Facing Climate Change: Where Is the Countryside Heading? What Can NGOs Do?

Sichuan Pepper Trees Are Running Up the Mountain

In 2004, I was carrying out field research in a village in Mao County, Sichuan. One of the locals said to me: “The Sichuan pepper trees are running up the mountain.” They meant that in the past, Sichuan pepper trees grew best in the river valleys, but they no longer thrive there. Instead, they are growing better on the mid-slopes now, and even the hilltops where peppers could once never be grown are now producing fruit. This is the so-called “warming” that everyone keeps talking about, and it struck me very hard at the time. — Du Ling, Chengdu Shuguang Community Development Capacity Building Centre

Growing Apples the Way You Would Grow Grapes

In the past, the northwest suffered drought nine years out of every ten. Now there is a clear sense that rainfall has increased, and it is a long-term process. Extreme weather is the aspect of climate change that has hit the countryside hardest. When we visited a village on a field trip, we could see rows of trellises in the orchards from a long way off and assumed the crops were grapes – only to discover, on getting closer, that they were apple trees. We later learned that these were new dwarf, high-density apple varieties promoted by the government. The trees are compact but each one bears heavily, so the crop load is high and the orchard needs a trellis system. This not only secures the trees but also holds the drip irrigation system and anti-hail net in place. If an extreme drought or hailstorm strikes, farmers can at least mitigate some of their losses. — Hu Xiaojun, Gansu Yishan Yishui Environment and Social Development Centre

What Kind of Energy Resilience Does the Countryside Need?

Last year, Ruicheng in Shanxi was hit by a rare cold wave. The high-voltage transmission lines running from the plains up into the mountains froze over, causing a widespread power cut. For a whole week there was no heating and no water. Four solar panels were charging everyone’s phones in the village. People in southern Shanxi have never had a habit of stockpiling coal. Of course, severe air pollution in recent years meant coal stoves were banned too. After the coal-to-electricity conversion, the area became far too dependent on the power grid. — Du Jie, Jinqing Sustainable Development Public Service Centre

From energy to infrastructure, from production to daily life, from livelihoods to health – in China’s rural areas, the severe challenges posed by climate change are becoming ever more apparent. The government has introduced a series of policies to strengthen the countryside’s capacity to respond to climate change. Yet these policies tend to focus on technology promotion and infrastructure development, and systematic support remains lacking for smallholder farmers, who make up over 98 per cent of all agricultural operators, and for rural communities that are increasingly hollowed out by depopulation. Adaptation strategies that rely on external resource inputs and top-down government initiatives also often limit farmers’ own capacity and room for independent action. Against this backdrop, the role of social organisations in rural climate response has become especially critical. Through local field research, front-line intervention and community mobilisation, they can help fill the gaps left by policy, and they also provide valuable grassroots experience on how policies can be better put into practice.

● After carrying out a climate risk survey in Xianniangxi Village in the mountainous north of Conghua, the Guangzhou Conghua District Shengeng Social Work Service Centre found that as villagers reduced rice cultivation, many irrigation channels had fallen into disrepair, leading to water shortages, eutrophication of water bodies and flood risk within the village. In October this year, the centre mobilised villagers to carry out small-scale disaster management by clearing silt and repairing channels. While reducing climate risks, the work also reawakened the community’s collective memories of and emotional bonds with the village. Photo credit: Feng Lian

Over the past two decades, although social organisations have begun to engage with climate issues, only a small number of organisations working in rural areas have consciously integrated climate response into their strategy and programme design. On the other hand, these organisations possess extensive experience in developing rural industries and supporting vulnerable groups, maintain close ties with grassroots communities, and their past work has in fact embodied rich, practical indigenous wisdom on climate adaptation. With the climate crisis upon us, there is an urgent need to consolidate and share genuinely useful experience, and to mobilise every person and all available resources within the community through approaches tailored to local conditions and individual circumstances – which is precisely where locally rooted social organisations excel. With this in mind, Foodthink, supported by Oxfam Hong Kong’s Beijing Office, has launched a survey titled Action Pathways for China’s Rural Social Organisations in Responding to Climate Change, aiming to summarise and explore the achievements, challenges and needs of rural social organisations in climate-related work. The survey seeks to provide evidence-based, practical reference material and recommendations for social organisations, funders, government departments, communities, researchers and other relevant stakeholders, to help rural social organisations strengthen their climate response efforts.

– Survey Participants –

The term “rural social organisations” used in this survey refers to institutions and groups carrying out social services and public-benefit work in rural areas, including but not limited to:

◉ Traditional rural development and poverty-alleviation organisations; ◉ Environmental social organisations working in rural areas;

◉ Social work agencies serving vulnerable groups in rural areas;

◉ Volunteer organisations involved in rural disaster relief;

◉ Student organisations conducting research or projects in designated rural areas;

◉ Volunteer groups spontaneously formed within rural communities;

◉ Rural education-support organisations;

◉ Research and advocacy organisations focused on rural agriculture and farmers.

Specific areas of work include, but are not limited to, agriculture, energy and infrastructure, vulnerable populations, disaster prevention and mitigation, environmental protection, and culture and education.

There are also no restrictions on organisational form. These may include formally registered social organisations and foundations; enterprises and cooperatives registered under commercial law that nonetheless provide public-benefit social services in rural areas; or community-based self-organisations and volunteer groups that are not yet registered but have a relatively stable team.

– Survey Outputs –

The information you provide will help us complete the study Action Pathways for China’s Rural Social Organisations in Responding to Climate Change. Based on the questionnaire responses, the project team will invite experts and social organisations from the field to hold regional seminars and exchange-learning sessions, sharing research findings and practical experience. Foodthink will also use this survey to conduct an in-depth exploration of the challenges faced by social organisations and the rural communities they serve, as well as the achievements already made, presenting these stories through our public account and media channels.

– Completing the Survey –

We warmly invite you to complete the “Action Pathways for China’s Rural Social Organisations in Responding to Climate Change” questionnaire. Please scan the QR code below or click “here” to fill in the survey, which takes approximately 10 minutes. After receiving the responses, we will also invite some organisations for in-depth interviews.

The survey deadline is 31 December 2024.

For any questions, suggestions or other feedback about this survey,

please contact the survey lead:

Kong Lingyu: lingyu@foodthink.cn

Co-ordination: Lingyu