Livelihood resilience among Zanthoxylum bungeanum farmers in response to technological disruptions: Field insights from karst desertification mountainous areas, China

The interrelationship between livelihoods and environment, remains one of the key scientific issues in sustainable development research. Revealing the interdependent dynamics between human well-being and ecological security poses significant challenges to achieving sustainable development in vulnerable areas. In ecologically sensitive Karst Desertification Mountainous Areas (KDMAs), advancements in agricultural technology have exerted impacts on farmers’ livelihood resilience (LR). This study employs grounded theory— which uncovers context-specific pathways of LR that quantitative methods may overlook—to analyze LR dynamics among Zanthoxylum bungeanum (ZB) farmers in relation to technical developments, with a focus on resilience traits and evolutionary routes across multiple farmer typologies. The findings show that: (1) agricultural technological advancements increased the mean LR index of ZB farmers from 0.280 (2018) to 0.334 (2023), with an annual growth rate of 3.4 %; (2) technologically-adapted farmers exhibited 4.67 % higher LR growth than traditional farmers, driven by institutional support; (3) common challenges to enhancing the LR of ZB farmers include insufficient insurance coverage, inadequate knowledge-sharing capabilities, inefficient skill training systems, suboptimal irrigation effectiveness, and underdeveloped industrial infrastructure. Research demonstrates that technology progress changes LR within the concept of the efficiency enhancement and risk accumulation. This research recommends that we establish a comprehensive regulatory system for geographical indication products, promoting compound planting models for ZB, innovating insurance frameworks to mitigate technological adoption risks, strengthening knowledge-sharing mechanisms through multi-stakeholder collaboration, and restructuring skill training systems to enhance adaptive governance to enhance LR of ZB farmers, which provide theoretical support for sustainable livelihoods in ecologically vulnerable areas. • Dynamically assess the livelihood resilience of Zanthoxylum bungeanum farmers in Karst desertification areas. • Emphasize the policy leverage effect and potential risks, echoing the attention to governance mechanisms. • Revealing the double-edged sword effect of technology promotion and triggering reflection on fairness issues. • Propose actionable participatory strategies to enhance the practical value of policy insights.