20 Years of Rural Reconstruction: Observing the Transformation of Rural China | Food Talk Vol.36

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Our guest for this episode of Food Talk, Huang Guoliang, is a veteran rural development worker. Like many of our friends in the field, we are more accustomed to calling him “Lao Liu”.

Since dedicating himself to rural reconstruction in 2005, Lao Liu has worked in the countryside for nearly 20 years. He tells us that he embarked on this path after witnessing the dilapidated state of rural education and the severity of the “left-behind children” crisis while volunteering as a teacher in Shaanxi.

Over the years, Lao Liu has worn many hats: establishing farmers’ schools, running farms, serving as a project officer for foundations, and founding his own public welfare organisation to support farmers in transitioning to ecological agriculture.

Back then, they were pioneers. At the Yan Yangchu Rural Reconstruction Institute in Dingxian, Hebei, they helped farmers establish cooperatives and taught them how to cultivate land without chemical pesticides or fertilisers—and even how to build houses using ecological methods—all with the aim of empowering farmers to organise themselves and become self-reliant. Meanwhile, the Little Donkey Urban Farm in Beijing served as a window to help city dwellers understand the complexities of urban-rural issues.

After returning to Guangxi and working for many years in a region that still sustains a vast number of smallholder farmers, Lao Liu has developed several unique perspectives. For instance, he believes that the conservation of heirloom seeds should be integrated into local culture and daily life, and that ecological agriculture should first and foremost provide a sustainable livelihood for the individual. Observing the “irreconcilable” attitude some ecological practitioners hold towards conventional agriculture, Lao Liu believes that coexistence and mutual learning are more realistic and reasonable. The openness and positivity in his voice help us understand why the “ecological agriculture training” he has been promoting in Guangxi has been able to bring together such a diverse group of farmers—and why their friendships persist long after the training ends.

Looking back, many of the problems that plagued farmers and rural villages 20 years ago seem to have been resolved: roads have been built, people have been lifted out of poverty, and village collectives are wealthier, all thanks to the influx of external resources. But have all the problems been solved? Faced with the “new three mountains” of healthcare, elderly care, and education, and the shocks of a rapidly shifting agricultural market, how should farmers secure their livelihoods? Although Lao Liu humbly claims he doesn’t understand the “big questions”, he has undoubtedly provided the answers through his actions over the years.

We invite you to tune in to this episode and hear Lao Liu share his story.

Guest

Lao Liu

Born Huang Guoliang and a native of Hepu, Guangxi, he began his work in rural reconstruction in 2005. He was involved in the founding of the Ecological Agriculture Studio at the Yan Yangchu Rural Reconstruction Institute, the Little Donkey Urban Farm in Beijing, the Guoren “Da Ping Huo” Community Canteen in Chongqing, and the Nanning Urban Farm Market. He also founded the Guangxi Guoren Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development Centre and initiated a platform for the in-situ conservation of local varieties in Guangxi. He is currently based in Guangxi, working independently on ecological agriculture projects.

 

 

Hosts

Tianle

Founding editor of Foodthink and convener of the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market. Despite working within the food and agriculture system for over a decade, he acknowledges his own limitations and works primarily in the city. He has immense admiration for partners who work directly within rural communities and achieve tangible results.

 

 

 

Wang Hao

Editor at Foodthink. He reportedly travelled to Nanning specifically to meet Lao Liu; as a member of the younger generation, he hears many stories of the past during this episode.

 

 

 

 

A young Lao Liu at the Yan Yangchu Rural Reconstruction Institute in Dingxian, Hebei. The top photo shows slogans on the wall that are deeply evocative of the era; the bottom photo shows Lao Liu with Huang Zhiyou (current General Manager of the Little Donkey Urban Farm) in front of one of the institute’s ecological buildings.

At the Little Donkey Urban Farm in Beijing, 2008–2009: people transformed a piece of wasteland (top) into a vegetable garden, which later became an important hub for the food movement in Beijing.
The Guoren “Da Ping Huo” Community Canteen established in Chongqing in 2012, which advocated for “local production and seasonal consumption,” with costs shared between buyers and sellers.

Ecological farming friends exchanging seeds at the Guangxi Ecological Farmers’ Annual Meeting. Image source: Shanshui Nirvana Pumen Centre.

Lao Liu conducting a rice breeding class at Guangxi Guoren, helping farmers with the introduction, preservation, seed saving, and purification and rejuvenation of heirloom seeds. Can anyone recognise the person on the far right of the first photo?

Lao Liu conducting a soil class at Guangxi Guoren. While called a soil class, it is actually a broader agricultural technical training session, using the advantages of ecological agriculture to help farmers reduce costs, stabilise yields, and improve quality.

Timeline

00:48 Listen to Lao Liu, who has extensive experience in rural work, discuss his own career and the changes in China’s rural agriculture over the past 20 years.

04:45 Establishing cooperatives for rural reconstruction: How can rural regeneration be conducted in an orderly manner? Their efforts eventually contributed indirectly to the introduction of the Farmers’ Cooperative Law.

23:12 Why did a young person studying desertification control at Northwest A&F University choose to commit to rural reconstruction rather than environmental protection?

24:39 Redefining the value of farmers: How can farmers find their place and value within the current economic climate? Is the countryside merely an adjunct to urban life, destined to be constantly exploited by the city?

26:58 What opportunities and challenges did Lao Liu face when returning to Guangxi to pursue ecological agriculture? This experience also prompted him to rethink the relationship between city and country: Does the urban education system’s emphasis on professional specialisation turn us into narrow-minded ‘cogs in the machine’ who can only view problems from a single perspective?

39:25 What is the true significance of promoting local varieties and preserving heirloom seeds? Why must the ‘preservation of heirloom seeds’ be integrated into the daily lives of local people?

50:42 Reflecting on his experience teaching in Shaanxi, Lao Liu shares why he embarked on the path of rural reconstruction.

56:26 Connecting with the land: Moving past the idea that conventional and ecological agriculture are mutually exclusive, and considering how the two can coexist.

71:12 The ‘three mountains’ facing farmers: livelihood, education, and healthcare. If these needs cannot be properly addressed in the countryside, the current state of rural areas will continue to stagnate.

75:28 A sense of mission in promoting ecological agriculture: While any production method a farmer chooses should be respected, the promotion of unsustainable practices deserves criticism, as it is the farmers themselves and the wider public who ultimately suffer.

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Podcast Production Team

Production: Xiaojing

Music: Banong

Cover Art: Wanlin

Editing: Wang Hao

Contact Email: xiaojing@foodthink.cn

Published by Foodthink