Anning Valley Agricultural Development Project - environmental impact and social assessment report (Vol. 2 of 2)

E-275 VOL. 2 SUMMARY OF SOCIAL ASSESSMENT FOR ANNING VALLEY AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPAIENT PROJECT   Anning Valley Agricultural Development Project Summary of Social Assessment I. Relevant Backgroundl Geographical Location 1. The Anning Valley project is situated in the Anning River Valley in Southwest China. The project area cuts across Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Panzhihua Municipality and involves a total of fifteen county-level administrative units: Xichang City and Mianning, Xide, Dechang, Puge, Huili, Huidong, Ningnan, Zhaojue and Butuo Counties in Liangshan and Miyi County, Yanbian County, and East, West, and Renhe Districts in Panzhihua. The project area covers is leaf-shaped, extending from 260 to 290 N. latilude and from 1010 to 1030 E. longitude. Administrative History of the Project Region 2. The project area has historically been an important communications corridor between Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, as well as an area traversed by the "Silk Road of the South", and has thus been an area that was considered important by Chinese imperial dynasties throughout history. Ever since the Han Dynasty (200 B.C.-200 A.D.), dynasties have established governmental and military outposts here. During the Republican Period (1911-1950), the area was divided between Xikang and Yunnan provinces. Communist Party forces occupied the area in 1950. 3. On October 10, 1952, the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Region was established, with its capital at Zhaojue. On April 15, 1955, its name was changed to Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of Sichuan Province. Xichang Administrative District was established in 1952, but the Sichuan Provincial Government abolished the Xichang Administrative District in 1978 and gave two of its counties--Miyi and Yanbian--to Panzhihua City and incorporated the rest of its counties into Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, whose capital was moved to Xichang. Since then, Liangshan has had 17 county-level units, of which 10 (including the one city of Xichang) are incorporated into the Anning River Valley Agricultural Development Project (henceforth "The Anning Project.") 4. Before the establishment of Panzhihua Municipality., its territory belonged to Miyi, Yanbian, and Huili Counties in Xichang Administrative District and to Huaping and Yongren Counties in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. In 1965, in order to promote the development of the mining industry and strengthen national defense, the Central Government decided to establish a mining base area in this nmineral-rich region. It therefore established the Panzhihua Special District, and tenritory from Xichang City and Chuxiong County was carved off incrementally in 1965, 1972, and 1978 to fonn the present boundaries of Panzhihua Municipality, including the primarily agricultural areas of Miyi and Yanbian Counties and Renhe District and the primarily urban and mining areas of the East and West Districts. Because the three agricultural areas of Yanbian, Miyi, and Renhe have large populations of Yi and other minorities, they have been administered as Yi counties since 1983. All five districts of Panzhihua City are included in the Anning Project. Population and Ethnic Groups in the Project Area.  5. The Yi and the Han Chinese are the major ethnic groups in the project area. This is one of the earliest areas of habitation by the ancestors of today's Yi and remains to this day the area of greatest concentration of the Yi population. As early as the Han dynasty, the ancestors of the Yi were practicing a nomadic pastoral economy in this area, without much agriculture and with no cities. According to Yi written and oral genealogical sources, seventy generations (approximately 2000 years) have elapsed since Guho and Qoni, the two epic ancestors of the Yi in this area. After their migration into this area, the Yi began to practice a sedentary life combining agriculture and pastoralism. 6. Han Chinese have been moving sporadically into the area since the Han dynasty as well, clearing land for agriculture. Most of the Han migration into the area was connected with the system of military agricultural colonies. Military personnel would move into an area together with their families, and also hire labor to prepare land for cultivation. Especially in the Yuan (1251-1380), Ming (1380-1645) and Qing (1645-1911) periods, large numbers of Han Chinese moved into the Anning Valley with government encouragement and support and gradually moved into the foothills to the east of the Anning River, becoming the typical rice cultivators of the region. 7. The Southwest is an ethnically mixed region. The project area borders on districts inhabited by ethnic "Tibetans," I Bai, Lisu, Naxi, and other groups. In consequence, the project area also has small populations of "Tibetans," Bai, Lisu, Naxi, and Miao. 8. According to statistics from the end of 1996, the 15 administrative areas included in the project had a total population of 3.5 million (1.62 million in Liangshan Prefecture and 0.88 million in Panzhihua Municipality). The minority population was 35% in Liangshan and 12% in Panzhihua2. Yi-the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Project Area 9. Until the "democratic reforms of 1956", much of Liangshan was what Western Scholars referred to as "Independent Lololand", an area dominated by the clan-based, stateless polity and the slaveholding system of the people who call themselves Nuosu and are known in the Chinese language as the Liangshan Yi. Even though commercial and cultural exchanges took place in the area for a long time, relations between Yi and Han were characterized by constant friction and conflict. With the "democratic reforms", the slaveholding system was abolished and central rule established. In the past 40 years, there has been a major change in politics, economics, education, and other aspects of life in the Yi areas, and Yi-Han relations have improved considerably. But in Yi areas, especially those areas where Yi live in concentrated blocks, Yi methods of production Zangzu, the Chinese term usually translated into English as "Tibetan," includes, in addition to those inside and outside the Tibet Autonomous Region whom people outside China would call Tibetans, also a few hundred thousand speakers of languages of the Qiang family, many of whom had political and religious ties with the traditional Tibetan government. Aside from a few cadres and teachers, all Zangzu in the Anning Project area belong to this latter category. 2 In Panzhihua, the project would cover the counties which have approximately 388,000 urban residents, almost all Han. Out of 0.88 million total populations in Panzhihua, approximately 20% are minority.  are crude, life is still very poor, and to a large extent the Yi still preserve their way of life, including the cultural and economic features that separate them from the surrounding Han. This is a question to which the project must pay close attention. If done correctly, the project could have considerable influence in raising the standard of living of the Yi and helping them to modernize and adapt to the market economy. 10. While almost all the Yi affected by the project in the 10 Liangshan counties belong to the Nuosu social and political system, most of the Yi in Renhe District are only distantly related culturally and politically to the Liangshan people. These people, who call themselves Lipuo and Laluo in their own languages, have lived for centuries in relatively close contact with their Han neighbors, with whom they have had considerable economic, cultural, and even marital interchange. As a result, the lives and customs of these people on the eve of the revolution were not appreciably different from those of their Han neighbors, though they tended to be poorer and live in more remote areas. 11. In addition, there are a few thousand Yi in Miyi County who are mostly the descendants of immigrants from Guizhou. Calling themselves Yala, Tazhi, Abu, and Nasu, they, like the Lipuo and Shuitian, are socially and culturally much closer to Han peasants than are the majority of Nuosu. 12. Institutional Structure. The institutional structure in the project areas is characterized by a hierarchy of govermment administration from the provincial government through the prefecture or municipality to the county and the township. Below the administrative hierarchy, the self-governing village. In the village there are smaller groups called villager groups (previously the production groups) formed on the basis of haLmlets or neighborhoods. The last social unit is the household which is both a residential and a production unit. At the various administrative levels (province, prefecture, etc.) there are the government authorities, including the Communist Party Organization, the People's Government Apparatus, the People's Congress, and the Discipline Supervision Commission. At each of the administrative levels, there are also non-govemment organizations, such as the Women's Federation and the Young Communist League. 13. Social Structure: The direct beneficiary groups in the project are farming households, villager groups and villages. The major type of household in Yi districts is the nuclear household. The Yi nuclear household contains usually five family members, bigger than the four-member household that is common amnong the Han people.3 People who live in the same group not only cooperate and help each other in production activities, but also support and help each other in family events such as birthday celebrations, weddings, funerals and religious rituals and in difficult situations, such as illness. Private loans are often interest-free when the lending is among households. 15. The group leader is democratically elected and receives no regular allowance. He is generally considered by the group members to be an active helper in public affairs and to have folk-bestowed authority; he or she is, consequently, the spolcesman for the group's common 3 The govenmment recommends two-children policies in Han populated rural districts and permnits three children in Yi districts  interest. The group leader is usually popularly respected, capable and educated. In Yi settlements, heads of the "Suyi" and "Degu" clans (mediators in conflicts among the households) and the religious "Bimo" also play important roles in social activities. Each village has a villagers' committee of 3 to 5 members, including the committee chair (who is usually the village head) and the bookkeeper, who receive monthly allowances. The villagers' committee is elected by the villagers' representatives in the village congress. Its major roles and responsibilities are to handle public affairs and welfare, to mediate conflicts among the villagers, to assist in maintaining public security and to coordinate activities including production and management, education and culture, birth control, civil mediation and public security. There is also a base-level Communist Party organization, i.e. a village branch headed by the village party secretary. The village committee, is a bridge between rural households and the government and becomes the pivot of rural social life. It is through this pivot that households relate to the government. 16. The Yi also follow the two main production systems of rural China; (a) the responsibility system based on household production contracts and (b) the unified system where the collective land in the village is contracted to a basic productive unit of households. The household becomes the major enterprise pursuing production activities in the rural districts in the project area. It takes part in the entire process of agricultural and livestock production and has the right to make decisions about its own economic activities. Household members share income from the production. The collective unified enterprise was greatly weakened after the implementation of household responsibility system and is now unimportant in the economic activities of rural areas. Land Ownership and Tenure 17. Since 1984, all counties in China have adopted the responsibility system. Land is divided equitably among the farners in a village. The land is owned by the village. The village possesses the right to grant land contracts and to manage, regulate and supervise activities on the contracted land. The household signs a contract with the village for the use of land and pays a contract fee. The household runs the piece of land on its own and has the land use rights but not the ownership. The farmer is not allowed to buy or sell land, to rent land that has been allocated to him or to let it lie waste. He cannot change the use of contracted land, such as for residential use or non-agricultural use. If the contractor dies within the contract period, his successor can continue to use the land as allowed by the contract until the contract expires. The household hands in contract fee, calculated by the size, quality or portions of the land. Most of the project counties set the contract period to 30 years for arable land, 50 years for barren hills, barren slopes and uncultivated riverbanks. A few low land counties, for example Mianning and Ningnan, set contracts for 15 years. Social and Legal Status of Minority people 18. Liangshan prefecture is a Yi autonomous prefecture that enjoys autonomous, self-ruling rights of a region populated by minority nationalities. According to the Constitution of China, the law of Regional Autonomy of the Minority Nationalities, and relevant rules and regulations of Liangshan Yi autonomous Prefecture, all people, minority and Han alike, enjoy equal social and legal status and rights, with respect to human rights, cultural activities, religious beliefs, traditional customs, and economic development. The Chinese Constitution states that all the nationalities have the right and freedom to use and develop their own language and writing system and have the right and freedom to retain or reform their own customs. The chairmanship and vice chairmnanship of the People's Congress of the Autonomous Prefecture are Yi citizens;  the staff and officials of the People's Government of the Autonomous Prefecture and its functional institutions contain certain numbers of Yi and other minority nationality citizens. The government's policies in the prefecture on economic development, education and birth control have been developed with the actual situation of social and economic development of Yi and other minority people in mind. Resource Ownership 19. The Baseline Survey of 502 households in Xichang provides some insights into structure and possession of property of farmers in lowland areas. It shows that a farmer's most valuable asset is his or her house and production materials. The other assets are small in value, as follows: items average value per percentage household (Y) value of production material 3,421 13.58% value of residential house 14,771 58.64% value of durable consumer goods 2,524 10.02% value of living and production material in stock 2,383 9.46% bonds, money deposited and lent 1,849 7.34% present value of stocks 240 0.95% total 25,188 20. The only data we could find on Yi household property was a survey from Shangyou Village in Shaladipo Township (in a mountainous area) in Zhlaojue County in 1992. In total, the average household's assets were worth Y5, 379 (see table for a breakdown). The village chief in the same village was interviewed in 1998 and (in the depreciated yuan of that year, gave a figure for his own assets of Y 14,900, which is lower than the average household in the lowland but shows that, similar to households in the lowland area, the residence is the most valuable asset. Structure of rural household property of Shangyou village, Shaladipo township, Zhaojue County unit: yuan time 1992 1998 items (average value per (the village head's household) household) production material (implements and draught 591.6 1,400 animals) residential house 1,764.28 4,000 (plus stable) durable consumption goods 246.21 3,100 reserved living and production 2,676.96 3,000 material money deposited and lent 3,400 total 5,379.10 14,900  Status of Culture, Education and Health Care 21. Culture: Rural communities in the project area still keep the characteristics of a farming community. Natural rhythms and the change of seasons decide the rhythm of rural residents' daily life and production activities. Their work begins as the sun rises and stops as it sets. Ploughing, planting and harvesting are performed seasonally. The household is the basic and smallest unit of production and daily life, but blood-tied clan organizations and concept of clan still play some role in mutual help in production and association between people. Position in the clan hierarchy, filial piety, fraternal duty, family and clan are respected and treasured, and vital importance is attached to them in the people's perspective of value and morality. Traditional ritual, ceremony and courtesy are important norms observed in weddings, funerals and ancestor worship. The culture in general is traditional in rural communities. But it has begun or is beginning to change with economic development, improvement in communication, the advance of education, the influence of the media and the government's policy of discouraging backward rural customs and practices. This change is most obvious in the rural communities near cities and in the places with transport facilities. There the concept of clan is fading out, wedding and funeral ceremonies have become simpler, people behave more in observance of the law and order, ideology contains more elements of the market economy and the way of life is partly urbanized. 22. The wired broadcasting network is an important tool for farmers to acquaint themselves with the world outside and to learn new knowledge and ideology. Liangshan prefecture and Yi populated counties have been broadcasting during regular hours in Yi language. Television is now gradually entering rural households. There are in the project area in Liangshan Prefecture 169 transmission stations and 444 satellite ground stations, with a coverage of 74.8% of the population. In addition there are 106 rural cultural centers in the project areas [Liangshan (72) and Panzhihua (34)]. They are playing significant roles in animating and changing cultural aspects of rural life.4 23. Education: In Panzhihua, 98% of all villages in Panzhihua municipality have set up village primary schools. The education for children from poor households, especially those from minority households, receives special attention from the government. The "Child Development Project" was set up to ensure that all children will finish the ninth year of education. It allocates special funds to give poor pupils and students education subsidies. The subsidies may be in cash or in kind. Each poor student is given Y20 monthly as an education subsidy in junior middle school and Y35 in senior middle school. Leading officials at the county level or above should support at least one poor student/pupil according to the Party stipulation. The dropout rate is only 2%. 24. In the Liangshan project area, the development of education is slower than in Panzhihua because of its greater poverty, large population of minority people and comparative slow economic growth. The six counties of the project area in the lowland have achieved universal primary education. The other four Yi populated counties are striving to reach that goal. The prefecture carries out bilingual education and provides boarding for some minority students. The 4 The function of the station is to provide farmers with books, newspapers and magazines, Chinese chess or board games and various types of ball games so as to make farmers life culturally more enjoyable. Some cultural stations have in addition video tape show and offer legal and science and technology training.  school year has been applied flexibly to take peak labor demand into consideration. Students and teachers take part in farm work during vacations to reduce labor shortages (most of the teachers live in rural communities). The teachers make up the missed classtime later. Medical Care and Health 25. Panzhihua measures up to the national standards for prefecture public medical and health care. Heath care in Liangshan Prefecture has made remarkable progress in establishing a rural health care network at three levels. In 1996, the prevention of endemic and infectious disease achieved very good results; with the incidence of infectious diseases dropping significantly. Endemic diseases are also effectively controlled. Especially outstanding is the achievement in the prevention and cure of leprosy and tuberculosis. More and more consideration has been given to the medical and health care of women and children. Modern midwifery is now being practiced. The maternal and infant mortality rates have been dropping year by year. The child mortality rate in 1997 was 35/1000. The inoculation program for children has an 85% coverage. 26. In the Ninth Five Year Plan (1998- 2010), improvements in the health care of women and children will continue to be concentrated on modern midwifery and maternal and child health. Liangshan Prefecture plans to have more than one health worker specialized in maternal and child health working full-time in 70% of all township/village clinics by 2000 when most of the clinics will possess medicine and equipment for emergency treatment on women and children, practice new midwifery, and be able to give initial treatment for serious maternal and child illnesses. Drinking Water for people and animals 27. In the Liangshan project area a shortage of irrigation and household water has been a constraint on the development of the farming industry and animal husbandry and the improvement of people's lives. Governments at various levels have included the resolution of drinking-water problems for rural people and animals in the working agenda of the Water Conservancy Bureau. During 1979-84, 1,263 drinking-water projects have been completed, which eliminate drinking-water difficulties for 177,000 people and 329,600 animals. During the recent "Eighth Five-Year Plan", the government spent Y 16.1 million in the formn of public works and built 2,851 drinking water facilities. A total of 324,600 people and 891,400 animals were provided with clean water. In 1997 Y15.831 million was invested in water pipelines, covert channels and small size water pools, which provide sufficient drinking water for 59,600 people and 138,500 animals. The investment in clean-water facilities liberates a large number of Yi women from the hard work of carrying water from distant sources. In Panzhihua, in 1997, there were still 230,000 people and 662,000 animals without access to safe drinking water. The government hopes to provide safe drinking water to virtually all of them within the next three years (before 2000). II. Preliminary Assessment The Project and the Yi 28. The general purpose of the project is to develop agricultural resources to raise the living standards of the people of the project area. The project targets the Yi as one of the groups who are to derive important benefits from the project, for following three reasons. a) Liangshan is a  Yi autonomous region, where the Yi are the earliest and most widespread inhabitants, composing well over a third of the project area population. b) For various social and historical reasons, the Yi have retained many characteristics of culture and lifestyle that are very different from those of the mainstream society and are thus likely to be left out of conventional projects and difficult to launch on the road to development. c) Poverty in the project area, is primarily Yi poverty, and the primary targets of poverty alleviation in this area are the Yi. The project counties that have the highest Yi population are Zhaojue (96%); Butuo,(94%), Xide, (85%), and Puge, (74%). Yi Life in the Liangshan Project Area 29. The Yi have traditionally practiced subsistence mixed farming. Farmers are 87% of the population of the Liangshan project area and 93% in the four counties of highest Yi concentration--Zhaojue, Butuo, Xide, and Puge. The population of Panzhihua Municipality is half agriculture and Yi constitute about 12%. The foci of Yi traditional agriculture are field crops and animal husbandry. Field crops (grains and vegetables) are the most important focus, providing food and feed. Staple crops are primarily maize, buckwheat and potatoes, followed by oats and rice. Animal husbandry provides wool, meat, hides and manure. Because most Yi live in mountainous areas suitable for grazing, feed is less used. This gives a relatively high return on livestock in comparison to that of Han farmers. Livestock (sheep and goats, pigs, cattle, and horses) thus forrns an important source of income for many Yi. Historically, supplemental production has included crafts, such as spinning, weaving, lacquer ware, carpentry, stonemasonry, silversmithing, and blacksmithing, along with forest production including wood gathering, hunting, and bookkeeping. These occupations are integrated, and neither crafts, forestry, nor animal husbandry is completely separated from crop farming as a means of subsistence. Yi farmers are almost exclusively engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, which together accounted for 83% of farmers' income. The secondary and tertiary sectors, including industry, construction, and commerce accounted for only 8.8%. 30. In the last two decades, the subsistence Yi economy of crop agriculture and animal husbandry, supplemented by small amounts of crafts and forestry, has begun to change. This change is most visible in Yi-Han border areas, Yi-Han mixed areas, and areas near cities. Commercialization has increased, with a certain amount of grain, livestock, hides, timber, and medicinal plants entering the market. Recently introduced products, such as tobacco, brown peppercorns, fruit, and silk, have also gradually increased. The number and amount of products that Yi purchase in markets have also increased, and the traditionally purchased items of salt, ironware, needles and thread are now supplemented by clothing, shoes, hats, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, electrical appliances, agricultural chemicals, seeds, and other products. Some people who engage in traditional animal husbandry, craft and forestry production have begun to produce for the market, and a few specialized households have emerged in sheep and goat husbandry, lacquer ware, and apiculture. On the basis of market production, trading has also begun to appear as a specialized occupation. Little stalls and stores selling cigarettes, liquor, candy and daily necessities have begun to spring up in Yi villages; daily and periodic markets are very active in some areas, and Yi and Han traveling merchants now go from village to village, buying hides, pharmaceutical plants and other local products. Likewise transport and hauling have appeared as occupations. Under the stimulus of the growth of the market economy, there has been a push to build roads and bridges, which have begun to experience traffic of commercial vehicles, family- owned tractors, and human- and animal-pulled carts engaging in commerce. In sum, the economy of Yi areas is beginning to move from a subsistence to a market economy and from simple to complex economic organization.  Poverty Alleviation in the Yi Areas 31. Poverty is prevalent in the project area. Most of the poor are Yi and live in mountainous or foothill districts. Natural disasters are frequent, the survival is difficult, the methods of production are primitive and yields are generally low. Because of their relatively poor ability to combat natural disasters, households who have exceeded the poverty line of Y500 income or 400 kg grain production per capita in one year, often fall back below it the following year (the rate of such reversions is typically around 10-15 percent). Thus, a large number of Yi households are mired in permanent poverty. 32. Three manifestations of poverty are particularly apparent: a) The structure of the diet is poor, with daily fare consisting primarily of corn, potatoes and buckwheat, with potatoes alone in some areas accounting for 60-70 percent of the yearly diet. b) There is a lack of clothing and bedclothes; about 50 percent of the people in high mountain areas have but one suit of clothing for the whole year and sleep by the fire with but one cover. c) Housing is poor; a large percentage of Yi live in low, humid, dark, mud-walled houses, with humans and animals sharing quarters; they have no beds, stoves and toilets, manure is piled, in front of the doorway, and general sanitation is very poor. 33. These areas with poverty populations are typically lacking in all kinds of infrastructure. In mountainous and foothill areas, water, electricity, roads and other infrastructure is still quite primitive. Irrigation and other agricultural infrastructure is also missing. In the five poor counties in the Liangshan project area, there are 85,850 hectares of culitivated land, most of which (71,530 ha) are do not have access to irrigation. Furthermore most are on unterraced steep slopes. Only 8% of the land is reliably irrigated. The government has carried out several poverty-alleviation programs. The effort was in limited scale due to the shortage of funds for investment and the insufficiency of rewards for staff. The project plans to combine increased investment with existing resources, bringing in investment and skills instruction to the household level to help Yi farmers increase production and income. If conducted with sensitivity to local conditions, it can accelerate the work of poverty alleviation among the Yi. Project Implementation and Traditional Yi Culture 34. The mountainous natural environment, the nature of agricultural production, the pervasive clan feelings, the belief in myriad ghosts and spirits, and the strong in-group feeling among the Yi were the basis of the retention and development of Yi culture. Contained in this were a lot of factors that promote development, along with others that are impede it. Yi are an ethnic group that can work hard and endure hardship. The basic principle of human relationships is to keep promises and seek reliable partners. The tradition of mutual protection and reliability promotes hard work, which will help achieve development. ASt the same time, however, Yi also have a number of traditions that are obstacles to their entry into mainstream society. These inhibit and otherwise influence Yi development.  35. Most important among these are: a) a weak sense of commerce, buying and selling are not considered respectable occupations;5 b) too much satisfaction with their present situation6 and c) expenditures not suited to savings or development. Yi are not, as sometimes thought, a wasteful group. Their daily life is extremely frugal. But because they are concerned with reputation and take pleasure in giving and receiving, whenever guests come or there is a funeral or important religious ceremony, they spend without regard to economic consequences. Generosity in hospitality and lavish funerals and ceremonies are not only a custom but also a virtue to be praised by others. 36. The project is unlikely to cause large-scale contradictions or conflicts with traditional Yi culture. If obstacles occur in the transmission of new skills, the introduction of improved methods, or the marketing of commodities, all that is really needed is to have an example, to see results, to allow Yi farmers to enjoy the first fruits, and they will accept new things. There are already precedents for this, such as the spread of maize and potato cultivation and the introduction of improved varieties of sheep. 37. Actually, traditional Yi culture is also a flowing stream; in today's world where the isolation has been broken and people are beginning to enter the market, important elements of traditional culture are in the middle of a process of selection, refinement, improvement and reclassification. Today a market mentality, an ethic of savings, and a spirit of economic progress have already put down roots in some Yi villages. In some cases they have borne fruit. What the project must realize is that while the Yi people do not want to lose their traditional culture as the price of development, at the same time they do not desire to be so adamant about preserving everything that they miss the opportunity for development and remain forever mired in poverty. Yi Involvement in and Benefits from the Project. 38. The project areas in the Anning Valley are inhabited by a mixture of Yi, Han, and other ethnic groups. However, there are additional impoverished areas on the periphery of the valley that are inhabited entirely by Yi people. If the project could involve these peripheral areas directly, more Yi people would be able to participate in and derive benefit from the project. 39. Predominantly Yi area are well represented in the project. Four of the ten project counties in Liangshan have concentrated Yi settlement. In Xichang, Dechang, and Ningnan, all Yi townships are included in the project. In Panzhihua, 23 of the 70 project townships are Yi townships. 40. Project Benefits 5 If there is surplus, people are not willing to take it to sell to the outside, but reserve it to entertain guests, to distribute to other clan members, or to offer to spirits. This is an important factor in the lack of commodity production and the low rate of livestock sales in Yi villages. 6 "Buckwheat cakes, pickled vegetable soup, and conversation with relatives around the fire" is still the goal of an ideal life for many Yi people. People have not raised their living standards through development, but have rather adapted to a low level of production by low levels of expenditure and low levels of want.  a) Economic Benefits. Participation in this project, through exploiting natural resources, adjusting the productive system, raising production, providing additional income, and improving housing and living conditions will help Yi farmers emerge from poverty and embark on the road to individual and collective prosperity. b) Political Benefits. The project will help to raise the political status of Yi people, reduce the distance between ethnic groups, implement equality of ethnic groups, enhance inter- ethnic solidarity, and preserve social stability especially in Yi. c) Social Benefits. Participation in the project can help Yi farmers raise their scientific and cultural level, establish a market mentality, reorient theirattitudes toward development, improve and develop traditional Yi culture, and better their education and health status. Yi Women and the Project 41. The 448,800 Yi women in the project area are an important constructive force. The degree to which they participate in and support the project will directly influence the project's results. Promoting the participation of women in the project and fully mobilizing their abilities in agriculture, animal husbandry and handicrafts are important aspects of the project, which if implemented effectively will guarantee its success. 42. The Situation of Women in the Project Area. Almost all (98%) rural Yi women in the project area are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. In contrast, there are very few Yi women in industry, commerce, or service sectors of the economy. Following the movement of many Yi men into secondary and tertiary production such as industry, construction, transport, and commerce, especially in Yi-Han mixed areas and in areas close to cities, Yi women have become the primary agricultural labor force. According to statistics compiled by local women's federations, 70% of agricultural and pastoral labor power in Liangshan is now female; in Panzhihua local estimates place this percentage even higher. Male-centered attitudes are still very strong in Yi villages, and women lack education and have a high rate of illiteracy. The fact that they have practically no way of obtaining any credit and lack confidence in their productive skills is a severe impediment to their own progress and to the development of Yi society as a whole. 43. The Role and Status of Women in Yi Village Society. Historically, women have borne great responsibilities in Yi village society. They reared children, managed households, wove, sewed, worked in the fields, and herded livestock. They have been the backbone of household production, and their contribution is a large part of the income of the household. In contrast, men were often occupied with clan and collective affairs, helping out neighbors, visiting friends and relatives, and attending funerals and meetings, so that women were in control of the majority of household affairs. Even though Yi women play an important role in the village economy, economic decision-making power is still primarily in the hands of men. In social life as well, whatever men say goes. In the shadow of the ideology of patrilineal kinship, the position of Yi women is clearly lower than in many other societies. There are small signs of some change in women's role in villages close to urban areas like Xichang and Puge. In recent years, Yi women in these villages have started to be active in markets. 44. Participation by Female-Headed Households. Most of the project components in the Anning project are well suited to participation by female-headed households, particularly the livestock and sericulture components. In addition to general encouragement for women to take  part in the project, it is even more important to make a decision to involve female-headed households in the project. If female household heads are given credit, and project components are implemented largely through female household heads, this will be a new departure for Yi women. 45. This has the following advantages: a) increasing the productivity of women will increase total household income; b) it will improve the distribution of household income; c) incremental income controlled by women will tend to be used for their children's health and education; and d) it will help raise the social and economic status of Yi women in village society. When Yi women are given both decision-making power and the responsibility for repaying loans, this will immediately raise their self-confidence and their sense of responsibility, and they will actively engage in the project. 46. The Important Role of the Women's Association. Yi women's educational and scientific level is low; their market mentality is not strong and they lack confidence in their marketing skills, and so to help them to succeed they need a strong, active organization to aid them in participating in the project. The Women's Association, an association of women themselves, has the ability to organize women's participation in the project. First, the Women's Association is composed of a whole set of organizations, variously at the provincial, prefectural/municipal, county/district, township, village and small production cooperative levels. Second, in recent years Women's Associations have accumulated a lot of experience in facilitating women's participation in economic construction. In all the fifteen counties and districts of the project area, the Women's Association has recently conducted a campaign of "double study and double competition"--study culture, study science; compete in contributing and compete in renewal. Using cultural and scientific training, along with production competitions in such areas as scientific agriculture, scientific planting of mulberries and raising of silkworms, and scientific breeding of chickens, ducks and geese, they have produced a group of female agricultural experts and competition winners. A majority of women in the in the Liangshan project areas (61 %) have participated in competitions. "Double study and double competitions" have demonstrated the ability of the Women's Associations and the skills of the women themselves, and they thus present a successful example for women's participation in the Anning project. 47. Finally, Women's Associations at every level are enthusiastic about participation in the project; they believe in it; and in fact they have already done some preparatory work. First, representatives of the Women's Associations at every level have been brought into the project planning groups to help design the project. In the planning process, they have reflected the wishes of a wide range of women and have participated in the formulation of policies on important questions. Women's Associations at every level have held public meetings and disseminated information through print and broadcast news media to encourage a broad range of women to participate in the project. They have also decided to include elements of the project into the ongoing "double study and double competition" campaign. In sum, the Women's Federations understand the hardships and the wishes of Yi women, they know their strengths and weaknesses and will protect their interests. Using the Women's Association to ensure women's participation in the project is an effective route to follow. m. Training Yi Project Households 48. In planning for the Anning project, training was included as an important aspect of the project. Establishment of a training center, training programs for specific skills for each  component, and technical extension teams to attempt to raise the quality of the farmers' and the technicians' knowledge and skills are methods that have been proposed. We believe that training has even greater importance than it was given in the project plans. Because Yi farmers' language, culture, education, scientific and technical knowledge, beliefs and values all have their own peculiarities and their own limits, a preferential policy ought to be adopted in the implementation of the project to increase the size of the training component affecting them. Content and methods of training ought to be adapted to the particular characteristics of Yi farmers. Successful training will be the key to successful participation of Yi farmers in the project. 49. Content of Training. There should be material dealing with new attitudes and new knowledge, to persuade people to accept new things in accordance with the realities of Yi farm life in order to prepare them for the technical training they need to make their participation in the project a success. 50. Language and Teaching Materials. In concentrated Yi areas, women, old people, and children ordinarily know no Chinese, while young and middle-aged men know varying amounts. In mixed areas and areas near cities, most people are bilingual in Yi and Chinese. The language of training classes and training materials should be suited to the linguistic abilities of the trainees in a particular area. In mixed areas and areas near cities, Chinese-language materials can be used, and Chinese supplemented with Yi as a medium of instruction. In concentrated Yi areas, all instruction and materials should be in the Yi language. 51. In order to encourage and coordinate the local development aimed at minorities and the poor that is planned in the Project, the Liangshan and Panzhihua PMOs have set up a special task force to draw up a Nationality Minority Development Plan (NMDP) and to take responsibility for putting it into practice. The MNDP can be found in Annex 11.