No hay ganancia en la milpa: the agrarian question,food sovereignty,and the on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity in the Guatemalan highlands

Although they receive little recognition for their contribution, peasant farmers in the global South play a fundamental role in securing the long-term global food supply. Via their self-sufficient agricultural practices, they cultivate the crop genetic diversity that enables food crops to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In this paper I draw upon empirical data from the Guatemalan center of agricultural biodiversity to investigate the concern that market expansion will displace peasant agriculture and undermine a cornerstone of the global food supply. I find that even though peasants' livelihoods involve multiple forms of market provisioning, they also engage in a Polanyian ‘double movement’ to protect their subsistence-oriented agricultural practices from the potentially deleterious effects of markets. I also investigate the so-called ‘agrarian question’ about the effects of market expansion on the viability of peasant agriculture, finding that although new forms of market provisioning are likely exacerbating rural inequality, the income from market activities actually enables rural Guatemalans to reproduce the conditions for peasant agriculture. Ultimately, I observe that the conservation of agricultural biodiversity and, consequently, global food security are contingent upon the ‘food sovereignty’ of peasant farmers.     

论我国农业环境资源保护立法的健全与完善

我国农业环境保护立法留下了计划经济体制的深刻烙印 ,健全和完善立法不仅必要 ,而且十分迫切。农业环境保护法应当确立正确的农业环境资源保护的基本法律原则 ,完善农业环境资源保护的基本法律制度和措施 ,完善农业环境资源保护法律法规体系。     

农地使用权的界定及转让探析

土地承包经营权的缺陷决定了其必须物权化为农地使用权。农地使用权是一项独立的用益物权。我国物权立法应当在确立农地使用权制度的基础上 ,允许农地使用权转让。     

Hukou and land: market reform and rural displacement in China

Scholarship about the Chinese hukou (household registration) system has focused on the advantages and entitlements associated with urban hukou. This paper shifts attention to the key entitlement provided by rural hukou – village land. While early hukou reforms were mainly designed to open up urban labor markets to rural migrants, recent reforms have also begun to open up rural land markets, by replacing hukou-based land rights with market-based rights. These reforms are designed to facilitate land concentration and the transfer of land to outside developers and agribusiness companies, which has been hindered by hukou-based land rights. Underlying the reforms is the government's agenda of promoting large-scale agriculture and urbanization, both of which require the removal of a large portion of the rural population from the land. By focusing on land rights rather than urban benefits, this paper provides a new perspective on the evolution of the hukou system, and highlights the negative implications of recent reforms for livelihood security in the countryside.     

Public Perceptions of Benefits from and Worries over Plant‐Made Industrial Products and Plant‐Made Pharmaceuticals: The Influence of Institutional Trust

Although agricultural biotechnology has been a seminal reference point in risk perception studies, public awareness of their exposure to risk deriving from this new technology has been minimal at best. However, recent events indicate there may be growing public concern as new variations of this technology appear. Understanding what drives perceptions of benefits from the third generation of the agricultural biotechnology and what determines public worries are keys for the future of this technology. To this end, this study analyzes survey data from the midsouth region of the United States to construct four separate regression models of perceived benefits from and worries over plant‐made industrial products and plant‐made pharmaceuticals. Findings suggest that while prior experience with and knowledge about agricultural biotechnology has an impact on perceptions of benefits and worries, trust in farmers plays a highly important role in determining perceptions.     

风险社会语境下的农业产业危机与政府干预——以海南“香蕉危机”为个案

在风险社会语境下,中国农业除要面对自然和市场的双重风险,还要面对科学技术和政策变递等带来的振荡。对农业风险的预防和治理需要政府发挥主导作用,而政府干预不当却可能诱发或加剧农业风险。海南爆发的“香蕉危机”作为中国现代农业产业危机的缩影再次暴露出在农业生产经营和农业风险管理方面政府干预存在的严重问题,文章试图通过对海南“香蕉危机”事件的分析,剖析政府干预在农业产业危机的形成与治理中的作用,并进而提出政府适度干预以应对农业产业危机的对策与建议。     

三农问题背景中的村民自治

三农问题的解决,需要宏观上的努力,更需要微观上的努力。村民自治,是中国村民自主解决农村公共问题,进行公共管理,提供良好公共服务的重要制度安排。要发展良好的村民自治,关键之一是需要有一个良好的法律安排。因此,系统分析村民委员会组织法的具体规定,着眼于如何完善村民自治,分析其存在的缺陷,提出修改思路,是在制度上解决三农问题的微观保障。     

农业结构调整的制约因素及应对策略

当前农业结构调整存在着许多制约因素,如缺乏理论指导、缺少产业组织引导、缺少社会资本介入以及各种制度障碍。应积极引进各种社会资本参与农业结构调整,鼓励农业产业组织的发展,并为农业结构调整提供必要的制度支持。     

加入WTO对我市农业的影响及对策

加入WTO以后,我市农业面临着新的挑战与发展机遇。全面认识加入WTO对我市农业的影响,采取行之有效措施,趋利避害,进而促进我市农业和农村经济的发展,进一步加快我市农业现代化的进程。     

推进边疆民族地区农村产业结构调整的思考

推进边疆民族地区农村产业结构调整,对于边疆民族地区农村经济快速、稳定、健康发展至关重要.推进边疆民族地区农村产业结构调整是当前农民增收,农村经济社会全面协调发展的重要措施.因此,必须采取措施推进边疆民族地区农村产业结构调整的步伐.