China Poverty Alleviation: Farmers shift focus to crawfish farming

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02:14

Another industry many here are betting on is crawfish. It's a big change here - in an area that typically relied on corn or lotus roots. They took me out to show me what it takes as they try to harvest their future.

Deep in rural China, far from any ocean. Farmers are betting their future on seafood. After years of working in construction, Li Hang returned to his hometown last year to start raising crawfish proudly sharing his new skill with me. With appetite for the tiny crustacean growing in China. Li - and six other households - pooled their money to convert these three hectares of cropland into a fish farm in May.

LI HANG, FARMER FARMER IN SONGGUANMIAO VILLAGE, SICHUAN PROVINCE "I did some market research and I think crawfish is a good business. I'm sure that the price of crawfish will not drop sharply and will maintain at a higher level in the next five years."

It's a big change, from when I was here a year ago. Back then, these fields were filled with lotus roots. Villagers had only recently started growing the vegetable. But prices dropped and the farmers changed direction.

LI HANG FARMER IN SONGGUANMIAO VILLAGE, SICHUAN PROVINCE "The lotus is over-supplied and hard to sell, but crawfish is now short of supply, and I don't worry about the sale at all."

JONATHAN BETZ SICHUAN PROVINCE "I gotta say this is a lot easier than lotus farming. Because to do that, we'd have to be in the ponds, in the mud, on our hands and knees, digging out the lotus root by hand. It is hard, dirty work. So this is obviously a lot easier, and the farmers' hope pays more."

Li's hopes are certainly high. He expects crawfish will soon start earning him around 80-thousand yuan a year - or nearly 12-thousand-US-dollars.