Written by: Deputy Project Manager, Xiao Wei

As the Spring Festival approaches, responding to the call of the village committee, villagers in Hejiaba Village, Sanyuan Town, have taken action to clean up the village. Different from previous years, this year the village is filled with an upsurge of "everyone participates, co-constructs and shares". This upsurge began in December 2024, and the driving force behind it is the implementation of the "Civilization Points Redemption Supermarket".

The Chongqing Fengdu Hejiaba Farmers' Clubs Project settled in Hejiaba Village at the end of 2024. During preliminary visits, project personnel found that there was a civilization points supermarket in the village established by the village committee. Before the project intervened, the supplies in the supermarket were provided by the village - stationed work team and distributed to villagers in a lump sum every year.

To better mobilize the enthusiasm of villagers and contribute to the development of the village, after discussions with the village committee and the village work team, the project decided to operate the civilization points supermarket in a normalized way in the form of point redemption: villagers can obtain corresponding points for each public welfare task they complete, and these points can be used to exchange for daily necessities such as rice, flour, grain and oil, facial tissues, toilet papers, soaps, aprons, and laundry detergents in the supermarket. The point - awarding rules are open and transparent, and villagers can check the points corresponding to each public welfare task through the point manual. The redemption methods are flexible and diverse: points can be accumulated for annual use, redeemed at any time, or donated to needy families to pass on the warmth among neighbors.

Since the operation of the civilization points redemption supermarket, busy figures of villagers can be seen everywhere in the fields, village roads and alleys of Hejiaba Village:

Road Cleaning and Widening: Villagers, holding shovels, hoes and brooms, clear weeds and garbage on both sides of the main roads and widen narrow sections to ensure smooth passage for vehicles returning home.

Drinking Water Project Cleaning: Volunteers conduct comprehensive disinfection and maintenance of water storage tanks and water supply pipelines to ensure that every household has access to clean and safe drinking water during the Spring Festival.

Canal Dredging and Renovation: In view of the problem that canals are prone to blockage in winter, everyone divides the work and cooperates to clear silt and reinforce dams, laying a foundation for spring ploughing and irrigation in the coming year.

These activities are not "task assignments" but "collective actions" spontaneously organized and actively participated in by villagers.

"Previously, I always thought that village affairs were the business of cadres. Now, through the point - based activities, we can also contribute our efforts and exchange for goods, so we are more motivated!" said villager Yu Xiaocheng with a smile.

"Small points" bring about "great changes": since the launch of the activity, the village environment has been significantly improved, and neighborhood relations have become more harmonious. The past phenomenon of "only sweeping the snow in front of one's own door" has disappeared, replaced by a mutual - aid atmosphere of "giving a helping hand when someone is in need". When public welfare actions are closely linked to daily life and good deeds receive tangible rewards, rural governance has a more solid mass foundation.

Secretary Zhan of Hejiaba Village said that in the next step, the application scenarios of points will be further expanded to make the forms of civilization points redemption more diverse.

"Points are not the ultimate goal. Making the village more beautiful and life better is our fundamental pursuit."

Project Introduction

The Chongqing Fengdu Hejiaba Farmers' Clubs Project in Fengdu County, Chongqing City is implemented by the Chongqing Representative Office of FAIHPP (Switzerland) and the Fengdu County Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Starting from December 1, 2024, the project cycle will take three years. Through the establishment of Farmers’ Clubs and core groups, the project will distribute high-quality rice seeds to villagers to carry out ecological rice pilots, plant fruit trees, raise free-land chicken, organize villagers' training, establish a direct selling cooperative with its own product brand, and build an Internet marketing platform, so as to help villagers develop appropriate productions and drive economic income growth. While fundamentally promoting rural development, the project also pays attention to improving of rural women's self-awareness, mobilizing women's enthusiasm, improving the household environment and promoting the construction of human eco-environment. At the same time, we should develop productions with women as the main force and encourage them to actively participate in the construction of family and rural production activities.

The article only represents the author's personal views.