There is no single fixed path to poverty alleviation; the ultimate goal is always to escape poverty
The Dabie Mountains area lies at the junction of Anhui, Henan and Hubei provinces, combining an old revolutionary base area, a major grain-producing region and the low-lying, flood-prone areas along the Huai River, and is one of the main battlegrounds in the country's new round of poverty alleviation.
As a province with a relatively heavy task in poverty alleviation and development, Anhui has a large and widespread poor population. By the end of 2013, it still had about 6 million rural poor people, and 70 counties (cities, districts) in 15 cities had poor people to varying degrees. The incidence of poverty has long remained high. After years of poverty alleviation and development, most of the remaining poor areas are areas with poor location, inconvenient transportation and fragile ecology, especially the Dabie Mountains area, northern Anhui, the flood storage and detention areas along the Huai River, and the deep mountain areas of southern Anhui. Poverty there is relatively deep, and these are all hard nuts to crack. A large area for poverty alleviation, a large population, and a heavy task... a series of development issues concerning people's livelihood are placed before Anhui, a major agricultural province.
"Anhui, known for reform and innovation, must likewise take innovation in the poverty alleviation mechanism as its driving force, enriching the people as its goal, concentrated contiguous areas as its focus, and solving prominent problems as its main direction, do a solid job in all aspects of poverty alleviation and development, and speed up development in poor areas," said Liang Weiguo, vice governor of Anhui Province. In the new round of poverty alleviation and development, the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government will always adhere to the central government's basic approach of "regional development driving poverty alleviation and development, and poverty alleviation and development promoting regional development," and build the Dabie Mountains area into a demonstration zone for accelerated development of the old revolutionary base area, an important national production and processing base for grain and specialty agricultural products, a key area for undertaking industrial transfer, a red tourism destination and cultural leisure tourism destination, and an important ecological security barrier for central China and the Yangtze River Delta region. It will organically combine accelerated regional development, ecological and environmental protection and poverty alleviation, and blaze a solid path with distinctive features.
"Whole-village advancement for a thousand villages" turns more than a thousand poor villages into prosperous ones
Improving infrastructure conditions and public services is an important part of poverty alleviation. Poverty alleviation should enable poor people to equally enjoy basic civil rights
Banshe Village, Maojianshan Township, Yuexi County, deep in the Dabie Mountains, is a typical village in whole-village advancement for poverty alleviation and development. This once widely known poor village has now become a demonstration village for beautiful rural construction. Walking along the winding paths in the village, the surrounding green waters and green mountains set off the white walls and grey tiles of Huizhou-style architecture, and together with the scene of farmers working in the fields picking and building trellises, it is like a vivid landscape painting.
"Escape from poverty in a poor village requires a process. Our village was poor for so many years, and it has only changed greatly in the past year or two. First of all, thanks to the county for integrating funds to renovate the village's appearance; the living environment has become beautiful and tidy, and the people's desire to become rich has also become stronger and stronger," village Party secretary Hu Zhidong told reporters. The village "two committees" thought of quite a few ways to lead the villagers to prosperity. But whenever they led the farmers to plant something, it was hard to sell, and they could never escape the "vicious circle." By a chance opportunity, a businessman from Zhejiang came to Banshe Village for an inspection and took a fancy at first sight to this treasured place hidden away from the world. The two sides reached a cooperation agreement - farmers in Banshe Village would grow high-mountain organic vegetables, while the Zhejiang businessman would provide growing technology and be responsible for marketing. The village specially set up a cooperative to transfer land, organize farmers, provide services and so on. In the first year, the village's per capita income increased by nearly 2,000 yuan, and village collective income also broke the zero record for the first time.
"You can see the mountains, gaze at the water, and keep nostalgia alive. Banshe Village is a model village built according to our vision. poverty alleviation funds for one village are only 300,000 to 500,000 yuan; if you have to do everything, you do nothing thoroughly, and your strength is scattered. We concentrate our strength and integrate funds to invest village by village and 'eliminate' poverty village by village." Female township head Liu Yawei, speaking frankly and quickly, excitedly introduced to reporters that whole-village advancement poverty alleviation has obvious benefits. It can fundamentally solve the sustainable development of farmers escaping poverty and becoming rich, and can also solve the problem of village-level collective income having no source.
"Jimei Water Village" is a new village in Lixin County, a major agricultural county in northern Anhui, advanced as a whole village using poverty alleviation funds and other resources. After the merger of townships and towns, it was formed by merging 41 natural villages from 3 administrative villages, Shuanggou, Shuizhai and Houzhai, with a total population of 9,816 and a cultivated land area of 15,360 mu.
Although located in northern Anhui, it has a Jiangnan flavor: small bridges over flowing water, green trees forming forests, and row upon row of two-story small Western-style buildings are the farmers' new homes. On the fitness square, children on holiday are playing basketball. "Our farmers' lives today are no worse than in the city." Farmer Zhang Youli, who was receiving an intravenous drip in the clinic of the community service center, told reporters that in the past they lived far away, and even for a cold or fever they had to run several li to find a village doctor. Now farmers live according to unified planning, and there is a community service center right at the entrance of the residential area, with a card and chess room, computer room, clinic, administrative service center and so on.
"Targeting poor villages, using villages as the carrier, gathering poverty alleviation forces from all sectors of society, and adopting a package approach with comprehensive measures, we ensure that advancing one village means lifting one village out of poverty and making one village prosperous. Starting in 2012, Anhui launched the 'whole-village advancement for a thousand villages' project, carrying out whole-village advancement in about 1,000 poor villages each year." Liu Yongchun, deputy secretary-general of the Anhui Provincial Government and director of the Provincial Poverty Alleviation Office, introduced that entering the new period of poverty alleviation and development, Anhui will continue to implement the "whole-village advancement for a thousand villages project." In 2013, whole-village advancement was carried out in 1,016 poor villages, and this year it has expanded to 1,057 villages. Only by adhering to the organic combination of whole-village advancement with new urbanization, agricultural modernization and beautiful rural construction, integrating resources and coordinating strength, can we promote marked improvement in production and living conditions in poor villages, drive the development of industries with distinctive advantages, and improve farmers' capacity for self-development.
Only when industry is strong can farmers' "blood-making" capacity be strong
"Giving someone a fish" is not as good as "teaching someone to fish." Carrying out industrial poverty alleviation and guiding poor farmer households to "learn while doing and do while learning" lets them escape poverty and become rich through improved capabilities
"The bridge was built, the road was built, but the people still had not found a way out of poverty. We cannot take that old road of poverty alleviation again. At present, poverty alleviation should place more emphasis on supporting industry, so that farmers can permanently escape poverty." As a national-level poor county with a relatively large population, Liang Dong, secretary of the Lixin County Party Committee, has a very clear understanding of poverty alleviation work: it is necessary to strengthen farmers' own "blood-making" capacity.
Daguan Village, Liujiaji Township, Lixin County, used to be a stretch of low-lying fields, and the people relied on the weather to harvest grain. After the village integrated poverty alleviation funds and other projects, the land became level, and supporting infrastructure such as roads, networks, ditches and canals was complete. Today, this place has become a well-known ten-thousand-mu fruit and vegetable base.
Jiang Yelin, director of the Anhui Shuangfei Planting Cooperative, who was busy in the fields, introduced that three years ago he returned home to start a business and transferred 800 mu of land to build vegetable greenhouses. The cooperative brought 80 villagers into membership, and last year the whole cooperative's net income was 2 million yuan. In the past two years alone, for infrastructure construction such as roads and greenhouses, it has received nearly 800,000 yuan in poverty alleviation funding support.
Chen Hua, director of the Lixin County Poverty Alleviation Office, introduced: "This modern agricultural industrial base has benefited from the support of poverty alleviation funds, and the cooperative has also strengthened its ability to help poor households become rich." Under the policy support of industrial poverty alleviation, more and more farmers are starting businesses on their own and becoming local experts at becoming rich, and also becoming capable people who lead surrounding poor households out of poverty.
Supporting industry has an infinite "magnifying glass" function. Yang Zhenlin, a farmer in Laibang Township, Yuexi County, was still a poor household two years ago. "Thanks to the help of the leading enterprise, I was able to escape poverty quickly, and I even bought a house and a car." It turned out that he developed black pig breeding and became rich under the drive of the local leading enterprise Mingshan Company. "What we adopt is the 'company + farmer household' breeding model. The company provides piglets, feed and technology; after farmers take the piglets back and raise them for 6 months, they send them to the company for sale." Chu Chengcai, deputy general manager of Mingshan Company, introduced that black pork sells in Hefei supermarkets for 70 to 80 yuan per jin, nearly 10 times the price of ordinary pork.
As a local poor household, Yang Zhenlin received 2 black piglets free of charge. Six months later, he handed the grown black pigs to Mingshan Company and received 4,000 yuan in wages. Having tasted the benefits, he then took in more than 10 more pigs, and currently has taken in more than 300 pigs in total. Yang Zhenlin said that when people saw that he, a poor household, had unexpectedly become an "upstart," many fellow villagers took the initiative to ask the company to join.
It is reported that in recent years Anhui Province has vigorously promoted industrial poverty alleviation, especially advancing reform of the poverty alleviation discount loan system, fully opening up lending financial institutions, increasing fiscal discount interest input, and focusing on supporting poverty alleviation leading enterprises at all levels. In 2012, 26.43 million yuan in fiscal discount interest funds were arranged, supporting 276 enterprises of various types. In 2013, drawing on the successful case of financial poverty alleviation carried out in Jinzhai, it further strengthened cooperation with the provincial Agricultural Bank of China and the Export-Import Bank of China, continuously innovated financial poverty alleviation work, arranged 29.5 million yuan in discount interest for poverty alleviation project loans, leveraged more than 3 billion yuan in poverty alleviation loans, and supported enterprises in poor areas in becoming bigger and stronger. Since 2011, a total of 45 million yuan in small discount interest funds delivered to households has been arranged to support poor households in developing agricultural production, and 75 million yuan in special funds has been arranged to support the development of farmers' professional cooperatives in 43 key counties (cities, districts), promoting adjustment of the rural industrial structure.
Poor people should enjoy financial benefits even more
The shortage of rural funds is a widespread problem that has long remained unresolved, and funds have become the scarcest resource for rural development. To solve food and clothing problems and achieve escape from poverty and prosperity, it is necessary to turn dead money into living money and let limited poverty alleviation funds play the greatest role
"Take the people's will as the first signal, take the people's escape from poverty as the first goal, and take the people's difficulties as the first focus." This is a slogan posted in front of the Jinzhai County Poverty Alleviation Office. Jinzhai is located in the hinterland of the Dabie Mountains and has been listed for many consecutive years as a national key county for poverty alleviation and development. Its rural finance is a weak link. In the past, financial institutions generally did not set up business outlets in villages and groups, and farmers' basic financial service needs could not be met. In 2012, Wu Bangguo, then chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, went deep into the county's mountain areas and reservoir areas for inspection and made an important instruction to "invigorate rural finance in Jinzhai County and make finance play a greater role in poverty alleviation and development." Jinzhai County launched comprehensive rural financial reform, and the intensity and breadth of financial poverty alleviation in promoting agriculture, rural areas and farmers and boosting development were strengthened as never before.
"In the past, depositing and withdrawing money required going to the town 5 kilometers away. Since the village got a financial service room, depositing, withdrawing and transferring money can all be done at the doorstep." Liu Feng, a villager from Gongdian Village, Baitafan Township, Jinzhai County, told reporters. In the rural financial service room of just over ten square meters, the reporter saw an integrated deposit and withdrawal machine and a passbook updating machine. The service room can provide 24-hour convenient financial services, benefiting about 6,000 people in 3 surrounding administrative villages. Jinzhai County also encourages financial institutions to rely on grocery stores, agricultural supply stores and so on to set up agricultural withdrawal service points in villages, so that villagers can enjoy financial services without leaving the village. Up to now, Jinzhai County has set up more than 300 agricultural withdrawal service points and built 20 village-level financial service rooms, achieving full village-level coverage of rural financial services.
Last year, Huang Chaofan, a poor household in Quanjun Village, Quanjun Township, Jinzhai County, joined a local tea company and became a cooperative member. With the enterprise as the borrower, he applied for a 10,000 yuan interest-free loan to develop tea planting, and that year achieved a net profit of more than 5,000 yuan. What benefited him was the locally pioneered "five-in-one" financial poverty alleviation product. In response to the bottleneck that farmers have no collateral and financial institutions cannot directly issue loans to farmer households, the provincial Agricultural Development Bank acted as lender, the provincial Guarantee Group as guarantor, the provincial Agricultural Development Bureau as full discount interest provider, agricultural industrialization leading enterprises as borrowers, and farmer households as actual users of the funds, issuing 10 million yuan in agricultural support loans for "ten thousand mu of oil tea and ten thousand mu of tea gardens."
In addition to inclusive financial services, in recent years Anhui has fully carried out pilot projects of mutual aid funds in poor villages in poor counties, which not only effectively integrated idle rural funds and activated "sleeping capital," but also solved the problems of farmers' difficulty in obtaining loans and shortage of development funds.
"Thanks to the poverty alleviation mutual aid society, I have what I have today." Li Yongfeng, a villager from Peiyuan Village, Lantian Township, Xiuning County, said that two years ago he wanted to raise pigs together with fellow villagers but lacked funds. He had no collateral and could not find a formally employed public official to guarantee him. Introduced by village officials, Li Yongfeng joined the poverty alleviation mutual aid society. Because he was a poor household, he could be exempted from the 500 yuan membership fee. Li Yongfeng submitted an application for entrepreneurial development to the mutual aid society. After review and approval, he received 30,000 yuan in mutual aid funds in less than a week. A year later, Li Yongfeng repaid the money on schedule. The next year, Li Yongfeng borrowed another 50,000 yuan from the mutual aid society to expand production. Today, his pig farm has begun to take shape, with nearly 200 pigs on hand.
We want mountains of gold and silver, but even more do we want green mountains and clear waters
Environmental protection has become a common consensus. For this reason, more attention should be paid to respect for, protection of and rational development of resources. We can no longer "drain the pond to catch all the fish and burn the forest to hunt." Poverty alleviation and development must do a good job in planning and put ecology first
Huangwei Village, Huangwei Township, Yuexi County, is the location of the locally famous Rainbow Waterfall scenic area. Due to its remote location, little land and many forests, its economic development is relatively slow. "In order to protect the green mountains and clear waters, we have given up conventional development opportunities in recent years. All projects that might bring 'aftereffects' are abandoned without exception. Local farmers have made a living by logging for generations, and now for green development, their livelihood has lost its guarantee. We have always tried every possible way to open up avenues and lead farmers to increase income. With the development of the scenic area, we have finally welcomed new opportunities." Shu Hanbing, secretary of the Huangwei Township Party Committee, introduced that they took tourism as the breakthrough point and went all out to support the scenic area in becoming stronger and bigger, driving surrounding people to escape poverty and become rich.
Farmers are encouraged to start businesses on their own and strengthen agritainment. Now the agritainment businesses in Huangwei Village have grown from a dozen or so in the past to more than 40. On the other hand, in order to extend the industrial chain and enrich the content of the scenic area, the township has also developed leisure agriculture, planning and building the township's fields into 9 major agricultural bases, coordinating with tourism development and developing experience-and-sightseeing agricultural bases.
"Last year, we organized farmers to establish a 1,000-mu fruit demonstration base, using poverty alleviation funds to provide seedlings and technical services in a unified way, and took the lead in setting up a cooperative. If we directly transferred the land, the government would save trouble and worry. But from the perspective of farmers' income, the income is not as high as doing it themselves. At the same time, fruit and vegetable planting is more beneficial to ecological protection. Next year the fruit will be ready for picking, and our expected income is that each farmer household can reach more than 10,000 yuan," Shu Hanbing said.
Paths are not confined to one pattern; the purpose is always poverty alleviation. Starting this year, Fan Xinrong, a poor household in Xuchong Village, Meishan Township, Jinzhai County, has an additional fixed income - generating electricity from solar energy on the roof of his own house. Not only does his own household use electricity for free, he can also sell surplus electricity to the power supply company for money. The reporter saw that a small photovoltaic power station was set up on the farmer's roof, with nearly 20 square meters of solar panels especially conspicuous. An electricity meter was installed on the wall right next to the station, and the meter screen showed that 300 kWh had been generated since the station was built in early March this year.
"Building photovoltaic power stations is to solve the problem of electricity use for poor households. Using solar energy resources causes no pollution and can also help them increase income." Liu Zexiang, director of the Jinzhai County Poverty Alleviation Office, introduced to reporters that according to relevant national policies, for every kWh of photovoltaic electricity users use, they can get a subsidy of 0.42 yuan. Unused electricity can be sold to the State Grid, and with the subsidy, each kWh can be sold for 0.88 yuan. This year Jinzhai County used poverty alleviation funds for the first time to build photovoltaic power stations for poor households. The cost of one station is 24,000 yuan, and poor households only need to pay 8,000 yuan out of their own pockets. Each station has a lifespan of about 25 years, which means that within 25 years poor households will have a stable income.
"The road ahead is long and has no ending; I will search high and low." With the development and changes in world conditions and national conditions, major changes have taken place in the main body, theme, targets, content and methods of rural poverty alleviation work. Today, spirited Anhui people are vigorously implementing targeted poverty alleviation to the village and to the household. Targeting poor villages and poor households, finding out the situation household by household, carrying out assistance village by village and household by household, and changing "flood irrigation" into "precision drip irrigation." They register poor people and establish files, analyze the causes of poverty, arrange paired cadres, determine assistance measures, and ultimately achieve escape from poverty household by household. At the same time, with innovating the assessment mechanism for poor counties as the focus, they guide poor counties to truly place poverty alleviation and development work in the position of "top priority."