Empower Farmers with Innovative Technologies to Build the Socialist New Countryside

Empower Farmers with Innovative Technologies to Build the Socialist New Countryside

September 13, 2006

-- UNDP Teams Up With Government Agencies to Developing Market-oriented Mechanisms to Link Farmers to Innovative Technologies and Expertise to Increase Their Income and Promote Sustainable Rural Development

    ULUMUQI, China, Sept. 13 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Ministry
of Science and Technology (MOST), and the China
International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges
(CICETE) under the Ministry of Commerce reached an
agreement today in Ulumuqi, Xinjiang to scale up a joint
initiative to link farmers with innovative technologies. 

    Entitled "Alleviating Rural Poverty through
Innovative Technologies Transfer," the four-year
project is designed to link farmers with innovative,
environmentally-friendly technologies in order to increase
their income and promote sustainable rural development.

    Launched in April 2006 with the initial fund of US$4
million (US$1 million from UNDP and US$3 million from
MOST), the project was designed to support China's
Technical Task Forces (TTFs) initiative to become critical
part of a diverse rural technical extension system with
market-oriented structure to meet different needs of
farmers, farm systems and rural communities.

    UNDP, CICETE and MOST signed today an agreement on the
increase of US$ 3.4 million for the project, of which
US$480,000 will be contributed by UNDP, US$2.4 million by
MOST, and US$520,000 by Stora Enso, a multinational company
of paper products based in Europe. 

    "I am delighted to know that representatives from
15 provinces will sign agreements with the Ministry of
Science and Technology to implement this project,"
said Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP
Resident Representative in China.  "With your great
commitment and contribution I believe we will not only help
farmers develop new business models to increase their income
but also assist China in establishing new models of
industrialization to sustain its high growth rate," he
added. 

    He emphasized that the project was very timely as it is
closely connected to the Government's commitment to build
the socialist new countryside by applying scientific
development approaches. 

    "UNDP is the first international development
organization that work with MOST to further develop and
enhance TTFs," said Liu Yanhua, Vice Minister of the
MOST, adding that since 2002, a total of 598 counties in 24
provinces currently pilot the new market-oriented mechanism,
known as TTF, by providing farmers with new technologies and
skills for better livelihoods.  According to Liu, 23,000 TTF
practitioners were dispatched and 5.84 million farmers
received technical training in 2005.

    "It is hoped that this initiative will bring TTFs
to a higher level by emphasizing balance between economic
growth, social development and environmental protection to
promote sustainable development in rural China," he
added. 

    Under the project, 30 counties are selected from 15
provinces and autonomous regions.  Among them, six
provinces: Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia,
Ningxia and Xinjiang, are identified as key pilot provinces
to develop experimental TTF models to be shared at the
national level.

    UNDP fosters human development to empower women and men
to build better lives in China.  As the UN's development
network, UNDP draws on a world of experience to assist
China in developing its own solutions to the country's
development challenges.  Through partnerships and
innovation, UNDP works to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals and an equitable Xiao Kang society by
reducing poverty, strengthening the rule of law, promoting
environmental sustainability, and fighting HIV/AIDS.
http://www.undp.org.cn

    For more information, please contact: 

     Ms. Zhang Wei, 
     Communications Officer, 
     UNDP China
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  United Nations Development Programme