Target group. The programme will mainly target households with an average annual per capita net income below US$127, a fraction of the national average of US$2,010. The programme is expected to reach around 270,000 poor households, with a special focus on women and other vulnerable groups. Programme objectives. The programme's overall goal is to develop successful and innovative pilot approaches for reducing poverty, which can then be scaled up in other poor areas. Its objective is to reduce poverty in the selected counties in a sustainable and gender-equitable way through improved access to markets, information, technology and services (including rural financial services). Programme description. Besides programme management, the programme will have three components:
The new programme will provide support through sector-specific projects that pilot innovative approaches to poverty reduction. It will test innovative rural finance approaches such as the formation of women-led microcredit groups, helping successful groups graduate to formal rural credit cooperatives. It will also assist poor farmers in joining commercially oriented cooperatives as a way to increase the production and marketing of high-value crops (including organic tea) and livestock products. Projects with positive results will be scaled up further by the Government or other donor-funded programmes. The establishment of village-based development funds will support current government decentralization policies. Potential cofinanciers. IFAD has initiated discussions regarding possible collaboration with a World Bank-funded programme for sustainable development in poor rural areas, to be implemented in other municipalities of Henan Province. Photo caption 1: IFAD photo by Dr He Qibin - Bristle brush making has become an employment opportunity for rural women in the municipality of Xinyang, Henan Province. Photo caption 2: IFAD photo by Dr He Qibin - Pig breeding is a successful economic activity in the municipality of Xinyang, Henan Province. |
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Programme area. The programme will be implemented in eight extremely poor counties of the municipality of Xinyang in Henan Province. These counties are prone to external shocks, such as frequently occurring torrential rains and floods, which exacerbate household vulnerability and the high incidence of poverty in the area. 
Important features. China has achieved an unparalleled reduction in absolute poverty since it adopted a broad programme of rural economic reforms in 1978. Nevertheless, despite sustained and strong economic growth, local and regional disparities in living standards are widening and have prompted the Government to recognize the urgent need for further efforts to establish a harmonious, well-off society. The proposed programme is consistent with the Government's development-oriented Poverty Reduction Programme for Rural China, 2001-2010 and with its other poverty reduction policies. It is also closely aligned with IFAD’s 2005 country strategic opportunities paper for China, which stresses the important catalytic role that IFAD can play in reaching the remaining areas of rural poverty in a country as large as China. IFAD has a demonstrated comparative advantage in tackling poverty in remote and resource-scarce areas, the result of its long experience in designing and implementing projects in some of the world's most remote and fragile places and among marginalized peoples.