The Road to Rural Revitalization and Sustainable Development

The author describes in a detailed and fluent style how he and his colleagues at the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation implemented various rural poverty alleviation projects, as well as his thoughts on exploring the path of sustainable development in poor villages. The author has been rooted in poor villages for 20 years, constantly trial and error, and has successfully explored a market-oriented and villager-cooperative rural development path.

The content of this book is based on the above practices of the Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. The first part is the story of Daliangshan in Sichuan, which reflects the attempt to solve the development of poor villages by concentrating resources. Although the project has brought many changes, it has not achieved the main goal of plugging the poverty loophole. The practice of Daliangshan shows that the accumulation of resources alone is not enough to solve the problem of sustainable development in rural areas. For rural areas to develop sustainably, they must develop industrial projects, which means they must participate in market competition and must be market-oriented. The production and management methods of small farmers in traditional villages cannot meet the requirements of the market and must be changed. The second part is the story of Minle Village in Gansu, which reflects the exploration of industrial direction and cooperative model based on the experience of the Daliangshan project. The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation recognizes the importance of villagers’ cooperation and the value of the modern enterprise system, and has formed a project model for Minle Village based on cooperatives and guided by industries. However, the failure of the industrial project in Minle Village shows that the role of village leaders in changing villagers’ concepts cannot be underestimated. The third part is the story of Ganda Village in Qinghai. With the help of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, Ganda Village mobilized capable people in the village to participate in the market-oriented development of industrial projects based on cooperatives, and transformed from a poor village that could not afford yogurt to a wealthy village. Since 2013, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation has tried to apply this method to other villages. Based on the inherent resource endowment of the village, we launched the Baimei Village Homestay Project and the Shanpin Commune Project. The former is to transform the villagers’ old houses into rural homestays, attracting city dwellers to the countryside to consume natural landscapes and rural civilization; the latter is to organize villagers to produce high-quality agricultural products, establish connections with end consumers through the Internet platform, and send rural products to the city. At present, Baimei Village Homestay has been established in 20 villages, and Shanpin Commune will be established in 100 villages by the end of this year, both of which have achieved good results.

This book clearly responds to the problems and difficulties existing in rural development today and provides solutions. It has important practical significance for both practical and research work in rural revitalization.

In a fluent and engaging style, the author describes how he and his colleagues at the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) have carried out various rural poverty alleviation projects, as well as his thoughts on sustainable development paths for poor rural areas. In the past 20 years, the author has taken root in the poor villages, and paved a path of rural development that is market-oriented and based on the collaboration with villagers after going through ups and downs.

The first part covers the attempts to pool resources and boost the development of poor villages in the Daliang Mountains of Sichuan Province. Although the projects have brought about a lot of changes, the main goal of fixing the poverty trap remains unachieved. The stories of the Daliang Mountain illustrates that besides financial and material assistance, industrial projects must be introduced to achieve sustainable development of the rural area. This requires a market-oriented approach of the village’s microeconomy and revolution of the traditional smallholder farmer system. The second part covers the story of Minle County in Gansu Province. Based on the lessons learned from the Daliang Mountain projects, CFPA continued the exploration on industrialization and the industry-farmer collaboration model in Minle County. Having recognized the importance of villagers’ cooperation and the value of a modern enterprise system, CFPA developed a cooperative-based, industry-oriented model for the Minle County project, albeit its eventual failure. The story of Minle County suggests that village leaders play a significant role in changing the villagers’ perceptions of development. The third part tells the story of Ganda Village in Qinghai Province. With the help of the Foundation, the Ganda Farmer Cooperation rolled out market-oriented industrial projects led by village leaders and succeeded in transforming Ganda from a poor village where villagers could not afford yogurt to a rich village. Since 2013, CFPA has been working to apply this approach to other villages. Taking into consideration the local resource endowment, CFPA launched the Baimei Village Accommodation Project and the Philanthropic Commune (Shanpin Gongshe) Project. The Baimei project turns villagers’ old houses into rural B&B boutique hotels catering to city escapers. The Shanpin project makes high-quality agricultural products available to end consumers via e-commerce platforms. The Baimei project has been rolled out in over 20 villages whilst the Shanpin project will cover 100 villages by end of this year.

Based on the above practices of CFPA, this book clearly responds to the problems and dilemmas existing in rural development today and provides relevant solutions, which is of great significance to both practical and research work on rural revitalization.