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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Volume 8 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1485376
This article is part of the Research Topic Regenerative Agriculture and Support in Changing Policy Environments: Farmers’ Rights, Contract Farming, and Navigating towards Sustainable Practices View all 3 articles

How Does Intermediary Organizations Affect Cultivated Land Conservation in China: The Mediating Role of Land Tenure Stability

Provisionally accepted
Jian Cai Jian Cai 1Jiating Chen Jiating Chen 2Runmin Wu Runmin Wu 1Rosmini Omar Rosmini Omar 3Binyao Ning Binyao Ning 3,4*
  • 1 School of Economics and Management, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guizhou Province, China
  • 2 School of Agricultural Economics & Rural Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Renmin University of China, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 3 Azman Hashim International Business School, University of Technology Malaysia, johor, Malaysia
  • 4 Shaoguan University, Shaoguan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Economic pressure frequently prompts farmers in developing regions to prioritize immediate financial returns over long-term land conservation. This study examines how land intermediary organizations affect Chinese farmers' willingness to conserve cultivated land. Using bounded rationality and property rights theories, we conducted quantitative research involving 564 farmers across five provinces in mainland China.The results show that intermediary organizations improve farmers' willingness to conserve land, mediated by land tenure stability. Notably, both human capital (education level) and social capital (village cadre status) negatively moderated the impact of intermediary organizations' involvement in farmers' willingness to conserve cultivated land. The results of this study indicate the necessity of improving land conservation practices, considering the role of institutional support and individual characteristics of farmers. In terms of policy implications, there is a need to adapt intermediary services to align with the capital levels of farmers, enhance the security of land-use rights by streamlining registration procedures, and implement targeted information systems and incentive schemes. Limitations of this study include its crosssectional design and potential regional variations.

    Keywords: Land conservation, intermediary organizations, land tenure stability, Human Capital, social capital, Farmer decisions

    Received: 26 Aug 2024; Accepted: 17 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cai, Chen, Wu, Omar and Ning. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Binyao Ning, Azman Hashim International Business School, University of Technology Malaysia, johor, 81310, Malaysia

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