Industrial poverty alleviation enriches lives in Qiongzhong
By Shen Yi and Qin Hailing
Original, GPIG, 12-29-2017
Located in Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, in south China’s island province of Hainan, Zhulang Village is encompassed by verdant mountains. In an early autumn afternoon, villagers are hard at work picking leaves in mulberry fields after a clean rain.
A bird’s-eye view of the village reveals several two-story houses nestled among rows of newly built bungalows, which showcase the wealth of the village. One might never know that a few years ago, Zhulang was merely an impoverished village covered with thatched cottages. Admirable changes take place as mulberry planting and silkworm raising are promoted throughout the whole village.
Tucked within the core of the ecological preservation area, Qiongzhong is a key national impoverished county known to have “90 mountain, 5 water, 5 arable land”—a reference to the percent ratio between the three. Yet distinctive industries are lifting this prototypical mountainous county out of poverty.
Momentum through self-development
Wang Qixu lives in Dapo Village in Qiongzhong. Last September, his two children started kindergarten, which—while normally regarded as a happy thing—spread worry through the family. They depended mainly on areca and rubber planting for a living, but the recent decline in the price of rubber has made it difficult for him to afford the tuition fees.
One month later, local government provided Wang with 350 chickens and 15 piglets. Since that, taking care of them had become his favorite daily activity. While the initial profits soon reached 10,000 yuan (U.S. $1,500), the number of his chicken and pigs were doubling. He was also awarded as the “2016 poverty alleviation star in Qiongzhong”.
“You cannot simply sit and wait for help. The government has implemented good policies, and so I should be working harder,” said Wang.
Qiongzhong has attached great importance to empowering impoverished people to play a leading role in poverty alleviation, taking various measures to stimulate their self-development.
The county’s successful formula can be broken down into four key areas:
Guidance: 3,019 cadres carried out widespread investigation, first-secretary training, and other activities to broaden insight, forge new connections, and raise morale.
Capacity building: About 17,000 impoverished people received technical training through different projects and platforms, including on-location classes, special lectures and on-site inspections.
Entrepreneurship: Qiongzhong actively supports people to start poverty alleviation projects. With a combined investment of 9.93 million yuan (U.S. $1.5 million), it fostered 50 entrepreneurs, implemented 41 projects and established 10 bases, benefitting about 30 villages.
Practical policies: Qiongzhong published a series of policies to solve financial difficulties of the impoverished through industrial development. Integrating different kinds of poverty alleviation funds, the policies provide rewards and micro-loans for successful initiatives, and encourage to establish professional cooperatives. It has helped develop nine distinctive agricultural industries, including mulberry planting and silkworm raising, beekeeping, rice field fish farming, and chicken raising.
Long-term and short-term industries help break down developmental barriers
Lin Zegen is from Xinzhai Village. Mulberry planting and silkworm raising has lifted him out of poverty—helping him go from thatch house to bungalow. He also led 200 villagers to get involved in the industry.
“Compared to rice planting, mulberry planting and silkworm raising provide a better harvest in short periods and achieve better economic returns. With practiced skill, it’s easy to earn an annual income of 50,000–60,000 yuan (U.S. $7,000–9,000),” said Lin while busy picking young silkworm cocoons.
Learning that the combination of long- and short-term projects can sustainably reduce poverty, Lin established a pig-raising cooperative in 2016 with the help of the local government. 7 villages from impoverished households were also participants.
“Some impoverished people don’t want to plant mulberry or raise silkworms, so I asked them to raise pigs and gave them 25,000 yuan (U.S. $3,700) a year,” said Lin. “Almost all villagers built new houses and bought new cars. I’ve now become the poorest one,” he added jokingly.
Based on resources in different villages, Qiongzhong develops short-term industries, as well as medium- and long-term industries. The former includes mulberry planting and silkworm raising, beekeeping, rice field fish farming, chicken or geese raising while the latter refers to sheep or cattle raising and so on.
“We’ve established distinctive poverty alleviation bases in different villages. Each impoverished household can receive a share of about 3,000 yuan (U.S. $450) in funding or material,” said Wu Kunjun, director of the poverty alleviation office in Qiongzhong.
Since 2016, Qiongzhong has implemented 186 projects, and established 90 demonstration villages and 563 cooperatives, leading 5,212 impoverished households for common development.
Internet and tourism help Qiongzhong flourish
From wild honey to oreorchis patens wine to lingzhi mushrooms, the Qiongzhong entrepreneurship base and e-commerce base are filled with wide varieties of local specialties.
“Impoverished households entrust their products to us. These [goods for sale] are from Limushan Town; those are from Wanling Town…” introduced Chen Shuwang, head of the base. “All impoverished households in the county can now sell their products through e-commerce platforms.”
“All I need to do is bring my honey to the base, and they will help me sell it online. Because there’s no middleman, I receive extra earnings of at least 10 yuan (U.S. $1.5) per kilo,” said Li Jinglong, an impoverished villager, smiling.
The internet not only broadens sales for Li and Miao people in the mountains but also brings them closer with the outside. Qiongzhong encourages impoverished people with basic capabilities to sell online green oranges, free-range-chicken eggs, honey, and reed leaves.
So far, Qiongzhong has established a county-level center, a town-level center and 92 village-level centers for e-commerce service. A total of 99 additional e-commerce enterprises have also been set up.
The internet not only brings Qiongzhong more sales, but also attracts more tourists.
“I buy Qiongzhong green oranges and honey online every year. Now, I bring my family members here to enjoy the fun of honey gathering,” said Mrs. Wang, a tourist from Haikou for a weekend getaway.
The integration of agriculture, culture and tourism is a new method for poverty alleviation. As a transportation hub, with a pleasant natural environment, rich ethnic culture, and favorable policies, Qiongzhong aims to develop all-for-one tourism and build up its rural-tourism brand.
Qiongzhong has become a hot tourism spot in the middle of Hainan. It successfully held over 20 events including the cultural tourism festival in March. In the first half of 2017, Qiongzhong hosted more than 657,000 tourists, among whom 314,500 stayed overnight. This constitutes a year-on-year growth of 25% and 20.14% respectively, and generates a total of 254.15 million yuan (U.S. $38 million) in revenue.
The article was translated by Jin Ling and its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.
By Shen Yi and Qin Hailing
Original, GPIG, 12-29-2017
Located in Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, in south China’s island province of Hainan, Zhulang Village is encompassed by verdant mountains. In an early autumn afternoon, villagers are hard at work picking leaves in mulberry fields after a clean rain.
A bird’s-eye view of the village reveals several two-story houses nestled among rows of newly built bungalows, which showcase the wealth of the village. One might never know that a few years ago, Zhulang was merely an impoverished village covered with thatched cottages. Admirable changes take place as mulberry planting and silkworm raising are promoted throughout the whole village.
Tucked within the core of the ecological preservation area, Qiongzhong is a key national impoverished county known to have “90 mountain, 5 water, 5 arable land”—a reference to the percent ratio between the three. Yet distinctive industries are lifting this prototypical mountainous county out of poverty.
Momentum through self-development
Wang Qixu lives in Dapo Village in Qiongzhong. Last September, his two children started kindergarten, which—while normally regarded as a happy thing—spread worry through the family. They depended mainly on areca and rubber planting for a living, but the recent decline in the price of rubber has made it difficult for him to afford the tuition fees.
One month later, local government provided Wang with 350 chickens and 15 piglets. Since that, taking care of them had become his favorite daily activity. While the initial profits soon reached 10,000 yuan (U.S. $1,500), the number of his chicken and pigs were doubling. He was also awarded as the “2016 poverty alleviation star in Qiongzhong”.
“You cannot simply sit and wait for help. The government has implemented good policies, and so I should be working harder,” said Wang.
Qiongzhong has attached great importance to empowering impoverished people to play a leading role in poverty alleviation, taking various measures to stimulate their self-development.
The county’s successful formula can be broken down into four key areas:
Guidance: 3,019 cadres carried out widespread investigation, first-secretary training, and other activities to broaden insight, forge new connections, and raise morale.
Capacity building: About 17,000 impoverished people received technical training through different projects and platforms, including on-location classes, special lectures and on-site inspections.
Entrepreneurship: Qiongzhong actively supports people to start poverty alleviation projects. With a combined investment of 9.93 million yuan (U.S. $1.5 million), it fostered 50 entrepreneurs, implemented 41 projects and established 10 bases, benefitting about 30 villages.
Practical policies: Qiongzhong published a series of policies to solve financial difficulties of the impoverished through industrial development. Integrating different kinds of poverty alleviation funds, the policies provide rewards and micro-loans for successful initiatives, and encourage to establish professional cooperatives. It has helped develop nine distinctive agricultural industries, including mulberry planting and silkworm raising, beekeeping, rice field fish farming, and chicken raising.
Long-term and short-term industries help break down developmental barriers
Lin Zegen is from Xinzhai Village. Mulberry planting and silkworm raising has lifted him out of poverty—helping him go from thatch house to bungalow. He also led 200 villagers to get involved in the industry.
“Compared to rice planting, mulberry planting and silkworm raising provide a better harvest in short periods and achieve better economic returns. With practiced skill, it’s easy to earn an annual income of 50,000–60,000 yuan (U.S. $7,000–9,000),” said Lin while busy picking young silkworm cocoons.
Learning that the combination of long- and short-term projects can sustainably reduce poverty, Lin established a pig-raising cooperative in 2016 with the help of the local government. 7 villages from impoverished households were also participants.
“Some impoverished people don’t want to plant mulberry or raise silkworms, so I asked them to raise pigs and gave them 25,000 yuan (U.S. $3,700) a year,” said Lin. “Almost all villagers built new houses and bought new cars. I’ve now become the poorest one,” he added jokingly.
Based on resources in different villages, Qiongzhong develops short-term industries, as well as medium- and long-term industries. The former includes mulberry planting and silkworm raising, beekeeping, rice field fish farming, chicken or geese raising while the latter refers to sheep or cattle raising and so on.
“We’ve established distinctive poverty alleviation bases in different villages. Each impoverished household can receive a share of about 3,000 yuan (U.S. $450) in funding or material,” said Wu Kunjun, director of the poverty alleviation office in Qiongzhong.
Since 2016, Qiongzhong has implemented 186 projects, and established 90 demonstration villages and 563 cooperatives, leading 5,212 impoverished households for common development.
Internet and tourism help Qiongzhong flourish
From wild honey to oreorchis patens wine to lingzhi mushrooms, the Qiongzhong entrepreneurship base and e-commerce base are filled with wide varieties of local specialties.
“Impoverished households entrust their products to us. These [goods for sale] are from Limushan Town; those are from Wanling Town…” introduced Chen Shuwang, head of the base. “All impoverished households in the county can now sell their products through e-commerce platforms.”
“All I need to do is bring my honey to the base, and they will help me sell it online. Because there’s no middleman, I receive extra earnings of at least 10 yuan (U.S. $1.5) per kilo,” said Li Jinglong, an impoverished villager, smiling.
The internet not only broadens sales for Li and Miao people in the mountains but also brings them closer with the outside. Qiongzhong encourages impoverished people with basic capabilities to sell online green oranges, free-range-chicken eggs, honey, and reed leaves.
So far, Qiongzhong has established a county-level center, a town-level center and 92 village-level centers for e-commerce service. A total of 99 additional e-commerce enterprises have also been set up.
The internet not only brings Qiongzhong more sales, but also attracts more tourists.
“I buy Qiongzhong green oranges and honey online every year. Now, I bring my family members here to enjoy the fun of honey gathering,” said Mrs. Wang, a tourist from Haikou for a weekend getaway.
The integration of agriculture, culture and tourism is a new method for poverty alleviation. As a transportation hub, with a pleasant natural environment, rich ethnic culture, and favorable policies, Qiongzhong aims to develop all-for-one tourism and build up its rural-tourism brand.
Qiongzhong has become a hot tourism spot in the middle of Hainan. It successfully held over 20 events including the cultural tourism festival in March. In the first half of 2017, Qiongzhong hosted more than 657,000 tourists, among whom 314,500 stayed overnight. This constitutes a year-on-year growth of 25% and 20.14% respectively, and generates a total of 254.15 million yuan (U.S. $38 million) in revenue.
The article was translated by Jin Ling and its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.
