Abstract
The Grain for green program (GFGP) has resulted in a large number of small-scale, scattered family forest land operators in China. Small-scale forest cooperative management helps to bring together fragmented reforested land, optimizes the operation level of small-scale forests, and improves the effectiveness and sustainability of the GFGP. We use the Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis network process framework to identify key elements and main strategies associated with small-scale forest cooperative management under the GFGP in Xinjiang, China. Our 5 major findings are: (1) the positive factors associated with small-scale forest cooperative management under the GFGP in Xinjiang are more important than the negative factors, (2) the team of administrators suggests focusing on the structure of rural governance, the development of new types of agri-business, and the reform of collective forest property rights, (3) The team of researchers suggests focusing on the expectation of cooperation from participating farmers, the priorities and core workings of the GFGP, the relevant laws that seem to be out of touch with the demands of farmers, and the second plow risk after compensation, (4) the strategy of small-scale forest cooperative management under the GFGP in Xinjiang should comprehensively integrate the strategies of the teams of administrators and researchers in order to ensure its suitability and operability, and (5) the team of administrators chose the weakness-opportunity strategy, whereas the team of researchers suggested focusing on the strength-threat strategy.
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Notes
Closed forest land refers to the natural forest and man-made forest with tree canopy density greater than or equal to 20%.
According to the World Bank (2020), the forest area in China grew from 1.8 million square km in 1999 to 2.1 million square km in 2013. A report by the FAO indicates, the SLCP or GFGP program increased forest areas by 18% (FAO 2020). The SLCP also had unintended consequences as it caused slippage, thereby converting nearly 1/5 of agriculturally productive land to forest land (Yan 2019).
Specialized Farmers’ Cooperatives are economic organizations consisting of producers and operators of the same kind of products or the providers and users of the same kind of agricultural production and operation services. Specialized Farmers’ Cooperatives provide services such as production material sales, technical consultation, market information release, and product processing and sales. Specialized Farmers’ Cooperatives have developed rapidly since its establishment in the country in 2007. These cooperatives have become the dominant agricultural cooperative management organizations.
New types of agricultural businesses are the new organizational units closely related to modern agricultural development and agricultural management system innovation. The new types of agricultural businesses (Specialized Farmers’ Cooperatives, Family Farms, Large Family Farming Businesses, and Leading Agriculture Enterprises) meet the needs of agricultural modernization development and guide small-scale farmers onto the track of modern agriculture.
In the past 40 years, the Chinese government has launched a series of afforestation projects, such as the Grain for Green Program, the Natural Forest Protection Project, and the Three-north Shelterbelt Project, which initially constructed the shield system of ecological security in China. The shield system of ecological security has significantly improved the quality and stability of the ecosystem.
The Collective forest property rights (CFPR) reform entails clarification of proprietary rights, survey and certification, lifting restrictions of management rights, and fulfillment of disposition rights. The Collective forest property rights have been implemented to accelerate China’s rural restructuring. It is regarded as the third land reform. In 2003, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces launched a trial reform of the CFPR. There are 2 mandates related to the CFPR: Guidance on Comprehensively Launching the Reform of Collective Forest Property Rights (2008) and Guidance on Improving the System of Collective Forest Rights (2016). The CFPR reform mainly concentrates on the cultivation of the new types of agricultural businesses and the achievement of moderate-scale operations of collective forest in recent years.
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Zhang, Z., Paudel, K.P. Small-Scale Forest Cooperative Management of the Grain for Green Program in Xinjiang, China: A SWOT-ANP Analysis. Small-scale Forestry 20, 221–233 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-020-09465-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-020-09465-2