Poverty Alleviation of All China Federation of Supply & Marketing Cooperatives

　　【Overview】  In 2009, according to the poverty alleviation & development strategy of the central party committee and the State Council, All China Federation of Supply & Marketing Cooperatives (brief as China CO-OP) exerted the supply and marketing cooperatives’ short distance to “issues concerning agriculture, the countryside and farmers”, combined poverty alleviation & development and business operation, and promoted the poverty alleviation and development in the whole system.

　　To boost the new socialist countryside construction, activate rural commodity circulation, and perfect rural market system, in 2006, China CO-OP started the new rural modern circulating service network project construction (brief as the new network project hereinafter), improved, refitted and optimized the traditional operation networks of supply & marketing cooperatives in the modern circulating mode, and primarily formed the modern operation network with stress on agricultural means of production, daily consumer products, agricultural and sideline products and renewable resources at the beginning of 2009. Based on “New Network Project” construction, local supply & marketing cooperatives put the stress in poverty alleviation and development onto industries and projects of good market outlook and advantageous resources that can boost local economic development, reinforced agricultural product market construction, set up supermarkets in villages and provided door-to-door modern circulating services by building leading logistics and chain operation enterprises; on the one hand, daily consumer products and agricultural means of production of good quality and good prices are delivered to the countryside to reduce farmers’ consumption costs, improve rural consumption environment and facilitate farmers’ consumption; on the other hand, by exerting the multiple purposes of the network and bidirectional circulating functions, combine circulating networks with farmers’ professional cooperatives, agricultural product bases and planting & cultivation families, enable agricultural products to enter supermarkets, community vegetable markets and wholesale markets, to solve the difficulties in the sales of agricultural and sideline products, boost the economic development in impoverished areas and increase farmers’ income.

　　【“New Network Project”】  In 2009, China CO-OP, through policy funds, project support and other measures, invested “New Network Project” construction funds of 77.5 billion Yuan, supported 155 supply & marketing cooperatives in blank counties in bad networks with stress, most of the counties were underdeveloped counties and impoverished counties at different levels, including 47 key counties for national poverty alleviation and development, to support the network construction of blank counties in bad networks. As for the agricultural production means and daily consumer product operation service network, China CO-OP supported modern chain operation with stress; as for agricultural and sideline products purchase & sales networks, China CO-OP supported the construction and rebuilding of agricultural product wholesale markets, as well as base construction; as for renewable recycling networks, China CO-OP supported the building of renewable resource points and markets with stress; as for network terminal and point construction, China CO-OP supported comprehensive operation services, rebuilding of operation service facilities and environment. The execution of the projects improved the supply & marketing cooperatives’ ability to boost farmers’ development in impoverished areas, and was helpful for the economic development and social progress in impoverished areas.

　　【Aid through supply and marketing cooperatives】  Local supply and marketing cooperatives boost the increase in agricultural efficiency and farmers’ income with stress, combine various professional cooperation organizations and professional organizations with the building of rural and agricultural product markets, other economic activities and poverty alleviation jobs, lead and organized impoverished families to develop various economic cooperation organizations, improve the organization level of impoverished families’ entry into the market, interpret the in-depth changes in the supply and need relationship of agricultural products and the difficulties in the increase of farmer’s income under the severe competition in the agricultural product market. By launching and developing farmers’ professional cooperatives, supply & marketing cooperatives provide seeds and seedlings for members before production, provide technical instructions, chemical fertilizers and pesticides during production, and provide product sales and other services after production, so that members can benefit more from operations. First, according to local resources, industrial advantages and farmers’ intentions, participate “Thousands of communities and products” project to foster featured advantageous industries, and maximize farmer’s income increase potential. Second, participate the processing and marketing of agricultural products, lengthen the agricultural chain, so that members can get more added profits from processing of agricultural products. Third, but agricultural means of production to large scale, unify the sales of agricultural products, reduce production costs, reduce transaction expenses and increase member’s income. By launching professional cooperatives, professional organizations, and organizing impoverished farmers to develop planting, cultivation and small processing projects, improve impoverished people’s self development and accumulation ability, gradually form the long-term and stable poverty alleviation & development system, and solve the poverty problems.

　　【Industrial poverty alleviation】  Local supply and marketing cooperatives, oriented by the market and to increase impoverished people’s income, support impoverished families to develop multi-channel income-increase industries, with stress on cultivation, planting, Chinese medicinal herbs, anti-season planting of vegetables, agaric, edible fungus, green wild herbs and other advantages industries and products of local features, guide and lead impoverished families to introduce fine, famous and novel varieties by applying new agricultural technologies and new agricultural materials in the industrialized mode of “leading enterprises + professional cooperatives or bases + impoverished families”, develop standardized and large-scale production, develop natural, ecological, safe and healthy agricultural products in brands, sharpen the competitive edge of agricultural products and find out the path to prosperity.

　　【Poverty alleviation by science and technology】  Supply and marketing cooperatives at all levels exert their technological advantages, give priority to poverty alleviation in intelligence, use technical training as an effective measure to improve the impoverished people’s development ability, make use of the advantages of scientific research institutes in the system, crop hospitals and agricultural technicians, reinforce the transferred employment skill training of impoverished labors, promote the secondary vocational education and short-term skill training for middle school and high school graduates, who failed to enter higher schools, from poor families in aided villages, reinforce the practical skill trainings for poor farmers, develop the transferred employment channels of poor labors, help poor labors’ transferred employment or developing plating and cultivation locally through industrial transfer and labor transfer platforms, etc. Coordinate with related departments, invite experts to handle soil testing and formulated fertilization, supply seeds and seedlings, introduce new agricultural technologies and methods, help farmers to learn and use agricultural science and technologies and improve their ability to become rich. By the end of 2009, 327,200 hectare of demonstrative scientific farmlands were built, the soil testing and formulated fertilization of 2.4771 hectare was finished and seeds and seedlings worth 2.391 billion Yuan were provided.

　　【Fixed-point poverty alleviation】  In 2009, China CO-OP went on with the fixed-point aid to Qianshan County, Anhui. First, it adjusted temporary cadres, selected young temporary cadres who were familiar with business, had good sense of responsibility and pioneering spirit, as temporary vice head of Qianshan County. Second, it allocated special poverty alleviation subsidy of 200,000 Yuan to support Qianshan County’s development of edible fungi, including 100,000 Yuan as bonus instead of subsidy to large edible fungus planting units through the county’s poverty alleviation office, boost the sustainable and healthy development of the edible fungus industry in Qianshan County through demonstration. Third, it allocated 100,000 Yuan to support the county supply and marketing cooperatives’ building of a mushroom baking plant (annual output: nearly 10,000 tons of dried mushrooms) in the production base of edible fungus company, to solve the problems in baking and drying of mushrooms in Qianshan County. Fourth, China CO-OP provided financial funds of 800,000 Yuan for Qianshan Supply & Marketing Cooperatives through the national agricultural comprehensive development supply and marketing department’s project, to develop 1,000 Mu of quality cotton production base in Wanghe Town. After the base is built up, the base will produce 2,600 tons of quality unginned cotton, benefit over 2,000 rural families and increase income by 195 Yuan/Mu.

　　(Wang Zhan, Industrial Development Dept. of Economic Development & Reform Division)