Lao village takes Chinese route to poverty alleviation

In the mountains of northern Laos, life keeps getting better and better for the villagers of Ban Xor. According to Khamchan Boudvinai, deputy village chief, everyone has a little more money to spend these days.

In 2017, the Ban Xor village was chosen to pilot a China-backed poverty alleviation project. Two hours' drive north of capital Vientiane, it was one of the first communities in Laos to benefit from China's years of hard work to end poverty at home.

Khamchan has seen for himself how rural communities in China were transformed.

"The first time I went to China was in 2015 and the second time was in 2019. I went to see the poverty alleviation program in action. I wasn't there just for a tour, I was there to learn. I saw new technology being used for commercial crops such as mangoes and bananas, and got some training in financial management," he says.

Khamchan returned from his visits, not just interested in modern agriculture, but determined to transform his village. He was convinced that the Chinese experience in poverty eradication would be replicated in Laos. And that there was to it than just growing more crops.

"I saw rice growing in well-managed terraces that had become tourist attractions. It was thought-provoking." Of the 2,000 people who live in Ban Xor, half still make less than $700 a year. However, in the past three years, roads and infrastructure have improved. A new bridge has been built.

The village has better public services. And village affairs are much better managed. In fact, the villagers organize, supervise and manage themselves as a cooperative.

The rice crop in the village was never enough, but since people switched to corn and cassava, the harvest improved, so did their incomes along with it, according to villager Ka Sidavongxay.

"We have been quick to learn from China. We have teams raising cattle, growing corn and cassava, and weaving cloth," he says.

"Transportation has become much better since the project began. In China officials and villagers really trust each other, this was my lasting impression," says Khamchan. "Community spirit is prospering."