Overview
In 2018, I embarked on a project to empower a rural community in Sichuan, China, which was primarily involved in orange farming, in another word, help them sell their oranges and improve their lives. My initial assumption was that the lack of modern technology and efficient distribution methods were the primary challenges. However, upon my arrival and division of our team into specialized groups, I quickly realized that the situation was more complex than I had anticipated.
My interactions with the locals, especially an elderly couple, revealed the hardships they faced in adopting new farming techniques due to age, limited resources, and poor soil conditions. Despite their efforts, they struggled with unfair market practices and low prices for their produce. I also learned about the village mayor, a young, educated individual who faced challenges in revitalizing his community amidst the migration of young people to cities.
Throughout my experience, I recognized the power dynamics at play. The introduction of the orange industry by external influences, including the mayor and researchers, was a part of the Chinese government’s initiative to eliminate extreme poverty. This reflected the complex interplay of socio-economic conditions and governmental policies.
I also reflected on the concept of privilege. Despite our team’s expertise and resources, we faced significant challenges in understanding and addressing the community’s needs. This experience made me realize that privilege is relative and contextual, and possessing it does not always equate to success in complex situations.
The role of expertise was crucial in our project. We had to account for the diverse knowledge and skills of local farmers, government officials, researchers, and our team. Our focus shifted to establishing online distribution channels for the oranges, considering the logistical challenges of the region.
This entire experience taught me the importance of understanding the multifaceted realities of a community. It highlighted the need to consider various perspectives and the complex socio-economic and power dynamics in community development initiatives. The project was a profound learning experience about the realities of rural development and the intricate layers of challenges that communities face.
Narratives
With desktop research and visiting orchards near us, we tried to come up with solutions and assumption that could help these people. The dominant narrative that guided our efforts presumed that the main difficulty would be the absence of modern technology and efficient distribution channels. We were pretty sure at first that it would be the people’s problem not to embrace better planting skills and distribution channels that led them to the current situation and our detailed plan was to help setup their online business for more channels and introduce model planting techniques and machines to assist their work.
Thinking back, the dominant narratives that we had was basically a stereotype of poor and helpless people. The image perfectly fits the imagination of ours, a bunch of urban researchers trying to solve some complex problems with some straight and simple solutions.
Upon arrival, we divided ourselves into four teams, each tasked with investigating a distinct aspect of the issue. One ventured into the orchards to assess the trees, another engaged in conversations with local farmers to gain insights into their production, a team consulted with the village government to understand their policies and support for the local orange industry, and the final team endeavored to negotiate favorable logistics deals to ensure the oranges could reach distant markets affordably. However, things didn’t go as expected. While the lack of good ways to sell oranges was indeed a challenge, mountainous landscape prevented modern machines to do their work and little-family-based procedure prevented large scale standard production. We discovered that there were deeper problems we hadn’t anticipated. To better understand the situation, I tried to see things from the narratives of a local farmer.
Consider the case of an elderly couple, they were both over 65 years old. Five years ago, they could barely feed themselves as their land and weather conditions weren’t suitable for farming anything other than a few daily crops. A group of researchers and scientists were then introduced to the village and convinced them to plant special orange trees designed for this kind of poor land that were supposed to bring them a better life. They invested most of their savings and converted part of their land into an orange orchard.
However, it took three long years for these trees to bear fruit that could be sold. During this time, they attended seminars held by governments to learn better farming techniques, but because of their age and limited resources, they couldn’t apply many of these methods. Additionally, most of the young people had left the village for jobs in the city, so the couple had to do all the hard work themselves. This year, they finally harvested some fruits, although these oranges paled in comparison to the dominant breed in taste due to the specific challenges posed by the poor soil. Worse, the merchants offered prices significantly below expectations, citing potential losses due to the long distance between the village and the nearest town. Despite their efforts, they realized it would take them a few more years before they could make a profit. To make ends meet, they had to continue farming other crops and find work in the nearby town during the offseason.
From the village government’s perspective, the narrative unfolded differently. The mayor, who was one of the few young people left in the village, returned after finishing college with a will to help his hometown. He faced challenges due to the village’s isolation and the ongoing exodus of young residents. Five years ago, he reached out to a college research group to find a new crop that could improve the lives of local farmers. This led him to orange farming , which he also embraced by converting his own land into orange orchards. He invested his own money and brought in experts to teach farmers advanced farming techniques. However, he realized that many farmers had trouble understanding these methods, and selling their oranges in competitive urban markets at good prices was a challenge.
These narratives vividly demonstrate the complexity of the world, revealing layers of challenges that extend beyond the confines of dominant narratives. They emphasize the importance of understanding the multifaceted realities of the community and further require me to better investigate the objectives from different perspectives before composing any kinds of solutions.
POWER DYNAMICS
During my experience in Sichuan, there was a complex power system. In the institutional context, there are manifestations of power. The local orange industry was introduced by the mayor, together with a group a researcher. They came to the village and “convinced the community to plant special orange trees designed for this kind of poor land that were supposed to bring them a better life.” This shows an external influence, possibly with good intentions, but it also reflects a power dynamic where outsiders make decisions for the community. This has an even bigger power context that the period from 2018-2020 was the last few years of Chinese government’s “eliminating the extreme poor on the land” plan, so governors were actually trying with all kinds of methods to raise these people from the poor condition, sometimes neglecting long-term influences. After the trees were introduced, the local people “attended seminars held by governments to learn better farming techniques.” The government, an institution, holds the power to provide knowledge, but its effectiveness is questionable given the local context.
There are also Overarching Structural Conditions. Most of the young people left the village for jobs in the city, reflecting broader socio-economic conditions pushing the younger generation towards urban areas, leaving the elderly behind as well as the aging society. The merchants offered prices significantly below expectations when purchasing oranges from farmers, revealing economic structures and market dynamics playing a determining role in the value of the community’s produce.
If we focus on personal positionality, it would be more about privileges that we don’t even recognize by ourselves, as stated by Roxane. Our original dominant narrative reflects an urban-rural divide and the assumptions that come with it. Born with privilege living in urban areas, we have no idea what people in remote locations are suffering from. But the mayor who was born and raised in the village, had exposure outside the village and came back after college to support his hometown, still holds a different position and perspective compared to the elderly couple.
That was one of the reasons why the orange orchard did not progress as expected, because with different privilege and power, parties anticipated the same thing with different outcomes. Thus the relationship between personal positionality and larger power dynamics becomes clear. As the ones who were intended to help them out, or for anyone who wanted to solve the challenges, we have to understand multiple perspectives in this context and not rely solely on dominant narratives to find a way out. My position as an external helper is influenced by the broader power dynamics at play, including the influence of research groups, government initiatives, and market forces, etc.
Such an experience actually resonates with most of the readings this week, but I found Roxane’s fits the most. “Privilege is a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor.” In my story, the privilege of knowledge, resources, and external connections was evident. However, as Gay mentions, “Privilege is relative and contextual.” While the researchers and the mayor had certain privileges, they also faced challenges in understanding and addressing the unique needs of the community. “We tend to believe that accusations of privilege imply we have it easy.” The challenges faced in implementing solutions in the village highlight that having privilege doesn’t always equal to success or ease in navigating complex situations. “To acknowledge privilege is not a denial of the ways you are marginalized, the ways you have suffered.” The elderly couple, despite the challenges, took initiatives to improve their situation, showing resilience and agency, but for us as the ones with privilege have to acknowledge the difficulties that cannot be solves with our previous power and would be a tough condition to deal with.
TRAJECTORY
The temporal dimension is undeniably crucial, especially for developmental issues. I would even argue that the temporal dimension is where the root causes and solutions lie. Viewing a problem within a historical trajectory allows us to virtually engage with those who suffered from the problem in the past, as well as those who have attempted to address it. My experience assisting remote farmers with their orange industry serves as a prime example of this concept. The experiences from Roja about the power dynamics of non-profit organizations and Cole about the importance of investigating the context before assistance, is partially helpful to our temporal analysis, as they focus on researching status quo at a current timestamp.
In terms of context, we were at a historical juncture where the government aimed to eradicate extreme poverty in China. This goal was one of the reasons new orange tree varieties were bred and why experts turned their attention to this region. As for our solution, although we proposed online markets as a new distribution channel, it wouldn’t have been feasible without the recent advancements in e-commerce and logistics.
Looking back at how this problem has evolved, it’s clear that it’s a multifaceted system. For the local residents, earning a livelihood isn’t a new challenge. Situated amidst mountains, transportation barriers have isolated them from efficient communication with the outside world and hindered relocation for centuries. Despite technological advancements, it remains a daunting issue. The region’s poor soil quality is another longstanding challenge. For generations, the inhabitants have relied on limited land, producing barely enough to sustain their daily needs. As is widely recognized, enriching soil without chemicals, which are inaccessible due to the mountainous terrain, is a significant challenge. For the mayor, who grew up in these villages, left for education, and returned to uplift his hometown, coming back to such a remote area was undoubtedly a challenging decision. He likely spent years grappling with and seeking solutions for his community. He can be viewed as a representative of countless individuals throughout the history of such villages—people who, while not necessarily holding official positions, dedicated their lives to creating a better environment. For the scientists and experts, research on breeding, planting, and species optimization is also time-intensive. Introducing a new tree variety to the market might have required a decade of work, with no guarantee of the new breed’s survival.
Looking ahead, the future holds intrigue. The orange orchard solution hasn’t yet yielded returns commensurate with the local community’s investment in terms of effort and resources. However, this doesn’t imply it’s an ineffective solution. Orange trees typically take years to bear substantial fruit, and it may take even longer for a variety to be optimized based on market preferences. Present challenges shouldn’t deem this solution a failure. As I’ve mentioned earlier, transportation has historically been a hurdle for delivering oranges to the nearest town promptly. Yet, there have been improvements over the years—better roads, increased vehicle availability, and shorter routes are all enhancing logistics for the community. Conversely, whether the residents can persevere until all challenges are overcome remains a topic of discussion.
For us, we were merely another group of volunteers attempting to address this intricate issue at a specific historical moment. It’s challenging to ascertain whether our online channel solution is perpetuating oppressive power structures or suggesting a potential revolution. Our approach might be innovative for the community, given its novelty, but we’re reinforcing the orange orchard strategy, whose efficacy is still under evaluation. Moreover, we can’t be sure if our solution will remain viable amidst competition from other oranges.
In this specific experience, it’s essential to consider both historical and current contexts. While the temporal dimension reveals the root causes and potential solutions, the present-day scenario underscores the complexities and multifaceted nature of the problem. Efforts, such as introducing online markets, are steps forward, but their long-term efficacy remains uncertain. As volunteers, we’ve introduced innovations, yet the sustainability of our solutions amidst evolving challenges and competition is still to be determined. The journey of assisting these farmers is a blend of historical insights, present-day challenges, and future uncertainties.
EXPERTISE
Being an expert and utilizing expertise is undoubtedly crucial when addressing complex system problems. This professional knowledge can sometimes exert a deterministic influence on subjects. Therefore, it’s essential for us to fully understand our problem space and the underlying epistemologies before adopting any suggestions. As the adage goes, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” so we must proceed with caution.
This discourse on expertise resonates with my personal experiences in the Sichuan province as well. Our problem space was multifaceted. Primarily, we aimed to align with the local government’s overarching goal of promoting local orange sales. Given this context, we began to define detailed sub-spaces. Due to constraints like team size and time, optimizing local orange breeding wasn’t feasible. We needed a more immediate and adoptable solution, so we focused on enhancing the marketing and promotion of the oranges. Given the vast distances and subpar transportation conditions, traditional promotion methods were impractical. Instead, we established online distribution channels, leveraging the internet to connect with consumers across China.
The expertise within our projects was diverse, which I believe is best summarized in bullet points:
- Local farmers: Experts in local agricultural conditions and practices, rich in empirical intuition, and consistently adaptive to new strategies.
- Mayors and government officials: Skilled in governing local communities, adept at resource allocation, and capable of sourcing external expertise. They also possess privileges from higher hierarchies to boost the local economy.
- Researchers in orange breeding: Specialists in cultivating orange varieties suited to the local soil and addressing related agricultural challenges.
- Us (temporary assistant group): Experts in information technology, proficient in social media promotion, and capable of drawing widespread attention to support the local community. In the Sichuan province project, we accounted for different epistemologies by integrating diverse expertise into our approach. By doing so, we ensured a holistic understanding of the problem space, from the ground-level agricultural practices to the broader economic and technological challenges. In this context, “expertise” refers to specialized knowledge or skills relevant to the orange orchard industry in the Sichuan province. It encompasses a range of competencies, from the practical agricultural insights of local farmers to the technological acumen of our assistant group. Expertise here is both traditional (based on experience and local practices) and modern (based on technological advancements). Our knowledge and skill sets were conceptualized as expertise in information technology and social media promotion. We evaluated our expertise based on our ability to establish online distribution channels and attract attention to support the local community. Indeed, in this context, our skills in technology and promotion were vital forms of expertise.