Cultivation of Poverty Alleviation Entrepreneurs in Shicheng Boosts Rural Vitalisation

Measures1. Shicheng cultivates poverty alleviation entrepreneurs. The poverty alleviation entrepreneur program first accepts applications. Village offices then recommend eligible candidates to township offices. The township offices select preliminary candidates, and the county office makes final selections based on applicants’ willingness to help impoverished people get out of poverty. Village officials often apply to be poverty alleviation entrepreneurs and are an important part of the group. 203 village officials and 154 people who may become village officials had been selected as poverty alleviation entrepreneurs by the end of 2018. Shicheng plans to send a total of 160 poverty alleviation entrepreneurs to one-month training courses in three groups at the Poverty Alleviation Entrepreneurship Training Center in Fujian Province. The center also assigns mentors to guide them for 11 months after their training. Every poverty alleviation entrepreneur helps train six more entrepreneurs as well. Shicheng will eventually have about 1,000 poverty alleviation entrepreneurs in total.

2. Poverty alleviation entrepreneurs help impoverished people eliminate poverty. Every poverty alleviation entrepreneur signs a contract that outlines their objectives and responsibilities and agrees to help at least five impoverished households increase their incomes for one year. They mostly use the following poverty alleviation methods. (1) Poverty alleviation entrepreneurs rent land from impoverished households and employ people from those households. (2) Poverty alleviation entrepreneurs help impoverished people who are able to work but lack skills and funds develop characteristic businesses with group guarantee loans. (3) Shicheng cooperates with well-known e-commerce companies and has established county-level service centers and warehousing and distribution centers. (4) Poverty alleviation entrepreneurs establish companies and cooperatives and make purchase orders with impoverished households for their products at higher-than-market prices.

An impoverished person feeds free-range chickens.

3.Shicheng has issued various preferential policies to help eliminate poverty. The county has launched several financial products, such as industry development poverty alleviation loans and agricultural loans. The government has also established a risk mitigation fund and developed unsecured loans with subsidized interest. Tax policies have been implemented as follows. Shicheng provides a US$72,700 (RMB500,000) subsidy for every standardized village poverty alleviation workshop that is established and also exempts rent and taxes for three years.

4. Shicheng creates platforms for poverty alleviation entrepreneurs to help people get out of poverty, and the entrepreneurs start poverty alleviation businesses in the county. Business creation is an important force in poverty alleviation. Poverty alleviation entrepreneurs have established many poverty alleviation workshops in villages that employ impoverished people, especially women and people with disabilities or illnesses. To support these efforts, the Shicheng government has integrated a variety of funds and resources, created a poverty alleviation entrepreneurship fund, established an industrial development park, and implemented other measures to support the creation of businesses.

Shicheng business mentor Chen Congping teaches an impoverished person some sewing techniques in a poverty alleviation workshop.

5. Shicheng emphasizes business incubation to broaden entrepreneurial paths. The county has established the Farmers’ E-commerce Innovation Park, worked with e-commerce companies, created four county-level operation centers and 90 village-level service stations, and encouraged poverty alleviation entrepreneurs to establish online businesses in e-commerce incubation parks to help poverty alleviation entrepreneurs broaden their ideas and entrepreneurial paths. These entities have boosted the poverty alleviation process.Outcomes

Shicheng continues innovating business methods and models that poverty alleviation entrepreneurs can help impoverished people with. The county encourages impoverished people to enter business sectors that are in high demand and are easy to participate in, delineates resources and value that poverty alleviation entrepreneurs and impoverished people can provide, and explains their rights and obligations. Businesses created by poverty alleviation entrepreneurs have employed more than 4,200 impoverished people, and 203 impoverished households have created their own businesses as of June 2019. Shicheng has pursued a market-oriented poverty alleviation path and eliminates poverty through business creation. It encourages poverty alleviation entrepreneurs to participate in various characteristic industry clusters. These clusters have strengthened and expanded the poverty alleviation chain and highlighted the efficiency of characteristic businesses and their role in eliminating poverty.

In addition, systematic training has helped to greatly improve the efficacy of poverty alleviation entrepreneurs and grass-roots organizations. Village officials, business mentors, and the entrepreneurs have formed an important force in poverty alleviation and learn from and cooperate with each other. Poverty alleviation entrepreneurs and village officials are new forces in rural Shicheng and will play an increasing role in revitalizing these areas.

Huang Xiaoyong returned to Shicheng to engage in poverty alleviation work. He teaches impoverished people various techniques at the Qilinshan Modern Agriculture Sightseeing Garden.

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. Poverty alleviation entrepreneurs and village officials should cooperate with each other. Village officials are the core leaders in rural areas, and poverty alleviation entrepreneurs spearhead business entities in rural areas. The fight against poverty can be achieved when the two groups work well together. Shicheng puts equal effort into training both groups and helps them coordinate with each other. The combination of rural development and poverty alleviation efforts has resulted in maximizing their exemplary roles. The county has laid a good foundation for the creation of a prosperous society.

2.  Developing industry is the fundamental solution to eliminating poverty. Shicheng focuses on developing characteristic businesses, especially farming, and animal husbandry endeavors. The county encourages poverty alleviation entrepreneurs to develop forestry, agricultural, and breeding businesses that require little input and technology and are easy to spread. This stimulates the self-development momentum of poverty alleviation entrepreneurs and impoverished people and increases their interest.  

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For more information, please contact WFP China COE (wfpcn.coe@wfp.org)