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How transnational labor migration affects upland land use practices in the receiving country: Findings from the China-Myanmar borderland

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  • Hua, Xiaobo
  • Kono, Yasuyuki
  • Zhang, Le
  • Xu, Erqi
  • Luo, Renshan

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of transnational labor migration from Myanmar (Burma) on upland land use practices on the Chinese side of the China-Myanmar borderland, particularly in the context of out-migration and the aging of the local labor force. The study is based on a combined framework, with economic and geopolitical dimensions, and using in-depth fieldwork. The findings are as follows: (1) The increase of available labor from Myanmar, as a substitution for and supplementation of the outgoing local labor force that is migrating to China’s cities, helps local villagers cultivate crops, thus influencing smallholder land use. (2) This inward migration from Myanmar to China is long-term (rather than only being seasonal), based on the year-round nature and demands of China’s farming activities. (3) Due to the in-migration of labor from Myanmar, local villagers will flexibly adapt to planting cash crops that provide stable market prices. Such practices may delay the marginalization of farmland use. We argue that agricultural intensification can be achieved in the upland of the China-Myanmar borderland in the context of out- and in-migration. Smallholders can obtain profits from agricultural activities by hiring Burmese laborers, which helps to avoid a land abandonment scenario. This paper contributes to the existing body of literature on agrarian changes and rethinks agricultural growth in the upland rural society.

Suggested Citation

  • Hua, Xiaobo & Kono, Yasuyuki & Zhang, Le & Xu, Erqi & Luo, Renshan, 2019. "How transnational labor migration affects upland land use practices in the receiving country: Findings from the China-Myanmar borderland," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 163-176.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:84:y:2019:i:c:p:163-176
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.03.012
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    2. Omaid Najmuddin & Faisal Mueen Qamer & Habib Gul & Weiqing Zhuang & Fan Zhang, 2021. "Cropland use preferences under land, water and labour constraints— implications for wheat self-sufficiency in the Kabul River basin, Afghanistan," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(4), pages 955-979, August.
    3. Yunan Xu, 2023. "“Taken-left” dynamics? Rethink the livelihood changes of affected villagers in the era of the global land rush," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(3), pages 1171-1184, September.

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