Potential Pipeline Projects

From Rural Isolation to Market Integration: A Pilot Partnership

Location: Tongwei and Cheng Counties, Gansu Province, China
Partners: Tongwei County Government, European Commission
Funding Needs

• EUR 234,608.71 co-financing over three years to support important activities. It is our wish that the co-financier be a commercially-oriented organization that can bring special volunteer expertise to the project
• Aside from co-financing funds, we will also be looking to increase the loan funds circulating in the area, either in the form of donations or else as low-interest loans.

This project is an extension of Tongwei I, and seeks to continue developing the use of biogas technologies in Gansu province as well as establish a Rural Business Innovation Center (RBIC), an incubator for commercialization of agricultural commodities. Furthermore, Tongwei II seeks to expand micro-lending operations to neighboring counties, and create new opportunities to grow the cash economy.

Tongwei II is PlaNet Finance China’s top priority project, and the start date is slated for early 2010.  To see more information on how to get involved, please see Tong wei II.

Outer Bands of Poverty: Women’s Livelihood Project

Location: Tongxin County, Ningxia Autonomous Region, China
Partners: Ningxia Centre for Poverty Alleviation and Environment (CEPA)
Funding Needs

• USD 3,000/year in annual maintenance fees to revamp CEPA’s current MIS system to aid in expansion
• Estimated USD 8,000 to add a new license site for Tongxin to be added to the network
• Other Needs
• Capacity building training for loan officers in Tongxin and management personnel operating in Yanchi and Tongxin
• Support for providing trainings to women in basic literacy and accounting

Objectives
By boosting the education level of adult women via microfinance training, we hope to promote development among extremely poor remote villages and resettled communities of environmental migrants in Tongxin County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Context
Tongxin County in Ningxia Autonomous Region is one of the poorest areas in Northwestern China.  Despite suffering the triple problems of over-grazing, uncontrolled population growth in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and three years of serious drought in 2005-2007, Tongxin County has been moving into ecological recovery. The county had a population of around 340,000 in 2007, with an average per capita income of just 2,000 RMB per year (EUR 222), an average that masks vast areas of absolute poverty. Tongxin covers 7021 square km, but massive relocations have forced people to resettle closer to the now-irrigated lower elevations of the county. During 2008, the Tongxin government moved 50,000 people to New Countryside Villages with a new allocation of land of 0.16 acres of land, and plan to resettle a further 50,000. Many of these resettled “environmental refugees” have depleted their savings in order to fund their new homes, and find themselves struggling to adapt to a new way of life. Life in Tongxin is especially difficult for women over 30; almost half of the local women over 30 live with limited access to education, financial or health services. The illiteracy rate for women over 30 in Tongxin stands at a startling 44%.

Project Summary
Our project will reach out to these environmental refugees (mostly women) using the Tongxin extension to the Yanchi County operations of our long-standing partner microfinance organization, Ningxia Centre for Poverty Alleviation and Environment, (or “Ningxia CEPA”). Ningxia CEPA has recently developed the Tongxin Microfinance Services Center (TMSC), which has already covered around 30 villages near the county seat. To date, TMSC serves 1,000 clients (mostly women) and has just started providing training to clients in basic literacy and basic accounting. TMSC plans to reach 5,000 clients in three years. In order for TMSC to expand to the “outerbands,” remote villages which require more resources to access, CEPA will require support from PlaNet Finance and other partners.

The Tribal Corridor

Location: Sichuan Province, China PR
Partners: Sichuan University Unicorn Institute, Sichuan Normal University Education Facility and local government
Funding Needs

• Loan funds of around USD 100,000
• Technical assistance support funds of USD 40,000 to conduct training for micro-entrepreneurs in ethno-eco tourism

Project Summary
In an exceptionally beautiful and mountainous area in Sichuan province, there is a rich legacy of ethnic minorities deriving from a local history of independent kingdoms, some of which existed until the 20th century. These people live amongst a backdrop of tall masonry towers, some carbon-dated to as early as the 3rd century AD. Most of these towers are listed as protected cultural relics either nationally or locally, and have been placed on a tentative list for the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

This area is in great danger of losing its cultural roots, as the forces of mass tourism and commercialism threaten to take over. To combat this, PlaNet Finance is looking for funding to preserve the diverse traditional minority cultures in the rural areas of the Tribal Corridor, help local minorities understand the value of their heritage, and promote the preservation of the local environment through ethno-eco-tourism. We are looking for funds to start a microfinance facility in order to help residents start up ethno-eco tourism businesses. The project aims to help 20,000 inhabitants of the villages with ancient towers to generate income and simultaneously protect the historical artifacts.

Methodology 
To promote the preservation of culture in a sustainable and long-term manner, we plan to set up a training program for 5,000 young people from the area to learn about their traditional cultures from elders in the region. We aim to set up a small scale ethno-eco tourism industry by establishing a micro-fund to enable villagers to build guesthouses catering to tourists. To ensure the success of the industry, we will run trainings in general hygiene, protection of environment and wildlife, recycling, eco-friendly transportation, and biogas support for waste. In addition, we will set up an assessment system in order to ensure the industry’s quality and to attract more customers.

We will work with local governments to encourage them to support such economic plans. We plan to showcase lessons learned from this project at a national level, holding seminars with the Tourism Administration to disseminate the project idea into other areas.

If you would like to partner with us or have a project which you feel could benefit from PF China’s expertise and experience, please send an e-mail to Gabrielle Harris, Executive Director at gharris[at]mfchina.cn