Suchergebnisse

Since the construction of the Three Gorges Project was approved at the fifth plenary session of the seventh National People's Congress in April 1992, more than ten years have elapsed. This massive hydroelectric project, which will take a total of 17 years to be completed, is now at its peak stage of construction. Many scholars and experts have expressed concerns about the various problems resulting from its construction, such as siltation, other environmental impacts and resettlement. Among these, the resettlement problem is the most challenging. Based on over six months of investigation in the Three Gorges in 2001, and an overview of resettlement literature, this paper examines the development of the resettlement policy, planning, and challenges to the implementation of the resettlement plan. Focusing primarily on rural resettlement, and including data from case studies, it addresses the evolution and recent changes to resettlement policy and practice, and presents recommendations for development of the resettlement work. Great strides have been made in effective implementation of resettlement policy and plans in China and the Three Gorges Project. However, constraints in the Three Gorges physical and economic environment continue to precipitate necessary change to resettlement policy and planning. New standards for displacement compensation must continue to be explored, and fuller participation of the displaced must be sought to avoid the social and economic risks of impoverishment in the Three Gorges. (Original abstract)

Abstract
The concept of benefit-sharing has popular focus in numerous discussions concerning approaches with displacement, development, and sustainable livelihood. It is clear that compensation is inadequate to mitigate impoverishment risks and re-build improved sustainable livelihoods. Benefit-sharing is seen to be a vital option for the improvement and development of re-settler's livelihoods. Subsequently, this study aims to provide evidence of the present state of policy, benefit-sharing mechanism practices, and approaches in the hydropower sector of Pakistan. The benefit-sharing mechanism is present in some form but it needs new endoresements and reforms within the national resettlement framework of Pakistan. The target case in this study is to investigate the implementation level of benefit-sharing mechanisms in the Ghazi Barotha Hydropower project. It shows an example of some necessary elements of benefit-sharing and has provided a possible solution for solving the dilemma of compensation-based resettlement in Pakistan.

This article analyses the effects of resettlement on farming households in two villages within the area inundated by the Three Gorges Dam, China. The article also proposes a political-economic framework within which to understand the resettlement program and its implications for households. The households brought a variety of resources into the resettlement—land, savings, their labor, social ties, and communal resources—resources that became less during the resettlement process. Apart from extensive borrowing, largely to fund a major investment in new housing, the households' responses tended to reflect constraints imposed on them by the resettlement rather than their ability to exploit new opportunities. As a consequence, farm incomes fell after resettlement, particularly in the village where more land was lost. The loss of farm income was not made up by increased off-farm income through paid work or self-employment. The households in the two villages have thus become more vulnerable to further external shocks than they were before the resettlement.

There has been remarkable growth in the number of cooperatives in China in the past decade. This article asks: what role are cooperatives playing in driving China's ambitious agricultural reforms? The scholarly literature describes farmer cooperatives as either an important entity for progressing China's rural modernization agenda, a vehicle of exploitation and dispossession of smallholder farmers, or evidence of broader commitment to grassroots solidarity. Despite the rapid expansion of farmer cooperatives, the role that they play in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in places where agriculture remains central and out-migration is low is poorly understood. To explore this, in 2019 we conducted a survey of 266 households in the mountains of Hubei Province. To illuminate the politics and dynamics on the ground, we followed up by conducting in-depth interviews with agribusinesses, cooperatives, households, and local government officials. Our findings suggest that although cooperatives are attempting to engage with smallholders, they are neither integrating nor exploiting them. While seemingly innocuous to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, these entities serve a mostly political function, and it is in these dynamics that we observe the limits of agricultural reform. Where smallholder production is lucrative, land is valuable, and out-migration is minimal, local government appears to be "performing" reform, without forcing it on smallholders and thereby harming the local economy or risking social unrest. (China J/GIGA)