Sustainable Development in Rural China Farmer Innovation and Self-Organisation in Marginal Areas

Sustainable development in marginal areas, especially in those where rural poverty and environmental degradation are interwoven, is a great concern of development agencies worldwide, and much effort is put into development programmes, technology transfer schemes and so on. The problem is particularly acute in China, where increasing regional differences and inequality are eroding governmental poverty reduction efforts and exacerbating ecological crises. This book, based on extensive original research, examines the situation in China, especially in the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province. It explores in particular how farmers have organised themselves to initiate technical innovation, and considers communication networks and co-operative mechanisms. It discusses successful self-organisation, and how interfaces with external development agencies and with institutional innovation might be handled, highlighting the potential of farmer innovation initiatives, especially when they are linked with external development and environmental improvement programmes.

List of Figures;List of tables;List of Boxes;Abbreviations;Acknowledgements;1 Introduction;1.1 Challenges of unsustainable development in rural China;1.2 Approaches to unsustainable challenge;1.3 Farmer innovation? Research questions and framework;1.4 Book structure and content;2 Sustainability and farmer innovation in the developing world;2.1 Rural development and sustainability: roles for farmers;2.2 Exogenously technological innovation in marginal areas;2.3 Methodology for farmer innovation and self-organisation; 2.4 Conclusions: environment, sustainability and farmer innovation;3 Marginal areas and marginalisation in rural China;3.1 Geogaphy for China's rural change? A core-marginal division;3.2 Rural change and marginalisation in market economy era;3.3 Impacts of marginalisation on government intervention;4 Environment and innovation in rural Shaanxi;4.1 Marginalisation in rural Shaanxi: an introduction;4.2 Environmental challenges and impacts on rural livelihoods;4.3 Rural innovation and re-organisation in marginal areas;4.4 Why a farmer innovation study is needed: concluding remarks;5 Environmental and development challenges in Zhidan;5.1 Zhidan's resources and ecological environment;5.2 Zhidan's rural economic development and challenges;5.3 Evolution of Zhidan's innovation strategy;5.4 Institutional dilemmas and innovation organisation;5.5 Conclusions: institutional contradiction and rural innovation;6 Farmer innovative capacity and communication networks;6.1 Village environment and livelihood systems: overview of samples;6.2 Household innovative capacity;6.3 Farmer communication networks;6.4 Conclusions: communication, networks and innovation;7 Farmer self-organisation for innovation: cases and model;7.1 Technology apprpriateness: the case of greenhouse adoption;7.2 Innovation potential:invention of a rainfall collection system;7.3 Social capital and farmer innovation: case of the 'green' village;7.4 Farmer innovation system: a self-organisation model;8 Conclusion: sustainability and farmer innovation in China;8.1 What's the challenge? Unsustainability and marginalisation;8.2 Role of the poor: sustainable livelihoods and organisation;8.3 Innovation model for farmer self-organisation;8.4 Policy implications: interface between insiders and outsiders;Footnotes;Bibliography;Appendix 1: Map of fieldwork location;Appendix 2: survey map of Zhidan

Before his academic career, Dr Bin Wu has spent many years in China's countryside, army camps and urban factory. Related to his interdisciplinary background, he has a wide range of research interests regarding the interrelation between environment, technology and society, with special consideration for the role of ordinary people.