28-year-old village Party secretary Lan Zhiping's path out of poverty through chicken farming

Lan Zhiping inspects the growth of Qibainong chickens at the Dahua Qibainong Jiaqin Breeding Cooperative (photographed on August 11).

Lan Zhiping checks chicks in the chicken coop (photographed on August 17).

Nongxiong Village, Qibainong Township, Dahua Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi, is located deep in the mountains, where the land is barren and economic development lags behind. In a village of nearly 2,000 people, there are 123 poor households. Now, 28-year-old returning youth Lan Zhiping has shouldered the heavy burden of leading the masses out of poverty.

Lan Zhiping worked for many years at a logistics company in Nanning. During that time, he discovered that Qibainong chickens from his hometown were often shipped to some hotels in Nanning, where demand exceeded supply. In August 2014, Lan Zhiping decided to return home to raise Qibainong chickens. Soon, the Qibainong chicken farming industry he developed showed the masses the hope of escaping poverty by relying on the breeding industry, and by the end of that year, Lan Zhiping became village Party secretary.

Lan Wangming is also a returning youth, and this year he plans to raise 1,000 chickens. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin. Due to strong customer demand, this year Lan Zhiping and 4 villagers cooperated to establish the "Jiaqin Breeding Cooperative," and absorbed poor households to invest as shareholders. At present, the cooperative raises more than 2,300 chickens, and a hatching base capable of hatching 8,000 to 10,000 chicks a month is under accelerated construction.

This year, Dahua County has decided to make Qibainong chicken farming a major industry for targeted poverty alleviation in poor mountainous areas, adopting the "base + cooperative + farmers" model, and plans to develop the farming of 2 million Qibainong chickens in 2016. Lan Zhiping hopes to use this favorable trend to drive more poor people to join in and escape poverty as soon as possible.

At the mobilization meeting for the development of the Qibainong chicken farming industry in Nongxiong Village, village Party secretary Lan Zhiping, drawing on his own entrepreneurial experience, mobilized the masses to develop native chicken farming. Facing hesitant villagers, Lan Zhiping said: "Don't be afraid of losses, because if you don't do it, you will never be able to become rich. I can teach you how to raise our Qibainong chickens well..."