ADB to Help Combat Land Degradation, Rural Poverty in Western PRC

Tag : Agrochemicals

ADB to Help Combat Land Degradation, Rural Poverty in Western PRC

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approveda $100 million loan to help reverse land degradation and reducerural poverty in western Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of thePeople’s Republic of China (PRC).
The PRC has some of the worst land degradation problems in theworld especially in its vast western region where poverty levelsare at their highest. The country’s rapid economic growth,along with its growing population and increased urbanization, hasaffected its ecosystems. Rural poverty that drives damaging landpractices, including overuse of water and agrochemicals, and theconversion of marginal lands for irrigation, is the root cause.
“Land degradation severely endangers the PRC’s richbiodiversity, especially through human activities, many of whichare illegal or poorly managed under the law, and which destroynatural habitats,” said Yue-Lang Feng, Principal NaturalResources Management Specialist of ADB’s East AsiaDepartment.
The Ningxia Integrated Ecosystem and Agricultural Development Project aims to revive damaged environments by providing sustainablelivelihood programs that will halt harmful land uses and boost theincomes of over 46,000 rural households, most of them Hui Muslims,an ethnic minority group.
In the past, some environmental improvement programs in the PRChave been driven by a top-down, uncoordinated approach, with mixedresults. The Ningxia project will involve all stakeholders and willdevelop policies and regulations that ensure that the results areeffective and sustainable.
Working with the private sector, the project will provide skillsprograms that focus on clean, resource-efficient industries such ashorticulture, instead of traditional agricultural activities thatare low-yielding, water intensive and cause pollution. As many as140,000 smallholder farmers are expected to benefit.
“Improving rural incomes through agriculture-basedlivelihoods with greater choices is an important way to reducepoverty and to provide an alternative to the currentlyunsustainable practices,” said Ms. Feng.
By helping restore and protect damaged ecosystems, includingwetlands and a mountain reserve, the region hopes to attract over amillion tourists a year and to conserve 15 globally threatenedspecies of wildlife.
Along with the ADB loan, Global Environment Facility (GEF) hasapproved a grant, equivalent to $4.55 million, to co-finance theproject to enhance the project benefits resulting from biodiversityconservation and livelihood improvement. A further $116.5 millionin counterpart funding is being provided by the Government ofNingxia Hui Autonomous Region.
The project will run for six years starting in November 2008.
The GEF is a global partnership among 178 countries, internationalinstitutions, non-governmental organizations, and the privatesector to address global environmental issues while supportingnational sustainable development initiatives.
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