The role of rubber farming in household dietary diversity in the upper Mekong region, Southwest China

Rubber expansion has significantly improved household income but negatively affected farm production diversity. As intermediary variables, both household income and farm production diversity have positive impacts on household dietary diversity, while the impact of rubber cultivation on household dietary diversity is always positive. AbstractThe expansion of cash tree crops, such as natural rubber, in the tropical region of South Asia has resulted in an agricultural transformation from subsistence production to market ‐oriented production, implicating the local ecological environment, economy, and household welfare. Based on representative household survey data collected from 611 smallholder rubber farmers in the upper Mekong region, Southwest China, this study examines the impacts of rubber farming on the hous ehold dietary diversity of smallholders and explores its potential impact channels through farm production diversity and household income. The results show that rubber expansion has significantly improved household income but negatively affected farm production diversity. While rubber cultivation al ways has significant and positive effects on dietary diversity, it also indirectly impacts on dietary diversity by the two channels, namely farm production diversity and household income. A set of heterogeneous analyses reveals that rubber cultivation contributes more to household dietary diversity for smallholders having relatively low household wealth or living in a vill...

Source: Food and Energy Security - May 4, 2021 Category: Food Science Authors: Yajie Luo, Shi Min, Junfei Bai Tags: ORIGINAL RESEARCH Source Type: research