Building sustainable livelihoods provides a way out of poverty. Our work concentrates strategically on western provinces such as Yunnan, Gansu and Guizhou, where our rural livelihood programmes focus on four major areas: increasing incomes, disaster relief and risk reduction, climate change adaptation, as well as community self-organisation and management.
Oxfam advocates a community-driven approach to manage our projects. Rural households can participate in the management of the projects including their design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, so that the resources can benefit the poorest households and improve their livelihoods more effectively.
Brother Long from Luquan
Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County is a national-level poverty-stricken county. ‘In this mountainous area, there isn’t enough irrigation water, so our harvests are unstable. The livestock I raise is only enough for my family. Even if I sell them in the market, they won’t be sold at a good price,’ said villager Long Junming.
Tai Wo Tong Village is particularly poor in Luquan. Since 2003, Oxfam has been providing the village with a community development fund (CDF). Not only does it enable families to enhance their livelihoods through small loans, but it also helps communities improve their public facilities.
Long Junming has a big heart and is affectionately known as Brother Long in the village. He told us, ‘I’ve been taking loans from the CDF to raise my livestock since 2009. Last year, I borrowed RMB10,000 to buy four sows, which gave birth to 40 piglets. Each pig can be sold at about RMB800, so I earned RMB20,000 after paying back the loan and deducting the cost of raising the pigs. It’s pretty good income!’
Prior to the introduction of the CDF, though, life wasn’t that easy. Poor road conditions in the village used to be a challenge for the villagers. ‘Every time it rained, the roads would become muddy, so it was hard for us to transport our crops to the market. As a result, villagers suffered economic loss,’ he said. Also, the pens were too small to raise more livestock.
In 2016, however, villagers took a loan from the CDF and raised some money to replace their wooden pens with bigger ones made of stone. Villagers also used the money to improve the roads in the village.
Looking back in gratitude, Brother Long said, ‘Thanks to Oxfam’s support, we learnt how to organise small groups to manage our community. Oxfam also encouraged us to express our views on the development of the village.
They regularly reviewed the progress of various projects with us so that these projects could be completed as planned. It’s our hope that the whole village can think about ways to improve the community and share the fruits of prosperity.’
Photo: Jiang Zhaowen, Shen Qinzhi / Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County OHK-funded Project Office