15
Social Connectedness in Marginal Rural
China: The Case of Farmer Innovation
Circles in Zhidan, North Shaanxi
Wu Bin and Jules Pretty
Introduction
Despite remarkable recent achievements, rural poverty elimination still presents
significant challenges in China (Khan, 1998; Piazza and Liang, 1998; Yao, 2000;
World Bank, 2001). Poverty is particularly endemic in marginal areas character-
ized by problems of both poor asset stock (natural, physical and human capital)
and the scarcity of capital inflows (e.g. financial, technology, information and tal-
ent) (Shen et al, 1992; Zhu and Jiang, 1996; Jalan and Ravallion, 1997; Rahman
and Riskin, 1998; Rozelle et al, 1998; Yang, 2003). If there is to be a break-
through for rural development in these marginal areas, then agricultural innova-
tion is widely viewed as a necessary condition (CAS, 1991; Yao et al, 1996; Fan
and Pardey, 1997; Yonggong, 1998; Zhuge and Tisdell, 1999). Yet technological
innovation is constrained by the difficulties that formal agricultural extension finds
in reaching remote and inaccessible areas (Delmen, 1991; Shi, 2001; Wu, 2003).
This lack of communication and interaction between farmers and agricultural pro-
fessionals constrains the fit between supply of new technologies and the pressing
needs of the rural poor (Liu, 2000).
Hitherto, most attention has been paid to improvement of development assist-
ance and agricultural extension, rather than assessing the development potential of
marginal communities themselves. These are dynamic and diverse, with great
potential for innovation in both technologies and self-organization (Pretty, 2002;
Uphoff, 2002). This paper explores the implications of farmer innovation and
local self-organization for government and agricultural professionals. The focus is
Reprinted from Agriculture and Human Values 21, 2004, 81–92, Social connectedness in marginal
rural China: The case of farmer innovation circles in Zhidan, North Shaanxi, Wu B and Pretty J N.
Copyright © Springer Science and Business Media, 2004. With kind permission from Springer Sci-
ence and Business Media.