Typical residents of Dalingao Village, Liujiazi Township, Hure Banner, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Song Xianwu and his wife, daughter, and son primarily rely on agriculture for income. They had been growing buckwheat, a versatile short-season crop suited to the relatively infertile soil that covers the valleys and other low-lying areas and dry climate present in the region, but issues with yields and prices affected profits, and the family struggled to make ends meet until several years ago. In 2015, Song’s daughter received cochlear implants that she required after suffering from a fever-inducing viral infection when she was younger, which depleted the family’s savings and drove them into RMB200,000 of debt, exacerbating the situation.

Song’s family was identified as impoverished in 2016 and received assistance not long after. Dalingao’s farmers’ cooperative invited them to participate in a standardised, circular mixed-farming project designed to gradually boost incomes and prosperity in the area in which high-yield buckwheat is grown, stems and leaves are fed to black pigs and sheep that are also farmed, and bees that feast on the plant’s flowers are kept, and harvested buckwheat is purchased from the growers that are involved at higher prices than those that they had attained in the past. Local agricultural technicians taught the family how to modify and expand upon their current operation, and they were given 30 head of sheep through an industrial poverty alleviation programme targeting specific households run by Liujiazi’s government in order to help them get started.

Song Xianwu inspects the growth of his buckwheat plants.

Song and his family have experienced considerable changes in their lives since they got involved with the innovative project. They were able to pay off all of their debt, renovate their home, and buy new appliances by 2019 and have steadily been expanding their operation and increasing their income, maintaining an inventory of 90 head of sheep and earning nearly RMB70,000 of annual income as of 2021.

“The farmers’ cooperative helped us reduce expenses associated with buckwheat cultivation, achieve higher yields, and obtain better prices,” Song mentioned when discussing the project and the impact it has had. “We make RMB150 more per mu than we did when we were growing buckwheat on our own. We grow the plant on more than 50 mu of land and also raise livestock and keep bees, which has boosted our income. The humble little crop has helped us realise our dream of becoming more prosperous.”

Song (right) and his daughter pose for a photo inside their newly renovated home.

The mixed-farming project launched by Dalingao’s farmers’ cooperative is a vivid demonstration of one way farmers who live in relatively infertile areas can become more prosperous, as Song and his family have done.

Related Link: Buckwheat Development Plan Improves Local Industrial Chain

References: http://south.iprcc.org/#/casestudies/caseDetails?id=631

For more information, please contact WFP China COE (wfpcn.coe@wfp.org)