Objective: To assist with rehabilitation and reconstruction of livelihoods in Huang village

With the help of New Zealand-China Friendship Society, ICCIC and Pengzhou County Rural Development Bureau work together to implement the project of “Livelihood reconstruction in Pengzhou county, Sichuan, China”. The goal of the project is to To assist with rehabilitation and reconstruction of livelihoods in Huang village. This project is started in December 2008 and planned to complete in April 2009.

Activities:

Repair 1500 metres of micro -irrigation channels in Huang village.

Provide supervisory role in implementing reparation of existing livelihoods technology

Changes sought:：

In Huang village, a contribution to the repair of the irrigation channels will allow production and income for households (HHs) in this area to quickly return to normal. With heavy demands on each HH to replace their houses there is urgent need for their income to return to normal rapidly and to be enhanced. During the rebuilding phase, further potential income from migrant work is lost because of the labour demands at home.

This activity will provide the materials required to rebuild 1500 metres of micro-channels, while households will provide the labour. The micro channel is of keystone shape, one meter wide at the top, 0.7m wide at the base and 0.7 m high. Local government will provide materials for the repair of 500 metres of main channel. The beneficiaries will supply the labour for construction as their contribution.

Repair of the irrigation channels is essential for all the farmers in Huang village to achieve normal production levels from their land, and thus return their income to normal.

A mentoring and advisory input by ICCIC and supervisory input by Pengzhou County Rural Development Bureau will ensure the channel design is most appropriate to the current requirements of the community, the community collaborate in the reconstruction effort, that it is constructed to a high standard that will last, and that it will be completed in time for the next season.

Through the enhancement of cooperatives (see separate KOHA application) the local community has opportunity to re-establish incomes in the short term, and to improve incomes beyond pre-earthquake levels in the medium/long term. It also facilitates overall community cohesion and collective ownership of development.