Returning Home to Raise Ostriches: A Migrant Worker from Kecheng, Zhejiang, Finds the Road to Prosperity

Situ Village in Jiuhua Township, Kecheng, Zhejiang Province, is located deep in the mountains, with more people than land, and farmers' income mainly depends on working elsewhere. Villager Zheng Lingling, after graduating from junior high school, had been moving between Shenzhen, Shanghai and other places to work. Although she did not earn much money during those years of migrant work, she gained a lot of experience, and the dream of returning home to start a business kept lingering in her mind.

During the Spring Festival of 2011, when Zheng Lingling returned home for the New Year and chatted with villagers, she keenly realized that no one in her hometown was raising ostriches on a large scale. After returning home, she took out her savings from years of migrant work and, with the support of a credit loan from the local Kecheng Rural Commercial Bank, raised more than 800,000 yuan to order a batch of ostrich chicks from a farm in Shandong for large-scale breeding. In September 2014, as soon as the first batch of ostriches was ready for market, local buyers snapped them all up. This batch of ostriches brought a net income of more than 40,000 yuan.

In mid-April this year, Zheng Lingling spent a week traveling alone to Jiangsu, Jiangxi and other places to inspect the development of the breeding industry and market conditions. Recently, her farm is preparing to further expand the scale of breeding.