How coalitions of multiple actors advance policy in China: ecological agriculture at Danjiangkou

Abstract

Ecological agriculture (EA) is commonly regarded as a top-down agricultural reform plan in China. However, the policy process is more complicated than that. Taking Xichuan, Henan province, the water source area for the Middle Route of South–North-Water-Transfer (MR-SNWT) project, as a case study, this paper tracks the participation of various agencies and their interactions with Xichuan’s government, to reveal how EA has been integrated into local rural development. As agents were assembled to promote Xichuan’s development, EA in Xichuan was considered both as a goal in itself and as a tactic employed to meet the multiple goals of various participants: water protection, poverty alleviation, ..