China: Worst Drought in Living Memory

Crops are failing and clean drinking water is inaccessible to more than 16 million people as southwest China grapples with a devastating drought.

More than 50 million people in southwest China are struggling to cope with what is being called the worst drought in living memory.

Here in the village of Daliandi, local people are awaiting their only source of drinking water.

The trucks come every other day or so, bringing only enough to supply drinking water to residents, but not enough for farmers to cultivate their fields.

73 year-old farmer Zhang Zhenlong has given up on his plot of land, which used to produce good crops of millet, beans and corn.

[Zhang Zhenlong, Farmer]:

„The last time it rained properly was last May. The crops we planted before May all failed. The crops after May produced a little. This year we don’t know what to do, it’s so dry. We have planted, but there are no shoots. Any shoots that come up just die.“

Villagers in Pubin are faring no better.

With the year’s first crops failed and no rain in sight, farmers like Wang Fu have been left on their own to try their luck at the spring and summer crops.

The drought has forced young people to leave the village to supplement their income.

[Wangfu, Farmer]:

„Because the drought has been so serious, young people have all gone to find manual work. There’s nothing to do in the village, so they’ve gone to make a living. Only the old people are left behind.“

Some areas have received 90 percent less rainfall than usual for this time of year, and weather forecasters predict that no significant rainfall is expected for at least another 10 days.

Foto: NTDTV