Catalog

Why the Fujian Project Works

By Carolyn Dedolph (cdedolph@adb.org)
External Relations Officer

From any perspective, the Fujian Soil Conservation and Rural Development Project is a success and a useful model for other rural development projects. The project’s main objective has been to promote sustainable growth in the rural economy in ways that benefit the poorer members of the community. The project has had real impact on effectively controlling severe soil erosion and helping lessen rural poverty.

Funded with a loan of US$65 million from ADB in 1995 and prepared with a US$406,000 grant from the Japan Special Fund, the project will be completed at the end of 2001. But its effects on raising very poor farmers out of poverty will last for many years—and are being multiplied many times over.

The accomplishments are impressive. According to PRC official estimates, since 1998 the soil conservation and agriculture development component of orchards, tea gardens, and bamboo plantations has produced 40,000 tons of fruit, 8,000 tons of tea, and 50,000 tons of bamboo shoots worth a total of Y1,120 million.

About 5,800 hectares (ha) of new orchards have been developed and 11,573 ha of existing orchards rehabilitated. More than 50,000 rural households—nearly 220,000 people—have benefited from the project. In the aquaculture component, about 90,000 tons of aquatic products have been produced worth Y1,200 million.

Seven agroprocessing facilities generated more than Y80 million in sales revenues and have provided about 700 permanent and some 30,000 seasonal employment opportunities, which have promoted local economic development.

More than 19,000 training courses on subjects such as contour terracing, fruit variety selection, soil conservation, and orchard management have been conducted for farmers and technicians, totaling nearly 1.3 million person-days.

“In the PRC, whenever the concept of poverty reduction is raised, it seems to be connected to the idea of subsidy or welfare. The Fujian Project shows we can have real impact on poverty using investments that are both economically and financially viable,” says Bradford Philips, Manager of ADB’s Agriculture and Rural Development Division (East).

According to Fujian Vice-Governor Qiu Guang Zhong and provincial officials, the Fujian Project has been successful because it has had strong commitment from the Government to make it work and leadership from the top to ensure the agriculture, finance, and planning agencies worked together at all levels. The project was driven by the Agriculture Bureau, which had the staff and technical expertise to deliver new technologies and to follow up with the farmers.

“Our goal is to serve the people and alleviate poverty among our farmers,” says Lin Kai Wang, Project Director and Senior Agronomist.

Building on skills that were already available, the officials looked closely at the markets and capacity to repay the loan. They also made sure that the investments were appropriately sized—not large sums for completely new activities.

The soil and water conservation interventions focused on income-earning activities for the farmers, because it was determined that activities with no linkage to farm income would not succeed. And a range of potential activities were discussed with the farmers to allow them to select the one best for their situation—not a one-size-fits-all, top-down approach.

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