CASH CROPS AND CLIMATE SHOCKS: FLEXIBLE LIVELIHOODS IN SOUTHEAST YUNNAN, CHINA Clara CHAMPALLE Department of Geography McGill University, Montreal Submitted December 2012 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts © Clara Champalle 2012 ABSTRACT The rural landscape of the People’s Republic of China has changed dramatically from land collectivization in the 1950s to the decollectivization reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1979. By the mid-1980s each rural household had again become responsible for its own agricultural production, and food security began to improve, even within the most remote areas. To further this agrarian transition, in the late 1990s the central state devised the Western Development Strategy to advance its ‘less developed’ western regions, within which provincial governments subsidized cash crops. The aim of this thesis is first to examine the importance of cash crops and related subsidies for Han and minority nationality farmer households in Honghe Hani-Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, China; second, to assess how extreme weather events affect these farmers’ livelihoods and to investigate the coping mechanisms they employ. To answer this aim I draw on a conceptual framework that incorporates key elements from sustainable livelihoods, food security, and vulnerability and resilience to climate variability literatures. Focusing on four townships in Honghe Prefecture, southeast Yunnan, I completed statistical analyses of quantitative data regarding recent extreme weather events in the region and ethnographic fieldwork, including conversational interviews with farmers and semi-structured interviews with local officials completed in summer 2011. I find that state-sponsored cash crops do not always bring higher financial capital rewards and that cash crop farmers have been increasingly exposed to extreme precipitation and temperatures since the year 2000, which constrain their access to livelihood capitals, essential for (re)investing in cash cropping. In turn, farmers cope with and/or adapt to climate shocks according to their initial livelihood decision-making and the specifics of the event, while also being influenced by their location and ethnicity. In sum, I argue that farmers’ vulnerability is rooted in social, temporal and spatial variables, many of which are not being considered by state officials. RÉSUMÉ Le paysage rural de la République Populaire de Chine s’est considérablement transformé depuis la collectivisation dans les années 50 jusqu’aux réformes de dé-collectivisation instauré par Deng Xiaoping en 1979. Au milieu des années 80, chaque ménage rural est redevenu responsable de sa propre production agricole et la sécurité alimentaire semble s’être améliorée, même dans les régions les plus reculées. Pour intensifier la transition agraire et le développement rural, l’état a commencé à la fin des années 90 à subventionner les cultures commerciales au niveau provincial, à travers sa « Stratégie de développement de l’ouest du pays ». L’objectif de ce mémoire est premièrement d’examiner l’importance des cultures commerciales subventionnées par l’état pour les agriculteurs, particulièrement issus des minorités ethniques (Yi, Hmong, Yao, et Zhuang) et de la majorité Han dans la Préfecture de Honghe, Yunnan; et deuxièmement d’évaluer les effets des phénomènes climatiques extrêmes sur leurs moyens d’existence et d’étudier les mécanismes de survie auxquels ils ont recours. Pour remplir cet objectif, j’utilise un cadre théorique incorporant les éléments clés des littératures sur les moyens d’existence durables, la sécurité alimentaire, ainsi que la vulnérabilité et la résilience à la variabilité du climat. Mes méthodes comprennent une analyse statistique des données quantitatives des récents phénomènes climatiques extrêmes dans la région et un travail ethnographique dans quatre cantons de la Préfecture de Honghe, notamment des entrevues non structurées avec les agriculteurs et semi-structurées avec les cadres locaux au cours de l’été 2011. Je constate que les cultures commerciales subventionnées par l’état ne s’accompagnent pas toujours d’une amélioration du capital financier des agriculteurs et que ces cultures sont de plus en plus exposées à de fortes précipitations et d’extrêmes températures, qui réduisent l’accès aux capitaux de subsistance, nécessaire au réinvestissement dans les cultures commerciales. Par conséquent, les agriculteurs développent des stratégies de survie et/ou d’adaptation selon leurs moyens d’existence choisis et le type de phénomènes climatiques, mais sont également affectés par leur emplacement et leur ethnicité. En somme, je remarque que l’accès des agriculteurs aux ressources est essentiellement fonction de trois variables : sociale, temporelle et spatiale ; celles-ci souvent ignorées par les cadres gouvernementaux. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research would not have been possible without the help of many individuals, whom I wish to acknowledge here. First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisor, Professor Sarah Turner. I am forever grateful for her continuous support, guidance and thorough encouragement from the first to the very last draft of this thesis. I would also like to thank the second member of my supervisory committee, Professor Navin Ramankutty who supported me in my quantitative endeavours and for his insightful comments along the way. I would also like to thank the support of all members of the Southeast Asian Research Lab and the constructive criticism on my work through our meetings in Thomson House. I would like to extend thanks to official proofreaders Jonathan Gerber, Sarah Delisle, Noelani Eidse, and Jean-Francois Rousseau who have helped polish my English through numerous drafts and have given me great advice. These past two years of studying would have been much harder without the support from my friends and family who have put up with my stress, doubts and other questions and have given me hope and courage to accomplish this. To name a few: my parents, sister and brothers, as well as Soph, Oly, the DDF, Chloé, JB, Pablo, Fabien, Magalie, Eva, for their moral support and time for the countless occasions at which we debated on the meaning of all this. I also want to acknowledge the support of Pablo Arroyo and Corey Lesk with their respective help and patience on ArcGIS and climate data analysis. Many thanks to my Chinese research assistant in the field, Dingxiang, as well as my research collaborators in Kunming, who have facilitated my field season in Yunnan Province. My thanks also go to the financial support that I received from Sarah Turner, Mr. Roger Warren, the Geography Department and McGill University as well as my family, who made this two-year research possible. I also wish to send my regards to McGill’s Geography Department’s administration and their support in all administrative papers. Last but not least, many thanks to all the Yi, Hmong, Yao, Zhuang and Han interviewees for their curiosity, enthusiasm and patience. iii Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Thesis Aim and Research Objectives 3 1.2. Thesis Outline 5 CHAPTER 2 – CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 7 2.1. Sustainable Livelihoods 7 2.1.1. Defining Livelihoods and Access 8 2.1.2. Sustainability and Long-Term Flexibility 10 2.1.3. Propelling Forces to Rural Diversification 12 2.1.4. Diversifying Livelihood Strategies to Diminish Vulnerability 14 2.1.5. Key Points from the Sustainable Livelihoods Literature 15 2.2. Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Variability 15 2.2.1. Defining Climate Variability, Vulnerability and Resilience 16 2.2.2. The Concepts of Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Variability 19 2.2.3. A Holistic Approach 20 2.2.4. Key Points from the Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Variability Literature 21 2.3. Food Security 22 2.3.1. Defining Food Security 22 2.3.2. Food Security: Four Dimensions Over Time 23 2.3.3. Food System Concept 24 2.3.4. Key Points from the Food Security Literature 26 2.4. Chapter Conclusion 26 CHAPTER 3 – CONTEXT 28 3.1. Environmental Context and Related Policies 28 3.1.1. Land Resources Related Institutional and Policy Changes Since 1949 29 3.1.2. Water Management Related Policies Since 1988 30 3.1.3. Regulations Resulting From Land and Water Resources Degradation 31 3.2. Political and Socio-Economic Context 32 3.2.1. East Versus West: 1978 to late 1990s 32 3.2.2. Go West Campaign and Western Development Strategy: late 90s-early 2000 33 3.3. Politics Behind the Minority Nationality ‘Label’ 36 3.4. Landscape and Multi-Ethnicity in Yunnan and Honghe Prefecture 38 3.4.1. Topography, Hydrology and Demography of Yunnan Province 38 3.4.2. Minority Nationalities’ Historical and Current Livelihoods in Honghe Prefecture 39 3.5. Four Townships in Mengzi and Hekou 41 3.6. Chapter Conclusion 44 CHAPTER 4 – METHODOLOGY 45 4.1. Field Sites 46 4.2. Quantitative Methods 46 4.2.1. Climate Data Analysis – Mengzi County Weather Station 46 4.2.2. Secondary Data Analysis 49 4.3. Qualitative Methods 50 4.3.1. Participant Sampling 50 4.3.2. Participant Observation 51 4.3.3. Unstructured / Conversational Interviews with Farmers 52 4.3.4 Semi-Structured Interviews with Government Officials 52 4.3.5. Teaming Up With an Assistant: Practicalities, Advantages and Cross-Cultural Dilemmas 53 4.4. Data Analysis 55 iv Table of Contents 4.5. Researching in China 55 4.6. Positionality, Power Relations And Ethical Dilemmas 58 4.7. Chapter Conclusion 60 CHAPTER 5 – STATE INCENTIVES FOR AGRARIAN CHANGE AND IMPACTS ON LIVELIHOOD 61 5.1. From Subsistence To Cash Cropping: Agrarian Change 61 5.1.1. The Contemporary Agrarian Situation in Honghe County 61 5.1.2. Agricultural Change in Mengzi and Hekou Counties 63 5.2. State Incentives Pertaining to Cash Crops in Mengzi and Hekou Counties 65 5.2.1. Flue-Cured Tobacco – Mengzi County 65 5.2.2.