Press, Young Leaders Programme: Haitang, China
A visit to poor farmers in Yunnan proves a learning experience for all concerned.

By Donald Asprey

Life is tough for many in Haitang village, Yunnan.

Subsisting on an average annual income of 2,500 yuan, droughts, disease, pests, greedy middlemen and unscrupulous businessmen threaten the crops on which the villagers rely.

Yet the village is also blessed with more than 1,000 hectares of pristine forest where precious products such as matsutake mushrooms, wasabi, truffles, walnuts, pine nuts and Sichuan peppers flourish.

Last month, 23 middle-level executives from Hong Kong went to Haitang for nine days as part of the Young Leaders Programme to share their business know-how to get the most out of villagers' resources.

The project is the brainchild of Global Institute for Tomorrow chief executive Chandran Nair, who in turn was inspired by his experience working for British-based International Voluntary Services to provide water and sanitation in southern Africa in the 1980s.

"What I learnt from my experience was a real understanding of the world, that it is split between those who are privileged and those who have never had a chance. The majority of humanity actually lives under those conditions, and as we are all connected, all of us should be aware of this divide," Mr Nair said.

"Business can do a huge amount to improve the livelihood of the rural poor by transferring skills to help them help themselves. I feel that Asia needs to create a pool of professionals not just to do good but to help solve contemporary issues.

"Hong Kong is a great place to start. The professional classes in Hong Kong are often unfairly classified as workaholics, but I wanted to show that, given the chance, they have a huge potential to do other meaningful things."

Wu Chun-kit, 25, personnel training officer at Hongkong Electric Holdings, said his company nominated him for the trip to develop his leadership skills.

He said there were many immediate problems to address in the village, in particular that a large slice of the profits were going to middlemen transporting goods to the markets, despite the farmers doing all the labour.

"During the trip, we tried to identify the whole supply chain of village produce and help them develop a business plan to maximise their profits, such as encouraging the farmers to work as a co-operative to reduce the amount of money paid to middlemen," Mr Wu said.

Cheris Lee Yuen-ming, 35, an assistant manager at the MTR Corporation, one of four group leaders on the trip, focused on helping the villagers promote their products.

"They have a precious resource but they didn't know how to make money out of it," Ms Lee said. "We helped them target their products for the right markets, with the right pricing, so quality products like truffles and matsutake mushrooms can fetch what they are worth."

But, as Mr Wu explained, it was as much a learning curve for the participants as it was for the villagers. "I learnt the importance of respect. To involve the villagers we had to be careful not to talk too quickly and to introduce new ideas in small steps, so the villagers would understand and have the confidence to implement our ideas," he said.

Ms Lee said the trip opened her eyes to the hard existence of the villagers.

Lorraine Justice, chair professor of the design school at Polytechnic University, who travelled with a team to Yunnan to make a documentary, said participants had fared well in what was for many their first experience of the primitive conditions in rural China.

"These young leaders can't fail to come away from their experience without being deeply affected. That is what the programme is all about, building social conscience."