Farmers flock to sheep bank for funding

Stable incomes

Zhou Guilin, a poverty relief official in Yanchi, said the bank, together with other relief programs that loan money to poor farmers to raise Tan sheep, could stabilize incomes and prevent residents from slipping back into poverty.

According to figures provided by her office, nearly 10 percent of the county's 11,193 impoverished families feel trapped because of a lack of startup capital, and more than half have at least one sick or disabled member.

Zhou said all the families are potential participants of the program. "You don't need to be young and strong to raise Tan sheep. Many 60-or 70-somethings are herding them," she said.

The sheep bank is just one of many innovative approaches devised by the nongovernmental sector to assist the nationwide poverty reduction campaign, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty in both urban and rural areas nationwide in time to mark the centenary of the Communist Party of China in 2021.

In late 2012, the central leadership ramped up targeted relief efforts and reiterated its pledge to eradicate rural poverty by 2020.

The five-year period that ended in 2017 saw the impoverished population - which stood at almost 100 million in 2012 - cut by two-thirds.

The feat was described by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, the top anti-poverty agency, as the greatest achievement in the country's history.

Last year, the task was listed as one of the "three tough battles" the country must win by 2021, along with preventing financial risks and tackling pollution.

About 10 million rural poor saw their living standards rise last year, according to Liu Yongfu, China's anti-poverty chief, when he addressed a national poverty reduction conference in Beijing in January.

However, even as the 2020 deadline approaches, about 20 million rural poor nationwide are still waiting to be lifted out of poverty.

Liu has described the task as "arduous" on many occasions because many of the remaining poor are scattered across vast, inaccessible rural areas, such as Yanchi, or are unable to work as a result of age, illness or disability, and therefore require the assistance of innovative relief methods.

Zhou, the poverty relief official in Yanchi, said a diversified approach to relief is required because people are impoverished for different reasons.

"The Tan Sheep Bank can help farmers, but we will endeavor to identify those who are unable to work and ensure they receive basic living allowances and other fundamental protective measures," she said.