CHANGSHA (XINHUA) – Long Xianlan from Shibadong, an ethnic Miao village nestled deep in the mountains of central China’s Hunan Province, is among the country’s millions of once-impoverished rural residents who have shaken off poverty.
Donned in a protective suit, veiled hat and gloves, Long meticulously opens a hive, removes the honeycomb, and gently scrapes off the wax with a sharp blade. As the mellow honey slowly streams out, countless bees crowd around him, but the skilled beekeeper won’t be hurried. Unfazed, he continues the task at hand.
Today, the self-made businessman can rake in more than CNY300,000 (USD42,200) a year. But success did not come easy for Long. He earned it the hard way.
Ten years ago, he was a hard nut to crack for local cadres. His transformation may enlighten many around the globe in solving a common headache in poverty alleviation, how to motivate marginalised rural populations to actively engage in efforts to improve their lot.
China’s fight against poverty includes all people irrespective of their ethnicity, region and family background, targeting the poorest of the poor with the slogan “leave no one behind”. Therefore, it falls on grassroots cadres to rack their wits to provide bespoke services for everyone in a bid to end their penury, even the most uncooperative.
SELECT COMPETENT PERSON
Long Xianlan, who was 27 years old in 2014, was infamous in Shibadong for his indolence.
Instead of climbing mountains to cut logs for heating, he would rather chop up his wooden bed for firewood and sleep on the freezing floor, whenever the village cadres called on the community to develop industry, he would grumble that he preferred to be given money.
In 2014, the local government hand-picked several cadres, each either born in local rural areas or experienced in dealing with rural affairs to live and work in the village and assigned each a local household among the poorest.
Long Xiulin, a smooth talker with 13 years of grassroots village work experience, was dispatched from the local county’s publicity department. He was paired with Long Xianlan.
BUILDING EMOTIONAL BONDS
Starting with casual chats, Long Xiulin began to build rapport with Long Xianlan, who is 17 years his junior.
He spoke at length with members of the village committee and called in on Long Xianlan’s neighbours.
Long Xiulin soon uncovered that Long Xianlan was abandoned by his mother after his father’s death, and his only relative – his younger sister – also died.
It was clear that behind Long Xianlan’s was a young, vulnerable man who felt isolated due to a lack of love and care.
Long Xiulin believed that the ties of kinship may help the young man find his way. On New Year’s Eve 2014, one of the most valued occasions for the Miao people, Long Xiulin brought Long Xianlan to his family home. He was so touched by the normal but unforgettable family dinner. “I used to feel scared because of loneliness and my helpless past and doubt that the work team would never understand the wrenching suffering of the poor,” recalled Long Xianlan.
“However, they didn’t look down on me. Instead, they invited me to dinner, took me to join the village’s industrial development so that we can learn how to earn money ourselves”.
PROP UP CHARACTERISTIC INDUSTRY
Poverty alleviation through economic development is considered the most direct and effective way to give poor areas the capacity for independent development and help people find employment locally, according to China’s white paper on its poverty alleviation experience and contribution.
China has supported its underdeveloped rural areas in developing various industries geared to the local resources available, which, for Shibadong, are agriculture, animal husbandry, Miao embroidery, labour services and rural tourism.
Based on Long Xiulin’s deep understanding of the local natural conditions and market demands, he persuaded a young man to join the honey business.
Embraced by mountains, Shibadong boasts abundant honey sources and breeds high quality bees. The business did not require much in terms of start-up capital and suited the young man down to the ground. Sure enough, Long Xianlan proved to be a fast learner, and started his own honey business a few months later.
FOLLOW-UP SUPPORT
To help more fellow villagers live a better-off life, in 2017, Long Xianlan took the initiative to set up a bee-keeping cooperative. It now has 562 members and manages more than 1,300 beehives, with an annual output value of nearly CNY2 million.
Their cooperation is built upon a common business model in today’s rural China, in order to integrate resources and form an industrial cluster, Long Xianlan rents local villagers’ land as bee breeding bases, while Long provides necessary techniques, guides members in bee-keeping and manages the bases, the members can focus on better breeding the bees. – Yao Yulin, Zhang Yujie & Zhang Ge
