Eradicating poverty is a strategic priority in the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals. This study intends to identify and quantify the elements affecting the Characteristic Agriculture Development (CAD) project implemented in area of Chinese poverty and reveals the interrelationships between those elements. First-hand data for the structural modeling were collected through semi-structured interviews with a group of selected experts. As a result, this study has identified seventeen representative elements, and the interrelationships between them have been examined based on the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) method. Furthermore, these elements were further categorized into four categories depending on their driving power and dependence power by using the cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis. The combination result of the elements identification, ISM modeling and MICMAC analysis provide a conceptual framework for designing, implementing, and managing CAD projects conducted in rural China. Finally, we suggest that an appropriate approach should be applied to empower the poor, promote target group participation, optimize the regional agriculture structure, and increase the agro value chain competiveness in CAD project implementation.

Pakistan is an agrarian nation that is among the most vulnerable countries to climatic variations. Around 20% of its GDP is produced by agriculture, and livestock-related production contributes more than half of this value. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to determine the vulnerability and knowledge of livestock herders, and particularly the smaller herders. Comprehending individual perceptions of and vulnerabilities to climate change (CC) will enable effective formulation of CC mitigation strategies. This study intended to explore individual perceptions of and vulnerabilities to CC based on a primary dataset of 405 small livestock herders from three agro-ecological zones of Punjab. The results showed that livestock herders’ perceptions about temperature and rainfall variations/patterns coincide with the meteorological information of the study locations. The vulnerability indicators show that Dera Ghazi Khan district is more vulnerable than the other two zones because of high exposure and sensitivity to CC, and lower adaptive capacity. However, all zones experience regular livelihood risks due to livestock diseases and deaths resulting from extreme climatic conditions, lower economic status, and constrained institutional and human resource capabilities, thus leading to increased vulnerability. The results indicate that low-cost local approaches are needed, such as provision of improved veterinary services, increased availability of basic equipment, small-scale infrastructure projects, and reinforcement of informal social safety nets. These measures would support cost-effective and sustainable decisions to enable subsistence livestock herders to adopt climate smart practices.

Commerce has had positive impacts on the whole agri-food value chain at different stages, it was developed rapidly in rural China in the past few years. E-commerce participation can promote the use intensity of organic fertilizers (OF) and this could achieve many benefits for different stakeholders including ensuring food safety, positive environmental impacts and promoting the adoption of green production technologies. Therefore, this study has used primary data collected from 733 fruit farmers in rural China to explore the impact of e-commerce participation on fruit farmers’ use intensity of (OF). Unlike previous studies investigating the dichotomous decision of (OF) adoption, this study captures the use intensity of (OF) from both input quantity and cost aspects. We employed an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model to address selectivity bias caused by observed and unobserved factors. The results show that e-commerce participation significantly increases the use intensity of (OF) in input quantity and cost by 19.48% and 29.50%, respectively. Heterogeneous analysis further reveals that compared to fruit farmers with a low e-commerce participation level, fruit farmers with a high e-commerce participation level have higher (OF) use intensity. The findings also show that risk preference, human capital, cultivated area, cooperative membership and government restraint mechanisms positively and significantly affect the probability of fruit farmers’ participation in e-commerce and fruit farmers’ use intensity of (OF). The results emphasize that e-commerce promotion is an efficient way to encourage farmers to adopt (OF), which help improve product quality and promote sustainable agricultural development.