Who determines the trade-offs between agricultural production and environmental quality? An evolutionary perspective from rural eastern China

Abstract

We explore the evolutionary nature of interactions between government policy, farm decision-making and ecosystem services in Shucheng County, Anhui Province from 1950 to 2015. Analyses of ecological, social and economic trends are complemented by interviews with local farmers about their status, perceptions and attitudes. Since the introduction of the Household Responsibility System in 1980, the start of liberalisation, there has been a trade-off between rising levels of provisioning services and falling levels of regulating services in the environment, with some evidence that critical thresholds have been passed for water quality. Using a Framework for Ecosystem Service Provision, we argue that farmers have acted only as ecosystem service providers and have not influenced the national/regional policies that have brought about the trade-offs. Over the whole period, ecological degradation is best described as an example of ‘creeping normalcy’ where cumulative conventional actions by individual farmers produce unsustainable losses in regulating services. The Chinese government should be acting to balance the various ecosystem services through valuation and national policy. In this respect, there is a need for a new coordination of agencies that can deliver scientific and place-based advice to farmers that will allow them to maintain productivity levels while pursuing restorative actions. Even with new policies, the draw of urban employment and high production costs threaten the viability of farming in these marginal agricultural areas, especially over the next 10-15 years when most current farmers will retire.

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ORCID for John Dearing: orcid.org/0000-0002-1466-9640

ORCID for David Armstrong McKay: orcid.org/0000-0002-0020-7461

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