Coupling coordination between the livelihood strategies of farmers and the utilization of farmland at agricultural heritage site: A case study of Ziquejie Village

Under the intervention of rural tourism and the influence of urbanization, agricultural heritage sites are facing the dilemma of imbalance between heritage conservation and farmers' livelihoods. In this context, taking Ziquejie Village as an example, it employs a comprehensive evaluation method and a coupling coordination model within the sustainable livelihood analysis framework to study the coupling coordination relationship between different types of farmers' livelihood strategies and farmland use. It assesses the coordination status between farmers' livelihoods and agricultural heritage conservation in the study area, and explores pathways for preserving agricultural heritage by improving farmers' livelihoods. The findings indicate that: ① Under the influence of rural tourism, local farmers have developed six distinct types of livelihood strategies. There are significant differences in the composition of livelihood capital endowment among different farmer types, with livelihood capital evaluation values ranked from high to low as follows: balanced and part-time, tourism-led, tourism-participation, half-working and half-farming, labor-led, and farming-led. ② The interaction between the livelihood capital of the six farmer types and the current state of farmland utilization is strong, yet overall, it remains in a state of imbalance. This suggests that farmland management in Ziquejie does not contribute to the increase of farmers' livelihood capital, further accelerating terrace abandonment and the degradation of heritage landscapes. Based on the above analysis, this paper proposes a sustainable livelihood development pathway within the context of agricultural heritage conservation. Through key measures in three areas-institutional and mechanism building, industrial development and innovation, and promotion of small-scale mechanization-the aim is to achieve multifunctional agricultural land use and sustainable livelihood development, thereby resolving the disharmony between farmers' livelihoods and agricultural heritage conservation.