AbstractKarst rocky desertification (KRD) is a type of land degradation especially prominent in southwest China. This article analyzes the anthropogenic driving forces of KRD at two scales: rural locality and its macro socio‐economic circumstances. At the rural locality scale, the intensive human pressure on land because of a large and fast growing population and unsustainable land use are identified to be the reason for KRD. However, more radical driving forces lie in the farmers' disadvantages in social‐economic circumstances, which compel them to overuse rural land. Hukou system, coastal development strategy, and household responsibility system are verified as three important factors in social‐economic circumstances. At last, a two‐scale framework is constructed to explain how anthropogenic driving forces lead to KRD in southwest China. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.