The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has launched a website, in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Technology, to help farmers in Hebei Province overcome poverty with information and communication technologies.
The website is just the beginning of the anti-poverty initiative jointly conducted by the UNDP and China.
More websites, providing technological information and business opportunities to farmers, are scheduled to run in four poor counties in Henan, Anhui and Shaanxi provinces and Chongqing Municipality, which represent different geographical and socio-economic conditions.
Each of the websites will be linked under the ministry and the UNDP to form a network for poverty alleviation in rural areas.
The whole project is costing 2.5 million US dollars, of which 1.85 million dollars comes from the Chinese government and 650,000 dollars from the UNDP.
With this program, farmers in poor rural areas will have wider access to the Internet and information technologies so that they can improve their living conditions with updated knowledge and technologies.
(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2002)
