A livestreaming activity is organized by the Women's Federation of Huizhou City to help local farmers promote agricultural products online in Huicheng District of Huizhou City, South China's Guangdong Province. [Huizhou Women's Federation]

The Women's Federation of Huizhou City in South China's Guangdong Province recently organized a series of activities to help local farmers promote agricultural specialties through livestreaming platforms. 

According to the city's women's federation, three livestreaming promotion activities attracted a total of 266,500 viewers and 4,246 orders, with sales reaching 365,000 yuan (US $51,586.46). Each order made in the live broadcasts will generate a one yuan (US $0.14) donation to the Care for Mothers Fund in Huizhou.

In 2018, the federation found that the sales channels in rural areas remained narrow even as agricultural output increased every year. The villagers intended to sell agricultural products online, but had no idea about how to establish and use online platforms.

Learning about the need of the villagers, the federation dedicated to playing an active role in building a women-oriented e-commerce platform for villagers which was established at the beginning of 2019. The platform operator also organized professional e-commerce training for the villagers so that they could learn about how to guarantee product quality and deal with user feedback. At the same time, the federation contacted 
express companies to facilitate delivery of agricultural products across the country. 

The federation has also stepped up efforts to promote the rural revitalization since last year. It established a long-term mechanism to organize online and offline activities, and upgraded the original e-commerce platform where female farmers across the city can sell their agricultural products.  

Nie Xinlian, a villager of Ruhu Town in Huicheng, grows sweet potatoes, corn and peanuts in her fields to supplement her household income. "In previous years, I had to develop channels to sell products by myself," she said, adding that she no longer needs to worry about sales thanks to the platform.

Up to now, a total of 38 rural women have opened online shops on the platform and brought in 65 kinds of agricultural products, including fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, honey and poultry, leading to a total of 9,722 orders and sales of 474,400 yuan (US $67,048). A livestreaming show organized by the federation 
earlier this year helped a farm sell about 4,000 kilograms of guava, generating more than 15, 000 yuan (US $2,119.99) in revenue.

"The livestreaming promotion helped us tide over the difficulties, open up sales markets and expand the brand influence of the guava," said Yang Liuxiang, a farmer and member of the executive committee of a village's women's federation. She hopes to learn more knowledge and skills of live broadcasting so as to promote goods online by herself.

Yang's wish precisely hits one of the work targets of the federation. The federation will implement 
the Internet plus women's action for rural revitalization project, and encourage the officials of women's federations and rural women to organize livestreaming promotion activities by setting up broadcasting studios and holding training courses, trying to motivate more rural women to pursue a better life with the help of the internet.

The federation plans to cooperate with a local website to hold livestreaming promotion activities via the e-commerce platform once or twice a month. The members of the executive committees of the women's federations will be invited to promote agricultural products during the promotion activities. 

The federation has also backed up women to start businesses by developing the discount interest project of small guaranteed loans. Over the past nine years, the project has lent nearly 44.22 million yuan (US $6.25 million) to support 943 women to start their businesses and helped more than 9,400 urban and rural women find jobs.

"This year we got a 450,000 yuan loan with discounted interest for women. Women business starters are welcome to apply," said an official of the federation, adding that the federation hopes more women 
will join the project and the e-commerce platform and contribute further to poverty relief and rural revitalization.  

Female workers arrange agricultural products to be sold during a livestreaming activity in Huizhou City, South China's Guangdong Province. [Huizhou Women's Federation]

Women promote agricultural products via livestreaming. [Huizhou Women's Federation]

(Source: Huizhou Daily/Translated and edited by Women of China)