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Sustainable Lai Chi Wo Programme

Lai Chi Wo is a tranquil Hakka village settlement situated in a Fengshui cultural landscape.

Long abandonment of the village had led to a lack of management. Farmlands were covered in weeds and bushes. The stream was silted, and houses were deteriorating or collapsed.

The Sustainable Lai Chi Wo Programme adopted a Community-Government-University-Business collaborative model.

With the support of local farmers and Indigenous villagers, the programme has resumed paddy farming at Lai Chi Wo after 30 years of abandonment.

“Three Dous” incubation scheme provided training and assistance to individuals and Indigenous villagers who wanted to join the revitalisation work.

Using traditional techniques and with the help of villagers and volunteers, a row of dilapidated village houses was transformed into the “Lai Chi Wo Cultural Hub”.

A variety of Lai Chi Wo products were developed for sale on-site at Lai Chi Wo and at supermarkets.

The revitalised Lai Chi Wo Village has become a convergence point of rural-urban interaction and collaboration as well as a pioneer site for rural sustainability and innovation.

The village has become an ideal and popular place for environmental, cultural, art and sustainability education.

The current Lai Chi Wo community is formed of Indigenous villagers, newly settled farmers and volunteers.

Challenges and Objectives

Lai Chi Wo is a Hakka village with 300 years of history in the Northeast of Hong Kong. It is situated in a Global Geopark and surrounded by a country park and a marine park. For centuries, the villagers of Lai Chi Wo lived off the land as rice paddy farmers. However, as Hong Kong’s urbanisation began, Lai Chi Wo started to depopulate in the 1950s, with villagers moving to urban areas and European countries. By the 1990s, the last villager moved out, and the village were left abandoned.

In October 2013, the Sustainable Lai Chi Wo Programme was launched, spearheaded by the Policy for Sustainability Lab at The University of Hong Kong (PSL), in collaboration with The Hong Kong Countryside Foundation, Produce Green Foundation, The Conservancy Association, and with the support of HSBC. The programme aimed to initiate a whole catchment management approach for biodiversity conservation, revitalise agricultural activities by adopting innovative farming methods, re-discover the community resources and facilitate appropriate use, develop the village as an environmental and sustainable development education hub, and develop diverse local products and services for creating job opportunities and sustaining the local economy.

Collaboration Partners and Roles

As the Programme leader, PSL acted as the primary bridge between external associations and the village community. It coordinated the efforts of The Hong Kong Countryside Foundation, which communicated with villagers and leased fields from them for farming rehabilitation, Produce Green Foundation, which focused on farming rehabilitation, and The Conservancy Association, which launched environmental education activities. Scholars from The University of Hong Kong conducted ecological and hydrological research. HSBC provided funding, suggestions, and publicity support to the programme. With a strong commitment to restoring their home village, the Indigenous villagers shared their traditional knowledge and provided land and village houses for use in the revitalisation process. New settlers provided knowledge, manpower, and skills to help with farmland rehabilitation and village revitalisation. The programme received the endorsement of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Environment Bureau of the HKSAR Government as well as the Heung Yee Kuk, a statutory advisory body representing interests of Indigenous rural communities.

Revitalisation Activities

The programme was implemented from 2013 to 2017. It conducted a wide range of rural revitalisation activities to support the environmental, social, and economic needs of the community. On the environmental aspect, the programme has rehabilitated old paddy fields by replanting rice. Organic and environmentally friendly farming methods were adopted, including the use of green manure, intercropping, and the restoration of the irrigation and drainage system. Crops that had a longer shelf life or could be sold as dried products were chosen to address transportation challenges.

Regarding the social aspect, the programme encouraged urban dwellers to become new settlers of the village. It rented farmlands owned by villagers, formed and headed a farming rehabilitation team, and formulated a rehabilitation strategy. It set up a “Three Dous” incubation scheme to provide training and assistance to individuals and Indigenous villagers who wanted to join the revitalisation work. The programme also encouraged the revival of traditions, such as rice paddy farming, the organisation of the Hing Chun Yeuk Chinese New Year Banquet, and the celebration of the Birthday of God Kwan Tai. It restored a row of dilapidated houses at the entrance of the village using traditional techniques with the help of villagers and volunteers, establishing the “Lai Chi Wo Cultural Hub” for community gatherings, activities, and training. With the endorsement of the government, a ferry service was established in 2016 to help enhance urban-rural connectivity and tourist access.

The programme sparked a range of impactful rural economic activities, including the creation of new products for sale, the establishment of food processing teams, and the initiation of services, such as tourism, product promotion and marketing. It introduced new product lines such as turmeric powder, ginger powder and soap, ice lollies, roasted rice tea, and natural mosquito repellent. Villagers established a social enterprise called “HakkaHome-LCW” to create job opportunities while preserving the village homes and culture. The government supported the initiative by setting up a Geoheritage tourism center and a Lai Chi Wo Heritage Trail, connecting the village with the shoreline and sites of environmental significance.

Revitalisation Outcome

The programme has trained 60 rural revitalisation leaders, 200 teachers, 7,800 students, 2,000 members of the public, and 720 members of underprivileged families. It has developed three agricultural training themes, three guided tour themes, four lecture themes, five skill development themes, and conducted two regional roundtables. It has compiled a comprehensive ecological database for Lai Chi Wo and published a series of TV documentaries and a programme photo album.

The programme has created a positive impact on community well-being. New settlers have arrived in the village and are living harmoniously with the Indigenous villagers. This has motivated Indigenous villagers to spend more time in the village while visiting from abroad. Indigenous villagers are now more willing to invest in rehabilitating their houses. The programme has also inspired rebuilding efforts in nearby villages. Additionally, through the rehabilitation of five hectares of farmland (consisting of seven community farms operated by the villagers and two large-scale farms managed by the Produce Green Foundation and The University of Hong Kong), there has been an increase in amphibian species.

Building upon the success of the programme, PSL implemented a follow-up phase called the “HSBC Rural Sustainability Programme” based in Lai Chi Wo from 2017 to 2022 with further support from The Hong Kong Bank Foundation. In 2021, PSL launched the “Forest Village Programme” in two nearby villages, Mui Tsz Lam and Kop Tong, with the support from the HKSAR Government’s Countryside Conservation Funding Scheme.

This is the abridged version of a case prepared by the Centre for Civil Society and Governance, The University of Hong Kong. For further information, please email ruralsd@hku.hk.