The People's Republic of China has achieved remarkable economic development in recent years, particularly in the coastal areas. At the same time, economic disparities between regions and between income brackets have widened steadily, and the poor (the population segment with an annual income of less than 630 yuan, equal to 10,000 yen) now number some 50 million. To help those trying to break out of this poverty, a group of young Japanese have been working quietly away in a remote corner of the vast Chinese hinterland.

Laibing County in the autonomous region of Guanxi is a well-known drought region, and is also home to many poor farming villages. Since 1996, eight Japanese JOCVs have been sent there to begin developing local water resources as a means to conserve the environment, improve the stability of agricultural production and raise living standards. Three volunteers are still at work today, with their activities focused on areas where water resource development models have been established.

At the initial stage, the JOCVs set out to develop groundwater and create watercourses to secure enough water for agricultural use and drinking supplies. They educated farmers in scientific crop management as a way of boosting harvests, and also worked on orchard cultivation to help increase cash income. Sloping land was used as the site for a model orchard of fruit trees peculiar to South China. This orchard is currently being managed together with the JOCVs' Chinese counterparts toward providing a model of high-quality, high-yield cultivation.

The team has been introducing and disseminating new technology and good-quality seed in order to maintain the effective water utilization and higher crop production which has been achieved. Soil surveys are in process toward improving soil quality, and the team is also assisting Chinese experts in water quality and water level observations for the wells and ponds within the model areas and elsewhere, as well as meteorological observation, to ensure that groundwater development is not impacting on the local ecosystem.

Further, given the low forest cover ratio of the surrounding area, forests need to be increased to prevent drought and flood. To raise local community interest in trees and improve understanding of the importance and functions of forests, the JOCVs have been planting chestnut trees at local schools and undertaking other "greening" education activities. As witnessed in the higher yields and greater paddy area achieved in 1998, their efforts are slowly but surely beginning to bear fruit.