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Journal of Rural and Community Development Journal of Rural and Community Development Living with Livestock: The Nu and the Value of Local Voice in Rural Chinese Development Authors: Shengyu Pei & Jeffrey H. Cohen Citation: Pei, S. -Y., & Cohen, J. H. (2019). Living with livestock: The Nu and the value of local voice in rural Chinese development. The Journal of Rural and Community Development, 14 (1), 19–34. Publisher: Rural Development Institute, Brandon University. Editor: Dr. Doug Ramsey Open Access Policy: This journal provides open access to all of its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. ISSN: 1712-8277 © Journal of Rural and Community Development www.jrcd.ca Journal of Rural and Community Development Living with Livestock: The Nu and the Value of Local Voice in Rural Chinese Development Shengyu Pei South-Central University for Nationalities Wuhan, China [email protected] Jeffrey H. Cohen The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio [email protected] Abstract The Nu (Yunnan Province) are a rural, economically marginal ethnic minority in southwestern China known for their tradition of raising livestock in pens built under or next to their homes. The local government used the federal Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) program to build freestanding pens and relocate livestock in response to the perceived poverty of the Nu. The project had limited success. We argue that the program’s failure left the Nu out of decision-making and program planning process. Our discussion explores an alternative approach to the top-down structure of TPA and incorporates ethnic minorities in decision-making. By listening to local voices and embracing ethnographic–anthropological methods, the governments can improve the effectiveness of TPA in ethnic regions of China. Keywords: Living with livestock, indigenous development, Targeted Poverty Alleviation, cultural tradition, the Nu people 1.0 Introduction Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) programs began in China, in 2014 with government sponsorship and promised to directly address (target) rural poverty and develop measure that would support economic growth across the nation. TPA replaced previous poverty alleviation programs and strived to improve their accuracy, effectiveness and sustainability by tailoring projects to help poor households and individuals according to their needs. Programs were organized to meet specific goals that could be quantified at a national level and linked directly to local governments. The assumption was that local governments would support national goals that strove to meet specific targets under federal standards. In other words, TPA was meant to identify ‘real poverty’ that might confront the poor or real challenges that limited rural opportunity and integration. President Xi Jinping argued that TPA goals are best met through industrial development, relocation, eco-compensation, education and the expansion of both the protections and reach of social security programs. He also regards TPA as critical to ISSN: 1712-8277 © Journal of Rural and Community Development www.jrcd.ca Pei & Cohen Journal of Rural and Community Development, 14, 1(2019) 19–34 20 ending poverty nationwide, the most important goal for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nevertheless, a significant and complicated challenge for ethnic minority regions is that the benefits of TPA programming have not fully met the needs of many ethnic minority communities in the country’s west. Nearly 30.5 million people continued to live in poverty, earning no more than 2,952 yuan ($429) annually as recently as 2017. Of this group 33.9%, or more than 10.3 million people, were living in the ethnic minority regions. And the poverty rate for China’s ethnic minorities living in the western half of the country was 6.9%, more than double the poverty rate of the nation overall 3.1% (National Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People’s Republic of China, 2018). A nationwide survey found diverse needs and a series of different challenges added difficulties for TPA to succeed (Li, Su, & Liu, 2016). This means that TPA while an important approach to dealing with poverty does not take into account what local minorities are really talking about to some extent. We need to rethink current poverty alleviation methods and explore an effective development model in western China and for ethnic minority groups. TPA goals were defined by the government not the minorities’ communities in question. It is by listening to local communities and engaging with their traditional practices, that the government can plan ‘real targeted’ programs and meet not only national goals but make those goals local and sustainable. 2.0 Review Governmental departments and regional workers have explored various approaches to poverty alleviation through years of practical application. Over the last several years the Chinese government has learned that income transfer programs and non- food based social safety ultimately places more choices in the hands of the poor as they gain the ability to make informed economic decisions (Ramanujam & Chow, 2016). Yan (2016) summarizes some of the costs and benefits of various programs in “Poverty Alleviation in China: A Theoretical and Empirical Study” noting ways the state combats rural poverty among other things. Wu and Han (2018) argue that it is also crucial to engage with the poor as stake holders in any programing. And while the government's decision to launch the TAP program is based on defining and understanding poverty in China, Xing and Zhao (2016) note that there is no single definition that captures the dynamic nature of poverty in the nation. They argue that poverty is a cultural construction that reflects ideas associated with ‘the poor’ and perhaps more importantly structural factors that confront and limit what those living in poverty can accomplish. Factors that limit rural and impoverished Chinese include capital, resources and technology, education and knowledge, information and culture among other things. A second set of challenges are defined by what the state considers the ‘misuse’ of relief funds that are spent on alcohol and cigarettes. In Gansu and Ningxia, rural poor will quickly sell the cattle or sheep that were provided by local government programs to earn a quick return; thwarting the hopes of local programs and programmers who sought to increase rural engagement with national cultural programs. The challenges that confront TPA suggest that the rural poor in China have yet to fully benefit from programed poverty reduction (Wang & Zeng, 2018). Further complicating poverty reduction in China is the lack of diversity and flexibility in TPA policies (Ge & Zing, 2015). Too often the state promotes a ‘one size fits all’ approach to poverty alleviation that ignores or underestimates local Pei & Cohen Journal of Rural and Community Development, 14, 1(2019) 19–34 21 challenges to programming—undermining flexibility and application. Bu (2018) describes the problems TPA is facing in ethnic areas as a form of developmental ‘involution' creating complexity as groups come into to contact around poverty reduction without actually addressing any problems (see also Geertz, 1963; Fang, 2014). The resulting distortions led to the inaccurate delivery of TPA resources, problematic TPA performance, and a weakening of policy. ‘Growth without development’ complicates support as public support wanes in response to failed development. Xiao and Wu (2018) argue that the widening of the income gap counteracts the effect of economic development of the poor, based on a study of ethnic regions over the past 70 years. Urbanization and population flows as well as cultural differences further impact poverty reduction programs (see also Nie and Gong, 2018). Bao (2018), who has studied the Mumba and Lhoba ethnic groups in Medog, Tibet, believes that TPA should move from a set of programs that are focused on poverty relief to programs that seek to foster development. In fact, the lack of recognition of the unique challenges facing ethnic minority communities tests much of the effort by the state to foster programming. We argue that the challenges facing TPA are founded in the unique and diverse needs of the various rural and minority communities the state seeks to support. Further complicating programs is the government’s failure to engage with local communities in defining challenges as well as the search for sustainable solutions. Policies and measures of TPA can be truly ‘targeted’ only if they take into account structural challenges to local groups, the cultural background of minorities and changing the existing ‘top-down’ model promoted by the state. To test our assumption, we surveyed Qiunatong village, Gongshan, the site of a recent TPA program located in a remote county defined by mountains and gorges in northwest Yunnan Province and near China’s border with Myanmar. 3.0 Challenges Home to the Nu, Gongshan County is one of the poorest rural areas in Yunnan (see Table 1), a region characterized by mountainous terrain, poor infrastructure, and an ethnically diverse population that includes the Lisu, Derung, Tibetan, Bai and Naxi in addition to the Nu (Yeh, 2015; Zheng, 2017). Traveling across the region’s many rivers captures the challenge that rural minorities face in Yunnan. Rather than bridges, most people must depend on zip-lines to cross rivers and move from home to work (see Figure 1). To better understand the challenges of development and review ongoing projects, we worked with the Nu people in Qiunatong village, a community in Gongshan county, Yunnan province, China. The Nu is one of 56 ethnic groups in China, with a population about 40,000 (Writing Group, 2008, 2009; Zhao, 2001; Mullaney, 2011; Yang, 2011). Named for their proximity to the Nu River (see Figure 2), the ancestors of the contemporary Nu lived in the upper and middle reaches of the River as early as the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368 AD).