Farmers' Willingness to Participate in the Management of Small-Scale Irrigation in China from a Social Capital Perspective

作者：Luo, Fang^*; Wang, Qing; Sun, Fang Min; Xu, Dan; Sun, Cai Hong

来源：Irrigation and Drainage, 2018, 67(4): 594-604.

DOI：10.1002/ird.2208

• social trust
• institutional trust
• social networks
• social norms
• participatory irrigation management

Because of the different patterns of rural clan society and the 'peer' mode of farmers' interactions, rural households make decisions based on learning, imitation, interaction, and trial and error, the realization of which depends on farmers' social capital. The concept of social capital is introduced to analyse farmers' willingness to participate in the management of small-scale irrigation. The study deconstructs social capital pathways of reducing costs and improving productivity in agriculture. Based on field survey data of 285 farmers in Hubei Province, China, an ordered Logit model is used to analyse farmers' willingness to participate in irrigation management. It is shown that social capital and its four dimensions, i.e. social trust, institutional trust, social networks and social norms, all significantly improve farmers' willingness to participate in such management. Other factors also influence willingness to participate. The larger the cultivated area, agricultural income, or proportion of paddy field, the greater the willingness to participate in this management. The educational level of the head of a household significantly reduces farmers' willingness. Hence, it is recommended to improve farmers' willingness to participate in irrigation management by attaching importance to traditional social cohesiveness, promoting moderate scale management, and orienting rural education toward agriculture.

• 出版日期2018-10
• 单位黄冈师范学院