Povertyalleviationhasrecentlybecomeatopicofconcernforpeoplefromallwalksoflife.TheChinesegovernmenthassetthegoalofeliminatingextremepovertyby2020.Toachievethisgoal,participationfromallofsociety,especiallyprivatebusinesses,iscrucial,asdemonstratedbythecaseof“ZhushanEcologicalFarms”inZhuchengCityofShandongProvince.
Only15kilometersfromdowntownZhucheng,ZhushanMountainfeaturesanuntouchednaturalenvironment,butstrugglesduetoitsweakeconomicfoundation,limitedincomesourcesforvillagers,andunderdevelopedinfrastructure.
ZhushanMountain’sfatechangedin2013,whenitwasapprovedasanationalforestpark.Sincethen,thelivesofthoselivingatthefootofZhushanMountainhavechangedtoo.Buildingecologicalfarms,amodelcreatedby“ZhushanEcologicalAgriculture”,hasbecomethelocalcarrieroftargetedpovertyalleviation.
ThepioneerofZhushanEcologicalAgricultureisLiuShugang,afarmer-entrepreneurfromZhuchengCity.Liustartedhisbusinessinrealestate.However,Liubelievedthatecologicalagriculturewasasectorwithgreatpotentialbecauseafterthebasicneedsoffoodandclothinghavebeenmet,Chinesepeoplehavegreaterdemandforleisuretourismandhealthyfood.HethereforeturnedtoZhushanMountainontheoutskirtsofZhuchengCity,amountainwithapristineecologicalenvironmentthathadnotyetbeentapped.Liuledhisteamininvestinginecologicalagriculture.
In2013,Liu’scompanysignedacontractwithHongyiresearchteamoftheInstituteofBotanyundertheChineseAcademyofSciences.ThecontractrequirestheapplicationofHongyiEcologicalFarm’sadvanced“SixAvoidances”rules,namelyavoidanceofchemicalfertilizers,pesticides,herbicides,additives,agriculturalfilmsandtransgenictechnology,aimingtobringadvancedtechnologyandmanagementtoagriculturalworkonZhushanMountain.
Presently,“ZhushanEcologicalAgriculture”hasabaseofabout7.4acresinwhichLiuplantedadozenkindsoftraditionalChinesemedicinalherbsincludinghoneysuckles,pawpaws,RedSage,andsaponins.Healsodesignated100acresforaChinesechestnutbasealongwith25acreorchardsfornurserystocksincludingblueberries,walnuts,andwinterjujubes.“ZhushanEcologicalAgriculture”hasachickenfarmwithover3,000cage-freechickensofthe“NongdaNo.3”breedintroducedbytheChineseAcademyofSciences,andtheeggssellouteveryday.Agreenindustrychainconnectingecologicalagriculture,ecologicaltourism,andlodgingistakingform.
SomelandofHeitukuangVillageatthefootofZhushanMountainhasbeenrentedforecologicalagricultureandnewjobshavebeencreated.Unemployedvillagerswhowereoncefarmersbegantoworkforcompaniessuchasthedrinkingwatercompany,ecologicalfarms,breedingbasesandconstructionsites.
WangDaofu,a62-year-oldretiredsecretaryofthePartyofHeitukuangVillage,nowworksfor“ZhushanEcologicalAgriculture”asa“professionalexecutive”.AsawitnesstotheincreasingprosperityofZhushanMountainandHeitukuangVillage,Wangsaid,“Villagersnowcanfindjobsathome.Theygetbothlandtransferfeesandjobs.Farmersaregettingwageslikeworkers!”AccordingtoWang’sfigures,70percentoflaborforcelivingtherehavebecome“industrialworkers”,withanannualpercapitaincomeofmorethan20,000yuan.
ThedevelopmentofZhushanMountainhastransformedHeitukuangVillage,whichwasoncea“ghostvillage”.Manywhohadlefthavecomebacktowork.HeYinghuicamebacktoworkforthedrinkingwatercompanywithouthesitationuponhearingaboutthedevelopmentinherhometown.Hercolleaguesatthewatercompanyareallwomenfromhervillage.“Wenotonlyliveinthesamevillage,butnowwe’recolleagues.”HeYinghuinotedthatbyworkingtheresheearnsthesameincomeasajobinacity,yetcannowraisehertwoschool-agechildren,sothechoicewasobvious.
Landtransferfreesfarmersfromtheirplowsandgivesthemmoreoptions.“AsZhushanbecomesprosperousandattractsmoretourists,myfamilyandIarethinkingaboutstartingabusinessathome,likeasmallsupermarketoraruralhomeinn,”revealsHeYinghui.
The“ZhushanModel”ishelpingmorevillagesshakeoffpoverty.CaowuVillageinTaolinTownship,30kilometersfromdowntownZhucheng,wasdesignatedapoverty-strickenvillagebytheprovincialgovernment.In2015,Liu’scompanyhelpedthevillageeliminatepovertythroughfixedpointpovertyalleviation,agovernmentprogramtohelpunderdevelopedareas.
Locatedinamountainousarea,CaowuVillageenduredpoorsoil,ashortageofwater,bumpyroadsandalackofinfrastructureforwaterconservancyandirrigation.Thepercapitaincomewassolowthatmanysoughtemploymentelsewhere.Liuappliedhismethodsaccordingtotheuniquesituationofeachlowincomefamily.“Firstweinvitedexpertstogiveinstructionsongrowingseedlings,andthenhelpedfindbuyersfortheproduce,”Liuexplained.
Povertyalleviationconductedbythecompanyhasbeencomparedto“bloodtransfusioncombinedwithaboostinbloodcellproduction,”ametaphorforthetwoprongedattackofaccompanyingmoneytopoorareaswithinstructiononhowtoearnsustainablyhigherincomes.ThearomaofroastedteafillsthecourtyardofvillagerZhouShulan’shome.TeaplantinghasbecomeamajorsourceofincomeformostfamiliesinCaowuVillageandtheteaindustryhassolidfoundationthere.However,thepricetheirteafetchedusedtobelittleduetoalackofadvancedtechnologyanddistributionchannels.Oncetheseimpedimentswereunderstood,Liu’steamtrainedteagrowersandsearchedformoredistributionchannels.Theyhavebuiltacompleteindustrychainstartingfromteaplantingandendingwithpackagingandsale.Byjustworkingsmarter,thevillagershaveshakenoffpovertyandbecomebetter-offwithoutevenswitchingproducts.
“Inthepast,weplantedteawithouthelpfromtheoutsideworld,sotheoutputandqualityofteawerebothnotgreatanddealersonlyofferedlowerprices,”explainsZhouShulan.“Butnow,wecanearn20,000yuanayearafterspecialtechnicalguidanceandwithbetterdistributionchannels.”Zhousold5,000yuanworthofteainthemonthbeforeQingmingFestival,primetimeforteaharvesting.
GiventhatCaowuVillagereliesheav-ilyonagriculture,modernagriculturaltechnologyhasbeenintroducedtoplanttraditionalChinesemedicinalherbsincludingRedSageandhoneysuckle.Thevillagehasbothachievedpovertyalleviationandincreasedoutputandincomeofvillagersbydevelopingindustry.Meanwhile,traditionalChinesemedicinalherbbasesinCaowuVillagehaveadopteda“Companies+Cooperatives+Households”model,providingfreetechnicalinstructionsandseekingmoredistributionchannelsforfarmers.Asaresult,moretraditionalChinesemedicinalherbsareplanted,surplusofmanpowerinruralareasisreduced,andtheincomeoffarmerslivingthereisincreased.
“Enterprisescan’tdevelopwithoutsociety,sotheyshouldrepaytheirdebttothepeoplebyinvestinginsocialprogramsthatpromotesustainablegrowth,”declaredLiuShuguang.HisteamhasregardeddevelopmentandpovertyalleviationasequallyimportantsincetheystartedworkonZhushanMountain.Hiscompanypioneeredthe“ZhushanModel”forpovertyalleviationandreapedhealthyprofitsatthesametime.
LiuShugangandhiscolleaguesweedblackberrybushesinagardenonZhushanMountain.Thedevelopmentofecologicalagriculturehaschangedlives.byQinBin