Starting a Pig Farm in Shizhong District, Leshan, Sichuan: A Path Out of Poverty to Prosperity

In recent years, in its efforts to escape poverty and achieve prosperity, Shizhong District has adopted measures tailored to each household and each individual, creating many successful paths out of poverty. Chen Furong, a poor household in Niuxin Village, Jianfeng Township, walked the road out of poverty and toward prosperity by starting a pig farm.

“Has there been any problem with the pigs lately?” “No, no.” “If there's any problem, get in touch right away.”

At the pig shed of Chen Furong, a poor household in Niuxin Village, Jianfeng Township, Shizhong District, village director Chen Ming is inspecting Chen Furong's pigs.

Chen Furong is a poor household in Niuxin Village. His mother, Wu Qiaorong, is now 76 years old and lost her ability to work after a fall in her early years. His daughter is now 5 years old. Four years ago, Chen Furong's wife left this impoverished family and never returned, so the whole household rests on Chen Furong's shoulders. He grows crops and takes odd jobs nearby, and the family barely gets by on Chen Furong's meager income.

In 2013, Shizhong District carried out a contiguous poverty alleviation and development project in Qunle Village, Jianfeng Township. The village Party branch and village committee, considering that Chen Furong himself could not go out to work, used helping him raise pigs as a breakthrough. Through technical training and other assistance, they built him a 60 sq m pig shed and brought in piglets.

At first, things did not go smoothly for Chen Furong. In 2014, because the pig market was poor, he did not make much money. But he did not give up; instead, he analyzed the reasons and regrouped. At the same time, to enable Chen Furong to escape poverty through the industry, township and village officials refined their poverty alleviation measures, providing funds for construction, funds for breeding stock, technical guidance, and help selling the finished pigs, so that he had no worries about raising pigs. In 2015, with everyone's help, Chen Furong raised 50 pigs and earned more than 30,000 yuan, successfully escaping poverty.

Today, Chen Furong's pig farm has 3 sows and several dozen pigs, and he expects to earn tens of thousands of yuan more this year. As for the future, Chen Furong is full of confidence. He is preparing to expand his breeding scale and, through his own labor, improve his family's conditions so that his daughter and mother can live better.