Happiness Sharing Farm contains seeds of success for escaping poverty

The planting season is not yet over, but Qiu Huihong, a farmer in Guangdong province, is already feeling the joy of a good harvest.

Thanks to a poverty relief project known as the Happiness Sharing Farm, the 45-year-old farmer is likely to rise to better circumstances.

Last month, Qiu rented 0.13 hectares of his contracted farmland to the newly launched project for 1,000 yuan ($146) per year.

In addition to the rent, he also saves the cost — about 1,000 yuan — of seeds and fertilizer, and earns an extra 1,000 yuan by working on the farm as an employee in the major agricultural seasons.

“I used to plant and sell rice by myself, but the profit was small. I barely made any money,” Qiu said. “If there was a drought or flood, I lost money. Now the sales are taken care of by the farm, I feel very relieved.”

The pilot project in Hengdong village, Deqing county, is backed by the county government and a People’s Bank of China branch in Zhaoqing. It is invested in and run by Shenzhen Dianchou Agricultural Supply Chain, an e-commerce company based in Guangdong.

Currently, the farm has rented 3.33 hectares of contract farmland in the village.

“Half the households in the village have joined the program, including half of those living under the poverty line,” said Qiu Jinbo, head of the village committee.

In mid-July, the company launched an online crowdfunding project for the Happiness Sharing Farm on the Idianchou platform. Zhao Xuesheng, deputy manager of the platform, said a client could get the management rights for 0.022 hectares of farmland for four months by investing 500 yuan.

Clients can either do the farm work themselves or entrust the platform to hire farmers. Upon expiration of the contract, the client can choose to receive 100 kg of rice or 519 yuan.

“After the crowdfunding project was put online, we hit 80 percent of our target amount in less than one hour,” Zhao said.

Nowadays, many urban residents show interest in going to rural areas and doing some farm work on weekends or holidays, which partly explains why the project is well-received, Zhao said.

Hengdong’s farmland is irrigated by mountain spring water, and the quality of the crops is good.

However, local farmers failed to take advantage of it in the past because of a lack of money, management and sales channels.

“Now, with the Happiness Sharing Farm, we are able to give full play to our advantages. Getting rid of poverty is not that far off,” Qiu Jinbo said.

Zhaoqing has carried out 113 agricultural crowdfunding projects, helping nearly 1,200 agricultural companies and farmers raise more than 16 million yuan, and increasing the total income for poor households by nearly 900,000 yuan.