Impact of livelihood capital and rural site conditions on livelihood resilience of farm households: evidence from contiguous poverty-stricken areas in China.

Farm households around the world are increasingly exposed to both external and internal shocks and stressors. Enhancing the resilience of farm households to frequent disturbances holds paramount importance in fostering the sustainability of their livelihoods and the revitalization of rural areas. Based on 1500 household samples from 14 contiguous poverty-stricken areas (CPSA) in China, this study explores the causal pathways between livelihood capitals of farm households and rural site conditions of rural communities, as well as quantifying their impacts on farm households' livelihood resilience using structural equation models. In particular, the livelihood resilience of farm households is measured based on the "Exposure-Sensitivity-Adaptability" framework. The results show that livelihood resilience is positively represented by exposure and adaptability, but is negatively correlated with sensitivity. Specifically, households with lower mean health and higher dependency ratio are more sensitive to risks, while exposure to agroforestry pests and diseases will lead farm households to diversify their livelihood activities and increase crop and livestock variety to enhance their adaptability. The livelihood capital of farm households has a significant positive effect on livelihood resilience (β = 0.874, p < 0.001). Rural site conditions have both significant direct and indirect impacts on livelihood resilience, with the direct impact (β =  - 0.207, p < 0.05) being negative and a bit larger than the positive indirect impact (β = 0.163, p < 0.05), as mediated by livelihood capital. The government should, therefore, invest more in health insurance, education and training, financial support, and infrastructure, and implement village planning to enhance both the quality of household livelihood capitals and rural site conditions in CPSA.