Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Modular Rural Development Programme

Despite an unprecedented decline in poverty in the People’s Republic of China, inequalities are rising and rural poverty persists, mainly in disadvantaged areas in the western provinces. 

This programme, which is directly supervised by IFAD, addresses development in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, working in partnership with the region’s government. It introduces a modular approach that allows local project management offices to adapt innovations to specific social, economic and market conditions. Eventually the government and other donors can scale up the modules that prove to have a sustainable impact on poverty.

The objectives of the programme are to:

• reduce poverty in a sustainable and gender-equitable way, improving the social and economic conditions of poor rural people and enabling them to raise their incomes above the poverty level
• introduce innovations that have a potential for poverty reduction, and scale up successful modules
• ensure that women benefit from programme activities in a proportion at least equal to men

The programme
will work to reduce poverty among poor people who account for more than 40 per cent of the population of ten rural counties. It will:

• introduce community-based management of natural resources and promote renewable energy sources
• encourage agricultural development through technology transfer
• improve producers’ access to premium prices in organic niche markets
• support microfinance development by strengthening the institutional capacity of rural credit cooperatives and promoting new lending products for poor people, especially women

After an initial pilot phase of the activities of each module, the people who will benefit from those activities will participate in planning on the village level. They will set their own priorities for implementation on the basis of a menu of modules.

The modular approach will provide the flexibility required to adapt programme activities to rural China’s rapidly changing socio-economic environment. And by establishing sustainable grass-roots institutions, including women’s groups, it will enable poor rural people to sustain and expand their activities.

Source: IFAD

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In this section Programme overview Documents Contact information Mr Thomas Rath Country programme manager IFAD Via Paolo di Dono, 44 00142 Rome, Italy Tel: +39 0654592069 Fax: +39 0654593069 t.rath@ifad.org Facts and figures Total cost: US$55.0 million IFAD loan: US$25.1 million Duration: five years Geographical area: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in north-west China Directly benefiting: 176,000 households Status: not effective Partners Government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region