Rainwater harvesting and poverty alleviation: A case study in Gansu, China

China faces great challenges to alleviate poverty as it enters the new century. There are still 30 million people living below the absolute poverty line. They are concentrated in the mountainous areas of western China, of which the loess area of Gansu province is one of the driest and poorest. One of the root causes of poverty is water scarcity. Water is the key factor in changing the fundamental conditions for the existence and development of the poor areas. Due to the topographical nature of the area, a major water delivery project would be difficult to build and be economically unfeasible. The most easy-to-use water source with the highest potential is rainwater. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has been carried out in previous decades and it has been shown that it can serve the poor by supplying water for domestic use and supplemental irrigation, thus ensuring both water and food security. It can create a pre-condition for the modification of agricultural structure, thus promoting income generation. RWH is also beneficial to the recovery of the ecosystem and environmental conservation in the semi-arid northwest region of China. Past experiences show that RWH is an innovative approach for the integrated and sustainable development of the poor areas. It is reasonable to mainstream RWH in integrated water resources management.