Poverty-stricken Areas Research Articles

The Impact of Targeted Poverty Alleviation on Ruoguo Villagers’ Health Consciousness Based on Village Revitalization Work of School of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Jinan University

RuoGuo village is one of the many poverty-stricken areas in China. In recent years, The School of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Jinan University has actively implemented the party’s guidelines for poverty alleviation work, adopting various forms and methods to carry out poverty alleviation work in RuoGuo Village, which has achieved initial results. Through this survey, we can see the effectiveness of the JNU’s poverty alleviation work, and recognize the current situation of Zhuanguo Village so that the next poverty alleviation work can be more targeted. By summarizing the merits and shortcomings of Jinan University’s poverty alleviation work, We can improve working methods for the targeted poverty alleviation in Runguo Village, and accumulate the experience of targeted poverty alleviation, which is also a way to actively respond to the national targeted poverty alleviation policy. Besides, we can provide a certain reference value for the targeted poverty alleviation work in other regions.

On-Site Energy Consumption Technologies and Prosumer Marketing for Distributed Poverty Alleviation Photovoltaic Linked to Agricultural Loads in China

In China, photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects play important role in promoting social and economic development in poverty-stricken areas. They can help stabilizing and increasing incomes of the poor. However, poverty alleviation photovoltaics are mainly connected to the rural distribution network in large numbers, which have a greater impact on the safe and stable operation of the distribution network, making the rural distribution network difficult to solve the problem of collecting and consuming distributed photovoltaic energies on-site. Meanwhile, photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects mainly rely on subsidies from the government and power grids, and the prosumer marketing methods are inadequate. In this paper, an effective on-site consumption technology for photovoltaic power generation linked to agricultural load for poverty alleviation is discussed, together with new energy management and planning technologies for stable two-way energy flow between photovoltaic power generation and rural distribution networks, which can increase the photovoltaic power supply radius, and deal with load fluctuations, and perform precise reactive power control of agricultural load. Furthermore, a prosumer marketing that can simultaneously create maximum economic benefits for power grid and poverty alleviation targets is proposed. The detailed economic benefits are calculated for a demonstration project in Funan county, Anhui province, China.

Bartonella henselae infection induces a persistent mechanical hypersensitivity in mice.

ABSTRACT Bartonella spp. are re-emerging and neglected bacterial pathogens. The natural reservoirs for several species of this genus are domestic animals such as cats and dogs, the most common pets in the USA and Brazil. Some cat studies suggest that the infection is more prevalent in tropical and poverty-stricken areas. These bacteria were associated with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations: fever of unknown origin, endocarditis, angiomatosis, chronic lymphadenopathy, hepatitis, fatigue, paresthesia and pain. Our group has already demonstrated that B. henselae -infected sickle cell disease mice present with hyperalgesia. We hypothesized that even immunocompetent mice infected by B. henselae would show an increased and persistent mechanical sensitivity. Five ten-week old male BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with a 30 µL of suspension containing 10 4 CFU/mL of B. henselae, while five others were inoculated with an equal volume of saline solution. Four days after bacterial inoculation, the mechanical paw withdrawal threshold was measured using von Frey filaments in all animals, for five consecutive days. The infected animals showed hypersensitivity to mechanical stimuli for five consecutive days. The present study has demonstrated that B. henselae infection induces persistent mechanical hypersensitivity, a signal consistent with pain.

Value discovery and resource utilization of by-products in production process of medicinal materials are important ways for poverty alleviation with Chinese herbal medicine industry

Poverty alleviation by Chinese herbal medicine industry is an important way to implement the major strategic plan of the government and to effectively alleviate poverty and increase income of poor farmers in areas with high resource's endowment of Chinese medicinal materials. Based on the analysis of the existing achievements and problems in poverty alleviation by Chinese herbal medicine industry, this paper proposes that improving the comprehensive benefits of Chinese herbal medicine industry is an important direction for poverty alleviation in the poverty-stricken areas with the high endowment of traditional Chinese medicine resources in the future. Then, based on the concept of resource recycling of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, the feasibility and strategies of utilizing by-products in the production process of Chinese medicinal materials and expanding the ways of poverty alleviation were analyzed and discussed. The aim of all these works was to provide the support for enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of the industry in poverty-stricken regions, enlarging the poverty alleviation effect of Chinese herbal medicine industry, and consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation.

Research on the promotion of poverty alleviation resources input to the distribution justice of poverty-stricken areas

Research on the promotion of poverty alleviation resources input to the distribution justice of poverty-stricken areas

Study on the New Pathway of Ecological Poverty Alleviation an Forest Health Industry Integrated Development

Forest has the function of nourishing body and mind, promoting health, enhancing human immunity, which is of great significance to improve health index. Forest health care can give full play to the advantages of forest landscape, environment, space and culture, and extend forest functions. It is a new industry integrating forestry, health services, tourism and leisure industry, and is a new trend of sustainable development of forestry. Ecological poverty alleviation is a kind of poverty alleviation mode which combines ecological protection with poverty alleviation and development. Through the implementation of major ecological engineering construction, increasing ecological compensation, vigorously developing ecological industry, and innovating ecological poverty alleviation methods, the support for poverty-stricken areas and the poor population should be strengthened, so as to achieve the poverty alleviation mode of coordinating poverty alleviation development and ecological protection, and promoting poverty alleviation and prosperity with sustainable development, and finally achieve the goal of poverty alleviation and ecological civilization construction Win. Forest health care is a new way of ecological poverty alleviation. Forest health care can give full play to the resource advantages of mountain areas and drive mountain farmers to get rid of poverty and become rich. It is an effective way of forestry reform, forestry innovation and forestry development, and an inevitable trend to promote green prosperity and poverty alleviation. Based on the model of forest health care, this paper deeply analyzes the development status of forest health industry, discusses the measures to optimize the path of ecological poverty alleviation, and puts forward suggestions on the long-term development mechanism of organic combination of forest health industry development and ecological poverty alleviation work.

Measurement of economic resilience of contiguous poverty-stricken areas in China and influencing factor analysis

Measurement of economic resilience of contiguous poverty-stricken areas in China and influencing factor analysis

Inclusive Finance, Farm Households Entrepreneurship, and Inclusive Rural Transformation in Rural Poverty-stricken Areas in China

ABSTRACT Financial inclusion is an important part of inclusive rural transformation because it provides access to, and use of, capital to underserved rural households. However, with increased entrepreneurial activities, it begs the question as to the extent by which access to credit actually encourages entrepreneurial activities. Using survey data of 988 farm households in state impoverished counties of China, we find that financial inclusion plays an important role in inclusive rural transformation by facilitating farm households’ entrepreneurial activities in rural poverty-stricken areas in China. The survey provides evidence that the entrepreneurial decisions of farm households are positively affected by use of credit rather than access to credit. In addition, when it comes to entrepreneurial decisions, use of formal credit and use of informal credit have no statistical relationship, but operate under separate and statistically distinct channels. Moreover, entrepreneurship has a positive and significant causal effect on income of farm households.

RETRACTED: A nonlinear regression analysis method based on Stakeholder Theory Model for performance evaluation of poverty reduction of agricultural operators

A nonlinear regression analysis method for performance evaluation of poverty reduction of agricultural operators based on Stakeholder Theory Model analysis was proposed to improve the effectiveness of performance evaluation of poverty reduction of a new type agricultural operator in poverty-stricken areas. Firstly, it can find out which interest demands of different stakeholders and which interest realization paths have significant impact on the task performance and peripheral performance of the policy supply of new agricultural operators through factor analysis and regression analysis of the questionnaire data of stakeholders to provide sufficient basis for the appropriate revision and adjustment of policy supply; secondly, the nonlinear regression model is established by using the nonlinear least squares method to fit, control, and forecast the performance evaluation of poverty reduction behavior of agricultural operators, which is more accurate than linear regression in both object and method. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified by empirical analysis.

Engineered Sewage Treatment System in Selected Niger Delta Environment

Water is life. Unfortunately, there has become a great scarcity of this precious liquid due to anthropogenic/human activities which have generated wastes, especially sewage that has not been adequately treated in the country, more especially in the poverty-stricken Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The few freshwater bodies not only serve a means for domestic use, including drinking, but it is also used as a means of direct sewage disposal both by the locals and other related unabated activities, thereby increasing the prevalence of water-borne diseases. 
 A locally designed sewage plant “engineered sewage treatment system” (ESTS) was therefore designed and developed with local materials like palm kernel shell (PKS), periwinkle shell (PWS), charcoal, fine, and coarse sand to treat domestic wastewater and improve the quality of the available water source within the local communities. The ESTS was operated for three months, and weekly monitoring carried out. The analysis of the treated effluents showed a significant reduction in the levels of contaminants as most of the physicochemical and biological parameters were within acceptable limits by the World Health Organization/Federal Ministry of Environment (WHO/FMEnv). The quality of treated sewage water improved when subjected to treatment by ESTS and compared well to the borehole water, which served as control. The results of the treatment process showed a 93% to 100% treatment efficiency of ESTS in the removal of F. coliform, E. coli, Streptococcus and Clostridium from the sewage. This high-efficiency rate has provided a holistic and affordable (cost-effective) means to curb the proliferation of water- borne diseases and help improve water quality in riverine communities.

Anemia status and related factors among left-behind children in poverty-stricken rural areas, in China, 2016

Objective: To explore the prevalence of anemia and related factors among left-behind children in poverty-stricken rural areas in China, to provide basic information for anemia prevention and treatment for children. Methods: Data from the National Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students in 2016 were used to express the prevalence of anemia among left-behind children. By using the multistage stratified random cluster sampling method, left-behind children of the 6-17-years-old in poverty-stricken rural areas were recruited in this study. Blood hemoglobin concentration of these students was determined by cyanmethemoglobin method. Anemia was judged by the WHO recommended standard and combined with the sea level elevation correction standard. Frequencies of food intake were collected through questionnaires. Data was then available for analysis including the level of hemoglobin and anemia rates. Relationship between anemia and food intakes as well as other influential factors was also analyzed. Results: The overall anemia prevalence (AP) was 11.6% among the participants. Rates of AP among the 6-, 7-, 15- and 16-17-years-old were 21.1%, 18.0%, 20.6% and 17.3%, respectively. Rates of AP among left-behind girls of 10-11-years-old and the 13-15-years-old were significantly higher than those in boys at the same age (P<0.01) group. Factors including: being girls (OR=1.34, 95%CI: 1.23-1.45), at grade 7 to 9 (OR=1.47, 95%CI:1.30-1.67) and mother being migrant worker (OR=1.32, 95%CI:1.16- 1.50) had higher proportions of getting anemia. Factors as living in the western area (OR=0.85, 95%CI: 0.78-0.93), taking breakfast every day (OR=0.70, 95%CI: 0.64-0.76), having meat more than twice per week (OR=0.84, 95%CI: 0.75-0.93) and having two kinds of vegetables per day (OR=0.85, 95%CI: 0.75-0.96) appeared protective. Conclusions: Prevalence of anemia in left-behind children from the poverty-stricken rural areas was high, including junior middle school students from grade 7 to 9 at the early stage of youth development, girls and children with mothers as migrant workers. Anemia should be reduced by promoting the protective factors as having breakfast, increasing intakes of meat and fresh vegetables.

Is there a decoupling relationship between CO2 emission reduction and poverty alleviation in China?

Whether CO2 emission reduction will inhibit poverty alleviation in a short time still remains unclear. In this paper, the extended linear expenditure system model and the CO2 emission accounting method were applied to measure the values of the poverty alleviation as well as CO2 emission reduction, and then decoupling analysis model was introduced to identify the relationship between CO2 emissions and poverty alleviation within Hubei Province, a poverty-stricken area in China. The results show that the poverty indices all remain small although poverty line within Hubei Province is much higher than two dollars per day. Maximum values for head count, poverty gap, and squared poverty gap indices are all lower than 0.25, 0.10, and 0.05 respectively, implying that there are good realistic bases for poverty alleviation. At the same time, CO2 emission and energy intensities within this region are characterized by inverted U-shaped curves and are currently in a declining phase, but CO2 emissions have significantly increased. Results derived from multi-period data analysis show that the decoupling relationship have switched from ‘expansive negative decoupling’ to ‘weak decoupling’, indicating that there is a decoupling relationship between CO2 emission reduction and poverty alleviation. The data and results can be used to provide further references for clarifying the relationship between the two and arranging the plan of policy implementation.

Innovative Design and Experiments of a Semiconductor Cooling and Heating Box Driven By Solar Energy

Based on the research of semiconductor refrigeration, solar energy is introduced as the driving energy of semiconductor thermal effect, and the comprehensive utilization of semiconductor thermal and cold effects is deeply studied. Through theoretical design, experimental fabrication, testing and other research methods, a solar driven cold and warm box suitable for outdoor environment is designed and manufactured with semiconductor refrigeration chip as the core device. The results show that the cooling and heating effect of the new type of solar driven semiconductor cold and warm box is better. It not only has a wide range of applications in areas without electricity and lack of electricity, but also applies to areas with high level of development, such as as car cold and warm box, tourism cold and warm box or field operation cold and warm box. At the same time, in poverty-stricken areas such as Africa, where the disease is rampant, this cold and warm box can also be used for the cryopreservation of drugs and vaccines, which shows the potential for export.

Coupling between ecological environment vulnerability and multidimensional poverty: An empirical analysis from 1586 poverty-stricken villages in Hechi City, Guangxi, Southwest China

Examining the interaction mechanism between ecological environment and regional poverty at fine scale is an important prerequisite and guarantee for sustainable development of resources, environment and social economy from the combined perspectives of precise poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. We established the evaluation models of ecological vulnerability, multidimensional poverty, and the coupling coordination degree model, beased on which we systematically and comprehensively revealed the interaction between ecological environment and multidimensional poverty. The test results from 1586 administrative villages showed that the higher-vulnerability area of ecological environment was mainly distributed in the southeast region. Multidimensional poverty was increasing from northwest to southeast, with a spatial distribution pattern of "overall dispersion, local aggregation". In the coordinated development zone, ecological environment vulnerability and multidimensional poverty was positively correlated. In the disordered declining zone, the degree of coupling between ecological environment vulnerability and multidimensional poverty was lower, wth significantly negative correlation, indicating that the improvement of ecological environment quality and the development of multidimensional poverty reduction were asynchronous. There was a close and complex relationship between eco-environmental vulnerability and multidimensional poverty. Therefore, during poverty alleviation and development, we should pay more attention to environmental protection to prevent the poverty-stricken areas falling into the trap of ecological poverty.

Prices, availability, and affordability of national essential medicines in public primary hospitals: A cross-sectional survey in poverty-stricken rural areas in China.

This study aimed to determine the prices, availability, and affordability of national essential medicines in public primary hospitals in poverty-stricken areas of Anhui province, China. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 143 public primary hospitals in Anhui province, eastern China. Data on access to 44 essential medicines was evaluated using the standardized methodology available in the World Health Organization and Health Action International manual. Median price rates show that 46.51% (21 of 44) of the lowest price generics and 100% of the originator brands were more expensive than the international reference price. The median availability of the 44 medicines was 31.47%, and 65.91% (29 of 44) of the medicines had less than 50% availability. The majority of the medicines were affordable as they would cost less than a day's income in sample areas. Suppliers could respond to 88.27% of the procuring orders raised by the 143 hospitals in the study, but this ranged from 43.96% to 99.86%. There is poor availability and non-ideal response rate of medicine delivery in public primary hospitals in poverty-stricken areas in eastern China. Further implementation of national essential medicine policy needs to focus on improving both availability and distribution efficiency in these areas.

The nexus between regional eco-environmental degradation and rural impoverishment in China

Regional environmental degradation and impoverishment interact and restrict each other. While acknowledging this relationship, little is known about the extent of their impact. By integrating multi-source data, this study used econometric models and spatial analysis techniques to explore the geographical distribution pattern of rural poverty in China, identify the key factors affecting rural improvement and quantitatively reveal the relationship between regional eco-environmental degradation and improvement. The results show that complex geographical environment, fragile ecological environment, frequent natural disasters, endemic diseases prevalent and the aging of social subjects do affect and even aggravate rural impoverishment in China. Terrain relief degree was identified as a determinative factor of rural poverty in China, and the rural poverty rate increases by 0.3–0.45% for every 1-m increase in terrain fluctuation. Further analysis showed that distribution of poverty-stricken population in rural China overlaps spatially with areas with fragile ecology, high incidence of geological disasters, poor geographical environment and aging population. The impact of eco-environmental degradation on poverty depends on the types of eco-environmental problems faced by the poor. The types of poverty-stricken areas in rural China can be divided into five categories: disaster-driven, endemic disease-driven, eco-environment degradation-driven, ecological protection restricted and grain-producing restricted. Poverty alleviation, disaster risk prevention, disease reduction and ecological environmental protection need to be promoted in collaboration. Differentiated and targeted anti-poverty measures for different types of poverty are urgently needed.

The opinion of KwaZulu-Natal dietitians regarding the use of a whole-foods plant-based diet in the management of non-communicable diseases

Background: International studies have highlighted the benefit of using a whole-food, plant-based diet (WFPBD) in the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It is imperative to gather the opinions of dietitians on this diet, in order to assess whether it is a suitable treatment option for the prevention of NCDs in South Africa. Objective: The aim was to determine whether dietitians would use a WFPBD to address NCDs, by assessing their opinions on the benefits and barriers of this diet. Methods: A cross-sectional study, using an online survey of dietitians who are practising in KwaZulu-Natal (n = 101). Results: Dietitians who work for the government were significantly more likely to have patients with NCDs referred than dietitians in private practice. The subjects reported that the training surrounding WFPBD was inadequate at university level; however, a significant sample was confident about prescribing this diet and they were interested in improving their knowledge on this topic. The strongest perceived benefits of a WFPBD were its association with improved fibre intake and the reduced consumption of saturated fats. The strongest barriers against prescribing a WFPBD were the lack of public awareness concerning the diet and personal preference for the consumption of meat and animal-sourced foods. Conclusion: Although the general opinion of a WFPBD was positive, the perceived barriers indicated suggest that this diet may be difficult to implement for the management of NCDs, particularly in the poverty-stricken areas of South Africa.

Multi-dimensional poverty measurement for photovoltaic poverty alleviation areas: Evidence from pilot counties in China

Poverty alleviation based on the use of photovoltaic panels has been designated one of “the ten large-scale poverty alleviation programs in China” since 2015. Given that most of the poverty objects to be identified are low-income families instead of regions, 30 pilot counties in China eligible for photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects have been measured by using a developed index system incorporating six dimensions. The results indicate: 1) Pilot counties vary widely in their poverty, with the highest poverty index more than three times that of the lowest. 2) The total annual poverty index declined from 2.01295 in 2014 to 1.89661 in 2016. 3) Among the six indices, finance and social production are the largest contributors to poverty, followed by income and social security. 4) The poverty indices of Qinghai, Ningxia and Gansu in Western China are smaller than that of Anhui and Shanxi, Central provinces. From the above results, this study recommends: strengthen the dynamic management of poverty-stricken areas, promote the development of “photovoltaic+” industry and evade a one-size-fits all poverty alleviation policy in the central and western regions.

Land Use Transition and Its Influencing Factors in Poverty-Stricken Mountainous Areas of Sangzhi County, China

Previous studies have rarely revealed the characteristics and influencing factors of land use transformation (LUT) in poverty-stricken areas, where multiple actions of cultivated land protection are undertaken. The land use conversion matrix and Spatial Durbin Model were used to analyze the characteristics and influence factors of LUT based on remote sensing interpretation data of Sangzhi County in 2010, 2015, and 2018. The results demonstrate the following: (1) From 2010–2018, cultivated land, forest land, waters, and urban and rural construction land in Sangzhi County increased by 4.91%, 0.03%, 58.99%, and 55.63%, respectively, and grassland decreased by 13.32%. (2) Terrain, territorial, and traffic conditions were common influence factors of the land use type conversion (i.e., forest land to cultivated land, grassland to forest land, cultivated land to forest land, grassland to cultivated land, and cultivated land to urban and rural construction land). The conversion of land use type has a negative effect on the land use type conversion of adjacent townships. Territorial and traffic conditions affect the land use type conversion of adjacent townships. The results illuminate LUT at the township scale in mountainous areas and are beneficial to promoting the sustainable use of land resources and poverty alleviation.

Institutional delivery rate in minority inhabited areas of China from 1996 to 2017

Objective: To describe the secular trends of institutional delivery (ID) rate in minority inhabited areas of China from 1996 to 2017 according to national health policies. Methods: The number of live births and IDs for each county/district in 31 provinces of China were derived from the datasets collected by the Office for National Maternal & Child Health Statistics of China. Information on health policies and ethnical areas was derived from official governmental websites. The calendar years were divided into three periods: pre-program period (1996 to 1999), program implementation period (2000 to 2008) and post-program period (2009 to 2017). Minority autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures, and autonomous counties were defined as minority inhabited areas. The ethnic that a county was classified into was determined by a principle of close proximity to the name of the county or its next higher level administrative division. A total of 700 counties in minority inhabited areas were included in the analysis. Results: A total of 45 684 265 live births including 35 098 855 delivered in institutions were analyzed. The ID rate in minority inhabited areas was 37.5% (696 221/1 856 164) in 1996 and 99.2% (2 371 209/2 390 131) in 2017, with an annual growth rate of 4.7%. During the 22-years period, the ID rates in the eastern, central and western regions increased simultaneously, with the annual growth rates of 3.1%, 4.2% and 4.9% respectively. The difference between the eastern and western regions decreased steadily from 16% in 1996 to <1% in 2017 and the difference between the urban and rural areas decreased from 32.1% in 1996 to <1% in 2017. Besides, the ID rates in Tibetan and Yi inhabited areas with lower baseline levels increased 73 and 63 percentage points respectively. The number of counties with the ID rate of <96% were substantially reduced from 589 in 1996 to 72 in 2017; the 71 counties were all located in national deep poverty-stricken areas named Three Districts and Three States, predominantly involving Tibetan (58), Yi (6), Uygur (2) and Lisu (2) ethnics. Conclusion: During the past 22 years, the ID rate in minority inhabited areas in China has dramatically increased, achieving the goal of 2 020 ahead of schedule, but there remains a few western counties where ID rates are still<96%, indicating that minority inhabited western areas should be focused in developing national policies concerning institutional delivery.