"China's Hometown of Mangoes": Tianyang Builds a Distinctive Poverty-Alleviation Industry Chain through Three-Industry Integration

Tianyang District in Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China, was once a key county for poverty reduction through development. In the past, the mountainous regions in its north and south had poor soil, making it hard to sustain livelihoods—many villages relied on nature to survive. Poverty was a long-plagued issue. How to fundamentally shake off poverty was the most pressing challenge for the local government.

With its low latitude, high temperatures, and simultaneous rainfall and heat, Tianyang enjoys a uniquely favorable climate, making it the first county in China to be officially recognized as the “Hometown of Mangoes.” Since the 1980s, Tianyang has begun developing its mango industry, which over time reached a certain scale. But due to the traditional scattered farming, small scale and outdated technology, fresh mangoes were sold directly without deep processing and complete industrial chains. That’s why the mango industry hit a bottleneck.

In 2016, The Party Committee of Tianyang County and the local government introduced a “full industrial chain” approach to poverty alleviation, which places the mango industry at the center, to set up a 200,000-Mu Core Demonstration Zone for Eco-Agricultural Poverty Alleviation, which coordinated planting, processing, and other related sectors, empowering poor villages and households by modern industrial operations, and boosting their income through job opportunities and profit-sharing.

The innovation of the demonstration zone lies in four key mechanisms.

Equity share:

Each of the 6,063 households was allocated with 1 mu of mango equity, each earning no less than 1,000 yuan per year. With 10 mu in a village, mango equity was also allocated to each of the 152 villages, serving as a source of collective operation income. Each village could earn 50,000 to 100,000 yuan in annual collective revenue.

Joint operation:

Poor households were encouraged to apply for microcredits and then became stakeholders by signing contracts with the main operating companies of the demonstration zone, so as to co-develop the mango industry, and achieve stable income growth.

Contracted management:

Each poor household who has the willingness, technologies and capacity would get 10mu of fruit orchards. These households could earn an additional 30,000 to 80,000 yuan annually in the harvest season. Job income:

876 households worked in the zone, with each worker earning around 3,000 yuan monthly.

At the same time, Tianyang has integrated the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and set up a processing industrial park in the zone, bringing in 13 processing enterprises for intensive processing of local products. Complementary agri-tourism infrastructure was also developed, integrating fruit picking, study tours, leisure, and sightseeing experiences all in one place, boosting the rural agritourism business.

In 2024, with 413,000 mu of planting area, Tianyang produced 380,000 tons of mangoes with a total output value of 1.42 billion yuan. By leveraging the mango industry, Tianyang has lifted over 6,000 poor households out of poverty.

The golden mangoes in Tianyang cultivated both ecological beauty and economic prosperity, and lifted tens of thousands into a life of stability and contentment. This successful model offers a replicable path for other impoverished areas to fight poverty through specialized industries. The green terraced fields before us are not just a scenery line, but a symbol of rural revitalization and a testament to the changes of the times.