Desertification has been a prolonged, aggravating problem in northern and northwestern China. The Roots and Shoots (R&S) Shanghai branch has achieved significant success in slowing desertification with its Million Tree Project.
Founded by renowned primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, Roots & Shoots is an influential international non-governmental organization aiming to inspire people of all ages, especially youths, to take part in making the world a better place.
The Roots & Shoots branches around the world maintain only loose connections with each other so that each individual branch can carry out unique projects tailored to its regional needs. One of the main missions of R&S Shanghai is to have a positive impact on China’s natural environment.
Desertification in China poses a great challenge to environmental protection as well as the development of those desertified regions. In recent decades, growing deserts have devoured 3,600 square kilometers of grassland each year and forced nearly 200,000 residents from the desertified areas to relocate.
To fight the consequences of desertification, including powerful sandstorms, the loss of arable land and people being driven out of their hometowns, R&S Shanghai initiated its Million Tree Project in 2007. It is also the inaugural project of the organization.
Led by Tori Zwisler, Chairman of R&S Shanghai, and Executive Director Zhong Zhenxi, the Million Tree Project aims to reduce the combined effects of land exploitation and climate change, which eventually leads to desertification, by planting one million trees in Inner Mongolia.
The project began its work in Tongliao Municipality, Inner Mongolia. By cooperating with local and foreign forestry and agricultural experts and mobilizing tens of thousands of volunteers across the globe, the Million Tree Project achieved its first million tree milestone in 2012 and passed the second million mark in 2016.
In consideration of local soil and climate conditions in order to achieve long-term reforestation success, local and Oregon State University forestry experts have carefully chosen specific species to plant in the area.
The majority of the trees planted are hybrid poplars, chosen specifically because it needs little water. In 2009 and 2011, yellowhorn and Scots pine trees were added to the planting list and proved to be beneficial to the region not only ecologically but also economically.
Working with the Baijitan tree farm, the experts have developed an integrative sand control method by planting a combination of different shrubs along with an expansive straw grid. While the straw grid can increase the roughness of the terrain as well as reduce water evaporation, which can give the shrubs better soil conditions to grow in, the matured shrubs can benefit soil development and the restoration of vegetation diversity.
Apart from the standard procedures of planting trees like many previous forestation projects, the Million Tree Project worked closely with local farmers and tree planters on post-planting maintenance. Licensed farmers can harvest trees but are required to replant new trees on the same spot, making the planted forest a sustainable environment.
More than 50 companies have purchased forests in increments of 2000 trees, and more than 20,000 volunteers have helped plant two million trees between 2007 and 2016. Additional tree planting projects have been started in Ningxia Province, adding more land to the reforestation project portfolio.
The 2016 Rio Olympics opening ceremony featured R&S Shanghai’s Million Tree Project as a significant achievement of humans fighting against the great odds of mother nature.
The Million Tree Project is a great example of a small environmental NGO having a huge impact on the natural world as well as a successful collaboration between the experts and volunteers. It demonstrates that everybody has the ability to change the world. The project, with the collective efforts of people coming from every corner of the world, will generate greater momentum to eventually eliminate desertification in China.
– Chaorong Wang
Photo: Flickr
What are the Top 5 Global Issues Blogs?
Many blogs focus on global issues that major news outlets do not cover. Such blogs are run by organizations, professionals and groups of people who care about informing the public about global poverty, climate change and more. Below are the top five global issues blogs:
Global Issues: Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All
This blog is focused on a variety of global topics. The aim of the site is to cover and discuss issues of climate change, poverty, foreign aid, racism and more while also showing how they are all interconnected. Additionally, it strives to give visibility to issues of poverty and hunger that rarely make the headlines of major news outlets.
The Borgen Project
The Borgen Project ranks in the top global issues blogs because it works with members of Congress to further legislation regarding issues of extreme poverty abroad. The blog covers various topics, including developments in technology, natural disasters and U.S. foreign policy to build awareness about global issues.
Business Fights Poverty
Business Fights Poverty is a community of professionals who are committed to fighting poverty through their business practices and reaching sustainable development goals. The blog focuses on issues of economic development as well as on collaboration to make a social impact. Business Fights Poverty also brings visibility to entrepreneurs in global communities of poverty and to potential ways for improving these economies through business.
TheDATABlog
The World Bank runs a blog called TheDATABlog that covers the activity of the World Bank as well as other news regarding global issues. Coverage focuses on development data issues and making that information more accessible to the public in an effort to improve people’s lives. The blog is updated fairly regularly, with posts at least once a week about recent news regarding development data and statistics.
DipNote
The U.S. Department of State has an official blog called DipNote. This blog covers a plethora of international issues such as global health care, gender equality and disease. Additionally, it has “This Week at State” posts that update readers about the week’s highlights regarding global issues, initiatives and events.
Reading any of these top global issues blogs is a great way to get information about news and events related to global issues. They provide regular and wide coverage on global poverty, the environment, the economy and other problems facing our world today.
– Liyanga de Silva
Photo: Flickr
5 Top Political Blogs: Where to Begin?
The innovation of blogs has had a major role in the modern political and media climate. With greater ability to voice one’s opinions comes the possibility of becoming inundated with sensationalist and unreliable news. Still, there are many thought-provoking and well-informed blogs available. To make the search easier, below you will find the five top political blogs.
FiveThirtyEight
What started as a passion project for creator Nate Silver, then mostly known as a baseball analyst, has morphed into a statistical analysis behemoth. FiveThirtyEight gained widespread attention in 2008 when it turned away from traditional polls in favor of a statistical model that favored demographics and past voting data – an idea that most experts rejected. However, people began to believe in Silver after he accurately predicted every Senate race in that year’s general election. ESPN bought the blog in 2014, so now FiveThirtyEight covers more than just politics and has grown into the territory of general data journalism. Still, the blog’s in-depth statistical analysis is what makes it one of the top political blogs in the world.
ThinkProgress
ThinkProgress began as a news recap and analysis blog in 2005. It is now a fully funded and staffed newsroom with the resources to be one of the top political blogs. A self-professed progressive blog, it is supported by the Center for American Progress Action Fund but maintains editorial independence. The blog is best known for its Climate Progress section, which focuses on climate change and its impact. Reporting from this section can be found in peer-reviewed journals such as The American Economic Review.
Daily Kos
Another blog that isn’t shy about its political leanings is Daily Kos. It’s listed among the top political blogs because it is the 865th most visited site in the U.S. Markos Moulitsas, a veteran, started the blog as an outlet to express his opinion. He thinks of Daily Kos as more than just a news site. It’s also a hub for activists and its own unique community with more than 3 million people signed up for the Daily Kos newsletter.
Politico Europe Press Review
When following politics, it’s important to get out of the comfort zone and follow what’s going on around the world. While Politico Europe may feel like cheating because it is funded by Politico magazine, it is difficult to find a site that covers international politics and current events more closely than Politico Europe. Curious about what is going on in Slovakia? Politico Europe Press Review is up to date and also providing analysis about what other news sites are saying.
Foreign Policy Blogs
Foreign Policy Blogs is the top political blog for foreign policy and is more of a network of blogs than an individual one. The blog receives it funding from the Foreign Policy Association (FPA), a non-profit started in 1918 with the sole purpose of teaching Americans about the importance and substance of foreign policy issues. The blog’s staff doesn’t work directly for the FPA but instead hail from the fields of journalism, academia, non-profits, NGOs and business. The variety of backgrounds assures the opinions and analysis have a varied perspective.
Other Top Political Blogs
There are countless sites that all assert themselves as the top political blog available and discredit their competitors. While five is nowhere close to the total number of reputable political blogs, the sites mentioned above are great jumping off points for those looking for quality analysis and varied topics.
– David Jaques
Photo: Google
The 10 Most Innovative Countries in Africa
Innovation seems impossible to quantify, but the business world has found a way to rank countries based on various forms of data considered to indicate innovation. Innovation indexes can vary, but the 2017 Cornell University Global Innovation Index takes a unique approach to calculating innovation, based on 81 indicators with a focus on human welfare, technological or creative outputs, infrastructure and business sophistication.
10 Most Innovative Countries in Africa
Burkina Faso has focused its innovation on agriculture, with farmers learning how to organize themselves and share new farming practices. The country’s farming innovation has been channeled into poverty reduction.
Malawi has had some interesting innovators, such as William Kankwamba, who created a windmill for power out of locally collected supplies. Malawi’s government still accepts help from varying organizations, including UNICEF, to improve innovations in mobile phone technology and medical care.
Mozambique has struggled with giving all its citizens access to clean water, as well as with HIV infection and infant mortality rates. However, these struggles have caused the country to look to business opportunities for solutions, leading to innovations in sectors such as tourism, health, education, and natural resources.
A country known for its civil war and genocide in the past has become one of the most improved countries in innovation index rankings. Rwanda is becoming a central point for information technology and has launched a 4G LTE network, helping to facilitate job growth and economic improvement.
It is no wonder Kenya made the list, as it is becoming well known for its information technology development, thus acquiring the nickname “Africa’s Silicon Valley”. Also prominent are some of its innovators’ more interesting inventions, such as putting a charger in your shoes to charge your phone on the run or connecting an alarm to a TV to deter burglars.
With one of the continent’s most stable governments and economies, and its support of startups, research and even global corporations, it is no surprise that Botswana makes the list of the 10 most innovative countries in Africa. This support and encouragement of growth has created an atmosphere for technology innovation to grow.
Senegal has been known for its business practices and innovation in agriculture, paper and research. However, its growth has not been as substantial as some would have liked, leading to Plan Sénégal Emergent, a plan put in place by the government to bring the country to the forefront of West African economies by 2035 and putting it in the world’s sights.
Seychelles is one of the newer countries on the list of the 10 most innovative countries in Africa, appearing for the first time in 2014. This is significant because it is the third sub-Saharan African country to rank in the upper half of the Global Innovation Index.
Of these countries on this list, South Africa makes the news the most in regards to its innovative capacity. The main limiting factor for the country has been its inability to maintain and grow innovative thinkers, many of whom are lost to emigration to the U.S. and the U.K. If this trend can be reversed, the country would see a strong change in the tide as it moves up the innovation list.
Mauritius tops the list of the 10 most innovative countries in Africa and has been in the top half of the index since 2011. It has the advantages of being a tourist destination and maintaining stability. The government has also put a focus on innovation by investing in research into job and wealth creation.
These countries utilize their stability and market-oriented economy to foster innovation. Many find that democratic countries have a higher likelihood of increasing and maintaining their innovation. While Africa still has work to do in comparison to other regions, it is making headway and moving forward.
– Natasha Komen
Photo: Flickr
Roots and Shoots Million Tree Project Slows Desertification in China
Desertification has been a prolonged, aggravating problem in northern and northwestern China. The Roots and Shoots (R&S) Shanghai branch has achieved significant success in slowing desertification with its Million Tree Project.
Founded by renowned primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, Roots & Shoots is an influential international non-governmental organization aiming to inspire people of all ages, especially youths, to take part in making the world a better place.
The Roots & Shoots branches around the world maintain only loose connections with each other so that each individual branch can carry out unique projects tailored to its regional needs. One of the main missions of R&S Shanghai is to have a positive impact on China’s natural environment.
Desertification in China poses a great challenge to environmental protection as well as the development of those desertified regions. In recent decades, growing deserts have devoured 3,600 square kilometers of grassland each year and forced nearly 200,000 residents from the desertified areas to relocate.
To fight the consequences of desertification, including powerful sandstorms, the loss of arable land and people being driven out of their hometowns, R&S Shanghai initiated its Million Tree Project in 2007. It is also the inaugural project of the organization.
Led by Tori Zwisler, Chairman of R&S Shanghai, and Executive Director Zhong Zhenxi, the Million Tree Project aims to reduce the combined effects of land exploitation and climate change, which eventually leads to desertification, by planting one million trees in Inner Mongolia.
The project began its work in Tongliao Municipality, Inner Mongolia. By cooperating with local and foreign forestry and agricultural experts and mobilizing tens of thousands of volunteers across the globe, the Million Tree Project achieved its first million tree milestone in 2012 and passed the second million mark in 2016.
In consideration of local soil and climate conditions in order to achieve long-term reforestation success, local and Oregon State University forestry experts have carefully chosen specific species to plant in the area.
The majority of the trees planted are hybrid poplars, chosen specifically because it needs little water. In 2009 and 2011, yellowhorn and Scots pine trees were added to the planting list and proved to be beneficial to the region not only ecologically but also economically.
Working with the Baijitan tree farm, the experts have developed an integrative sand control method by planting a combination of different shrubs along with an expansive straw grid. While the straw grid can increase the roughness of the terrain as well as reduce water evaporation, which can give the shrubs better soil conditions to grow in, the matured shrubs can benefit soil development and the restoration of vegetation diversity.
Apart from the standard procedures of planting trees like many previous forestation projects, the Million Tree Project worked closely with local farmers and tree planters on post-planting maintenance. Licensed farmers can harvest trees but are required to replant new trees on the same spot, making the planted forest a sustainable environment.
More than 50 companies have purchased forests in increments of 2000 trees, and more than 20,000 volunteers have helped plant two million trees between 2007 and 2016. Additional tree planting projects have been started in Ningxia Province, adding more land to the reforestation project portfolio.
The 2016 Rio Olympics opening ceremony featured R&S Shanghai’s Million Tree Project as a significant achievement of humans fighting against the great odds of mother nature.
The Million Tree Project is a great example of a small environmental NGO having a huge impact on the natural world as well as a successful collaboration between the experts and volunteers. It demonstrates that everybody has the ability to change the world. The project, with the collective efforts of people coming from every corner of the world, will generate greater momentum to eventually eliminate desertification in China.
– Chaorong Wang
Photo: Flickr
U.S. Signals Possible Change in Foreign Assistance Programs
Although the motion passed, it was also met with widespread condemnation; 128 countries in total condemned the move. In response, the United States threatened to cut foreign aid programs. Commenting on the vote at a recent AIPAC conference, Haley stated, “We’re not forgetting that vote. As I said at the time: On that vote, we were taking names.”
As of today, only Palestine has received cuts in foreign aid assistance. This is largely due to the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to enter into peace negotiations with Israel. In the view of the Palestinian government, the United States has lost its position as the neutral-party at the negotiating table.
A major element of Haley’s “America First Foreign Assistance Policy” is the direct link between foreign assistance programs and American security interests. For example, Iraq and Egypt remain exempt from cuts in foreign aid even though both countries have voted against the United States in the past on multiple resolutions. It is argued that continued aid to Iraq and Egypt is vital in protecting U.S. security interests in the Middle East.
Countries not exempted from cuts who offer the U.S. little economic or security benefit could see major shifts in aid assistance. Specifically, American foreign assistance programs in Ghana, Vietnam and Zimbabwe are under fire. $4.9 million to aid in Ghana’s construction of schools, Vietnam’s $6.6 million climate change program and a $3.1 million job training initiative in Zimbabwe are highlighted in the document. Currently, aid programs for roughly 40 countries who have voted against the U.S. in the past are under review.
In addition to the details of the “America First Foreign Assistance Policy” document, the State Department has put more than $100 million on hold in funding for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Another $100 million requested by the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration has also been denied. It is unclear as to why the funds have been denied or when they may be approved.
With the recent release of U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s proposal for major changes to American foreign assistance programs, there is much concern for countries that receive U.S. aid, most notably for nations viewed as nonessential to U.S. economic and security interests. Furthermore, countries that lack a track record of voting with the U.S. on U.N. resolutions could face serious cuts.
It is unknown whether these policy changes will be formally adopted in Washington, D.C. The proposed changes have seen much backlash from both the Department of Defense and intelligence community. Ultimately, the American mission to eradicate international poverty and obtain global security is at risk.
– Colby McCoy
Photo: Flickr
15 Facts About Poverty in Africa
Many people are aware that Africa suffers from widespread poverty, but many do not know what that poverty consists of or why it exists. Understanding the facts and seeing the statistics can result in change. Here are 15 facts about poverty in Africa.
Facts and Stats about Africa Poverty
Knowing the facts about poverty in Africa can illustrate not only the work that needs to be done but also the progress that has been implemented. Africa is a struggling continent, and these facts about poverty in Africa point to a complex problem of young governments, few resources and a growing population. There is plenty of work still to be done.
– Emily Degn
Photo: Flickr
Cities That Will Run Out of Water Soon Without Proper Attention
Over 70 percent of the world’s surface area is covered in water. However, the majority of the world’s poor, who number about three billion, live in areas absent of clean water. Most of the earth’s water is saltwater, but there are still means to purify it for drinking and cooking purposes.
According to UNICEF, women may spend between 30 minutes to eight hours a day searching for water. The average walking distance for women in Africa and Asia is 6.0 km (3.7 miles) to walk and carry the water for their families. The following are all cities that will run out of water soon without proper attention.
Better planning and management of water sources are only possible once wealth increases and corruption is eradicated. Eliminating undue bureaucracy is a difficult step, so it is important to approach each of these cities’ challenges on a needs basis. It is necessary to understand that water is not only a basic human need but also a basic human right.
– Awad Bin-Jawed
Photo: Flickr
Combating Statelessness for Rohingya Refugees Continues
The Muslim Rohingya minority found in Myanmar have been systematically stripped of citizenship in bureaucratic ways, which has led to combating statelessness for Rohingya refugees.
In 1982, the ruling military junta put in place discriminatory citizenship laws in Myanmar. The law favors the country’s “national races” and excludes the Muslim Rohingya and several other ethnic minorities, automatically granting full citizenship to these “national races.” The national races include groups that were present in Myanmar before the British conquest in 1824.
Removing Rohingya Rights
Throughout past years in Myanmar, each form of ID was declared invalid and then taken from the Rohingya, replaced with a card that indicated fewer rights. The “white cards,” created in 1982, were temporary documents that left the Rohingya in legal limbo.
Currently, the authorities urge the Rohingya to apply for a “national verification card.” The new identification card is highly criticized because of the multistep citizenship process associated with the cards. Many Rohingya, in addition, don’t feel confident that they would have “full” citizenship or basic rights with the new cards.
Nurul Hoque and his family are Rohingya refugees that are fearful of these new cards. He holds on to his grandfather’s old and frail identity card from Myanmar from before the implementation of the discriminatory citizenship laws. This old document is a reminder of a life that he and his family had left behind in Myanmar.
Nick Cheesman, a political scientist at Australian International University, describes to DW that the deprivation of citizenship among Rohingya was not a result of the 1982 law but more an inaccurate implementation of the law.
United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees and Combating Statelessness
In combating statelessness for Rohingya refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) has declared a worldwide effort to end statelessness by 2024. Around 10 million people in the world are denied citizenship, which causes many obstacles in obtaining basic rights.
To overcome statelessness, the UNHCR works with many other organizations to assemble and endorse more compelling solutions. It collaborates with other international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, civil society groups, national human rights institutions and academic and legal associations. The United Nations General Assembly granted, through a series of resolutions in 1995, the UNHCR the formal approval to combat statelessness through identification, prevention, reduction and protection of stateless individuals.
The UNHCR believes that citizenship, or some structure of documented status within a state, is required for basic rights to be achieved. This statelessness determination status, though, is to give individuals an interim way to attain basic rights. The final goal is to end statelessness altogether.
United States Assistance to Myanmar
The United States humanitarian policy in Myanmar has been guided by the importance of protection of basic rights for refugees and asylum seekers. On September 20, 2017, the State Department allocated $28 million in humanitarian aid for displaced people in Bangladesh.
The overall objective for United States policy in Myanmar is to establish a democratically elected civilian government that recognizes human rights and civil liberties of all Myanmar citizens and residents, revealing another effort in combating statelessness for Rohingya refugees.
– Andrea Quade
Photo: Flickr
Inequality in South Africa is Still Being Perpetuated Today
South Africa has long been known as one of the most unequal societies in the world. In the 1990s, South Africa’s Gini coefficient–a measure that reflects inequality, where zero is absolute equality and one is absolute inequality–was, at 0.66, the highest in all the 57 countries for which this data was available. That measure, as of 2015, has remained the same. The top 10 percent of South Africans earn roughly 60 percent of all income and own 95 percent of all the country’s assets, whereas 80 percent own no wealth at all. Inequality in South Africa continues to be a major issue as the country moves to distance itself from its apartheid- era exclusionary style.
The root causes of South Africa’s severe inequality can be traced back to the establishment of Cape Town, a Dutch shipping port in the 1650s. Over the next two centuries, “military conquest and political exclusion, which took a colonial and racial form,” expanded into the interior.
After the British took over in the early nineteenth century, the defeated indigenous groups were never fully incorporated into the economic and political model. The twentieth century brought the neighboring counties under British rule, culminating in a peace settlement which “inscribed racial discrimination in the foundations of the new South African state.” The framework for inequality in South Africa had already been laid by the time the National Party came to power in 1948 and enforced its apartheid legislation.
South Africa continues a system of socioeconomic exclusion. However, whereas historically the exclusionary practices were racially-based, today the extent and depth of inequality in South Africa is increasingly intersectional. Although it continues to impact black South Africans the most, it strikes at race, gender, class and age. Over 55 percent of South Africans continue to live in poverty and unemployment sits at 25 percent.
All hope is not lost, however. The University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg has founded a new center, the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, that will drive a five-year-long, interdisciplinary project. It will include approximately 80 researchers from across the country: economists, historians, legal academics, healthcare experts, sociologist and other disciplines.
The most promising hope yet for combating inequality in South Africa comes from the implementation of the National Development Plan. The plan seeks to reduce inequality and eliminate poverty by 2030 by “drawing on the energies of the country’s people.” Some of the key points include: increasing employment to 24 million, ensuring all children can read and write by the third grade and providing affordable healthcare and a public transit system. It also aims to strengthen the criminal justice system, including governmental accountability. “Progress over the next two decades means doing things differently,” the plan states.
In detail, the plan calls for:
After handing over the plan to President Jacob Zuma, Minister Trevor Manuel stated that “social cohesion needs to anchor the strategy.”
South Africa’s apartheid era formally came to an end in April of 1994. Less than a month later, in May of 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first black, democratically elected president. The exclusionary system that Mandela grew up in is still widely overreaching within the country, but as the nine provinces continue to work together, there will be hope. Inequality in South Africa does not have to be a perpetuation.
– Aaron Stein
Photo: Flickr
How Agritourism Benefits People in Rural China
As China continues its efforts to lift its citizens out of poverty, initiatives have been established to help those living in rural communities. The government has created the twelfth Five Year Plan that aims to alleviate poverty and focuses on people in rural China, who are more susceptible to poverty than those who live in metropolitan parts of the country.
The plan states that China plans to “lift all of its poor out of poverty by 2020,” by mainly focusing on people living in the nation’s 128,000 poor villages and 832 counties. The plan further encourages the development of competitive industries in areas that include agriculture and tourism to help pursue the goal of alleviating poverty by 2020.
Beyond the government’s efforts to support citizens in rural communities, migrants from these communities, who previously moved to metropolitan cities for better opportunities, are moving back to their hometowns and villages to set up businesses to help progress these areas.
A cause for this shift is attributed to favorable policies implemented to help progress the lives of people in rural China. The Chinese government has created policies that focus on improving rural infrastructure, providing subsidies, streamlining registration procedures, improving financial services and setting up entrepreneurial parks.
In recent years, approximately seven million returnee migrants have established agriculture-based enterprises in their hometowns and villages. Estimates state that the number of returnee migrants is increasing by 10 percent each year. As a result, The Ministry of Agriculture states that at least eight new jobs on average have been created for people in rural China when businesses are set up by returnee migrants.
What is Agritourism?
One industry that has been proven effective in alleviating poverty in rural China is the agritourism industry, which has seen increased interest by both developing and developed countries with large agriculture industries. Agritourism can be defined as the act of tourists visiting a farm or ranch for leisure, recreation or educational purposes.
The increased interest in agritourism can be attributed to tourists’ increased understanding of environmental protection and a heightened interest in improving the quality of life for those who live in rural China. The urban economy in China has also contributed to this popularity with its growing economy and raised awareness of healthy living, which has increased the demand for organic products and rural tourism.
The Results of Agritourism
The past six years have brought success to the agritourism industry and have helped bridge the economic gap between the urban economy and rural economy in China.
In 2012, there were roughly 1.7 million leisure farming and agritourism businesses that were created and helped create employment for 6.9 percent of the total rural labor force. These enterprises brought in an annual revenue of over 240 billion yuan from the 800 million tourists who visited rural China.
In 2016, the number of tourists increased to 2.1 billion people, who brought in and estimated 570 billion yuan that helped 6.72 million households in rural China.
Needed Improvements to the Agritourism Business Model
Even though agritourism has proven successful for millions of citizens, there are still sectors in the agritourism industry that need improvement.
There have been numerous issues that have arisen concerning agritourism and how to sustain the industry, so it can become a more reliable avenue to help alleviate poverty in China. These issues include problems with sanitation practices, lack of program planning and lack of reliable research and monitoring systems.
Also, with rural residents offering tourists “rural-style themed” food and accommodations, these practices have hindered further development of the agritourism industry. Solutions proposed have been to encourage the government to “help logistically and practically by integrating education resources in vocational institutions and by providing tailored training services for the new farmers.”
With efforts underway to improve the livelihoods of China’s rural residents, and with agritourism having already been proven as a successful industry, only time will tell whether this industry can be enough to lift people in rural China out of poverty for good by 2020.
– Lois Charm
Photo: Flickr