Self-reliance: self-development of impoverished rural people in China
Original, GPIG, 04-28-2018
Since the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002, the rural impoverished population has dropped significantly, and the problem of inadequate food and clothes has been minimized. Meanwhile, thanks to various policies and measures beneficial to the development of impoverished people, such as infrastructure and industrial development, labor training and so on, the impoverished population has become more self-reliant as the focus of poverty alleviation shifted from providing direct material aids to fostering the abilities and self-reliance of the impoverished population.
Tremendous changes have taken place in the deep mountains of Gangu County in Gansu Province: housing conditions have improved, the once muddy roads were replaced by more modern, wider roads thereby facilitating industrial development, and the once infertile mountains were changed into terraces, creating new industries. A well-constructed cement road was built, connecting villages and reaching to the depth of the mountain; beautiful modern houses lined up in the newly-renovated villages half way up the mountain and at the foot the mountain. Complete public services included village primary schools, clinics, centers for cultural and recreational activities and so on, adding vitality to this once impoverished area of Xinxing Town, Gangu County, where the Xigou Stream passes. Over 2,000 households from 9 villages, including Yaojiagou Village and Houjiagou Village were located in this area. And over 50 percent of the households were impoverished. Criss-crossed by ravines and gullies, the land is infertile and most farmers live on subsidies or go outside the villages to work.
The terraces in Longyuan
Three years ago, most farmers in Houjiagou Village still lived in adobe houses. Such poor conditions made them suffer. According to Luo Yangsen, CPC secretary of the Houjiagou Village branch, Xinxing Town, “This area where the Xigou Stream passes used to be one of the most underprivileged areas in the county with no infrastructure and economic activities. In the past, there were shabby adobe houses everywhere; the roads were muddy; public facilities such as clinics as well as the culture stations were backward”. However, after poverty alleviation programs were carried out in this region, the village had its rebirth after the course of the river had been changed and the whole village had undergone reconstruction.
To support development of the Xigou Stream area, Gangu County had planned a series of infrastructure projects to build terraces and roads and profitable agricultural projects focusing on walnuts. It emphasized on poverty alleviation through a scientific approach which would improve farmers’ overall skills through practical agricultural technological training.
During the development process, Kangjiatan Village achieved great progress: the infertile land was turned into terraces, income increased through the development of industries, muddy roads were replaced by cement roads and villagers were given access to loans, clinical care, education,safe drinking water as well as housing. 800 mu (53.3 hectares) of terraces were built which gives 3 mu per household on average; 11 households were engaged in animal husbandry in collaboration with a large-scale business breeding over 1,650 poultry and livestock. By 2014, 50 households had been granted double joint loans, with an amount of 2.5 million yuan, mutual funds in the area totaled 204,000 yuan, and loans fewer than 5,000 yuan could be granted within the village. A new village square of 3,200 square meters was built, with 8 sets of fitness equipment. All the villagers opted to participate in the cooperative medical scheme, and an 80 square meter clinic was built. 4 million yuan was put into the construction of a new kindergarten. 1.75 million yuan was used to build a new building in the local primary school. Over 95% of the households installed safe drinking water devices. 153 dilapidated houses in the village were renovated; there were no longer dilapidated house in the village. All roads in the village were cleared, basically forming a network of roads, 5,828 mu of walnut orchards were built, which formed a major part of the 10,000 mu fruit orchards connecting the south of Zoumaliang Mountain and Kangjiatan Village, with Hengpingye Mountain and West Luojiaping Village as the center. 4 greenhouses for chili and potato planting were built in an effort to explore a new mode of planting chili as part of the premium fruit orchards plan, which will create new channels to increase the income of farmers. 6 other facilities for cultural development and public health were newly created and 1,900 people were trained in practical agricultural technologies and mutual-help poverty alleviation organizations have been set in 4 villages.
Pillar industries such as cultivating vegetables, fruits and chili, animal husbandry, and labor services are the center of development in the county. In 2013, 10,000 mu of vegetable farms were added. With the construction of the Gangu County Modern Agriculture Demonstration Garden, which integrated 6 centers, including a Seedling Center, a Research Center, an Agricultural Technology Service Center, a Marketing Center, an Agricultural Materials Center, and an Agricultural Products Testing Center, the county’s vegetable industry has developed rapidly. The county also put great efforts into building two large-scale fruit industry demonstration belts in the southern and northern mountain areas, built 50,000 mu of fruit bases, increased the scale of the county’s fruit orchards to 430,000 mu. Speeding up the construction of an economic circle for animal husbandry which includes “one breeding park, two belts and three sections”, a total number of 233 large-scale breeding farms were built, and the number of poultry and livestock has reached 2.4 million with an output value of almost 400 million yuan, and the annual income of farmers reached 780 yuan. Three breeding bases for bacon hogs, poultry and eggs and livestock were also formed. Meanwhile, by encouraging and guiding farmers to develop special competitive industries of planting chili, potatoes, Chinese herbs and flowers according to the characteristics of each township and town, the county quickly increased its prosperity.
As a county with a huge population, exporting labor services is an important part of development-oriented poverty alleviation. Based on the idea of “relieving the burden of limited farmlands and growing population”, Gangu County had put much emphasis on exporting labor services as its biggest industry. In 2013, over 108,000 laborers were exported, making annual revenue of over 130 million yuan. In terms of labor training, Gangu County managed to incorporate three training funds. This includes the “Dew Program” initiated by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, the reemployment training fund for laid-off workers implemented by the Social Services Bureau, and the Sunshine Project by the Agriculture Bureau. With trainings provided by Gangu Tengda Vocational Training School, the county has found a way to promote the export of laborers to other provinces.
Statistics show that in 2013, the average net income of farmers in Gangu County was 4,596 yuan, an increase of 17% compared with 2012. The number of people targeted for poverty alleviation dropped from 202,800 in 2012 to 166,500 in 2013; 36,300 people no longer suffered from the lack of food and clothes.
Original, GPIG, 04-28-2018
Since the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002, the rural impoverished population has dropped significantly, and the problem of inadequate food and clothes has been minimized. Meanwhile, thanks to various policies and measures beneficial to the development of impoverished people, such as infrastructure and industrial development, labor training and so on, the impoverished population has become more self-reliant as the focus of poverty alleviation shifted from providing direct material aids to fostering the abilities and self-reliance of the impoverished population.
Tremendous changes have taken place in the deep mountains of Gangu County in Gansu Province: housing conditions have improved, the once muddy roads were replaced by more modern, wider roads thereby facilitating industrial development, and the once infertile mountains were changed into terraces, creating new industries. A well-constructed cement road was built, connecting villages and reaching to the depth of the mountain; beautiful modern houses lined up in the newly-renovated villages half way up the mountain and at the foot the mountain. Complete public services included village primary schools, clinics, centers for cultural and recreational activities and so on, adding vitality to this once impoverished area of Xinxing Town, Gangu County, where the Xigou Stream passes. Over 2,000 households from 9 villages, including Yaojiagou Village and Houjiagou Village were located in this area. And over 50 percent of the households were impoverished. Criss-crossed by ravines and gullies, the land is infertile and most farmers live on subsidies or go outside the villages to work.
The terraces in Longyuan
Three years ago, most farmers in Houjiagou Village still lived in adobe houses. Such poor conditions made them suffer. According to Luo Yangsen, CPC secretary of the Houjiagou Village branch, Xinxing Town, “This area where the Xigou Stream passes used to be one of the most underprivileged areas in the county with no infrastructure and economic activities. In the past, there were shabby adobe houses everywhere; the roads were muddy; public facilities such as clinics as well as the culture stations were backward”. However, after poverty alleviation programs were carried out in this region, the village had its rebirth after the course of the river had been changed and the whole village had undergone reconstruction.
To support development of the Xigou Stream area, Gangu County had planned a series of infrastructure projects to build terraces and roads and profitable agricultural projects focusing on walnuts. It emphasized on poverty alleviation through a scientific approach which would improve farmers’ overall skills through practical agricultural technological training.
During the development process, Kangjiatan Village achieved great progress: the infertile land was turned into terraces, income increased through the development of industries, muddy roads were replaced by cement roads and villagers were given access to loans, clinical care, education,safe drinking water as well as housing. 800 mu (53.3 hectares) of terraces were built which gives 3 mu per household on average; 11 households were engaged in animal husbandry in collaboration with a large-scale business breeding over 1,650 poultry and livestock. By 2014, 50 households had been granted double joint loans, with an amount of 2.5 million yuan, mutual funds in the area totaled 204,000 yuan, and loans fewer than 5,000 yuan could be granted within the village. A new village square of 3,200 square meters was built, with 8 sets of fitness equipment. All the villagers opted to participate in the cooperative medical scheme, and an 80 square meter clinic was built. 4 million yuan was put into the construction of a new kindergarten. 1.75 million yuan was used to build a new building in the local primary school. Over 95% of the households installed safe drinking water devices. 153 dilapidated houses in the village were renovated; there were no longer dilapidated house in the village. All roads in the village were cleared, basically forming a network of roads, 5,828 mu of walnut orchards were built, which formed a major part of the 10,000 mu fruit orchards connecting the south of Zoumaliang Mountain and Kangjiatan Village, with Hengpingye Mountain and West Luojiaping Village as the center. 4 greenhouses for chili and potato planting were built in an effort to explore a new mode of planting chili as part of the premium fruit orchards plan, which will create new channels to increase the income of farmers. 6 other facilities for cultural development and public health were newly created and 1,900 people were trained in practical agricultural technologies and mutual-help poverty alleviation organizations have been set in 4 villages.
Pillar industries such as cultivating vegetables, fruits and chili, animal husbandry, and labor services are the center of development in the county. In 2013, 10,000 mu of vegetable farms were added. With the construction of the Gangu County Modern Agriculture Demonstration Garden, which integrated 6 centers, including a Seedling Center, a Research Center, an Agricultural Technology Service Center, a Marketing Center, an Agricultural Materials Center, and an Agricultural Products Testing Center, the county’s vegetable industry has developed rapidly. The county also put great efforts into building two large-scale fruit industry demonstration belts in the southern and northern mountain areas, built 50,000 mu of fruit bases, increased the scale of the county’s fruit orchards to 430,000 mu. Speeding up the construction of an economic circle for animal husbandry which includes “one breeding park, two belts and three sections”, a total number of 233 large-scale breeding farms were built, and the number of poultry and livestock has reached 2.4 million with an output value of almost 400 million yuan, and the annual income of farmers reached 780 yuan. Three breeding bases for bacon hogs, poultry and eggs and livestock were also formed. Meanwhile, by encouraging and guiding farmers to develop special competitive industries of planting chili, potatoes, Chinese herbs and flowers according to the characteristics of each township and town, the county quickly increased its prosperity.
As a county with a huge population, exporting labor services is an important part of development-oriented poverty alleviation. Based on the idea of “relieving the burden of limited farmlands and growing population”, Gangu County had put much emphasis on exporting labor services as its biggest industry. In 2013, over 108,000 laborers were exported, making annual revenue of over 130 million yuan. In terms of labor training, Gangu County managed to incorporate three training funds. This includes the “Dew Program” initiated by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, the reemployment training fund for laid-off workers implemented by the Social Services Bureau, and the Sunshine Project by the Agriculture Bureau. With trainings provided by Gangu Tengda Vocational Training School, the county has found a way to promote the export of laborers to other provinces.
Statistics show that in 2013, the average net income of farmers in Gangu County was 4,596 yuan, an increase of 17% compared with 2012. The number of people targeted for poverty alleviation dropped from 202,800 in 2012 to 166,500 in 2013; 36,300 people no longer suffered from the lack of food and clothes.
