Ahead of the release of the ‘Climate Change and Ecological Smallholders’ report
That same autumn, I began an online master’s programme in natural resources and enrolled in a course on climate change adaptation. Later, I was selected for the Linglong Programme by Friends of Nature. As I considered my direction for action, having just joined Foodthink, I naturally linked climate change to the ecological smallholders that Foodthink champions.
This was the initial spark for the current “Climate Change and Ecological Smallholders” research.
I.
As industrialised, monocultural, and chemical-reliant agricultural models sweep across the globe—bringing with them environmental pollution, soil degradation, greenhouse gas emissions, and a loss of biodiversity—ecological smallholders are exploring agricultural models that are resource-efficient and environmentally friendly.
Whether they are veteran farmers with years of experience, young people returning to their ancestral lands, or ‘new farmers’ who have traded city careers for the soil… though their motivations for embracing ecological agriculture may differ, they share a common commitment: avoiding chemical inputs such as synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, and growth regulators. Instead, they adapt to local conditions, source materials locally, and make full use of organic matter in the soil to restore farmland ecosystems. By integrating traditional Chinese farming techniques, such as crop rotation and intercropping, they employ ecological methods to pursue diversified cultivation and livestock rearing.
As urban consumers become increasingly conscious of health and the environment, most ecological smallholders are moving away from selling their produce to middlemen. Instead, they are building trust and connecting directly with consumers through both online and offline channels, relying on farmers’ markets, community-supported purchasing, and participatory guarantee systems.
As an urban consumer, these farmers’ markets and community-supported purchasing schemes have given me the opportunity to get to know several ecological smallholders. Not only can I source fresh, healthy ingredients directly from them, but I can also follow their daily lives on the farm, including the challenges posed by extreme weather. I have been deeply moved by the resilience, optimism, and proactive spirit these farmers display in the face of blizzards, hail, droughts, and floods.
II.
But under such severe pressure from climate change, must ecological smallholders face it alone? What kind of support do they need? While it remains unclear exactly how to act, I believe that recognising the problem may be the first step towards action.
Driven by simple concern and curiosity, I also wanted to know what the erratic temperatures and abnormal weather we experience in the cities over recent years actually mean for those ecological farmers who produce in collaboration with nature.
Through a review of the literature, we found that case studies on climate change and smallholders predominantly come from developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, while analyses of how Chinese smallholders adapt to climate change are scarce. Domestic research on smallholders and climate change also largely takes a policy-based approach, treating smallholders as passive recipients and giving little consideration to their own agency. How do they perceive climate change? What makes their coping mechanisms unique? Ecological smallholders—a niche yet vital group—have received even less scholarly attention.
If we can fill this gap through this study, we can let more people know that China’s ecological smallholders are also taking active steps to adapt to climate change. Furthermore, if we can identify the external barriers and challenges they face in addressing climate change, as well as the gaps in their own capabilities, we may be able to find specific directions for supporting them in the future.
With the joint support of Friends of Nature’s Linglong Project and Foodthink, the study began.
In May 2022, we published a recruitment article to mobilise ecological smallholders from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and South China to sign up for the study. We listed the following recruitment criteria: the use of ecological organic cultivation or breeding methods (i.e., basically no use of chemically synthetic agricultural inputs); in principle, a scale of under 200 mu (excluding mountainous and forested land); no limit on the type of crop.
Ultimately, we surveyed 30 ecological farmers from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Guangxi, and Guangdong. They had been engaged in ecological agriculture for an average of 6.5 years, with farm sizes ranging from 4 fen to 300 mu. Excluding those involved in under-forest cultivation and orchard-based farming, the average size was approximately 30 mu. Most of their farms were family-run or small-scale production farms, although there were also relatively larger commercial farms operated by management teams.
III.
The year of the study happened to coincide with the third year of the pandemic.
At the start, my Linglong colleague Xiyao and I could only meet most of the farmers online via video conferences; only when controls permitted did we have the opportunity to drive together to farms in the suburbs of Beijing.
In July, when I headed to Guangdong and Guangxi for fieldwork with my Foodthink colleagues Tianle and Wang Hao, we were as cautious as children playing hopscotch, terrified of stumbling into an outbreak zone, being quarantined, seeing a yellow health code, or getting a pop-up warning. When we arrived in Liuzhou and were preparing to visit a farm the following morning, a sudden discovery of positive cases in the district forced us to change our plans at the last minute.
Due to various circumstances, we still missed a few farms. Out of the 30 on our list, we ultimately managed to visit 20 in person.
Last year, South China experienced rare ‘Dragon Boat’ rains followed by a prolonged summer-to-autumn drought that triggered severe wildfires. Most of the country endured a scorching summer. We had the opportunity to stand on terraces and hillsides, empathising with ecological smallholders firsthand as we documented their stories.
IV.
The second part provides a brief analysis of the demographic structure of the research participants and the basic conditions of their farms.
The third part summarises the general perceptions of ecological smallholders regarding climate change, lists the climate events that have most severely affected farmers in the two regions, and uses the farmers’ own words to describe the impact of abnormal and extreme weather on crop growth, production plans, farmland ecosystems, infrastructure, and personnel.
The fourth part details the existing adaptation measures employed by farmers, including infrastructure construction, soil improvement, diversified planting, variety selection, integrated crop-livestock systems, farm siting and planning, as well as the diversification of livelihoods and business operations.
Looking ahead, we attempt to explore how various external economic and social factors can better support ecological smallholders in coping with climate change. Will they have sufficient funds to sustain their adaptation efforts? Are there insurance schemes and subsidies available? Where will new skills and knowledge come from? To increase the value of agricultural products, are there processing methods suited to their needs? Facing the challenges of labour shortages and limited markets, can they continue to survive and thrive in the struggle against climate change? We have gathered these findings and reflections in the final section of the report.
We will also share the vivid stories and voices of the ecological smallholders within the report.
At 8 pm on Wednesday, 22 February, the author of this article, Qihua, will share the research findings at an offline salon hosted by the Beijing Energy Network (BEN). Please click the link to register.
Over the coming weeks, Foodthink will publish excerpts of the report in chapters on its official account. The report may have many shortcomings, and we welcome the readers’ criticisms and suggestions. Once all excerpts have been published, we will revise and compile the text again to release the full report in both electronic and print formats.
If you are interested in obtaining the full report, please scan the QR code below and fill out the form. We will contact you once it is released.
We would also like to express our gratitude to all our fellow farmers; the vivid experiences shared in this research come entirely from them. Some farmers generously gave their time to communicate candidly with us, patiently explaining agricultural techniques and practices, clarifying technical terms, and sharing their experiences, even during the peak periods of harvesting and planting.
We also received guidance from mentors of the Linglong Plan, including Lyu Zhi, Xu Yinlong, and Qiao Yuhui. They provided many valuable suggestions during the research and the writing of the report. More importantly, their encouragement and urging have finally brought the completion of this report within reach.
During our travels, many partners, including the Guangxi Guoren Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development Centre, Guangdong Fengnianqing, and the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market, helped us contact farms, joined us in the fields, and provided various forms of assistance. The list is long, so we will not name everyone individually, but we express our gratitude to all.
Editor: Wang Hao