Following the central government's call last year to develop a
new countryside, there has been no shortage of
data and debate from scholars and officials. But strangely,
farmers, the intended beneficiaries of the program, seemed unable
to emit an opinion.
"I searched the Internet and databases for days and found tens
of thousands of essays in the field, but none was devoted to
farmers' opinions on the massive campaign," said Ye Jingzhong,
professor at China Agricultural University's Humanities and
Development School.
Ye added he was not surprised by the absence of the farmers'
voices, as he had seen China's farmers taken for granted for
decades.
He and his team conducted surveys in eight villages across four
provinces in February and July, with their findings recently
published by the Social Sciences Academy Press in a book entitled
Construction of the New Countryside: Farmers'
Perspective.
This has led to a strong media response with major news portals
and newspapers reporting it.
"Ye's book is of great importance as it addresses the farmers'
perspectives on countryside development for the first time. If
government bureaus, especially the local leadership, can draw
lessons from the book, progress will be greatly facilitated," Wen
Tiejun, an expert in agriculture and rural study with Renmin
University of China, told China Daily.
China began the campaign to build a harmonious socialist
countryside in 2006, calling for increased productivity, relative
affluence, a pleasant social environment and democratic
administration.
However, in their research, Ye and his team found an astounding
range of viewpoints as what constitutes a 'harmonious countryside'
varies from province to province.
For example, in east China's Jiangsu Province, the cradle of the country's
township enterprises, farmers said they consider local factories
with all having stable jobs and comfortable two-storey homes as the
symbol of a new, harmonious countryside.
But in Hunan, an agriculture-based province, the view differed
greatly. "Advanced agricultural production and better irrigation
systems are vital for building a new countryside," a farmer
said.
Ye commented: "Opinions on the new socialist countryside are so
diverse among people of different genders, ages, regions and levels
of education. Therefore, authorities should avoid applying
stereotypes to all villages and use the limited amount of money for
the most urgent projects peculiar to each village."
To his dismay, Ye found some local officials had already made
the mistake of blindly copying others' models.
For instance, a village in Fujian Province in east China borrowed about
1.6 million yuan (US$204,400) to construct 50 villas for its
villagers as local officials saw this as the basic symbol for the
new countryside.
Had they consulted the farmers, the money might have been used
to purchase equipment and fertilizer, rather than beautiful houses.
Furthermore, the farmers are now unable to afford the loan
repayments for the villas.
According to Ye, the reason many village officials made
beautiful houses their symbol for the new countryside was
misinterpreting TV programs.
"TV is the only information carrier for most villagers," Ye
said. "What they saw as model villages on TV were exceptionally
lined-up houses, broad roads and green forestry. This misled
them."
Problems discovered
Besides building new houses, some villages have invested heavily
to beautify their forests. But the survey found that the most
urgent need was to build waste management facilities.
The survey also found that few villages incorporate cultural
offerings as many village leaders saw investment in this area as
wasted.
Because of a lack of entertainment options, for example, many
villagers chose gambling as their only way of killing time, with
often tragic consequences.
The system of model villages also seemed to be a problem in Ye's
survey as the models are based on already affluent villages.
"Their development experience cannot be copied by other
villages," the research group quoted surveyed farmers as saying.
"Also, input focusing on model villages may lead to a further
imbalance of resources."
The survey also found that although the central government is
investing hugely in the new countryside program, governmental
bureaus above those of village level are misusing these funds.
As such, farmers said they experienced trouble getting loans for
their agricultural products and over two-thirds of farmers said
they could not get sufficient investment in their land despite
being willing to develop it.
According to Ye, the central government's guidelines for new
countryside development might be well-intended, but lackluster
enforcement by local governments is severely harming their
implementation.
Ye's research goal
The biggest goal of Ye's survey is to raise awareness of social
needs and to listen to farmers' opinions while constructing the new
countryside. Ye said he feels sorry that farmers, after having been
ignored by development for so long, now don't believe in government
promises to improve their lives.
"If the campaign can't motivate farmers to participate, it won't
succeed," he said. "As long as they are involved and treat the
campaign as their own goats and wheat, they will put their heart
and soul into the program."
When the book was finished, Ye invited the various participating
groups such as migrant workers' children and the farmers in his
pilot villages to his seminars to share the fruits of his work. The
reason, he said, is simple: "Doing research is actually a
responsibility you shoulder for the group you interview."
(China Daily December 6, 2006)