Shan Yi bio-gas village

China has a population of over 1.2 billion, the largest of any country in the world. Ten Chinese cities each have populations over five million. Urban numbers are increasing today because of the drift of people from country areas who are attracted to the cities by stories of opportunities there.

The high levels of population have also put pressure on the rural environment. Much of the farmland has become degraded over the years, making it difficult for many small farmers to produce enough food. Life can be very hard for the poor in country areas.

Shan Yi village is located in the south-eastern province of Zhejiang. Zhejiang has less than half the area of Victoria but supports over 43 million people. The population density in the farming areas of Zhejiang province is close to 800 people per square kilometre. The village of Shan Yi is 256 hectares in size, made up of eight separate communities. Its total population is about 3000 people, spread over small hills and valleys.

Activities

Research
Using a library or other resources, find definitions for the following terms:

• Gross National Product (GNP);
• population density;
• alternative energy sources;
• appropriate technology.

Copy and complete the table below.

Country	Population	Land area	Population density	GNP
Australia
China
India
Japan
Laos
USA

Again using a library or other resources, write short responses to the following questions:

• How does the population density of Zhejiang compare with the population density of China as a whole? What difficulties do you think might arise from high population density?
• Which countries have low population densities? What do you think might be the advantages and disadvantages of low population density?
• Is there a relationship between a country's population and its GNP? How can we tell whether a country is 'rich' or 'poor'?
• What is methane? How is it produced and what is it used for?

Recent history

Before 1984, Shan Yi had the following problems which were typical of villages in Zhejiang province:

• Expensive fertilisers were needed for improving the poor soil quality.
• Soil quality was being further degraded by the use of chemical pesticides.
• Because of poor soil, farm produce was of poor quality.
• Fish (a valuable source of protein) were farmed but had to be fed expensive food, which the villagers could not afford.
• The hills surrounding the village had been extensively cleared for firewood and building materials.
• As a result of the tree clearing, valuable soil was eroded, making replanting of trees difficult.
• Much of the soil that washed away went into the village's water supply and polluted it.
• Because there were few mature trees, there was little leaf litter to fertilise and protect the soil.
• The people in the village had low incomes and poor diets.

Shan Yi's quality of life has improved since it became part of a government program to set up demonstration villages using appropriate technology and farming practices. The government program is directed towards improving the quality of life in country areas, to prevent further population drift from the country to the cities.

Activities

Simulation
Note: The Shan Yi village project was a Chinese government initiative but similar projects are often the initiatives of international aid agencies.

The class should form small groups.

It is 1982. You are international aid workers posted to Shan Yi to assist the village. The aid agency which has sent you to Shan Yi has given you a small budget to work with, enough to buy small items but not expensive equipment.

After you have been in the village some time, you make a list of the main problems in the village, similar to the list given earlier.

Your task is to suggest how the quality of life of the villagers can be improved. It is important that you remember that you have to work with the people of Shan Yi. You do not have the right to simply tell them what to do, so you must have good reasons for every suggestion you make.

Remember that the basic needs of the people include:

• sufficient nutritious food;
• adequate clothing;
• adequate housing;
• fuel for cooking and for warmth in winter.

You also need to consider the care of the environment itself.

Role play
Each group takes turns to play the role of aid workers attending a village meeting in Shan Yi. Other class members play the roles of the villagers.

The task of the aid workers is to present their suggestions to the village and explain the reasoning behind them. Aid workers will also need to reply to matters raised by the villagers.

The task of the villagers is to react to the suggestions of the aid workers. Villagers might want to ask questions or raise practical objections to the ideas of the aid workers.

When all groups have presented their suggestions, the villagers decide which ones they think are most appropriate.

Technology

In 1984, Shan Yi was chosen as a demonstration farm by the Environmental Protection Institute of the Department of Rural Industry in Zhejiang province. Demonstration farms were established so that rural communities could see ways of incorporating appropriate technology into their agricultural and everyday living activities.

After Shan Yi was selected as a demonstration farm, it received some extra support from the Chinese government to implement the following programs.

Construction of new facilities

A piggery and a battery hen shed were constructed.

Reafforestation

The hills around Shan Yi were planted with fast-growing trees and crops such as tea, oranges and bamboo to reduce soil erosion and to supply some produce for sale outside the village.

Ban on local firewood

Villagers were not permitted to collect firewood from the newly planted areas in the hills. Although the ban helped to reduce erosion it also meant that an alternative energy source was needed for heating and cooking.

Soil consolidation

Any farm or household waste which could not be broken down, such as broken pottery, packaging and building rubble, was dug into the hillsides to help hold the soil together.

Alternative energy

Twenty-three concrete pits were constructed near the village fish ponds. Household, human and animal waste, including waste from the new piggery and battery hen shed, was put into the pits. This waste fermented and produced methane, or bio-gas. Narrow plastic and rubber hoses pipe the gas from the pits into the houses for lighting, heating and cooking. The bio-gas is also used to cook the pig feed, helping to reduce contamination and disease.

Use of residue from bio-gas pits

After some time the bio-gas pits are cleaned out. Residue which cannot produce more methane is spread over the nearby fish ponds to provide a cheap source of fish feed and to encourage the growth of algae which can be collected and fed to the pigs.
Some of the residue is also placed in huge pottery urns to dry. It is then spread over the fields and hills to act as a natural, safe fertiliser. As a result, farmers need less chemical fertiliser, thus reducing their costs and also the chemical build-up in the soil.

Activities

Writing task and class discussion
Write short answers to the following questions. Then use your answers as the basis for a class discussion.

• Why do you think the government gave Shan Yi a piggery and a battery hen shed rather than other animals such as cows or goats?
• How do you think the villagers would have felt about not being permitted to collect firewood from the hills which had been replanted? If some villagers had wanted to continue collecting firewood there, how would they have been prevented from doing so?
• What energy sources were being used in Shan Yi before 1984? How do you think the villagers might have felt about using bio-gas?
• Do you think the production of bio-gas and the use of simple plastic and rubber hoses is appropriate technology for Shan Yi? Discuss reasons for your opinions.
• What other examples of appropriate technology do you think would be suitable for Shan Yi?
• What changes would you expect to come to Shan Yi as a result of being able to sell some tea and oranges? Who do you think would be the buyers of these goods?

Debate
The proposition for debate is: 'That bio-gas systems, such as the one used in Shan Yi, are appropriate technology for use in Australia'.

The class should form groups, one group to argue in favour of the proposition and the other against it. Preparation for the debate should include further research about the costs and environmental effects of other energy sources.

One or more teams can be drawn from each side to debate the proposition formally.

 
Shan Yi operations

Since 1984, household incomes in Shan Yi have increased by more than 800 per cent. People in Shan Yi have a better and more varied diet. New buildings are located on non-arable or waste land to preserve the good soil areas for crops and orchards and to make use of land previously not used. Most farmers have been able to build new houses, usually three or four times larger than their previous homes. The new houses are up to three storeys high with storage areas for farm produce, a further space saver.

New farming practices have been adopted. Underground pipeline irrigation systems (using pumps) have been purchased and installed, helping to reduce evaporation and run-off. The villagers have also purchased multi-purpose tractors and other mechanical equipment.

Profile of a villager

Name	Mr Lin Wu Quan
Age	69
Education	Interrupted primary school; adult classes, mainly in literacy
Training history	Learned traditional farming techniques as a boy. More recently learned about bio-gas technology and techniques from government technicians.
Employment history	Has worked all his life farming in Shan Yi village. Recently leased a plot of land from the local government. Has some responsibility for encouraging other farmers to adopt bio-gas technology and techniques.
Marital status	Married
Wife's employment	Farm labourer and local official of 'one-child family' policy
Children	Four children aged 45, 36, 31 and 28 years

Mr Lin Wu Quan's daily activity

5.30 am	Gets up, checks the chickens and pigs, oversees their feeding and cleans out pens. Checks that effluent channels to bio-gas pits are clear and levels in tanks are adequate.
6.45 am	Returns home via farm markets to collect fish, vegetables and other items. Has breakfast with his wife and his youngest son's family who share the house while theirs is being built.
9.00 am	Tends to the nets at the fish pond, ensuring that all snags have been removed and holes repaired.
11.00 am	Takes the boat along the old canals to the next village, to arrange for regular maintenance work on a tractor and the rice harvesters. Visits a daughter who works at a textile factory as a supervisor.
12.45 pm	Returns home for lunch. His wife and grandchildren (who have finished school for the day) are cleaning out the loft so that it is ready to receive the next harvest. Takes a short rest.
2.00 pm	Walks across the paddy fields to the reafforested hills to ensure that waste is being dug into the soil properly. Passes a group of hired labourers from a nearby town, who have been employed to build underground pipelines to replace open canals.
6.00 pm	Goes fishing with his grandson in the pond next to the bio-gas pits and later takes the catch home for a meal.

Activities

Writing task
As members of the village management committee, Lin Wu Quan and his wife regularly attend its meetings. The committee has sixty members. Its chairman is a senior government official in the Environmental Protection Institute of the Department of Rural Industry. Lin Wu Quan is to report to the meeting on progress in the village.

Prepare a short piece of writing in the form of a speech by Lin Wu Quan in which he describes some of the achievements in the village and some of the remaining problems.

Marketing

Changes at Shan Yi village would not have been possible if villagers had been unable to sell some of their produce. The main commodities they can sell are tea, berries, chicken, eggs, rice, pork, bamboo, fish and oranges.

At first, however, the villagers did not have much experience of marketing. In the past, they had not usually had much left over after feeding themselves, so they had not been able to sell anything.

Near Shan Yi there are other villages and a small town with some factories, where industrial workers and government officials live. Generally speaking, however, people in the district are quite poor.

Activities

Marketing simulation
Your task is to prepare a plan for marketing Shan Yi's commodities.

You have to decide:

• whether any of your produce can be sold from Shan Yi or whether you have to take it to the town or other villages;
• what you need to know about the nearby town and other villages;
• which of the commodities can most easily be sold in the town and which you can sell in the villages;
• who you will need to contact in the town or other villages;
• how you will get the commodities there;
• whether you can advertise your produce and, if so, how;
• which people in Shan Yi should be responsible for these marketing activities.

Group work and classroom display
The class should form small groups with each group conducting one of the following tasks:

• Imagine that you are reporters for the main English-language newspaper in China, The People's Daily. You have been assigned the front-page story about Shan Yi. The People's Daily would want to stress how successful the village has become, and would probably want to encourage other villages to do similar things.
• Imagine that you are reporters from an Australian newspaper or magazine of your choice. You visit Shan Yi to write a story about it. Your story should appeal to an Australian audience and should try to show whether what has happened in Shan Yi is relevant to Australia.

Your articles should have appropriate headlines and can include drawings or sketches. The finished work could be displayed in the classroom or school library.

Extracted from: Caudle, M 1996, Business in Asia, Curriculum Corporation, pp 53-62.
This material was developed as part of the Zhejiang/Western Australian Sister State Project.