© Kamla-Raj 2019 Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) PRINT: ISSN 0972-0073 ONLINE: ISSN 2456-6802 DOI: 10.31901/24566802.2019/.37.1-3.2038 Targeted Poverty Alleviation and Rural Restructuring in : Hints from Province

Peng Sitao1,2, Deng Xiaohua1, Zhang Chaoqiong 2, Huang Juan2,3 and Luo Xian4

1Department of Anthropology and Ethnology, University, No 422, Siming S.R, Xiemen, Fujian, 361005 P.R. China 2School of Geography and Environmental Science, Guizhou Normal University, No 180, Baoshan N.R , Guizhou, 550001 P.R. China 3School of Tourism and Environment, Qiannan Normal University for Nationalities, Duyun, Guizhou, 558000 P.R. China 4Guizhou Nationalities Museum, Guiyang , Guizhou, 550002 P.R. China

KEYWORDS Targeted Poverty Alleviation. Economic Restructuring. Social Restructuring. Spatial Restructuring. Guizhou. China

ABSTRACT China’s Targeted Poverty Alleviation of 2013 contributed to both rapid and major changes in rural areas of central and western China, particularly in Guizhou Province. These changes differed from the changes caused by the Reform and Opening-up policy of the 1970s. Present research confirms statistically that the economic growth and living standards were effectively improved by the Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) activities. There has, however, been little research critically examining how the TPA activities changed the rural areas both socially and culturally. This study examines how TPA activities changed the rural areas. The researchers found the dramatic changes caused by TPA are concluded as economic, social and spatial restructuring: 1) Economic Restructuring: Village collective economy and farmers’ cooperatives became more significant relative to households as the basic economic unit. Widespread land transfer transformed farmers into workers. E-commerce became a significant platform extending the local rural economies; 2) Social Restructuring: Family structure was divided deliberately to facilitate utilization of policy. Social relationships became more complex; and 3) Spatial Restructuring: The land transfer made the individual scattered family farms more standardized, altering traditional farming culture. Relocation and resettlement for poverty alleviation resulted in social inclusion dilemmas, potentially fracturing the traditions of cultural inheritance. In order to promote effectiveness of poverty alleviation, local culture based research was suggested to be intensified.

INTRODUCTION the fight against poverty. Historically, studies of poverty could date to the 18th century, when Since the president Xi Jinping first put for- Adam Smith noted “relative poverty” in the work ward the Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) in of “The Wealth of Nations” (Smith 1776). Pover- 2013, the central and western areas of China have ty studies have attracted numerous scholars for been undergoing fundamental changes in the more than a century. Later on, the definition and rural areas. There has been a dramatic rise in measurement have been fully discussed since poverty research which has prompted new pro- Rowntree did his research in London in 1901. grams. Most of the rural villages in central and Definitions were discussed from the “minimum west China have an entire new look as the result necessities needed to maintain physical abili- of the TPA. The poverty alleviation projects re- ties” or “socially acceptable” minimum amount sulting from TPA were heavily funded and large of money for the particular environment (Rown- sums of Federal money poured into villages in tree 1901) and “substantive capabilities” (Sen 1976) to the Human Poverty Index (HPI), which Address for correspondence: was defined as a basic lack of the most basic Deng Xiaohua opportunities and choices for human develop- Department of Anthropology and Ethnology, Xiamen University, ment - a long, healthy, and decent life, freedom, No 422, Siming S.R, Xiemen, Fujian, 361005 social status, self-respect, and respect for oth- P. R. China ers (UNDP 1990). Some other researchers fo- Telephone: +86 18985033510 cused on the causes of poverty, such as envi- E-mail: [email protected] ronment-poverty (Bryant 1997) became a popu- TARGETED POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND RURAL RESTRUCTURING IN CHINA 15 lar topic for poverty study. But apparently, the try. The capital was invested into industry, and focus today is still on the achievements of TPA the insecure house still remained. This resulted and the understanding of poverty. in low efficiency of poverty alleviation. As a re- The key factor of poverty alleviation is to sult, the rural poverty status remained serious determine who are poor and where they are. But and undeveloped. to identify the poverty or poverty measurement The TPA is a system of poverty identifica- by complex definition would be difficult to real- tion, measurement, evaluation and alleviation; it ize. With the implementation of TPA, China de- can theoretically realize accurate identification, fined the poverty with the Chinese own experi- effective aid and long-term capacity improve- ence and features. The poverty was described ment. Unlike the estimated poverty population as a “general term for economic, social, and cul- from statistical data, accurate identification can tural backwardness; a living situation charac- focus on specific households or individuals. The terized by a lack of basic life necessities and identified poor are recorded dynamically in the services and a lack of opportunities and means poverty alleviation management system. Based for development” (National Bureau of Statistics on the system, especially the causes, targeted PRC 1990). Some researchers argued that pover- measures are designed to overcome the prob- ty is a survival crisis and life dilemma caused by lems causing poverty, such as insecure house, various obstacles and constraints. A certain level poor infrastructure, serious disease, etc. The of poverty is a social state, and it would be a process developed pursuant to the TPA is trace- vicious cycle to be unimproved (Qu and Zuo able and the result can be evaluated. 1997). Generally, poverty was defined not just a With the implementation of Reform and Open- low level of income, nor as just a poor educa- ing-up policy, rural China has experienced sig- tional, health, and nutritional situation, but also nificant changes (Yan 2015). Economic-driven includes vulnerability, lack of voice, and social migration is one of the most impressive factors exclusion, or concluded as political, social, cul- that has changed rural Guizhou. This results in a tural, and other elements. series of socio-economic changes including ru- Chinese scholars and government have de- ral restructuring, balanced regional development, veloped the concept and focused on food, cloth- and labor market changes (Long et al. 2016). In- ing, basic education, safe housing and basic vestigation reveals that in the past 30 years, the health care (Yan 2015). These items can be mea- young rural laborers have been attracted by the sured and are less abstract than the more com- higher income and colorful life of cities, mostly plex concepts of social well-being referenced in abandoning traditional farming of ordinary crops. some definitions of “poverty”. The TPA covers The migrant workers made great contributions a series of outstanding and historic measures in to cash income and meanwhile had to leave the poverty alleviation. The TPA stresses on the aged and children at home. The aged became accurate poverty identification, accurate anti- the main labor force in rural agriculture. Due to poverty project arrangements and capital utili- inadequate labor force, they had to abandon the zation. It also addresses actions to specific poor land or land in poor traffic conditions. The households, provides for supervisor appoint- resulting drop in agricultural productivity has ment, and specifies criteria for accurate poverty left the people without enough productivity for alleviation achievement. self-support and required the young outside to In the past, the populations in poverty were make money to afford some daily necessities or calculated according to the available statistical expenditure on behalf of the children. So, the data only, the number was not accurate. There economy in rural Guizhou turned from agricul- were no definitive answers to questions such as ture to non-agriculture, and the latter played a “who was poor”, “where has poverty occurred”, more crucial role in the family. Those who accu- and “how to help”. Furthermore, the arrange- mulated wealth by going away to work in cities ments of poverty alleviation might not be suit- eventually went back to the village, but the vil- able for the farmers. For example, the cause of lage was not the only home for them. They pre- the poverty was often an insecure house, but ferred to buy an apartment or to build houses in the action was to develop the agriculture indus- a town or city.

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) 16 PENG SITAO, DENG XIAOHUA, ZHANG CHAOQIONG ET AL.

Changes resulting from the Reform and Open- care of the forest. This is not a case; it is a uni- ing-up policy could be occurred gradually. But versal phenomenon appearing in rural Guizhou. the changes caused by TPA are much more sig- The young are seeking work opportunities out- nificant in Guizhou province. As the researchers side and accumulate wealth for the family, and investigated in Guizhou province, rural Guizhou the aged stay at home to grow some vegetables has been experiencing tremendous economic, and crops as supplementary. As the result of mi- social and spatial restructuring. The focus of gration of young people to the cities, the effects current studies is poverty identification and eco- on villages varies between two extremes. On one nomic growth, but few people notice the rapid hand, in the villages with inadequate land or poor changes in social and spatial restructuring. These condition, much abandoned land resulted in the changes are in progress, but the impact on rural decline of traditional crop farming and livestock life requires further study. So, this study aims to breeding. On the other hand, villages with good investigate the tremendous changes caused by land resources and infrastructure such as trans- TPA, and arouses attention to negative results portation and irrigation system may obtain more coupled with TPA achievements. opportunities to develop modern agriculture and engage high-efficiency agriculture. Theoretical Background As the carrier of economic activities, the land utilization reflects the economic reshaping. Some Study on rural restructuring has been con- migrant workers are still keeping their old hous- ducted since 1990s, the town experienced reces- es in their original home villages while owning sion soon after agricultural deregulation due to new houses in towns. Some expanded the home- cutbacks in farmer expenditure. As Tu and Long steads to build new homes near the main roads. summarized, rural restructuring includes at least Therefore the settlements have gradually con- spatial evolution of rural settlements; function- centrated along the road. This kind of natural al differentiation and evolution of rural territory; evolution is driven by the convenience of traffic the pattern and process of rural development and business. But another kind of relocation and and transformation; the layout and optimization resettlement arouses our interest, which is the of rural settlements; the mechanism and model relocation for poverty alleviation. of rural spatial restructuring in typical regions; Relocation for poverty alleviation is quite the social order change and the remodeling of different from the naturally concentrated settle- rural governance system to the paths of rural ments. The naturally concentrated settlements restructuring (Tu and Long 2017). The rural re- moved gradually along the main road of the vil- structuring was inevitably pushed by globaliza- lage, while the relocation and resettlement for tion, industrialization and urbanization. In rural poverty alleviation always relocated the whole China, the restructuring can be clarified in the village to a town or city. The relocation and re- following aspects: social, economic and spatial settlement of a whole village can improve the restructuring. Studies also reference this phe- effectiveness of public services and is a good nomenon as spatial restructuring, industrial re- shaping and administrative reorganization (Long poverty alleviation method. It may, however, et al. 2016). break the inheritance of traditional farming cul- Rural restructuring or village hollowing char- ture. So, the researchers’ primary interest was to acterized with land abandonment, land transfer explore the rural restructuring associated with and labour loss was quite normal in rural guizhou. the TPA. As this investigation showed, in a small village Along with the rapid urbanization and vil- with 32 households in Sansui County, only 10 lage relocation or combination, China’s tradition- households were still doing farm work in the al village is typically characterized by agricul- village. Furthermore, there were no more than 10 tural civilization, acquaintance society and clan people under 50 years old who engaged in farm- relations (Yan 2015). These relationships have ing. More than half of the young migrant work- been disassembled, and rural social development ers built or bought houses in towns or cities. is facing a decline of autonomous organization. They moved out of the village and planted trees There is a weakening of the rural management instead of plants, came back occasionally to take mainstream and a progressive disappearance of

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) TARGETED POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND RURAL RESTRUCTURING IN CHINA 17 cultural memory symbols (Long and Liu 2016). TPA. Furthermore, the researchers conducted Present research explores paths to address the semi-structured interviews with villager repre- problems in rural restructuring and to, optimize sentatives, companies involved in poverty alle- a new rural construct. As Tu and Long (2017) viation, employees from poverty alleviation de- stated, to address the problems of rural social partment and village heads. These interviews restructuring it is necessary to improve the rural collected a more comprehensive body of infor- institution system, cultivate new rural manage- mation and supplemented the researchers’ ini- ment, protect the unique rural cultural landscape tial research factors about TPA and its effect on and enhance the rural cultural function. Rural social, economic and spatial restructuring. restructuring involves various factors and ele- ments, most of which are fully discussed. So, in RESULTS AND DISCUSSION this paper, the researchers focused on the re- structures caused or enhanced by implementa- Economic Restructuring tion of the TPA.

METHODOLOGY Traditional planting and breeding are main activities of farmers, but can only satisfy their own consumption, and it is almost impossible to The study was conducted using an anthro- get cash from traditional planting and breeding. pological research and sociology approaches. The small-scale cultivation or individual culti- For the most part, the village or household data vation is not only costly, but also vulnerable to was from field study. Data relating to socioecon- risks of diseases, pests and market failure. Due omy and geography of the province information to the risks and the limited marketing opportuni- was collected from the various government ties, it is hard to improve their income by tradi- records such as the Guizhou statistical yearbook tional agriculture. When given the opportunity and the Guizhou government annual report. Field most young labors went to developed provinc- study covered more than 40 villages and includ- es to hunt jobs. But in recent years, employment ed over 1200 households. The researchers ap- in developed eastern China became more and plied stratified sampling to select villages from more difficult. While concurrently, the rural ben- northern, southern, western and eastern efit policy became much better, especially the Guizhou, attempting to reflect the variety of TPA. Significant numbers of farmers went back Guizhou’s geographical locations. The indica- home to seek a chance. These farmers were trained tors of location, transportation, industry devel- in factories or experienced in business and have opment, minority structure, infrastructure etc. a broad vision and spirit of adventure. They are were considered to determine field surveys. They willing to create, initiate and cooperate. In the selected 10 villages from Yunnan-Guangxi- context of TPA, increasing household income and Guizhou Rock Desertification area, 10 villages improving the living environment have become from Wuling Mountain area, 10 villages from the most important requirements. Wumeng Mountain area, and 10 villages from The traditional economic behavior of indi- another part of Guizhou. Those villages repre- vidual peasant is obviously inconsistent to meet- sent different types of poverty in Guizhou in the ing the requirements above. So, farmers’ coop- researchers’ opinion and could reflect the over- erative is a possible way to achieve this goal. all poverty situation of Guizhou province. To better understand the social and economic re- With the support from government, the cooper- structuring, they applied random sampling and ative can integrate land resources, technology, stratified sampling to get information from dif- and capital. The cooperatives can participate in ferent groups. a broader market to develop a certain targeted Investigation of villagers aimed to get the agriculture industry with relative high added information about changes resulting from TPA. value. This “new form of collective economy” The researchers conducted a set of question- motivated the farmers’ potential and has contin- naire surveys which involved the family mem- ued to do so. So, in the past a few years, the bers, land, income, policies or programs from individual household economies of farmers has

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) 18 PENG SITAO, DENG XIAOHUA, ZHANG CHAOQIONG ET AL. been challenged by birth of these cooperatives So, with the implementation of TPA, farmers’ and agriculture companies. The farmers’ coop- cooperatives are greatly encouraged by gov- erative and land transfer altered the traditional ernment, with usually at least one cooperative rural economy system. The village collective founded in each village. In addition, developing economy resulted in a rebirth of rural villages, farmer cooperatives is a good way for farmers to and played a more important role in rural devel- get access to markets, to strengthen relation- opment. Individual household economies have ship between villagers based on the common blended into a team for higher income. Technol- interests and goals (Long et al. 2016). ogy has became more important than traditional The present cooperatives in Guizhou prov- experiences and e-commerce has became a vital ince are all about agriculture, and are typically way to develop the economy. named “XXX professional farmer cooperative of planting and breeding”. The participation in Dominance of Farmers’ Cooperative in the cooperatives is voluntary, with willing co- Rural Economy operation, which is similar to the understanding of Fan (1999). It is not only initiated by farmers, Since the Household Contract Responsibili- but it links farmer and market (Zhang 2002), and ty System was applied in China in the 1980s, runs like a company. The core members are not rural economy has been characterized by house- only the shareholders, but also decision mak- hold-based or individual entities. The collective ers. First of all, they need to make all prepara- economy faded from the implementation of tions to apply for a cooperative: apply for a loan Household Contract Responsibility System. But (usually poverty alleviation loan), transfer land with the TPA, the collective economy based on for the production, and introduce the planting farmer cooperatives flourished again, which was or breeding program. quite different from situation before the 1980s. The favorite plants of the cooperatives in The poverty alleviation cannot be accom- Guizhou are technological fruits, tea and herbs. plished by any single part; it needs effective Planting needs large scale production, so large cooperation between government, society, com- areas of land transfer is crucial for the produc- munity and the poor. Cooperatives have been tion. Although the contracting right of the land regarded as an ideal way for poverty alleviation is still in farmers’ hand, the right of utilization is through self-help and mutual assistance (Wu transferred to cooperatives. And generally, the and Xu 2009). The farmers’ cooperatives are usu- tenancy term with the cooperative lasts for more ally founded by several core members, who act than 20 years. So, the land of individual house- as initiators for poverty alleviation or economic holds has turned into a “standardized place” development. Cooperatives are naturally char- with the same operation manual. If needed, those acterized as pro-poverty. According to the re- whose croplands were transferred to coopera- searchers’ investigation, at least one farmer co- tive could seek work in cooperative and receive operative was established in each village. And specialized training. The farmers became part- 18 villages have 2 or more cooperatives, that time workers to operate intensive cultivating. account for 45 percent of the villages (N=40) Cooperatives are generally superior to individu- they have surveyed. These cooperatives are als in utilization of rural beneficial projects and widely accepted by farmers. All-win coopera- finance. So, the profits made by cooperatives tives involve both internal bodies such as core members, professional farmers or ordinary farm- are much better than the individual households. ers and external bodies such as government, The cooperative itself becomes an important markets and society. economic entity within the village. The better The members of cooperatives need the re- profits raise cooperatives to a high status, and sources provided by government to increase attract more and more participation of ordinary their income. The government needs a platform farmers, who imitate the planting like coopera- to deploy poverty alleviation resources effec- tives and abandon the traditional farming. The tively to enhance the poverty alleviation. Thus, profits from cooperatives become an important cooperatives can obtain better social benefits. supplemental income of the family.

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) TARGETED POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND RURAL RESTRUCTURING IN CHINA 19

Another form of cooperative is the livestock running good and works well for poverty allevi- breeding, which differs slightly from planting. ation. Dividends of villagers vary from 450 RMB In Guizhou province, cattle, goat, pig, chicken, to 2200 RMB / person in the investigated villag- duck, fish and some other special types of live- es in 2017, which greatly promoted the income stock are preferred for livestock raising cooper- of the poor villagers. Furthermore, compare to atives. These kinds of cooperatives are mainly individual farmers, cooperatives obtained much run in the following two ways: One is that the more support both finance and policies from initiators invest a certain amount finance to build government, society and organizations. This breeding houses and purchase breeding live- greatly stimulated the burst of farmer coopera- stock. Then farmers grow feed crop such as pas- tives in the past 4 years. And cooperatives grad- ture for cattle and goats on their own land and ually dominate the economy in villages Guizhou. sell to cooperatives. The technique, seeds, and fertilizer needed in growing pasture are provid- Dramatically Increased Land Transition and ed by cooperatives. Farmers can get better prof- Non-grain Preference its from the technique based crop planting than traditional food planting. The second way is al- Since the 1980s, the Household Contract liance breeding. Several households join togeth- Responsibility System has been dominant in rural er to raise a certain kind of livestock. This kind China and land transfer seldom occurred in rural of operation often occurs in cattle, and there is areas. Within the Contract, the family members no need to build excessive concentrate houses. could fully make use of the contracted land to The farmers concentrate to manage daily caring improve their productivity to feed the family. Due of cattle in turn in the name of cooperatives. But to the rapid industrialization, urbanization and in fact, the cattle belong to each different family. socio-economic development, tremendous They did this for two purposes: saving labor changes have occurred in rural Guizhou. The and obtaining support from government. Tak- structure of land use was characterized with non- ing care of 30 cattle a day is more effective than grain preference for higher economic interests, 3 cattle a day. So, ten families allied together to farmland abandonment and village hollowing. care of 30 cattle in turn as an efficient way to But in the strong developed Karst Rock Deserti- improve efficiency. Furthermore, a certain num- fication areas, feeding the whole family mem- ber of cattle can get financial support from gov- bers from the traditional agriculture became im- ernment, and while the number of cattle an indi- possible. Going out for temporal work was an vidual household can raise is obviously not sat- effective way to solve the problem of inadequate isfying the criteria. food. Previous study revealed, over 40 percent The explosion of farmers’ cooperatives in of rural laborers were working outside (Dan et Guizhou in the recent 5 years has been a major al. 2011), and about 6 million rural laborers were change in rural China. The rural cooperative seeking jobs in other provinces. Since 1980s, economy, which has been ignored for more than the massive loss of young labor force has been 30 years in China was characterized as rural eco- an outstanding feature of the Guizhou rural ar- nomic restructuring owing to TPA. The cooper- eas. The people over 60 years old were the main ative could get finance and project support from force engaging the traditional household-based Department of Poverty Alleviation. This no agriculture in most villages. With the loss of the doubt greatly encourages farmers to initiate co- young labor force, more and more croplands operatives. For the government, cooperatives were left abandoned and uncultivated (Chen et reflect the poverty alleviation achievements and al. 2013). This laid a basis for land transfer. Prior have demonstrated effectiveness for the poor. to this out-migration by the young, the frag- They are willing to support the cooperatives to mented ownership pattern in the Guizhou moun- participate in the agricultural industry and help tainous rural areas made land transfer and con- the poor to enhance self-development ability. solidation unlikely. One fact needs to be noted is that the coop- The TPA involves vast rural beneficial polic- eratives play a crucial role in rural economy. This es and projects such as housing, medical care, survey reveals, 61 out of 75 cooperatives are education aid, infrastructure and industry de-

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) 20 PENG SITAO, DENG XIAOHUA, ZHANG CHAOQIONG ET AL. velopment etc. This new industry favorably Whether transferred for planning or tourism, the achieves poverty alleviation goals, and obtains land utilization changed fundamentally. The time- great inputs from the government. With the in- table for the individual households has been troduction of government, more and more com- quite flexible and free according to the land own- panies have begun to invest in the agriculture ers’ schedule in the traditional Household Con- industry. The economic crops or fruits with high- tract Responsibility System. But now, the trans- er prices are favorable for these enterprises and ferred unitary land is much more like a factory cooperatives encouraged by local government. producing department. Part time workers con- And the traditional grain farming becomes less verted from farmers are working in the fields ac- important in land transfer process. Large areas cording to the arrangement of company and su- of farmland are now used for planting economic pervised by a technician. TPA changed the utili- crops or developing long term non-agricultural zation of land, and the land altered the tradition- industry (Long and Liu 2016). al agriculture. The “Three-Transformation Reform” of Shuicheng County is the most typical case Shuicheng County is a typical land reform prac- of non-grain preference. Corn and potatoes are tice of Guizhou province. Field study revealed, favorable grain crops of farmers because these that the land transferred for planting, livestock can be easily planted with steady yields and breeding and tourism are most popular in less risks. But in 2016, farmers were informed to Guizhou province. Take Shuicheng County for abandon these crops, and all of the farmland example, 69333 ha cropland has been transferred (69333 ha) of Shuicheng County were forbidden in “three-transformation” reform since 2015. And to plant grains. Generally, because of the low in the birth place of “Three-Transformation Re- benefits of the traditional grain farming, non- form”-Ejia village, 446.67 ha cropland (44.9% of grain preference of farmland use is related to the the total cropland) has been transferred from population movement to cities, the abandonment individual farmers to plant Actinidia sinensis, of farmland, the food consumption pattern ad- Cherry, Loquat and other fruits by a company. justment and change of agricultural structure The famers who engage in land transfer can get etc. (Wang and Liu 2009). The non-grain prefer- a fixed income of 600 RMB/ Mu per year for land ence in Shuicheng County was partially pushed transfer; 600 RMB and 700 RMB dividend in the by farmers and mostly for the sake of TPA second five years; 600RMB and 1400 RMB div- achievements. So, the local government encour- idend in the third fiver years; 600 RMB and 1900 aged through its policies to plant economic RMB in the fourth five years. This kind of land crops instead of grains. And thus, land transfer transfer covers 875 households and 3062 per- became common than ever. sons, in which 221 households and 751 persons are in poverty. As estimated, the engaged farm- Encouraged E-Commerce Becoming an ers can get 13 million RMB when full productive Essential Platform for Village Trade period of the fruits comes. Another village named Songlv village in the town of Ajia, E-commerce is now spreading explosively all Shuicheng County, 1251.6 ha land has been over China. Guizhou is one of the provinces that transferred to plant fruits, which accounted 88.84 greatly benefits from e-commerce. Since 2015, percent of the total cropland and barren slope of the Big Data Expo has been held in Guiyang for the village. Actually, land transfer almost hap- 4 times, which greatly promoted the develop- pens in every village at present with the founda- ment of e-commerce in Guizhou. But in rural tion of farmers’ cooperatives. The fragmented Guizhou, the e-commerce is just beginning. Farm- lands contracted by different households were ers began to buy what they need online, but reunited to unitary ones with higher standards they didn’t sell products online. They simply of planting. Besides planting and breeding, the didn’t have surplus products when performing land could be transferred for tourism develop- traditional agriculture, and they didn’t know how ment. A skiing company in Shuicheng County to do business online. The traditional agricul- transferred 333 ha land for the ancillary facili- ture in Guizhou province inevitably fell into the ties, which involved 1261 poor households. dilemma of inadequate products or products in

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) TARGETED POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND RURAL RESTRUCTURING IN CHINA 21 excess of demand. Especially with the large scale need to be noted such as family structure, social agriculture products in excess of demand would relation and cultural cognition. really hurt the farmers. The e-commerce could help solve this problem. Under TPA, local gov- Deliberate Separation of Family Structure ernment and some farmers began to seek oppor- tunities to sell the agricultural products to the The family is believed the most important outside. Take Yanhe County (located in Wuling social institution in China and blood ties have Mountain area) for example, a college graduate traditionally been the cornerstone of society. helped the farmers of Shazipo village sell 50 thou- Filiality is at the center of the traditional Confu- sand tons of pomelos within one day. That al- cian family structure. It explains how each mem- most equals to a month that the villagers had to ber of society should act in order to be most spend in the past for the same result. Further- filial. A son should be a respectful, obedient and more, the price of pomelos sold by e-commerce loyal servant to his parent, elder siblings, and was higher than the individual farmer’s selling elder family members (Rosemont and Ames 2009). price. E-commerce is an effective way to turn the Traditionally, sons and their wives lived with surplus agriculture products into cash, and the son’s parents until the parents died at which needs to be activated. Besides the platform on time the sons divided the household and prop- each county government net, villages began to erty. The filiality won’t allow sons to leave the build their own e-commerce platform to provide parents to live alone, and parents always live supply and demand information of agriculture with the youngest son (this could be differing in products. E-commerce is becoming a kind of lif- some cases). Daughters usually get married and estyle of rural Guizhou. So, with the TPA, e-com- form a new family, but won’t inherit the family merce surpasses rural Taobao in many cases and property, unless they were unmarried or the fam- becomes not only a means of business, but a ily had no sons. This kind of family structure lifestyle. Farmers can buy and sell products has been dominant in rural Guizhou since the through the e-commerce platform. era of Mao. Although the Reform and Opening- up motivated migrant workers who might change Social Restructuring the lives of all other family members, the family structure still kept the essence of filiality to sup- With the fast development of rural economy, port the aged. tremendous changes have occurred and are oc- Owing to the favorable policies of TPA, there curring in rural areas. The traditional rural com- did occur some changes in family structure in munities have been disassembled and recom- rural Guizhou. The researchers found some in- bined. In Guizhou province, integrating several teresting cases that some young men left their small villages into a bigger one is quite normal. old parents live alone or some kids live with their As field survey revealed, the population of the grandparents. These young men are living in biggest village could reach nearly 10 thousand, big and new houses nearby while the old par- which covered more than 10 rural communities. ents are in the dilapidated house. This kind of These changes may cause some negative con- family splitting is not because the sons are not sequences such as increased cost of rural gov- filial to their parents, but for some other rea- ernance both for villagers and village commit- sons. The researchers’ further investigation re- tee. Furthermore, the development of economy vealed, the sons made good use of poverty alle- may result in the loss of young labors of rural viation policy and divided the household delib- community, the downfall of the old governance erately. The poverty in China is identified by the system and distortion of traditional values. The registered household (registered in one house- governance system of rural community is re- hold) and is measured by per capita net family sponding to cultivate a new-type agricultural income, adequate clothing and food, safe house management main body which is believed to be and affordable basic medical care and education effective solutions to address rural social struc- of the family. A household with just an old cou- ture reconstruction (Long and Liu 2016). Besides ple can be easily be qualified to be a poor family! the problems discussed above, some changes Because these two family members are not la-

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) 22 PENG SITAO, DENG XIAOHUA, ZHANG CHAOQIONG ET AL. bors and don’t have enough income to support seen. Some villagers even reported to the re- the family. The aged (over 60 years old) may get searchers that someone was not qualified to be rural subsistence allowance and young kids can poor, and his family was tough enough. These get some educational aid. However, if the son behaviors reveal at least two trends of changes. and daughter-in-law are included in, then the The first one is the tie of relatives or neighbors per capita net income is easily above the poverty began to loose, villagers began to uncover oth- line. In this case, the living condition is better, ers for their own interests. And the second one and that larger household won’t be qualified as a is that the trust in village head and others de- poor family. So, in order to fully use the TPA re- clined. One could suspect that there must have sources, a new family structure that consists of been some certain relations between village head only the aged is common in rural Guizhou. But and the household of poverty, especially the recently, the local government noticed this and household with almost the same situations com- tried to prevent the purposed family separation. pared to himself. So, the trust in the past gradu- ally declined while suspicion or even jealousy Differentiation of Social Relation began to arise.

Neighborhood relationship and clan rela- Challenges of Traditional Rural Ethics tions are the most important relations in rural villages. The rural society is relative homoge- Traditionally, achieving prosperity through nizing: the same profession and almost synchro- hard work has been regarded as virtue of a man nous time table for working. In the past, the eco- and being poor was shamed. But under certain nomic dominance of agriculture and other re- circumstances, to be poor is good. With the in- source-exploitation industries and the relative creasing investment to poverty alleviation, cap- stability of rural communities meant that hege- ital and projects are pouring into poor villages. monic discourses could represent the rural as a Furthermore, these aid programs must be imple- homogeneous space and that such homogeniz- mented to the specific household. The “clever” ing representations were taken as the basis for villagers, as stated above, might fight for a qual- rural policy and the organization of rural life ification to be poor, and pursue interest without (Woods 2011). In the acquaintance society, the following the traditional ethics. Such examples relation is interrelationship but simple, neigh- can be reflected in family structure mentioned borhood relationship, relatives, villagers and above. Being poor is no longer shamed or a sym- village head, are behaved in harmonious. The bol of incapability, but a status deserving pride. interrelationship of relatives and neighbors with This was reflected in a typical case the research- the same profession can effectively keep the ers met in a County. A healthy man driving a balance between each other and avoid conflict luxury car to the village committee requested to occurrence. The binding relationship of neigh- allocate a rural subsistence allowance to his par- bors and relatives can balance with the village ents. Actually, it’s easy to understand his be- head’s right. So, traditional rural village has little havior. His parents are over 60 years old and inner conflicts except for the resources scram- registered in a household by themselves. Ac- ble or some special cases. cording to the criteria of poverty identification, The TPA brought about abundant favorable income calculation just includes the registered policies, and sometimes represented as gifts, members of the household. The young man be- cash and specific problem solutions to the vil- longs to another household and his income can- lage. These favorable projects are mostly enti- not be calculated into his parents’ household. tled to the people under poverty line. For these So, legally speaking, his parents without labor gifts, villagers began to fight for the qualifica- may be qualified as poor and obtain some allow- tions to be poor. So, it was interesting when the ance. But on the other hand, to support the aged researchers interviewed with a family member, is the son’s obligation, and this obligation won’t he or she would claim that his or her family was be shifted to government or society unless the really poor, sounded to be the poorest family in sons lack of ability to support their parents. This the village, or poorer than the neighbors we’ve is not a unique case, but frequently occurs and

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) TARGETED POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND RURAL RESTRUCTURING IN CHINA 23 is a common phenomenon in rural Guizhou. Be- medical care and education. Improving the in- ing poor is not shamed, and to divide the family frastructures and getting rid of the poverty seems structure deliberately for sake of one’s own in- to be impossible. These people are typically terest is legally reasonable but inconsistent with spread out, living in such scattered mountainous ethics. areas, that the needed infrastructure building is a huge cost and is well beyond the affordability of Spatial Restructuring government. For the effectiveness of public infrastructure Generally, rural settlements are based on and socialization services, anti-poverty by relo- Chinese Fengshui and in a natural evolution cating and resettlement in other places may be a state, which is often spatially scattered and cha- good solution. From 2012 to 2016, Guizhou pro- otic. It is hard to optimize the public infrastruc- vincial government has built new apartments to ture and governance services in the scattered relocate 924.3 thousand people, and in 2017, 750 rural settlements (Long and Liu 2016). Also, the thousand people are to be moved out of their scattered settlements will increase the cost of original houses. According to planning, 2.04 environment conservation. These scattered farm- million people will be relocated and resettlement ers are typically living in a poor environment or by 2020 (Huang and Ye 2016). The object of relo- areas being strictly protected for ecological func- cation is to solve the farmers’ subsistence in tion, rare plants and animals. These people need mountainous, strong rocky desertification areas, to be moved out for better utilization of public where people lack of resources to survive. The services. The result is that the natural evolution whole village relocation and resettlement can may leave the house unoccupied and the village really improve the living conditions and is good hollowed. Furthermore, the rapid urbanization for poverty alleviation. However, there at least and industrialization has drawn migrants from three problems relocation and resettlement has rural areas to the cities, resulting in labor loss in to overcome. rural areas and ‘hollowed-village’ phenomenon. First, the “extremely poor” may not benefit The labor loss and hollowed-village has left from relocation and resettlement policy. Al- farmland abandoned and houses vacant. The though the relocation policy covers at least one social, economy and culture were reshaped. The employee for each household relocated, wheth- reshaping of social and economic structures in er the farmers are competent or willing to accept rural China will reflect in its spatial distribution the work arranged by the government still re- as Long (2014) stated. Reshaping of social and mains to be seen. The researchers found in their economic structures will change the utilization survey that there are some farmers who are not mode and allocation pattern, and then restruc- competent and unwilling to accept the job be- tures the rural space (Long 2014). Besides, the cause they are not satisfied with the payment spatial restructuring of village combination, land offered by the government. In some other cas- transition and relocation processes were en- es, the government has trained farmers to work hanced in terms of poverty alleviation. Long (2012) as security guards in an industrial park. Howev- and other scholars (Kuang 2015; Tonts and Ather- er, the farmers did not work in accordance with ley 2005; Long and Liu 2016) have made much the principles of the factory. A director com- discussion on these topics and we will focus on plained that several guards fell asleep after drink- the relocation for poverty alleviation. ing too much and failed to let him enter the fac- tory at night. Although farmers in rural areas Relocation for Poverty Alleviation carry out agricultural activities according to the agricultural calendar, their work quite differs from There are certain people living in extremely the factory, which needs to be strictly obeyed. It poor areas. These areas are characterized by frag- is difficult to change habits developed for a long ile environment, resources scarcity, poor infra- time through short-term training. It is hard to structure, and frequent natural disaster. People train them for industrial activities. So, the ex- there are facing difficulties with drinking water, tremely poor may not benefit from this policy transportation, electricity, telecommunication, due to failing to engage in the jobs afforded by

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) 24 PENG SITAO, DENG XIAOHUA, ZHANG CHAOQIONG ET AL. government. erty. How will the new problems such as social Second, social inclusion of relocation and inclusion, livelihood adaptation and traditional resettlement is a problem to be overcome. The culture inheritance can be fully addressed? The focus of relocation today mainly concentrates whole village relocation to cities will leave a hol- on employment, resettlement and social insur- lowed village and form a new one that won’t ance, but the social inclusion should obtain more engage in agricultural production. Besides the attention. In general, social inclusion is con- problems to be solved in the “new village”, the cerned with communities, groups, and individu- abandonment of agriculture may inevitably re- als – with a primary focus on those that are mar- sult in the fracture of the ethnic culture and farm- ginalized – and with access to and level and ing culture. quality of participation, and integration in the rudimentary and fundamental functions and re- CONCLUSION lations of society (Fudge 2014). The concentrat- ed resettlement residents are from different vil- Changes or restructuring has always been lages and ethnic groups, the inclusion between present with the development of society. The different groups of resettlement residents and rapid and widespread nature of the TPA makes inclusion to the local society are difficult for attention to social and spatial factors, particu- these new residents. If they cannot be included larly important. In the past, the restructuring, no in the local society well, a new “poor village” matter economy, society or space of rural may appear in city or town, which therefore re- Guizhou, proceeded gradually. The implementa- sults in some social problems. Furthermore, the tion of TPA brings benefits to farmers while it “new built village” altered even destroyed the speeds up or enhances the process of restruc- old spatial pattern of the original village, and turing, but some problems arise. To address formed a new pattern that may be strange for these problems, more detailed actions need to resettlement residents. be designed in TPA. Third, the potential fracture of culture in- The economy entity such as farmers’ coop- heritance may occur. The rural villages are the eratives and e-commerce platform are crucial to base and carrier of agriculture civilization inher- the prosperity of rural villages. Encouragement itance. The mountains, waters, fields, forests, of farmers’ cooperatives and e-commerce by roads and other spaces are commonly formed specific help will help flourish rural development. the carrier of traditional culture. But the whole- Farmers are good at planting and breeding, but village relocation and resettlement will leave the they lack technology, capital and management village hollowed and cut off the ties between capacity. Good guidance can help them to acti- farmers and agriculture. This was proved in our vate the endogenous power to develop and investigation. The youngsters resettled to towns therefore affect the other farmers to advance. and cities and were not able to grow crops. It’s a Policy and projects-support are significant to new farmer generation without agricultural the development of farmers’ cooperatives and know-how. According to the Planning for the e-commerce. Implementation of the Relocation project of Pov- Traditional family keeps the essence of rural erty Alleviation of Guizhou province, 84.96 per- ethics; the deliberate separation of family struc- cent of relocation population will move into in- ture should be prevented, and harmonious in- dustrial park settings, which results in millions terpersonal relationship should be rebuilt. De- of farmers’ abandonment of agriculture. This was spite the deviation of neighborhood coopera- demonstrated in words of a politician in charge tion that was partially caused by TPA, the har- of poverty alleviation in Guizhou. His remarks monious and mutual assistance relationship still mean to cut off the poor root to be a farmer for can be recovered from the agricultural projects those willing to relocate to the county in the such as collective behaviors of irrigation sys- future. Those relocated in cities might be poor tem construction, road construction, house con- for this generation and could be tolerated, but struction, and rush harvest, etc. In terms of family we will get rid of poverty for the next generation. structure separation, we can make full use the His remarks sound reasonable to eradicate pov- wisdom of people, which can easily deal with

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) TARGETED POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND RURAL RESTRUCTURING IN CHINA 25 this phenomenon. As an employee’s remarks to Then famers could have the rent and shares from a rich man who asked the village committee to the enterprises. Besides, investing or working in allocate rural basic living allowance to his par- enterprises for certain shares could get more inter- ests. “Three-Transformations” means to transform ents: “If you sign a contract with the govern- peasants to shareholders, land (labor or technique) ment and declare to abandon your parents, then resources to assets and money to share capital. the government can help you to send them to 4. Mu: Chinese traditional unit of area, conventionally the old people’s home to support them”. For used in rural China, 1MuH”666.66 m2. these words the man who asked allowance for REFERENCES his aged parents gave up the idea to shift sup- porting obligation to government and society. A detailed regulation is urgently needed to pre- Bryant Raymond L 1997. Beyond the impasse: The power of political ecology in Third World environ- vent this phenomenon and it shouldn’t be so mental research. Area, 29(1): 5-19. tough to achieve. Chen Ying, Deng Guomei, Cai Chengzhi 2013. Analy- Social inclusion and culture inheritance of sis of simple tillage applied to waived farming land relocation and resettlement are much more com- in Guizhou. Journal of Mountain Agriculture and Biology, 6: 544-546 (in Chinese). plex, whether or not the migrants can steadily Dan Wenhong, Peng Sitao, Wang Li 2011. Food secu- settle down. Cultural based resettlement with rity in Karst Rocky Desertification area based on certain land for agriculture and cultural space full employment of labor force in Guizhou. Guizhou included may be helpful to continue the culture Agricultural Sciences, 2: 205-209 (in Chinese). Fan XiaoJian 1999. On the development of rural co- inheritance of the groups. Agriculture even just operative economy in China. Chinese Rural Econ- for vegetables would allow them to have a peri- omy, 2: 7-11 (in Chinese). od of time to adjust to new environment and Fudge Schormans Ann 2014. Social inclusion. In: Alex livelihood. Cultural space in town or city may C Michalos (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Quality of Life not be as good as that of in the village, but can and Well-Being Research. Dordrecht: Springer Neth- erlands, pp. 6082-6086. at least provide an extended space for them to Hoggart Keith, Paniagua Angel 2001. What rural re- conduct their cultural practices. structuring? Journal of Rural Studies, 17 (1): 41- 62. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Huang Cheng Wei, Ye Tao 2016. Provincial Model for Poverty Alleviation: Study on taking targeted mea- sures out of poverty in Guizhou province. : The authors would like to thank the research- Social Science Academic Press. Kuang Liang Feng 2015. On Division of Rural Society ers on the related topics in previous studies; to and the Reconstruction of Value System in China. thank the farmers, informants, and service pro- Paper presented at the 2015 International Confer- viders who made contributions in this paper. ence on Public Administration, Bandung, Indone- Special thanks to John·Porter for his efforts to sia, 9-11 December, 2015. facilitate the language of the paper. This study Liu Shaoquan, Xie Fangting, Zhang Haiqin, Guo Shili 2014. Influences on rural migrant workers’ selec- was partial achievement of entrusted projects tion of employment location in the mountainous from Funds for Ethnic and Religious Research and upland areas of Sichuan, China. Journal of Ru- (QIAN MIN ZONG No. 201802). ral Studies, 33: 71-81. Long Hualou 2014. Land consolidation: An indispens- able way of spatial restructuring in rural China. Jour- NOTES nal of Geographical Sciences, 24(2): 211-25. Long Hualou, Li Yurui, Liu Yansui, Woods Michael, 1. Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA)ÿ in Chinese Zou Jian 2012. Accelerated restructuring in rural Pinyin, it is called “JING ZHUN FU PIN”. China fueled by ‘increasing vs. decreasing balance’ 2. Yunnan-Guangxi-Guizhou Rock Desertification area, land-use policy for dealing with hollowed villages. Wuling Mountain area and Wumeng Mountain area Land Use Policy, 29(1): 11-22. are belong to the 3 of 14 concentrated &continuous Long Hualou, Tu Shuangshuang, Ge Dashuan, Li poverty areas of China. The athors visited 30 vil- Tingting, Liu Yansui 2016. The allocation and man- lages from the 3 areas. agement of critical resources in rural China under 3. ”Three-Transformation Reform” was first intro- restructuring: Problems and prospects. Journal of duced in Shuicheng County, Guizhou province. By Rural Studies, 47: 392-412. introducing enterprises to villages, the land was Lon Hualou, Liu Yansui 2016. Rural restructuring in transferred to enterprises for economic benefits. China. Journal of Rural Studies, 47: 387-391.

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019) 26 PENG SITAO, DENG XIAOHUA, ZHANG CHAOQIONG ET AL.

National Bureau of Statistics PRC 1990. Research Re- pect. Review of Journal of Geographical Sciences, ports of the Study of Poverty Among Chinese Urban 27(10): 1169-1184. Residents and Standards of Poverty in Rural China UNDP 1990. Human Development Report. Published Task Forces. Beijing: China Statistics Press. for the United Nations Development Programme Qu Xihua, Zuo Qi 1997. Poverty and antipoverty: (UNDP). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Concept, measurement and target. Sociological Re- Wang Jieyong, Liu Yansui 2009. The changes of grain search, 3: 106-117 (in Chinese). output center of gravity and its driving forces in China since 1990. Resources Science, 31(7): 1188- Rosemont Henry, Ames RT 2009. The Chinese Classic 1194 (in Chinese). of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of Woods Michael 2011. Rural Geography: Processes, the Xiaojing. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Responses and Experiences in Rural Restructuring. Rowntree Benjamin S 1901. Poverty: A Study of Town London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Life. London: Macmillan and Co. Wu Bin, Xu Xuchu 2009. The pro-poverty and the Sen Amartya 1976. Poverty: An ordinal approach to mechanism of farmers’ cooperative. Rural Econo- measurement. Econometrica, 44: 219-231 my, 3: 115-117 (in Chinese). Smith Adam 1776. The Wealth of Nations. Book V. Yan Kun 2015. Poverty Alleviation in China: A Theo- London: Methuen & Co., Ltd. retical and Empirical Study. Berlin: Springer. Zhang Xiaoshan 2002. Connecting Farmer and Mar- Tonts Matthew, Atherley Kim 2005. Rural restructur- ket: Study on Chinese Farmer Intermediary Orga- ing and the changing geography of competitive nization. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. sport. Australian Geographer, 36(2): 125-144. Tu Shuangshuang, Long Hualou 2017. Rural restructur- Paper received for publication in February, 2019 ing in China: Theory, approaches and research pros- Paper accepted for publication in May, 2019

Anthropologist, 37(1-3): 14-26 (2019)