Where is the Starting Point for Rural Revitalization?

Dr. Shi, Yaojiang, a tier-two professor of Shaanxi Normal University, Director of the Institute of Educational Experimental Economics, Head of the 111 Plan-Rural Human Capital Cultivation Think Tanks in Poverty Western Regions for the Ministry of Education and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, Chief Expert of the China Monitoring Collaborative Innovation Center of Quality Basic Education, Director of Infant Care and Development Professional Committee of China Prenatal and Childcare Association, Vice President of Shaanxi Demographic Society, Co-founder of Rural Development Foundation. The main research areas are: experimental economics, rural education and development, impact assessment, and public policy. Based on field survey and policy simulation, he pioneered the use of random intervention experiments to study early development of infants and toddlers; nutrition, health and education; application of modern information technology in the rural areas; teaching and teaching method; and health and human capital, with the total number of  60 action experimental studies. He has 180 publications and these papers appeared in more than top-ranked academic journals at home and abroad, more than 110 of which were included in SCI/SSCI journals. He submitted 31 policy briefs to national and provincial government decision-makers and 25 briefs were adopted.

We find that infants and toddlers aged 0-3 in poverty-stricken rural areas in China face the risk of early development lag. Nutrition and nurturing are the two major factors affecting the development of infants and toddlers at this stage. Our research team carried out 4 series of random intervention experiments in the past 8 years: (1) We provided “micronutrition supplement packs” for rural infants and toddlers to reduce the incidence of anemia. (2) We developed parent-child interaction guides and trained nursing teachers to provide home guidance service on parenting behavior. (3) We established a “nurture center” to provide nurturing service guidance and an exchange platform for caregivers. (4) We combined “nurture center + nurturing teacher home” to provide a county-wide coverage of nurturing service guidance. Based on empirical findings, we explored a localized program of effective parenting to promote the early development of infants and toddlers in the rural area. To improve the early development of rural infants and toddlers more comprehensively, the research team has started to go beyond the age of 0 since 2019, to explore effective solutions to improve the health of pregnant women and infants within 6 months of age in rural areas, and to seek to improve rural human capital from the origin, an effective path for development helps rural revitalization.