Characteristics and influence factors of farmers' Hierarchy of needs in land consolidation

Abstract: Realizing the objective of land consolidation depends on whether the farmers' demands have been satisfied. Based on the micro-survey data in the rural areas of He′nan Province, The binary logistic regression models by IBM SPSS were used to research the characteristics and the influence factors of farmers' hierarchy of needs in land consolidation. Considering the impact of village location and different stages of land consolidation project on local economy development level and farmers' demands, this paper selected several villages which were located at the mountain, suburban and exurban areas between the areas land consolidation had been completed and the upcoming areas. The questionnaire surveys were designed from the angle of farmers' needs, and a face-to-face investigation was conducted with farmers by random sampling. The result showed that farmers' needs had hierarchical and differentiated features in land consolidation. The proportions of choices in improving farming and living conditions (Need hierarchy Ⅰ), transferring their farmland (Need hierarchy Ⅱ), and participating land consolidation (Need hierarchy Ⅲ), were 89.09%, 36.8% and 62.7%, respectively. Some farmers had needs not only on one hierarchy, but also on two hierarchies above, and the difference in selecting hierarchy of needs existed among the farmers in different locations and different stages of their land consolidation project. In the villages which had completed land consolidation, the proportions of choices in Need hierarchyⅠ, as well as simultaneously in Need hierarchyⅠand Ⅲ, were higher than the villages which had not. Meanwhile, in the suburban areas, the proportion of choices in Need hierarchyⅡ was higher than the exurban areas and mountain areas. And, the mountain areas had the highest proportion of choices in Need hierarchyⅠ. There were significant differences in farmers' hierarchy of needs in land consolidation. The factors which had effect on selecting hierarchy of needs for farmers contained personal characteristics, household characteristics, village characteristics and cognition characteristics. Family characteristics had significant impact on all the three models, farmers' cognition had significant impact on model Ⅰ and Ⅲ, and personal and community characteristics also had significant impacts on model Ⅱ and Ⅲ. More specifically, the lower the proportion of nonfarm income, the more cultivated plot, the larger family size and the higher cognition degree, the stronger demand the farmers had in Need hierarchyⅠ. Similarly, the farmers with the higher proportion of nonfarm income and the larger cultivated area, the younger, and the farmers who were village cadres and in villages which established rural social organizations had stronger demand in Need hierarchyⅡ. And, the farmers who lived in the areas which completed land consolidation and in the villages which established rural social organizations, the farmers with the higher cognition degree and the larger cultivated area, male and village cadres, had stronger demand in Need hierarchy Ⅲ. What's more, the needs of farmers in land consolidation have turned the hierarchy of needⅠinto hierarchy of needⅡ, Ⅲ and multi-hierarchy need for realizing self-worth through their participation. These results can provide relevant reference for exploring the behavior logic of farmers in participating land consolidation, and building public participation mechanism for land consolidation in the foreseeable future.