One project helps the masses shed the label of poverty
As a pilot village for the village collective economic development project in Guyuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Tuoxiang Village established a village collective economic organization focused on agricultural machinery services and a village collective economic development fund —— the Tuoxiang Village Comprehensive Agricultural Service Center. Over the past two years, it has supported villagers in developing the breeding industry through microcredit, and the village's planting structure has undergone substantial adjustment. The expansion of corn planting area has provided high-quality feed for the breeding industry, effectively expanding the scale of the breeding industry and improving the benefits of both planting and breeding.
Tuoxiang Village is located among the remnant ridges of the Liupan Mountains, with an average altitude of 1860 m and an average annual temperature of about 5°C, belonging to a semi-humid, cold and cool climate. Natural disasters such as hail, frost, spring drought, and summer and autumn waterlogging are frequent. The village has 7 villager groups, 687 households and 3099 people, and is a village where Hui and Han people live together. The village has a land area of 1.13 wan mu, mainly mountainous, with 9000 mu of arable land, 2.9 mu per capita, 260 registered poor households and 1165 people, with a poverty rate of 37.8%. There are 174 households and 407 people receiving the minimum living allowance, 5 five-guarantee households, and 70 people with severe disabilities.
The Tuoxiang Village Comprehensive Agricultural Service Center signed the "Responsibility Statement for the Implementation of the Village Collective Economic Development Project" with the village committee, laying a good foundation for the smooth implementation of the project. In April 2014, the Tuoxiang Village Comprehensive Agricultural Service Center officially began operation in accordance with the principles of "preserving capital with modest profit, sustainable operation, benefiting the masses, and increasing collective income." The specific procedure consists of 5 steps: individual application by poor households, joint guarantee by five households, review by the village and group, approval and disbursement by the village comprehensive agricultural service center, and filing with the project supervisory department. From the launch in June 2014 to December 2015, a total of 3.23 million yuan in loans had been issued in two batches, with terms of 18 months and 24 months respectively, and a preferential agricultural loan interest rate was applied, supporting 208 breeding households.
In order to do this work well, clear provisions were made on the use of funds during the formulation of the implementation plan. In accordance with the requirements of "dividing authority, mutual restraint, and clear responsibilities," the working mechanism was improved and work responsibilities were implemented. The village comprehensive agricultural service center is the main body implementing the project and is fully responsible for household surveys, approval and disbursement, fund recovery, and financial management in the operation of the village collective economic development fund. The person in charge of the village comprehensive agricultural service center, as the legal representative, is the first responsible person and bears overall responsibility for project implementation, including policy control, fund supervision, and fund security; the village committee director is responsible for cash receipts and payments, and the village accountant is responsible for collecting, accounting, summarizing, and reporting financial vouchers, and is required to conduct regular financial disclosures and accept supervision by the masses.
Over the nearly two years of the project pilot, through services provided by the village collective and support from the economic fund, while achieving economic benefits, it also fully gave play to the role of the village "two committees" team, improved service capacity, enhanced the cohesion of the village "two committees," and mobilized farmers' enthusiasm and confidence in escaping poverty and becoming prosperous. In 2015, the per capita net income of farmers in Tuoxiang Village was 7800 yuan, an increase of 800 yuan per capita over the previous year, achieving the goal of poverty alleviation for the entire village.
Our reporter Zhang Guofeng