- 来源：联合国粮农组织尊龙凯时国际娱乐官网
- 编辑：姚雯祎
the technical expert, haibo zhu and milza lopez cerda, fao specialist in monitoring and evaluation, during the webinar on chinese experience on rural digitalization.©fao cristina arancibia
06/07/2023, vitacura
santiago, chile - the regional office of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations (fao) held on thursday, july 6, the virtual seminar "chinese experience on digitization of rural areas and the role of e-commerce on poverty alleviation: a reference for latin america and the caribbean".
the activity was part of fao's efforts to promote rural digitization in the region, through the project "response and recovery to the impact of covid-19 on rural livelihoods and agri-food systems in the countries of the community of latin american and caribbean states (celac), through south-south cooperation", which has the support of the ministry of agriculture and rural affairs (mara) of the people's republic of china.
the event was opened by dina lópez, fao south-south cooperation officer and technical leader of the project, who explained that the project seeks to implement pilot plans in 12 celac countries, with the objective of "contributing with concrete actions to reduce the gaps generated by the pandemic in rural areas where the most vulnerable populations of the region live".
in this regard, the official stated that "the chinese experience in digitization of rural areas is a valuable contribution to consider in the processes being carried out in latin america and the caribbean, considering different approaches such as: gender, youth, the role of governments and rural organizations and cooperatives", while thanking the ministry of agriculture and rural affairs of the people's republic of china for its support.
the data
haibo zhu, a technical expert in rural digitalization, highlighted the role played by his country's government in alleviating poverty through digital transformation since 2012.
"in china, both the central and local governments invested a total of 1.6 billion yuan (about us$221 million) in eight years in prioritized areas, and 832 counties were lifted out of poverty," he said.
the expert stressed that such plans contemplated e-commerce as a fundamental element for the transformation of rural populations, which, he assured, yielded results in a short period of time.
"by 2020, the coverage rate of e-commerce services in administrative villages reached 78.9%. by 2021, the proportion of broadband access had reached 100%, while the proportion of e-commerce broadband had reached 100%, while fiber (optical) and 4g access had exceeded 99% of the population," he said.
zhu said that all this allowed "china to become the largest online agricultural market in the world", which was "a product not only of investment but also of the rural digitalization policies implemented since 2014, not only by the ministry of agriculture and rural affairs, but also by other entities such as: the state council for cyberspace administration, the ministry of commerce, the ministry of finance, among others".
the role of the private corporations
"in order to enable small farmers in rural areas to overcome major challenges such as technology gaps, we needed to create e-commerce value chains that included them," he said.
as an example, he cited "private e-commerce giants alibaba group and others like pinduoduo, which helped small farmers connect with larger markets, generating a direct line between consumers and rural producers."
in addition, the expert said that e-commerce "has created a significant number of employment opportunities, especially for women and young people who have been introduced to the labor market. alibaba, for example, opened a training school for them in the selection of oranges and subsequent packaging, in xunwu county, jiangxi province".
other cases of study
zhu presented several success stories where e-commerce was key to the development of tourism in the communities, the creation of low-cost enterprises and the sale of agricultural products, which had a positive impact on job creation.
specifically, he pointed out that in cao county, his country's government succeeded in generating "low-cost enterprises and development, as well as the growth of online stores that generated direct employment through industrial groups that gradually emerged. in them, 337 graduate students began to work, training some 10,000 people per year. all of them work in some 30 companies and 310 express delivery centers".
in this sense, the expert assured that the government of his country provided special subsidies for those involved, such as tax exemptions and loans to entrepreneurs, especially aimed at young people and women.
the government role
speaking about the development experience of taobao villages, professor zhu remarked that the role of the national government of his country was decisive for the achievement of the objectives of this rural area, which, being so large, needed the help of the state for its economic development.
"the entrepreneurs alone could not make the large investments required by the rural digitalization process. the construction of the digital infrastructure depended fundamentally on the government and could not rely on market mechanisms because it would have taken too long and the objectives would not have been achieved," he stressed.
likewise, the expert pointed out that the government actively participated in the assessment of the state of the digital ecosystem in rural areas, invested in infrastructure, technology, public services and business environment, and then promoted literacy and training of human talent from the territories addressed.
logistics and big data
according to mr. zhu, the first express delivery company focused on rural products was established in xiu shan county, "which allowed farmers in the area to bring their products directly to the end consumer; they created an e-commerce platform and a data analysis center for small farmers to organize themselves according to demand.
the expert gave several recommendations for latin america and the caribbean, highlighting that small farmers should be integrated into the e-commerce value chain, promote training and talent development, promote the development of rural cooperatives, make use of digital social networks as effective platforms for e-commerce, establish digital payment systems and strengthen technological support for farmers beyond digital literacy.
in this digital seminar organized by fao, some 552 people participated online between the zoom, youtube and twitter platforms, including decision-makers, members of agricultural organizations, academia and civil society from across the region.
（来源：联合国粮农组织尊龙凯时国际娱乐官网）
