Agriculture

Poor Farmers in Yunnan - we work with poor farmers, building their agricultural and animal husbandry skills - improving their standard of living and teaching them to pass on the knowledge we have given them

More than two-thirds of the 46 million people in Yunnan are farmers. Half of them are at or below the poverty line. Most of these can be taught skills and knowledge to significantly increase the productivity of their land
Soil erosion is a huge problem because Yunnan is very mountainous – developing preventative and reconstructive practices is essential to ensure potential productivity is maximised
We believe in teaching others to go and teach others – we want to see farmers trained who can then share knowledge with other farmers and spread the knowledge and best practice

We provide leader development as well as training on sustainable agriculture (soil erosion prevention), livestock raising (goat, pig and chicken), community development and new technology extension techniques, plant propagation and nursery management
In combining livestock (primarily goat) raising with Sloping Agriculture Land Techniques (SALT), we replenish depleted soils and bring added income to poor farmers. This includes planting nitrogen-fixing (leguminous) hedgerows on the contours of sloped land, as well as using goat manure and green manure mulching in combination with no-till farming – all of which enriches soil and prevents erosion
Our team provides access to expert advisors such as world renowned SALT author Dr Harold Watson and highly experienced animal husbandry and fodder experts Robert Whitney and Dr Jim Watson. The staff is comprised of highly trained individuals with agricultural education and experience from many countries
In addition to providing technical expertise and training, we also pass on the value of serving and helping others, so that those we train value helping others to do the same

Through hands-on learning – farmers and technicians learn best by doing, so we bring farmers from different places across Yunnan to take part in our farm community. They stay from one week to three months
Encouraging responsibility - longterm trainees become responsible for both livestock and parcels of land - learning and mastering the new techniques
Providing follow-up support – when farmers return home, we continue providing technical support until they are able to develop their own farm and teach others

The BCI Agricultural Training Course (BCI-ATC) has trained farmers from across Yunnan who in their home villages are leading other farmers to greater productivity
The farm is expanding each year in its ability to demonstrate diverse and important technologies