24599 Volume 2 Public Disclosure Authorized China Integrated Pastoral Development Project Social Assessment Report Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region Public Disclosure Authorized "DRFT) Public Disclosure Authorized China Cross-cultural Consulting Center at Zhongshan University Guangzhou, Guangdong Public Disclosure Authorized People's Republic of China April 2002 CONTENTS Introduction: The Project and the Project Goals Chapter 1 The Social Assessment Work Selection of the Project SA Counties The SA Methodologies Chapter 2 Analysis of the SA Results The Basic conditions of The Project Area Demographic Data and Economy Data of the Project SA Counties Animal Husbandry of the Project SA Counties Pattems of Animal Husbandry in Xinjiang The Use of Land Other Natural Resources The Markets of Animal Husbandry Products The Labor Forces and Labor Division The Income Distribution Income and Taxation and Other Fees of the Households of the Project SA Counties The Production Organizations and Social Organizations of the Project SA Counties The Social Status and Labor Division of Women The Impact of the Local Customs on the Improvement of Animal Quality The Education and Information Transmission Chapter 3 The Environment and the Eco-environmental Restrains on The Project Chapter 4 The Demands of the Farmers and Herders in Project SA counties for the Project Loans and The Possibility of Loan Return Chapter 5 SA Team's Suggestions on the Project Appendix: Acknowledgment: Introduction: The Project and The Project Objectives China Xinjiang-Integrated Pastoral Development Project (CXISPP) Designed and implemented by the World Bank aims at, while maintaining and promoting the sustainable utility of the natural resources, enhancing the competitive ability of the animal husbandry products (wool and meat products) in the markets, improving the production and management system of animal production and raising the life level of those farmers and herders of the Xinjiang Project Areas. In the long past, there have been existing many problems in the agricultural and pastoral areas of Xinjiang, such as poverty with different degrees, degradation and scarce of pastures, the increasing contradictions between the production methods and the demands of the markets, the visible shortcomings of non-sustainable development, lack of production and selling systems that suit the developing marketing and the low participation of the farmers and herders in social development at the grass-root levels. In order to help to solve all these, the CXIDPP is planned to start an experimental strategy to develop the animal husbandry production of the area and it is expected that the strategy will help to local animal husbandry production to be developed in a sustainable way by improving the eco-conditions, animal species breeding, management and enhancing the integrated capacity for animal husbandry production, and finally, helping the local people to improve their living conditions. With the clearly-defined nature of the Project, the Bank has also defined its goals and specific targets for each of the project stages: I) to design the activities in areas close to each other in a Project County; 2) to integrate the activities of the pasture management, animal species improvement, marketing, so that they can meet the needs of sustainable development of the target area and population. 3) To integrate the activities of animal production as well as the markets in a horizontal level. 4) to enhance the work of improving grassland eco-environment. 5)to raise the ability of the target population for use and management of grassland resources and animal production. and of active participation in the Project.. Meanwhile, the Bank has made it clear that the Project is to ensure the increase of average income of farmers and herders of the target area; the reduction of the pressures of herding on the eco-environment of grassland; the visible increase of fodder and hay based on the improvement of pastures (natural and artificial); and the improvement of fine-wool sheep and sheep meat. In order to realize all the above, the Bank organized the researches on the feasibility of the Project and the local experts undertook the feasible surveys and studies for the project, of which the Social Assessment is an important part. 4 Chapter 1 The Social Assessment Work The overall purpose of the SA is to assist the Borrower in designing and implementing the Project with the support and active involvement of individuals and groups that will potentially be the most directly affected by project activities. And the SA should be seen as integrated methods of the Project process to include participation and social analysis in the Project design and preparation work to ensure that the Project objectives are well set and that the proposed means to achieve them are appropriate. The SA process should help properly select Project areas and to appropriately identify the Project primary beneficiaries and their needs. The SA is also necessary in order to ensure that the Project is designed to avoid or minimize any adverse impacts and social costs that the Project could cause to local society. It is the World Bank policy that the SA should be viewed as an iterative process of consultation to take place throughout the Project's life cycle. Therefore, the SA is not a report to prepare for Project implementation. Social investigation and analysis need to be continuously and systematically carried out along with Project implementation. The present SA whose results are being reported here has been conducted by following the objectives and requirements that the Project made, and it has been done by the field surveys and PRA work in the selected counties which are believed to be representative in the implementation of the Project. The results are obviously important for the Project, for the data, including that of the social, economic and cultural factors that may influence the implementation of the Project are collected and analyzed. A the same time, the SA work investigated the basic situations of the counties. Xiang and villages, where the SA Team also collected the demands of and suggestions on how to implement the Project from the local farmers and herders. It also found out some problems and their causes that the 2000-year investigation had not found. 5 The 2000-year surveys and the findings Before the 2001-year SA, the Team studied the 2000-Year Survey Report organized by the World Bank and at the same time, investigation were done about the background of the survey and careful studies were made on the results of that survey. It is believed that the 2000-year survey is important for the 2001 -year SA work, for, the survey reported the findings made in the 4 sites of South Xinjiang and North Xinjiang, and these findings were of great help for the SA work in 2001. Here are the main findings from the 2001 survey: 1) The attitudes of the farmers and herders towards to fine-wool sheep in the survey-area varied. Some of them, mainly famners, like raising fine-wool sheep as they believed that raising them was profitable, while others, especially those in traditional pastoral areas did not like raising the sheep as they thought it needed much more labor and facilities for raising fine-wool sheep and this type of sheep were weak against the environment of Xinjiang grassland, and the deep reason was that the price of fine-wool sheep is much lower than that of the local sheep, and herders would not like to keep the former. Both of farmers and herders were not satisfied with technical aids provided by local administrations of animal husbandry. 2) Some farmers and herders hesitated to accept the methods of artificial insemination to improve the quality of fine-wool sheep as they found those sheep bom with the technology were not easy to adapt themselves to the environment. In addition, the religious fact was in part responsible for the hesitation. 3) Farmers and herders were worried about the ups and downs of markets of fine wool, and they were afraid that there were not very good channels through which they sold the wool and the price was not stable, which would inevitably influence their profit. 4) In general, most of the loans made by the farmers and herders were short-tern ones, but it was difficult for farmers and herders to obtain loans from the local banks. The reasons were complex. some of them said that the borrowing 6 procedure was too complex, the others said that the local banks (branches) could not lend them as much as they needed, and still others said that as some of the borrowers failed to repay the loans on time, the banks (branches) would not trust most borrowers so that they would not like to lend money to them. 5) Almost all the farmers and herders welcomed the World Bank Project as they believed that the loans the Bank was going to lend would promote the local sheep production as they saw that in recent years there was a slow rise of the wool price. Meanwhile they were very much interested in the repayment - period suggested by the Bank and they believed that this policy would help them in developing fine-wool sheep. And most of the farmers and herders interviewed hoped each household could obtain a loan more than 10000 yuan (RMB). The 2000-year Survey Team thus came to the following conclusion: I) It was believed that there was a very strong foundation for developing fine-wool sheep pr'oduction in Xinjiang as the Region had a more than 60 - year history of raising this type of sheep and there were some very good species bred locally. 2) The proposed World, Bank Project was welcomed not only by the administrations at all the levels, but also was welcomed by farmers and herders who were enthusiastic in participating the Project.