Study of Farmers’ Willingness to Participate in Environmental Governance Based on Recycling, Reduction and Resourcing

Abstract

In order to establish a green and low-carbon agricultural economic system based on the principles of recycling, reduction and resource utilization, to promote a comprehensive green transformation of the economic development and to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, this article examines the farmers’ willingness to participate in rural environmental governance. Through a questionnaire survey in the Fujian, Anhui and Shanxi provinces, this article explores the influence of homogeneous and heterogeneous relationships in social networks on the farmers’ willingness to participate in rural environmental governance using a logit model and tries to reveal the deeper mechanisms. The results show that: (1) heterogeneous relationships have a significant positive effect on farmers’ participation in rural environmental governance, but homogeneous relationships do not have a significant effect. (2) The larger the size of the social network, the weaker the farmers’ willingness to participate in rural environmental governance. (3) Age and education level have significant effects on willingness to participate. The older the age, the weaker the willingness to participate; the higher the education level, the stronger the willingness to participate. (4) The larger the number of family members, the stronger the farmers’ willingness to participate in environmental governance. (5) The subjective cognitive status of farmers also has an important influence on their willingness to participate. The more environmental knowledge is acquired, the stronger the willingness to participate in rural environmental governance. Therefore, to promote rural environmental management, there is an urgent need to keep modern farmers on rural land and to make the countryside a beautiful space for living and working with complete living functions.