Xinjiang's Pishan County sees new jobs through family workshops

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02:13

China is carrying an ambitious and successful poverty alleviation program. One of the strategies in rural areas is to provide jobs and teach skills. Pishan County in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has worked out a way in this field by providing more job opportunities to farmers by scaling up local family workshops.

Of the 48 workers hired for a small factory producing a kind of flatbread known as naan, a staple food popular in the region, 38 come from families with incomes below the poverty line.

“In the past, only my husband had a job. Now I also have a job. Our life is getting better,” said Buajar Mijit, a worker at the food factory.

With the coordination by the local government, the factory gets an order of 10,000 breads a day -- big enough to keep the workers busy and well-compensated.

With limited arable land in Tuwankumkul Village, factories like this are one solution to the labor surplus in the village.

“When we hire new people, we give priority to our villagers who still need financial support. Then we consider people from other villages,” said Abudurahman Ahmat, the factory's manager.

Now the village is taking a further step to boost the productivity of the land. Nearby the naan factory, farmers are growing their first crop of crocuses for saffron. It's hoped this spice, which is also used in traditional Chinese medicine, will prove profitable.

“In the first year, we invest a significant amount of money, but later we will gradually make a profit. Every mu (Chinese unit of land measurement, about 0.066 hectare) of saffron is worth 20,000 yuan (2,898 U.S. dollars). It's more impressive than planting ordinary crops,” said Zhu Jun, a saffron cultivation researcher.

China has set a target of eliminating poverty by 2020, and that is not an easy task.

"These factories haven't made any profit yet. But we are facing the critical two years. Our first task is to get the farmers out of poverty, and then slowly recover the cost," said Ablimit Barat, director of Tuwankumkul Village Committee.

So far, Pishan County has upgraded six home workshops into mini-factories. Many of the workers in this factory zone used to be seasonal farmers. The new industry has provided consistent income and stability to their lives.