China Poverty Alleviation: Short videos, live-streaming help farmers sell wares

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03:19

You might consider buying your next jar of honey online. Because doing so will help stamp out poverty for farmers and beekeepers. A new beekeeping cooperative is helping to sell honey and other products online via short videos and livestreams, making it the hip new way to indulge your sweet tooth and help others. CGTN's Xu Xinchen reports.

SHI PINGSHE TIANLONG BEEKEEPING COOPERATIVE "I am raising the eastern honey bee — which is only found in China. Honey produced by them has a thicker texture and rich nutritional value."

XU XINCHEN LONGNAN, GANSU PROVINCE "Made 1500 meters above sea level, honey is a local specialty, this blend has flavors from over 100 different flower varieties. Very buttery, but not overwhelmingly sweet."

The clip is now available on Douyin, also known as Tiktok in the west— a widely used social media app.

As one of the largest and first beekeepers in the region to go online, Shi and his retailing partner decided to try Tiktok to promote their products.

Chen Xiangfu, general manager for Sunriver, the company that packages Shi's honey for online sale, says he hopes to use the new promotional channel to double their online sales, and soon.

CHEN XIANGFU GENERAL MANAGER, SUNRIVER "The younger generation is drawn to new media channels such as short videos, and new media has a pretty wide coverage. I hope this kind of promotion can boost our reputation."

Over one third of Sunriver's honey is now sold online.

And honey is not the only regional product being promoted to youth.

Lan Yi Culture is the production company that helped Sunriver and Shi film and produce videos now luring younger buyers.

LIU YATONG OWNER, LONGNAN LAN YI CULTURE "New ways to promote local agricultural products started popping up in early 2018."

In addition to short videos, Liu helps her clients — local farmers — to host online live-streams and organize agriculture-themed eSports competitions.

Some of their projects garner millions of views.

LIU YATONG OWNER, LONGNAN LAN YI CULTURE "Traditionally, agricultural products were marketed towards older consumers and lacked exposure to millennials. But those born in the 80's and 90's are now bigger buyers. And they spend lots of time watching short online videos, live-streaming and playing mobile games."

Each short video by Liu's company costs about 150 US dollars.

It's much cheaper than traditional advertising and affordable for most local agriculture producers.

And as farmers become more technology-savvy, many of them have started shooting, producing and posting their content themselves, saving money altogether. Xu Xinchen, CGTN, Longnan, Gansu Province.