Technical efficiency analysis of the conversion of cropland to forestland program in Jiangxi, Shaanxi, and Sichuan

ABSTRACT

Conversion of Cropland to Forestland Program (CCFP) has greatly impacted China’s agricultural sector, and more specifically rural farmers. While changes in living standards as a result of the implementation of the CCFP have been analyzed, little research has been conducted regarding the impacts of such policies on farming operations. As agriculture contributes nearly 10% of national GDP, it is important to analyze the implications of policies on a national industry. An input-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) model was used to examine the technical efficiency of farming operations following implementation of the CCFP, using survey data from farmers in Jiangxi, Shaanxi, and Sichuan provinces. Additionally, the impact of factors such as urbanization, age and education, and land fragmentation was examined with respect to farming operational efficiency. Scale inefficiency was found to have the greatest effect on overall inefficiency in farming operations in comparison to pure technical inefficiency, which was largely influenced by the presence and degree of land fragmentation of land holdings. Findings can be used to inform national land-use policies facilitating land fragmentation in China and address gaps in existing broader level studies that utilize non-parametric approaches to examine the technical efficiency of Chinese farmers affected by the CCFP.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• data envelopment analysis
• forest policy
• forest land-use
• technical efficiency

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Yucai Li, Deputy Ministry, State Forestry Administration of China and many members from Sichuan, Jiangxi, and Shaanxi provincial forestry departments who supported this research. The research was funded the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and Canada International Council.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. For a full description of how that sample of rural households was created please see (Wang et al. 2018).

2. The original sample in Wang et al. (2018) had 1089 households from 32 counties in the 3 provinces.

3. These respondents are either households with multiple people or of only a single person. For simplicity, the use of the term ‘farmer’ later on in this paper will be used to describe these respondents regardless of whether they are a multi-person household or a single person household.

4. By farming operations, we are referring to any activity that results in the growth of one or both of either (i) crops that are able to generate income for the household or (ii) trees that fulfill the criteria of reforestation as per the CCFP which subsequently allow the household to receive compensation for this activity.

5. From this point forward ‘sample’ will refer to the sample specifically used for the present study which is the subsection of Wang et al. (2018)‘s sample.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian International Council; Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China.