People’s Republic of China, Tibet Autonomous Region, Basic Human Needs Project (BHNP): October 2001–May 2007
Sector: Governance and Public Sector Reform
Region: North and Central Asia
Funded by:
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China
Total Value: Canadian contribution: C$10 million; Chinese contribution: C$6 million equivalent
Partners and Counterparts:
In Canada: University of Calgary, Jaques Whitford Environmental (first phase only)
In Tibet: The Department of Foreign Trade and Commerce (DOFCOM), the Poverty Alleviation Office (PAO), the Tibet Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences (TAAAS), three county governments
Purpose
To increase the capacity of selected autonomous region communities to satisfy basic human needs, and to create and test development models for poverty reduction replicable in Tibet and similar contexts.
Challenge
Although China has made tremendous strides in poverty reduction, some regions of the country (mainly in the west and northwest) remain greatly below the poverty line. The Tibet Autonomous Region is one of these regions, with the majority of rural Tibetans engaged in small-scale agricultural production and nomadic pastoralism. The challenge was to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor, working within the Chinese government’s Western Economic Development Strategy.
Approach
Agriteam used a collaborative and participatory approach to working with communities and local governments to identify the root causes of poverty and to agree on sustainable solutions. These included building the capacity of beneficiaries and government counterparts and providing the financial inputs for small-scale infrastructure and equipment.
Project Description
The first phase of the BHNP project (2000–2005) worked at the county level in two prefectures. It encompassed seven sectors (water and sanitation, health and hygiene promotion, forestry, livelihoods, agriculture, rangeland and leadership), and considered gender and environmental issues at every turn. The project trained counterparts and beneficiaries in participatory methodologies that led to the development of village poverty alleviation plans (VPAPs) that were then funded by the regional Poverty Alleviation Office (PAO). A key feature of the VPAP model was the creation of Participatory Management Groups (PMGs) that ensured that project inputs such as farm machinery, greenhouses and labour-saving devices were well managed and shared equitably within communities.
In its second phase (2006–2007), the project took its model for VPAP to the regional government and rolled out training and capacity building to Poverty Alleviation Office cadres and related government departments in each of Tibet’s counties.
Results
- The participatory village-based poverty alleviation planning model was adopted by the PAO and is in use throughout Tibet, providing a platform for more effective relationships between rural people and their local governments.
- A VPAP training unit was created at the regional level.
- Key government agencies adopted a “making markets work for the poor” methodology in their planning processes.
- The Chinese government funded 40 participatory village poverty alleviation plans.
- All BHNP communities benefited from improved health outcomes and hygiene practices (statistically significant reductions in diarrhea outbreaks, colds, etc.).
- Rural incomes improved through the provision of wheat grinders, oil presses, solar cookers, woodlots, vegetable greenhouses and technical and business training provided to owners and operators to ensure sustainability.
- Potable water systems are now functioning in 16 communities, with trained and active water committees able to make small repairs and assess and collect maintenance fees from their communities.
Project Director
Gayle Turner
gturner@agriteam.ca
