context: With the end of the poverty alleviation campaign, Xi Jinping spoke of a ‘major victory’ while urging perseverance to prevent relapse into poverty. Rural revitalisation has now become the main theme, aiming for overall prosperity and modernisation of the rural and ag sector.
The highly publicised victory over absolute poverty does not mean assured security above the poverty line for rural residents, nor has overall prosperity been achieved in rural areas. The focus of rural work will now be rural revitalisation, which connects with the previous anti-poverty campaign to some extent, while further stressing the building of a modern ag and rural sector, says Liu Huanxin 刘焕鑫 MARA (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs) vice minister. The 14th 5-year period is also a transitional period for all former poor regions and households, which will be monitored frequently and supported if they again face difficulties. Based on protections against relapse into poverty, MARA will prioritise four tasks, namely
- securing the supply of grain and other key ag products by fostering the seed industry and improving farmland quality
- developing rural industries and rural entrepreneurship to boost off-farm income
- improving rural infrastructure and public services
- strengthening rural governance and education for farmers
Accounting for some 98 percent of ag operators and farming over 70 percent of arable land, smallholders remain the core of rural strategy. MARA aims to protect smallholders from being harmed by larger ag producers and further link them with modern ag. This should go hand in hand with the development of new ag operators. Smallholders that are willing to farm in the long term will be encouraged to upscale to family farms with a 'moderate' production scale. Both smallholders and family farms can be connected by cooperatives and supported by professional ag services, says MARA. As of October 2020, China had
- over 1 million family farms
- over 2 million farmer coops
- some 900,000 ag service organisations