The Prague Post - China's 'new farmers' learn to livestream in rural revitalisation

EUR -
AED 4.302888
AFN 81.916613
ALL 97.902049
AMD 450.136794
ANG 2.096812
AOA 1074.403591
ARS 1469.848083
AUD 1.794588
AWG 2.108971
AZN 1.994112
BAM 1.952659
BBD 2.367324
BDT 142.853889
BGN 1.957396
BHD 0.441704
BIF 3493.202692
BMD 1.17165
BND 1.498972
BOB 8.090986
BRL 6.384309
BSD 1.172565
BTN 100.422329
BWP 15.653531
BYN 3.837005
BYR 22964.349685
BZD 2.355128
CAD 1.602332
CDF 3381.383512
CHF 0.933815
CLF 0.028754
CLP 1103.414015
CNY 8.405479
CNH 8.416862
COP 4747.094292
CRC 592.730776
CUC 1.17165
CUP 31.048738
CVE 110.834423
CZK 24.648246
DJF 208.79039
DKK 7.461246
DOP 70.349915
DZD 151.915361
EGP 58.229393
ERN 17.574757
ETB 162.720143
FJD 2.632991
FKP 0.863233
GBP 0.862387
GEL 3.175781
GGP 0.863233
GHS 12.18599
GIP 0.863233
GMD 83.777767
GNF 10169.096726
GTQ 8.999755
GYD 244.988501
HKD 9.197398
HNL 30.659247
HRK 7.534062
HTG 153.886066
HUF 400.216482
IDR 19047.814996
ILS 3.924766
IMP 0.863233
INR 100.576119
IQD 1535.961483
IRR 49355.777276
ISK 142.999707
JEP 0.863233
JMD 187.136573
JOD 0.830733
JPY 172.250216
KES 151.693066
KGS 102.461195
KHR 4707.655966
KMF 492.670214
KPW 1054.459685
KRW 1610.246333
KWD 0.357904
KYD 0.977121
KZT 609.236063
LAK 25258.788623
LBP 105052.907426
LKR 352.46937
LRD 235.082884
LSL 20.853146
LTL 3.45958
LVL 0.70872
LYD 6.333192
MAD 10.550712
MDL 19.844334
MGA 5178.521534
MKD 61.525551
MMK 2459.888866
MNT 4204.537111
MOP 9.480393
MRU 46.564706
MUR 53.063981
MVR 18.037076
MWK 2033.019574
MXN 21.798902
MYR 4.980101
MZN 74.93866
NAD 20.853146
NGN 1794.547027
NIO 43.147681
NOK 11.838346
NPR 160.676127
NZD 1.953546
OMR 0.450484
PAB 1.170927
PEN 4.152912
PGK 4.916596
PHP 66.252143
PKR 333.331834
PLN 4.245312
PYG 9344.332196
QAR 4.265507
RON 5.075471
RSD 117.180281
RUB 91.977776
RWF 1694.216302
SAR 4.394421
SBD 9.767962
SCR 17.192081
SDG 703.572951
SEK 11.172057
SGD 1.501066
SHP 0.920733
SLE 26.370592
SLL 24568.92933
SOS 670.108684
SRD 43.730096
STD 24250.799675
SVC 10.259071
SYP 15233.951871
SZL 20.845049
THB 38.247947
TJS 11.261485
TMT 4.112493
TND 3.394536
TOP 2.744124
TRY 46.922963
TTD 7.954729
TWD 34.124668
TZS 3087.299325
UAH 48.973918
UGX 4209.229791
USD 1.17165
UYU 47.015583
UZS 14862.756687
VES 131.56206
VND 30626.943917
VUV 139.782501
WST 3.225978
XAF 655.769778
XAG 0.03195
XAU 0.000356
XCD 3.166444
XDR 0.815567
XOF 655.769778
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.363731
ZAR 20.835285
ZMK 10546.260708
ZMW 28.402891
ZWL 377.270981
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

China's 'new farmers' learn to livestream in rural revitalisation
China's 'new farmers' learn to livestream in rural revitalisation / Photo: Adek BERRY - AFP

China's 'new farmers' learn to livestream in rural revitalisation

Gao Chaorong knows what it takes to turn out good crops of sweet potatoes, peanuts and wheat, but tasty produce is no longer enough to draw China's app savvy crowd.

Text size:

To prevent her crops from rotting unsold in the fields, the 56-year-old is now back in school, attending a "hands-on livestreaming bootcamp" to learn to take her vegetables straight to consumers via their mobile phones.

Gao and her classmates are gunning for online popularity as China's "new farmers" -- people who use the latest technology in agricultural production or services.

The number of new rural creators has soared 52 percent on China's TikTok sister app Douyin over the past year as they hope to capitalise on the country's one billion internet users, the world's most.

On the Instagram-like Chinese app Xiaohongshu, the hashtag "new farmers" has been viewed more than 227 million times.

Local authorities are even sending some officials to learn livestreaming and help farmers get online.

"It's been harder for farmers to sell their produce, especially offline," said Chen Xichuan, a Communist Party cadre in the small Shandong city of Pingdu who was among those asked to set an example and help growers take their trade online.

Live in action outdoors, Chen squeezed a ripe green pear he held up to a phone secured on a tripod.

"Just look at the juice," Chen, wearing a straw hat to shield himself from the blazing sun, told his viewers.

"Take it home, taste it, and make fresh pear juice for your children," said Chen.

- 'Full marks' -

With Chinese consumers buying anything from clothes to makeup to garlic online, livestreaming has become an essential marketing platform for farmers to entice and engage customers directly.

Users can make purchases at the click of a button, as well as comment during live broadcasts or ask sellers about their products.

The Tian sisters, livestreamers and e-commerce experts born to farmers, organise the training camp monthly, charging around 5,000 yuan ($698) for four days of intensive lessons and "lifelong" follow-ups.

Students learn how to hook audiences using compelling scripts, props and visually appealing backgrounds.

In the classroom, a dozen students watched as Gao held up a sliced eggplant and gushed, with barely a pause or a stutter, about the best way to cook the vegetable.

"Remember, when you're selling products, it's not just about memorising your sales script," teacher Tian Dongying said, scribbling on a whiteboard as she reviewed Gao's mock livestreaming session.

"You need to understand who you're talking to," she said.

Tian, who founded the livestreaming school with two sisters and a cousin, said all her students deserved "full marks".

"They've never done this kind of thing before and just being able to stand up and speak is already a challenge," she told AFP.

"Because they want to earn this money, they have to push past their own limits."

Gao told AFP she attended the bootcamp because farmers like her face fierce competition and "can't stick to the old-fashioned way of farming anymore".

She grows her crops at the foot of Shandong's Maling Mountain and has started to post videos on Douyin, gaining more than 7,000 followers.

- Refunds guaranteed -

China's agricultural sector is becoming more important because industries like real estate are "no longer as prosperous" and unemployment is rising, said livestreaming school principal Tian Chunying, Dongying's eldest sister.

"Agriculture is becoming the cornerstone of China's ability to support its population," she said.

President Xi Jinping has identified rural revitalisation as a key priority for China's development since taking office in 2012.

He has also emphasised the vital role that agriculture plays in China, the world's top producer of commodities including rice and wheat.

"A country must first strengthen agriculture to make itself strong," Xi said in 2022.

Digital tools such as livestreaming have transformed public perceptions of rural life in China, said Pan Wang, an associate professor at Australia's University of New South Wales.

"Traditionally, Chinese farmers have been depicted as working from sunrise to sunset -- poor, old-fashioned, disconnected from technology," Wang told AFP.

However, hurdles remain for farmers as they try to become more tech-savvy.

"Livestreaming and making videos are all new," farmer Gao said.

"For young people, clicking around on a computer...feels effortless, but we have to put in twice the effort to learn these things."

E.Soukup--TPP