mongolia of China.  The paper employed a number of methods to ensure the robustness of the results, which indicated positive effects on both women’s empowerment and poverty alleviation, raising incomes and living standards of households.  Gender-focused programs, which included training, micro-finance, and associations, aided the outcome.  The author further concluded that researchers and policymakers needed to pay greater attention to poverty alleviation from the perspective of gender.
     Liu X H et al. (2021) assessed the impact of clan culture, an informal institution, on the rural elderly’s mental health, an important group that relies on welfare programs.  The study found that clan culture can significantly decrease depression in rural elderly, though these positive effects were gradually weakened with economic development.  Mechanisms assessed against these effects in clan culture indicated stronger social support.
    Conclusion and perspective
    There are many facets of poverty.  These are dynamic and systemic in nature.  They may be a consequence of natural disasters and various crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and trade frictions.
    The most urgent priority for governments and international organizations at present is defeating COVID-19 and reviving economies.  However, this experience demonstrates the broad spectrum of threats posed to sustaining livelihoods, including preventing and managing those related to health.  Events such as these will undoubtedly influence the models that target poverty.
    In this environment, social protection systems and digitization of services accessible to all that can sustain livelihoods have become key.  These systems are in place across most developed countries, whereas developing countries are building or expanding them.  Brazil and Indonesia, in particular, are looking to expand cash transfer programs further. 
    Current trends indicate efforts need to be elevated and accelerated with greater cooperation and collaboration among countries and institutions of both developed and developing countries.  First, to invest, prepare, prevent, and manage threats to poverty alleviation.  Second, and more importantly, to enhance poverty alleviation programs.  Pre-pandemic data indicated that the 2030 SDG of poverty would not have been achieved (World Bank 2020b). 
    While there are concerns in reaching the 2030 target for extreme poverty alleviation, which is estimated to have been pushed back further, the prospects for poverty alleviation remain positive in the long-term. 
    The world has no meaningful alternative to tackling poverty which is detrimental to the development of humanity.  It is humanity that must collectively rise to this challenge with innovation in technologies, policies, systems, and programs.  Cooperation and coordination will be essential for innovating, building as well as implementing capacity and resilience to effectively eliminate extreme poverty and sustain livelihoods. 
    This is the aim of this special issue, which highlights key experience and effective approaches to poverty alleviation to be shared among countries.  The case of China, which has experienced success at a number of approaches, including industrial development, health, education, governance, overcoming intergenerational transmission of poverty, and building digital systems and e-commerce value chains, presents unique insight.  Studies in this special issue confirm the achievements of these approaches.
    Further, Africa has witnessed growth through effective adoption of agricultural technologies; Brazil has made advancements in social protection; BRICS countries are increasingly focused on digitizing services and building e-commerce value chains.  With its rising urbanization, South Asia has created opportunities and job security in food supply chains and positively contributed to poverty alleviation.  Finally, ecological value chains hold irreplaceable value, provide underlying support, and improve poverty alleviation programs with institutional support. 
    Therefore, the developing world has much to offer, learn and implement in poverty alleviation.  We must cultivate mechanisms that contribute to the goal of poverty alleviation as this special issue on Paths out of Poverty seeks to achieve.
    We acknowledge the considerable support extended to this special issue by Prof. Fan Shenggen from China Agricultural University, Prof. Wu Bin from University of Nottingham, UK, and former Advisory Committee of State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.  We also thank all the authors for their contribution, Ms. Weng Lingyun, the editor of this special issue, for her guidance and management, and credit the National Natural Science Foundation of China for its financial support (71661147001).
    Section 1: Poverty governance and international experience
    Paths out of poverty: International experience
    FAN Sheng-gen, Emily EunYoung CHO
    2021, 20(4): 857-867.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63295-6
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    The global community has committed, as the first priority of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to end poverty in all its forms everywhere.  While the decline of global poverty continues, progress has slowed and remains uneven through different parts of the world.  To ensure that no one is left behind in China and beyond, research will be critical to inform paths out of poverty.  In this regard, it is valuable to take stock of international experiences and the various pathways out of poverty with a focus on agriculture.  Africa’s agricultural growth has been largely driven by land expansion and poverty reduction has been the slowest among all regions.  South Asia agriculture has been led by diversification of smallholder agriculture and its poverty reduction impact has been large, but its future poverty reduction is limited by rural–urban migration and lack of formal jobs in urban centers.  Social protection programs have been used by many Latin American countries as the region is more urbanized than any other developing regions.  China’s agricultural and economic success was driven by agriculture-led reforms and rural development.  These changes brought significantly higher incomes among rural residents, which accounted for highest initial levels of poverty and hunger, and in increased availability of food at affordable prices.  Investments in nutrition, health, education, clean water, and good sanitation also complemented progress.  The foremost lesson is that smallholder-led agriculture growth in land scarce countries often have the largest impact on poverty reduction.  Secondly, nonfarm employment and rural–urban migration must follow once agricultural productivity has reached a certain level.  However, premature exiting from agriculture can do more harm.  Thirdly, even before large scale poverty reduction through sectoral and regional development is exhausted, social safety nets must be established to cover those who have not benefited from growth and development.  Productive social safety nets have proven to be cost-effective in many countries.  Urban poverty should also be part of the protection scheme when large proportion of rural population moves to cities.
    Paths out of poverty: An eclectic and idiosyncratic review of analytical approaches
    Eugenio DíAZ-BONILLA, Susana CONSTENLA-VILLOSLADA
    2021, 20(4): 868-879.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63397-4
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    This paper briefly reviews different debates about approaches for paths out of poverty, considering several views, from the analysis of specific policies to more general or systemic considerations.  The contribution of this paper is to present a broad outline of those debates and to serve as an illustration of the complexity of analyzing paths out of poverty.  It discusses in sequence, the more microeconomic approach of evaluation of individual policies for poverty alleviation; then it moves to broader issues of growth and development strategies, and macroeconomic policies, and their links to the persistence or reduction of poverty; and finally discusses the topic of institutions, related to how policy decisions are made and enforced in societies at the previous three levels.  Finally, the concluding section argues that a successful program to eliminate poverty must integrate all levels of individual policies, macroeconomic programs, development strategies and good institutions.  This paper hopes to contribute to that crucial work.
    Elite capture, the “follow-up checks” policy, and the targeted poverty alleviation program: Evidence from rural western China
    CHENG Xiao-yu, WANG Jian-ying, Kevin Z. CHEN
    2021, 20(4): 880-890.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63444-X
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Decentralized methods for targeting poverty are widely adopted in developing countries to improve the performance of various poverty alleviation programs.  A common challenge for implementing successful decentralized targeting is the existence of elite capture.  China has recently implemented a nationwide decentralized poverty targeting program, the targeted poverty alleviation (TPA) policy, to achieve the national goal of eliminating absolute poverty by the end of 2020.  As the largest decentralized poverty targeting program in the world, TPA’s successful implementation was believed to be threatened by elite capture in some earlier reports.  Since 2015, a targeting correction mechanism, called “follow-up checks” policy, has been introduced.  With the “follow-up checks” policy, the elites and other ineligible households who receive benefits under TPA were removed from the program.  This paper investigates the elite capture phenomenon in TPA using village census data from a poverty-stricken county in 2017 - two years after implementing the “follow-up checks” policy.  We find no evidence of elite capture in TPA.  The elites are unlikely to become beneficiaries or receive more benefits than non-elites.  Our results contradict earlier findings that reported elite capture in TPA.  We argue that the reason is the accountability emphasized by the central government in the “follow-up checks” policy.  Our findings imply that having proper accountability is critical for improving targeting performance by global antipoverty initiatives.
    Income effects of poverty alleviation relocation program on rural farmers in China
    LENG Gan-xiao, FENG Xiao-long, QIU Huan-guang
    2021, 20(4): 891-904.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63583-3
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    This paper analyses the impact of the poverty alleviation relocation (PAR) program on rural household income and evaluates the heterogeneous income effects of various relocation modes, based on a panel dataset of relocated households from 16 counties in eight Chinese provinces.  The results show that participation in the PAR increases the income of both rural and urban resettlers.  More specifically, it has a significant positive effect on agricultural and wage income for rural and urban resettlers, respectively.  Further analyses show that the income increase for rural resettlers was mainly due to agricultural technology training and that the income increase for town resettlers was attributed to medical security.  For the village resettlers, policies should focus on strengthening the development of local industries and training of agricultural technologies.  For the urban resettlers, non-agricultural employment and public services in the urban resettlement areas should be promoted. 
    Do rural highways narrow Chinese farmers’ income gap among provinces?
    WENG Yan-zhen, ZENG Ya-ting, LIN Wen-sheng
    2021, 20(4): 905-914.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63374-3
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    To achieve complete poverty alleviation, the improvement of infrastructure and living conditions is fundamental.  Promoting  the flow of factors through infrastructure investment, thereby reducing the income gap among residents, has become an important focus of poverty alleviation.  Because of the high amount of investment in transportation infrastructure, greater attention has been paid to the income distribution effect it brings, but few studies have analysed the effect of rural highways on the income gap of farmers.  Based on the panel data pertaining to 30 provinces in China from 1993 to 2013,  this paper uses a fixed-effect model to test the impact of rural highways supply on the income gap of farmers.  The empirical results show that: (1) The effect of Chinese rural highways on the farmers’ income gap among provinces is “U-shaped”.  (2) Chinese national and provincial trunk highways are helpful in narrowing the farmers’ income gap among provinces.  (3)  The level of education, household productive fixed assets investment, level of urbanization, and level of regional economic  development have multiple effects on the farmers’ income gap among provinces.  Then, based on the empirical analysis, the paper analyzes the mechanism of rural highways affecting the income gap of farmers from a theoretical perspective and focuses on the causes of the “U-shaped” relationship between rural highways supply and farmers’ income gap.
    Section 2: Poverty alleviation through industrial development
    Does poverty-alleviation-based industry development improve farmers’ livelihood capital?
    LIU Ming-yue, FENG Xiao-long, WANG San-gui, ZHONG Yu
    2021, 20(4): 915-926.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63449-9
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Targeted poverty alleviation is a unique approach adopted in China to help achieve the vision of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects and the “Chinese Dream”.  Industrial development as a means of poverty alleviation is an integral part of the “Five-pronged Poverty Alleviation Measures” Project of targeted poverty alleviation, and a critical foundation for other poverty alleviation measures.  In this study, a comprehensive evaluation method was used to measure farmers’ livelihood based on the framework of sustainable livelihood.  Specifically, the effects of industrial development on farmers’ livelihood capital were estimated by employing the propensity score matching combined with the difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) approach.  Findings suggest that industrial development had a significantly positive effect on the livelihood capital of farmers.  Industrial development can significantly enhance farmers’ human, social and financial capital, while it cannot significantly affect the natural and physical capital.  Industrial development had heterogeneous effects on farmers’ livelihood capital, more efficiently impacting on the non-poor than the poor.  The effects on farmers’ livelihood capital varied across regions, with Guizhou experiencing a larger effect than Sichuan.  However, the effect was insignificant for farmers in Gansu.  To improve farmers’ livelihood capital, it is necessary to take measures to strengthen their human capital, promote the innovation of financial products, and make good use of their social capital; it is also essential to strengthen the support of industrial development to the poor. 
    Impacts of formal credit on rural household income: Evidence from deprived areas in western China
    CHEN Si, LUO Er-ga, Lita ALITA, HAN Xiao, NIE Feng-ying
    2021, 20(4): 927-942.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63484-0
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Financial support is a crucial part of China’s poverty alleviation effort.  Thus, it is vital to understand how formal credit impacts income growth in rural households.  In 2012, 2015, and 2018, a survey was conducted to obtain a panel dataset of 592 rural households from 6 poverty-stricken counties in western China, including counties in Guizhou, Yunnan, and Shaanxi provinces.  We use the data to examine the effect of formal credit on rural household income and the mechanism that underlies this effect.  We find that formal credit can significantly increase rural households’ income in deprived areas in western China.  Furthermore, formal credit promotes the reallocation of household labor from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector and changes rural households’ decisions about investment-consumption behavior.  These are the drivers of changes in the amount and structure of household income.  Further analyses show that formal credit may widen income inequality among rural households in western China’s deprived areas.  The individual characteristics of rural households, such as different levels of material capital, human capital, and social capital, bring about differences in the effects of formal credit on income growth.  This study emphasizes that the implementation of formal credit is an essential strategy for poverty alleviation in underdeveloped areas, but policymakers should not excessively interfere with the financial market.
    Off-farm employment and poverty alleviation in rural China
    LI Shao-ping, DONG Yong-qing, ZHANG Lin-xiu, LIU Cheng-fang
    2021, 20(4): 943-952.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(21)63616-X
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Two phenomena in the history of China’s economic growth during the last four decades are the increase in the share of off-farm employment and the progress in poverty alleviation in rural China.  Although both of them have been well documented in the literature, less is known about the linkage between the two.  To better understand the role that off-farm employment has played in poverty alleviation in rural China is critically important not only for China but also for those countries that are trying to reduce poverty.  Here, we examine the impact of off-farm employment on poverty alleviation in rural China.  Using the data from two nationally representative household panel surveys (China National Rural Survey and China Rural Development Survey), this paper provides supporting evidence that off-farm employment contributes to poverty alleviation in rural China.  Specifically, if household participation in off-farm employment increases by 10 percentage points, the likelihood for a non-poor household to fall into poverty will decrease by 0.88 percentage point whereas the likelihood for a poor household to climb out of poverty will increase by 3.5 percentage points.  In a word, off-employment can not only prevent rural residents to fall into poverty but also help those already in poverty climb out of it.
    The contribution of cooperative irrigation scheme to poverty reduction in Tanzania
    ZHANG Chuan-hong, Wandella Amos BENJAMIN, WANG Miao
    2021, 20(4): 953-963.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(21)63634-1
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Irrigation system is a scare resource in most of drought-stricken Africa.  How to manage and maintain the existing irrigation facilities in Africa is a debatable issue to both policy makers and beneficiaries.  Irrigation facilities run by farmer cooperatives are considered ineffective, unsuccessful and dysfunctional in Tanzania by many researchers.  A cooperative irrigation scheme is a mechanism that features the collective management of rural irrigation facilities by farmers’ cooperative with some government intervention and external support.  There is an increasing emphasis on the roles of cooperative irrigation scheme in the development of the agriculture sector and poverty reduction of smallholder farmers.  In this study, the authors investigated the management and services of this scheme and analyzed its contribution to poverty reduction of smallholder rice farmers and community development in Tanzania through both quantitative and qualitative methods.  The results showed that the scheme helped smallholder farmers increase the rice production and brought better market opportunities.  The farmers’ net income was also increased.  Profit generated from rice farming not only improved the livelihoods of smallholder farmers but also created more employment opportunities in the rural communities.  The research also revealed that the scheme was faced with a number of challenges due to resource and institutional constraints and low-level human capacity for both management and members.  The research provides a feasible approach to effective management of small-scale agricultural infrastructure for poverty reduction in Africa. 
    Section 3: Innovation and inclusive development for poverty alleviation
    Poverty reduction through the development of inclusive food value chains
    Rob VOS, Andrea CATTANEO
    2021, 20(4): 964-978.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63398-6
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Propelled by urbanization, rising incomes, and changing diets, food markets have been expanding in Africa and South Asia, creating the vast potential for job and income opportunities along food supply chains and, hence, for poverty reduction.  The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that spread to a pandemic in early 2020 provokes enormous setbacks to this expansion.  This, however, should provide lessons regarding the importance of resilient and inclusive food systems.  Emergency responses to COVID-19 should consider interventions towards that end and leverage the opportunities provided by food markets growth as economies recover from the present economic recession.  This paper assesses options of how this could be done by facilitating the better functioning and interconnectedness of the many small and medium-sized enterprises that are proliferating along the “hidden middle” of food value chains in storage, logistics, transportation, and wholesale and retail distribution.  It also explores how policies can help smallholder farmers connect to this “hidden middle” in more gainful ways and help them climb out of poverty as well. 
    E-commerce development in rural and remote areas of BRICS countries
    Karine HAJI
    2021, 20(4): 979-997.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63451-7
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    E-commerce plays an essential role in modern trade today.  It is expected that e-commerce volume amounted to 29 trillion USD in the world in 2017, and would grow with the spread of the Internet and information and communication technologies (ICTs).  Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), together with many others, consider e-commerce a means to facilitate rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, improving the living standards and alleviating poverty.  This article examines areas for potential cooperation by BRICS countries in e-commerce development across rural and remote areas to fight poverty.  It analyses the current state of e-commerce development in rural and remote areas in each of the BRICS countries, including cases of public and private initiatives to support it.  The article also defines the opportunities which e-commerce brings to people living in rural and remote areas.  Moreover, it evaluates the existing challenges and risks.  The article concludes that despite the rapid e-commerce development in BRICS countries, and significant opportunities created, there are still issues of disproportionate e-commerce in varied regions and the lack of BRICS cooperation in this sphere.  Based on a comparative and normative in-depth, systematic analysis, the article develops a set of recommendations for deepening BRICS countries’ cooperation in the following areas: infrastructure in rural and remote regions; education; consumer protection; online dispute resolution; coordinated policy in the international scene, including representation of BRICS countries in international indexes, such as the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI).
    Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China
    PENG Chao, MA Biao, ZHANG Chen
    2021, 20(4): 998-1011.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63422-0
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    The diffusion of e-commerce has played a significant role in recent rural economic development in China.  E-commerce is also considered as an efficient channel to alleviate poverty in rural China.  Voluminous studies have investigated the contribution of e-commerce to agricultural development, yet it is lacking empirical evidence as to the effects of e-commerce on rural poverty alleviation.  Since the year of 2014, in order to develop rural e-commerce, Chinese government launched the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project.  This gradual involvement policy offered a natural experiment for evaluation of e-commerce.  Based on village-level survey data from rural China and Heckit method, our study finds that rural e-commerce has a signi?cantly positive effect on rural income.  Moreover, the effect is inverted U-shaped for the relative-poverty villages.  The estimation of the propensity scores matching model confirms that the results are robust.  The following policy recommendations are proposed: (1) policy support to rural e-commerce should prioritize the poverty-stricken villages.  By doing so, the marginal income effects of e-commerce will be maximized.  (2) Investment in internet infrastructure and establishment of human resources for e-commerce in rural areas will have spillover effects, increasing rural income through the “digital dividend”.
    Consumers’ willingness to pay for ethical consumption initiatives on e-commerce platforms
    WANG Er-peng, AN Ning, GENG Xian-hui, Zhifeng GAO, Emmanuel KIPROP
    2021, 20(4): 1012-1020.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63584-5
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Despite China’s fast-growing e-commerce and its great achievement in promoting poverty alleviation through consumption, little is known about Chinese consumers’ online ethical consumption.  Using the payment card elicitation method, this paper designs a within-subject survey and a between-subject survey to investigate Chinese consumers’ quality perception and preference for apples from poverty-stricken areas.  The results show that before “information shock”, emphasizing that taste and safety attributes of apples from poverty-stricken areas are the same as the conventional ones, Chinese consumers on average are willing to pay a 31% premium for apples from poverty-stricken areas.  After “information shock”, both the within-subject and between-subject designs show a minimal drop of the premium, implying that the ethical attribute is the main motivation for buying apples from poverty-stricken areas.  The regression results show that quality perception of private attributes has significant effect on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for apples from poverty-stricken areas, and trust in government supervision of e-commerce plays an essential role in motivating online ethical consumption.     
    Impact of climate-smart agricultural technology on multidimensional poverty in rural Ethiopia
    Tsegaye Mulugeta HABTEWOLD
    2021, 20(4): 1021-1041.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(21)63637-7
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    A large body of empirical literature showed that the adoption of agricultural technologies reduces poverty.  However, dominants of those studies so far used one-dimensional income or expenditure-based measures of poverty which may not reflect other types of deprivations.  Therefore, the major objective of this study is to examine the impact of adopting climate-smart agricultural technology, which refers to a joint application of row planting methods and the use of chemical fertilizers, on the multidimensional poverty status of rural households in Ethiopia.  To estimate the impact of the stated technologies, this study employs propensity score matching and endogenous switching regression methods.  To measure the multidimensional poverty index, the study also uses the Alkire and Foster counting approach.  Using the Ethiopian Socioeconomic Survey (ESS), collected in 2015-Wave 3, the results of the study show that the adoption of these technologies reduces deprivation score and one of its component, the standard of living part.  Regionally, a high reduction in deprivation is observed in Amhara and Oromiya regions.  The results also show that the impact is significantly higher in severely deprived households.  It is also observed that the reduction in multidimensional poverty due to the technology is through an increase in income/consumption via improvement in production gain.  The impact channels more through the non-food expenditure pathway.  Finally, this study also sheds light on the effects that technology adoption has on multidimensional poverty reduction.
    Synthesize dual goals: A study on China’s ecological poverty alleviation system
    LEI Ming, YUAN Xuan-yu, YAO Xin-yan
    2021, 20(4): 1042-1059.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(21)63635-3
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    How to break the vicious cycle of poverty and ecological degradation is widely concerned and discussed.  In the poverty alleviation practices in China, ecological poverty alleviation (EPA) is regarded as an important way to synthesize the dual goals of poverty reduction and environmental protection and to achieve the win-win outcomes.  Many Chinese researchers have fruitful research achievements on EPA yet they do not recognize that EPA is not a simple combination of various policies, but a complex system involving multiple policy instruments, governmental agencies, social forces, and agents.  However, few studies abroad illustrate EPA in detail.  They focus more on specific components of EPA such as payment for ecosystem services while overlooking the integral concept of EPA and practices from China.  Based on field research in Guizhou Province, China, this paper proposes a framework of EPA with an effective multi-agent and co-government system, for demonstrating the concept and practice of EPA.  With case analysis, we illustrate key elements in this system and their relationships, and how they play a vital role in pursuing win-win outcomes in environmental protection and poverty alleviation.  The three dimensions of this EPA system have been discussed.  The first is to strengthen the interaction among the agents.  Many efforts should be made for establishing an efficient communication routine and a stable relationship among their interests.  The second is to reinforce the connection between diverse elements in each policy subsystem, such as the systematization and coordination of the ecological industry development, the systematization of the links before, during, and after the relocation of ecological immigrants, etc.  The third is to promote the interactions between the three subsystems, so that ecological enhancement, ecological compensation, and industrial development, and migration and relocation can promote each other, and ultimately promote the coordination of poverty alleviation and ecological protection in poverty-stricken areas.  Thus, this paper analyzes how to establish the communication routine among the relevant agents of EPA, the interaction among the internal elements of the subsystems, and the relationship between the subsystems in series, trying to reveal the basic operating mechanism of the system.
    Section 4: Poverty alleviation through social safety net programs
    The effects of social security expenditure on reducing income inequality and rural poverty in China
    YU Le-rong, LI Xiao-yun
    2021, 20(4): 1060-1067.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63404-9
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Social security has, as one of its primary aims, the provision of financial support to those deemed to be poor or facing the threat of poverty.  Based on China’s national statistical data covering social insurance, social assistance, and social welfare between the period 1978–2018, this paper evaluates the effect of social security expenditure in reducing income inequality and rural poverty with cointegration analysis.  It was found that there is a positive correlation between social security expenditure and the income gap of urban and rural residents in the long run, but the effect is very limited; nearly 99% of the changes of the urban–rural income gap come from its own contributions.  Further research also shows that the elasticity of rural poverty incidence to social security expenditure is –0.2255, which indicates social security expenditure helps reduce rural absolute poverty.  Based on these findings, the policy implications can be that much social security expenditure and a more equitable social security system should be encouraged.  It will become one of the major anti-poverty strategies after 2020 in China when we win the battle against absolute poverty.
    The impact of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme on the “health poverty alleviation” of rural households in China
    QIN Li-jian, Chien-ping CHEN, LI Yu-heng, SUN Yan-ming, CHEN Hong
    2021, 20(4): 1068-1079.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63372-X
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    This study investigates the impact of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) on rural households to escape poverty.  We employ the instrumental variable method, the IVProbit model, to analyze the national data from the rural-resident field survey by the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2016.  Based on the large-scale data, we found that, first, the hospitalization of family members is the key factor in increasing the risk of the family falling into poverty.  The NRCMS has significantly reduced the likely risk of falling into poverty.  Second, the impact of the NRCMS on poverty alleviation varies among groups with different levels of income.  There is no impact on the upper-middle and high-income groups; in contrast, the NRCMS has substantially improved the capacity of low-income rural families to prevent poverty due to illness, especially for the lower-middle-income group.  Third, there exist significant regional differences in the impact of NRCMS on the health poverty alleviation of rural households in China.  The NRCMS has successfully reduced the risk of rural households in the western region falling into poverty, simultaneously, no significant impact on those in the eastern and central regions.  In order to diminish and eliminate poverty eventually and boost rural residents’ capacity for income acquisition, we propose the following: raise the actual compensation ratio of the NRCMS, control the rising expense of NRCMS by promoting the payment method reform, construct the comprehensive healthcare system in the western region, strengthen the medical security for the poor in remote area, and enhance the living environment for rural residents. 
    Status and path of intergenerational transmission of poverty in rural China: A human capital investment perspective
    BAI Yun-li, ZHANG Lin-xiu, SUN Ming-xing, XU Xiang-bo
    2021, 20(4): 1080-1091.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63373-1
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    This paper focused on the intergenerational transmission of poverty in rural China by estimating the intergenerational transmission of earnings and stated its mechanism from the perspective of human capital investment before children participated in the labor market.  The data used in this study were longitude data collected in 2 000 households of 100 villages among 25 counties across five provinces in 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2019.  Qualitative and quantitative methods were adopted.  We found a significant intergenerational transmission of earnings in rural China, especially for the pairs of father–children and parents–children.  The intergenerational earnings’ elasticities were much less than those in urban areas, which indicated better social mobility in rural areas than that in urban China.  The children with parents who could earn much were more likely to be invested before they participated in the labor market, gain a high education and have more skills.  Three cases further showed that the mechanism of human capital investment in children breaking the intergenerational transmission of poverty and promoting social mobility.
    Does empowering women benefit poverty reduction?  Evidence from a multi-component program in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China
    GU Rui, NIE Feng-ying
    2021, 20(4): 1092-1106.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63436-0
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Ending poverty is a top priority of the international development agenda, and governments worldwide have attached great importance to poverty alleviation measures.  However, poverty reduction policies have mostly focused on men, which has widened the gap in productivity and income between men and women and increased gender inequality.  This paper aims to determine the impacts of a multi-component program on women’s empowerment and poverty reduction, and explore the role empowered women play in poverty reduction.  The dataset used in this study was collected in nine poor counties of Ulanqab City in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China at the end of 2014, yielding a sample of 900 households.  Recall questions were used to reconstruct the baseline data and build a panel dataset.  Smaller groups of rural households were further identified to better target the women in the beneficiary group.  To control the selection bias, propensity score matching, inverse probability weighting, and the difference-in-differences matching method were used to analyze the effect of the program and undertake robust checks.  The results show that the program has positive effects on women’s empowerment and poverty reduction simultaneously.  Empowering women also has positive effects on poverty reduction, and the women who were the beneficiaries have contributed to increasing the incomes and living standards of households.   Training, microfinance, and associations are common means or strategies to empower women to address poverty.  This paper provides new empirical evidence that women can benefit from a gender-focus program through portfolio intervention such as training, cooperatives, and credit.  Empowered women further improve the livelihoods of poor households and help lift them out of poverty.  The results suggest that researchers and policymakers need to pay more attention to poverty issues from the perspective of gender. 
    The power of informal institutions: The impact of clan culture on the depression of the elderly in rural China
    LIU Xiao-hong, WANG Wei-dong, ZHANG Lin-xiu
    2021, 20(4): 1107-1118.  DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(21)63626-2
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Exploration of ways to improve the subjective welfare of residents is an important area of current academic research.  Using data from the China Family Panel Studies survey conducted in 2010, this paper investigated the impact of clan culture on the mental health of elderly people in rural China.  The results demonstrated that clan culture can significantly decrease the depression score of the rural elderly.  Further, there was no gender difference with respect to the impact of clan culture on the depression score of the elderly.  At the same time, the positive effects of clan culture on the depression score of the elderly have gradually weakened with economic development.  Exploration of the mechanisms involved indicated that in areas with stronger clan culture, older people receive more social support.  This study enriches our understanding of the impact of informal institutions on the welfare of rural residents.  At the same time, it can also provide a certain decision-making reference for the government to formulate relative poverty relief strategies in a new stage of poverty alleviation.