Paper short abstract:

This paper explores Yi farmers' risk perceptions on a variety of hazardous weather events and a series of policy changes under agricultural transformation and addresses the uncertainty that farmers are facing to gain some insights on how Yi people sustain livelihood under dramatic transformation.

Paper long abstract:

When witnessing and experiencing the dramatic agricultural transformation from subsistence farming to cash cropping, what are the strategies that Yi farmers have adopted to cope with such changes, and what are the perceptions Yi famers have gained towards various hazardous weather events and policy changes? To address both questions above-mentioned, this paper uses a mixed method to explore Yi farmers' livelihood in a remote village named Zhanhe in Ninglang Yi Autonomous County, which is located on the edge of Northeast Yunnan, China.

I present the results of approximately 40 semi-structured interviews and 130 household surveys with Zhanhe residents, which aims to gain understandings on Yi farmers' risk perceptions regarding sustaining their livelihoods under agricultural transformation. Although the results show that Yi farmers are inclined to embrace the new agricultural policy, which emphasizes on replacing subsistence crops, such as tartary buckwheat, with commercial crops such as Walnut and Chinese medicine, their responses suggest that there are a great deal of uncertainties involved at the same time. I interpret the findings in the context of literature on cultural theory of risk and China's modernization trend for understanding the interrelationship between economic development and the uncertainties that farmers are facing. I consider the implications of these findings for better navigating agricultural policies in rural China today.