This year, China expects to complete the goal of poverty alleviation, and meet the poverty reduction targets of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.

Of the 700 million Chinese lifted out of extreme poverty since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, about half are women. At the same time, women have also been a main force in the battle against poverty.

In this long battle, women have played an integral role in the national campaign on poverty alleviation. Among them are entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and grassroots workers, all committed to the cause of improving the livelihoods of the impoverished.

Role model in wheelchair

In Wudu District of Longnan in northwest China's Gansu Province, 29-year-old Shi Zaohua and her poverty alleviation workshop team are well known far and near. Through their e-commerce platform, local specialty agricultural crops have been sold to customers across the country.

Now widely regarded as an optimistic and positive person, Shi has managed to come out of her dark days. Seven years ago, she was hit in a car accident, which left her as a wheelchair-bound paraplegic. She subsequently felt that life had lost its meaning. "For a period of time, I felt my existence had no value, and even thought of giving up my life," Shi told ChinAfrica.

"I came to believe that when God closes one door, he opens another door for you," said Shi. And that new door was an introduction to e-commerce. Then she embarked on a new journey of entrepreneurship, which helped her regain hope in life.

In 2018, Du Guiying, the head of the Kangrui Planting Cooperative in Wudu District, met Shi and encouraged her to join her e-commerce business. From the get-go, Shi worked hard to learn about every aspect of e-commerce operation, and within a year she became proficient in online store management.

Shi's diligence, tenacity, and sense of responsibility moved Du and inspired her to help more disabled people to get out of the home and play a more active role in society.

In 2019, with the support of the local government, the Kangrui Planting Cooperative established a poverty alleviation workshop. All of the 25 workshop staff are disabled. Of these, five are responsible for e-commerce operation, while the other 20 are engaged in making handicrafts, such as woven products like bamboo baskets and dustpans.

Now, as the workshop manager, Shi has seen a big turnaround in her life. "I feel very proud to be able to bring other disabled friends back into society and help them realize the value of life."

With the vigorous development of e-commerce, orders for products of the poverty alleviation workshop have increased substantially. Every morning, Shi leads her team to promote local agricultural products including pepper, astragalus, olive oil, honey and woven products, by utilizing a range of shopping platforms like Taobao, Pinduoduo, Douyin and others. The products are sold not only in the city of Longnan, but also across the country, raising the income of locals, while also providing quality products to big-city residents craving for fresh rural produce.

"There are 20-30 daily orders for the knitting products on online platforms," Shi told ChinAfrica. During the Longnan Food Festival held in May this year, the online and offline sales of agricultural products and woven baskets of the workshop exceeded 400,000 yuan ($58,000) within 20 days.

With the average salary of the workshop members reaching between 2,000-3,000 yuan ($290-$435) per month, morale runs high among the staff who all feel hopeful for a future in which they can determine their own livelihoods. Looking ahead, Shi said, "In the future, I hope to bring more disabled friends back to society. We can make money through our own efforts to buy houses and cars, and take our parents to go off on a sightseeing trip outside."

An accomplished entrepreneur

Meanwhile in Fujiawan Village, also in Longnan, local farmers rushed to harvest their crops at the end of this September, which is the harvest season for Tartarian buckwheat. Living below the poverty line, these hard-working villagers can now earn an additional income of 120 yuan ($18) per day to support their families. This change in income is thanks to an enterprising woman with a changing mindset who is always ready to get things done.

Aged 57, Sun Xiaoyan has spent 20 years developing the local Tartarian buckwheat industry. Sun has rich work experience and is curious by nature. She first worked as a car mechanic and then opened a restaurant. Later she returned to work on a cereal plantation, the traditional crop in her native region. Then, seeing a profit margin in the market, she took the plunge to establish a buckwheat liqueur distillery in the city of Longnan, in defiance of lack of experience and hardships.

The venture was quite a success and now allows her to actively participate in the eradication of poverty in the surrounding area. Her company works with over 30 cooperatives, with combined employment of more than 2,500 farmers engaged in Tartarian buckwheat planting and livestock breeding.

"The Tartarian buckwheat stalk can [also] be used as fodder. And our collaboration with pig-breeding cooperatives provides significant financial support for several families," Sun told ChinAfrica. She never misses an opportunity that can help the villagers rise out of poverty.

As an entrepreneur, Sun is well aware of the importance of industrial development in improving the standard of living for the impoverished in her native area. Longnan is rich in agricultural products, but Sun's company is actually the first grain processing facility to be set up in the area. She feels many opportunities have thus been lost in the past by their neglect of what was left on their doorstep.

"We really need to continue to develop in this promising direction," she said. Today, different products, such as Tartarian buckwheat liqueur and tea, create new opportunities. An industrial chain has been formed, from cultivation in the fields to retail sale in stores.

"I work in the agriculture and agri-food sector because I fell in love with the land," she said. The sight of land lying wasted is almost sinful to Sun, who is acutely aware of opportunities all around her. She is therefore driven to use these opportunities to create employment for her fellow villagers, so that they don't need to leave for big cities to make money.

"I try to motivate them so that they do not sit idly by and understand that the rural exodus [to urban areas] is not inevitable. In addition, they are experts in Tartarian buckwheat: They know how to plant, weed and harvest it," added Sun.

The area suitable for planting Tartarian buckwheat in Longnan is more than 3 million mu (200,000 hectares). Her company currently operates over 200,000 mu (13,333 hectares). "My goal is to cultivate ​​over 3 million mu in the future!" said Sun.

An entrepreneur who is always up to the challenge - this is how many people see the woman who is blazing new trails to achieve her mission. Looking back, Sun said that although she encountered difficulties in terms of financing in the past, she has persisted and laid a solid foundation for long-term development.

"I am from rural area. Having been involved in farm work for a long time, I know precisely what the villagers can feel [and achieve] here. I hope that we farmers can finally have a better life," she said. CA

(Print Edition Title: Getting Things Done)

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