Poverty eradication is one of the global challenges, and land transfer provides an effective path to address farmers’ poverty; however, the effect of poverty reduction can show heterogeneity depending on the location, household, and head of household. This study employs the propensity value matching technique to compare the effects of the land transfer on the future alleviation of poverty among farm households, based on the vulnerability as expected poverty, using data from 4608 household tracking surveys. The findings point to the following: In general, rural land transfers can significantly lessen farm households’ VEP. In terms of regional variations, the positive effects of land transfers on farm households’ VEP are mainly in the west. In terms of the differences among households, it was found that land transfers contribute to lower VEP for non-poor, non-financing-constrained, and government-subsidized farm households. With regard to differences in household headship, land transfers have abating effects on the VEP of self-employed heads of farm households. The results of the study can provide a useful reference for policy-making on land management and poverty reduction among farmers

The trade-off and coordinated development of the “production-living-ecological” functions (PLEFs) of an area is an important basis for the optimization of the spatial pattern of the land, and helps to promote the harmonious symbiotic relationship between human beings and nature. This paper combines ecological niche theory, a coupling coordination model, and a trade-off synergy model to construct an evaluation index system for Chinese county PLEFs. Quantitative methods were used to measure spatiotemporal evolution characteristics, trade-off synergy of PLEFs in 38 counties in Chongqing, China, and the coupling coordination degree between PLEFs. The results showed that the ecological niche width of the “production-ecological” function revealed an overall growth trend. However, there was a mismatch in regional development of the “production-ecological” function, showing dislocation characteristics of “high in the west and low in the east” and “high in the east and low in the west.” The niche width of the life function is similar to the comprehensive niche width of PLEFs, showing the characteristics of fluctuation and partition change. PLEFs and both the aforementioned functions showed distribution characteristics of “high in the west and low in the east,” with the whole moving towards the stage of coordinated coupling, of which the “production-living” function has the highest coupling level. The functional coupling coordination degree of “production-living-ecological” is generally manifested as “high in the west and low in the east,” and changing from the primary stage of imbalance to well-coordinated development. The “production-ecological” and “living-ecological” functions are in low-level imbalance in the primary and moderate coordination stages. Additionally, the evolution trend of the “production-ecological” and the “living-ecological” functions are similar, showing alternating and fluctuating development characteristics. Overall, in the past 20 years, Chongqing’s “living-production” function has changed from a trade-off model to a collaborative development relationship, and the “living-ecological” function is generally based on a collaborative development relationship. The “ecological function” is manifested as a trade-off constraint relationship. Moreover, the coordinated development level of “living-production,” “living-ecological,” and “production-ecological” functions in the central urban area has been greatly improved, while counties have gradually shown different degrees of trade-offs.

The coupling and coordinated change characteristics of land-use production, living, and ecological functions (PLEFs) and their relationship with human activity intensity (HAI) in ecologically fragile areas are important to study, especially in promoting the sustainable development of regional land-use and revealing the evolution of the human–land relationship. In this paper, the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model was used to analyze the coordinated development level of PLEF in Wanzhou District from 2000 to 2020. The HAI was measured by the equivalent of construction land. The synchronous development model was introduced to analyze the relationship between them. The results showed that, in Wanzhou District, the PLEFs showed significant spatial distribution differences and evident spatial complementarity. The PLEFs of Wanzhou District were at a good coordination level, but exhibited a downward trend. A spatial pattern of “high in the west and low in the southeast” was presented. The CCD of the production–living function was poor, which is the critical direction of future optimization. The value of HAI in Wanzhou District showed an increasing trend and exhibited a high concentration in the central town and its surrounding regions. According to the synchronous development state of the HAI and the CCD of the PLEFs, Wanzhou District was divided into three development types. The development type of most areas of Wanzhou District was positive, but the area decreased over the past 20 years. Therefore, it is crucial to propose other regulatory strategies for regions with different development types. This research will provide a decision-making reference for promoting the coordination of the PLEFs and alleviating human–land relations in the reservoir area of central and western China, mountainous regions, and similar areas in developing countries.

The Age-Period-Cohort Model is used in this paper to examine how farmers’ confidence has changed in response to various measures for reducing poverty, based on data from 13,559 household tracking surveys, with a view to inform rural poverty reduction policies within Targeted Poverty Reduction Strategy (TPRS). The findings indicate that: (1) Farmers who get monetary grants have significantly lower levels of confidence than farmers who do not. The difference between the ages of 18 and 70, where this issue is more noticeable, grew between 2013 and 2018. (2) Between 2010 and 2018, transfer employment was more likely than monetary handouts to increase farmers’ confidence, and this difference was particularly obvious among young people (18–45 years old) and elderly individuals (65+). (3) The confidence gap between farmers with and without medical insurance has widened over time. Farmers with medical insurance have significantly higher confidence than farmers without it. Lessons for TPRS suggest that to reduce poverty among poor groups in a way that is both stable and sustainable, poverty alleviation strategies should take psychological factors into account when evaluating their efficacy. They should also concentrate on how employment boosts self-confidence.

China’s rapid income growth and urbanization have led to significant changes in food consumption patterns, and these dietary changes may increase the demand for agricultural land for food supply. This study explores the changes in urban and rural residents’ cropland demand based on dietary data of Chinese residents from 1990 to 2020, using dietary nutritional analysis and a cropland footprint method. The results show that during the study period, the total cropland demand of rural residents decreased by 31.02%, from 61.31 million hm2 to 42.29 million hm2, while the total cropland demand of urban residents increased by 246.83%, from 22.91 million hm2 to 79.46 million hm2. The results reveal that the primary drivers of increased cropland demand are urbanization and rising animal-based dietary patterns. However, the contribution of increased agricultural productivity to decreased demand for cropland is relatively small and inadequate to compensate for the increased demand. In short, the pressure to protect arable land in China will continue to rise, and protecting existing arable land, improving cropland productivity, and making full use of international resources are the main ways to alleviate the pressure on arable land protection.