By the end of 2020, China aims to end absolute poverty and realize the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
In Heyuan City of Guangdong Province, unproductive land and inconvenient transportation have severely limited the development of Suguang Village. Starting from 2016, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (Tsinghua SIGS) has been helping with poverty alleviation at the village, drastically improving villagers’ livelihoods and surroundings through technology, education, and business development.
Suguang Village
Smart Agriculture
The Suguang Village Smart Agricultural Base uses a three-dimensional circulating planting and breeding technology that realizes the cultivation of livestock and fish in one environment. Waste water and manure from animal pens and fish ponds are collected and reused for crop irrigation after microbial separation and purification. Tsinghua SIGS faculty and alumni were involved in the design of the system.
“Considering the limited agricultural resources in the local area, the smart agricultural base makes full use of a circulating planting and breeding technology to improve crop yield and breeding, as well as rural production and living environment,” said Yang Hao, first secretary and leader of the poverty alleviation team at Suguang Village.
The village also uses nanotechnology pesticide developed by Zhang Xuxu’s laboratory at the SIGS Institute of Biopharmaceutical and Health Engineering. The resulting rice is rich in selenium, and grain safety and quality have improved.
Education
In the past five years, Tsinghua SIGS has helped repair and refurnish classrooms at Suguang Elementary School with more comfortable desks, chairs and teaching materials, so that children can study in a better learning environment.
When COVID-19 broke out at the beginning of 2020, the elementary school was in shortage of pandemic prevention materials. Tsinghua SIGS immediately arranged for masks and disinfecting materials to be sent to Suguang Village, distributing them to teachers and students first to ensure that learning activities could go on safely.
Many Tsinghua SIGS staff have also visited the elementary school. In July 2019, staff gave a lesson on the topic of “Chasing your Dreams” to inspire students to work hard and pursue their goals.
SIGS staff visiting Suguang Elementary School
The village poverty alleviation team has also invited students from the Dongguan University of Technology, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, Guangdong Ocean University and other universities to help volunteer during summer and winter vacations.
Business Development
Located at the source of the Dongjiang River in Guangdong, Suguang Village produces a variety agricultural products throughout the four seasons: dried bean curd, kiwi fruit, sweet potatoes, and camellia oil. For the past years, Tsinghua SIGS has been purchasing products from the village during the holiday seasons, bringing considerable income to impoverished households.
In order to sell their products to a wider audience, Suguang villagers established an agricultural cooperative under the guidance of the poverty alleviation team. From product packaging to purchasing machines and professional equipment, Suguang Village has been improving the quality of their products and developing their own brand.
Camellia oil from Suguang Village
With the help of Tsinghua SIGS staff, rice and eggs from Suguang Village have undergone safety testing in Shenzhen, and in the beginning of 2019, villagers further established an online sales platform. In 2020, the cooperative and Shenzhen Hongji Ecological Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. signed a purchase and sales agreement, allowing products from Suguang Village to be showcased on an even larger platform.
In 2020, all impoverished households in Suguang Village have reached poverty alleviation standards, and Suguang Village was removed from the list of provincial-level impoverished villages. Yang Ruidong, Tsinghua SIGS CPC Committee Deputy Secretary said that five years of work at Suguang Village reflects Tsinghua’s mission in helping alleviate poverty, and stressed that Tsinghua and Sugusang Village will continue to maintain a lasting relationship.
Photo: Yang Hao
Editor: Karen Lee
