Rolling the Dice with Spice: The Complexity of Ethnic Minority Livelihoods in Yunnan’s Mountainous Bor

Many ethnic minorities in the southern mountainous region of Yunnan Province, China are being increasingly marginalized by ill-informed policies implemented by lowland-based, ethnic-majority officials, aiming to intensify socio-economic integration, promote agricultural intensification, and promote cash cropping, and restrict natural resource access. In the Yunnan borderlands and the site for my intended study, many sizeable extractive industries, infrastructure, hydropower, and tourism projects, mean that lowland state policies are rapidly expanding state control and direction over once isolated upland communities. Upland ethnic minority farmers in the Southern Yunnan borderlands are increasingly needing to find sources of cash due to increased state enthusiasm for market integration, especially state programmes encouraging farmers to rely on expensive hybrid rice and corn, which must be bought yearly with agro-chemical inputs. Black cardamom remains a popular crop due to farmers’ traditional economic knowledge, access to forest resources, and trusted trading networks. However, extreme weather events and environmental governance projects are thwarting this livelihood strategy.

Faculty Supervisor:

Sarah Turner

Student:

Partner:

Yunnan University

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Sustainability & the Environment; Forestry

University:

McGill University

Program: