On the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, land is utilized primarily for animal husbandry and agriculture. The population is widely dispersed, averaging approximately ten people per square mile, making the delivery of community services difficult. The high elevation and harsh climate of the plateau also require resilience on the part of herders and farmers, who pass on livelihood techniques and cultural traditions from generation to generation.

Rural communities now find themselves adapting to the rapid economic development taking place in the People's Republic of China. As China begins to focus on economic growth in the comparatively underdeveloped western regions, it faces a unique set of circumstances. New opportunities have emerged, even as traditional ways of life are challenged and new technologies alter the balance between rural people and their environment. Natural resource management is at a critical juncture on the plateau, as in many other parts of the world. The geographical and climatic significance of the Himalayan region to Asia and the world lends additional importance to this issue.

Trace Foundation views the health of rural communities as vital for development of the region. We therefore work with local partners to build sustainable livelihoods and deliver services, whilst respecting traditional ways of life and protecting the environment. One approach is to support rural communities to address their inter-related needs by using participatory methodologies to design integrated projects. Local participation is a cornerstone of all the foundation's rural development projects, whether in the use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques to design projects, or as an emphasis on strong working partnerships to implement them.

Another way the foundation serves its aims in rural development is by assisting local people to meet their own needs through the introduction of promising technologies. Technologies that build upon traditional methods and techniques, in the fields of dairy production and crafts, allow local communities to maintain their way of life, whilst participating in markets at the local, national, and international level. Also within rural development, the foundation works in partnership with local governments to improve the provision of appropriate health-care to scattered nomadic and agricultural populations. Health-care projects support training in public health, western medicine, and the indigenous Tibetan medicine tradition.

We also fund a variety of projects that support Rural Education, as described in the education section.

Trace Foundation Projects in Rural Development

Trace Foundation takes an integrated and participatory approach to Rural Community Development. In the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) in the Tibet Autonomous Region and in Hualong County in Qinghai Province, the foundation implements small-scale, sustainable activities as part of integrated rural development projects.

Projects that promote Economic Growth for Rural Communities focus on vocational training. Cheese-making is an appropriate technology that can help Tibetans in rural communities add value to one of their most precious renewable resources: milk. The foundation supports other vocational training projects that build skills and expand employment opportunities of participants.

The sustainable provision of Rural Health Care is a significant concern often raised by Trace Foundation's local partners. In response we are working with our partners on projects that develop the skill levels of rural health-care workers and raise the standard of preventative and basic care available to scattered rural populations.

• Recent Grants in Rural Development
  
  
• Trace Foundation Grants to Other Organizations Supporting Rural Development in China.
  
  
• Links to Other Trace Foundation Grants and Projects Related to Rural Development.
  
  
• View the Rural Development photo gallery.