The Impact of Integrating Agriculture and Tourism on Poverty Reduction in China's Ethnic Minority Areas

ABSTRACT Agriculture and tourism integration serves as a pivotal strategy for transforming resource advantages into industrial strengths in ethnic minority regions, thereby advancing comprehensive poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. This study focuses on the eight ethnic provinces and regions in China, utilizing data collected from 2010 to 2019 to evaluate the development levels of both sectors. The coupling coordination degree between agriculture and tourism is assessed, serving as a threshold variable in the analysis. A panel data model is constructed to investigate the non‐linear characteristics and threshold effects of agriculture and tourism integration on poverty alleviation. The results reveal that the coupling coordination degree and coupling level of agriculture and tourism in the eight ethnic provinces and regions have progressed from states of moderate or severe disorder to a primary stage of coordination. This indicates a positive trend in the agriculture and tourism integration. However, the overall development level remains suboptimal, underscoring the need for high‐quality growth and deeper integration. The analysis identifies a threshold effect in the poverty alleviation impact of agriculture and tourism integration, characterized by distinct non‐linear dynamics and a single threshold value of 0.421. The poverty reduction effect is significant both below and above this threshold. However, beyond the threshold, the marginal returns on poverty reduction diminish, suggesting a deceleration in the effectiveness of growth‐driven poverty alleviation. This underscores the insufficiency of relying solely on existing methods to enhance the quality of poverty reduction. To address these challenges, innovative models and pathways must be explored to optimize the agriculture and tourism integration, fostering comprehensive poverty eradication and sustainable development in ethnic minority areas.