An analysis of the vulnerability of poor communities in Yunnan province, China, to climate and socioeconomic changes

In recent decades, due to rapid economic development and urbanization in China, there has been rapid and far-reaching socioeconomic change in mountain areas such as Yunnan Province. Yunnan has also historically been affected by climate-related natural disasters. The droughts of 2009-2012 are a recent example. However, comprehensive data is needed on the effect of such issues on local livelihoods with regard to their vulnerability to change and how corresponding behavioural shifts may mitigate or exacerbate the impact of these changes. A comprehensive research program at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) dubbed ‘Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Programme (HICAP)’ has researched such topics in four countries within the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. For Yunnan province of China, the Centre for Mountain Ecosystem Studies (CMES), jointly with the HICAP team of ICIMOD, interviewed 1950 households, who comprised a representative sample of the population of five prefectures of Yunnan Province. This quantitative survey used the Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment (PVA): a research tool previously developed by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) (Gerlitz et al., 2014). The survey explored the vulnerability of the livelihoods of mountain communities to climatic and socioeconomic changes, as well as their adaptive capacity. The survey results are a perception-based response of the households that were interviewed and provide an overview of their impressions about issues including climate change, their vulnerabilities and finally their capacity to respond to change. The research demonstrated that people in the surveyed areas are already vulnerable to marginalization and climate change. Their dependency ratio and illiteracy rates are very high, and migrant workers are paid low wages. They also have little or no chance of participating in or influencing the formulation or implementation of government policies. Most households use hybrid seeds, and there has been a shift away from traditional staple crops to cash crops. The root causes of the vulnerability to changes in these communities, are not only environmental problems, but also include their social structure, institutional arrangements, lack of equity and community interactions.

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5716/WP18021.PDF

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