Evaluating Effectiveness of Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program from the Perspective of Farmers: An Empirical Analysis Based on Farmer Households Survey from 16 Provinces and Regions in Central and Western China

Based on the standard “index system of monitoring and assessment of social and economic impacts of Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP)”, a questionnaire survey has been conducted and data collected from 2 495 sampled farmer households of 16 provinces in central and western China. This paper describes the implementation, effectiveness and problems of CCFP from the perspective of farmers, so as to provide reference for decision making on how to maintain the achievements and expand the scale of CCFP. The results show that 90% of households have received subsidies on time, 50% stopped receiving subsidy as the policy was due. And there are regional differences in households’ dependence on CCFP subsidy. CCFP not only improved the ecological environment in the project area, but also improved farmers’ family business structure, promoted the transfer of labor to non-agricultural employment, and helped poverty elimination. The effects of CCFP have been confirmed by most interviewees. Finally, this paper analyzes the problems of low subsidy standard and economic return of CCFP land, and proposes corresponding countermeasures and policy suggestions.