Cooperative attracts Gampa sheep herders

As sunshine graces the foot of the snow-covered mountains surrounding Gampa county in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, villagers from a sheep breeding cooperative crack their whips to guide thousands of sheep out of their pen.

The county, sitting at an average altitude of more than 4,300 meters, registers an annual average temperature of only 1.5 C. Boasting a unique geographical environment, the county is well-known for its Gampa sheep, and the villagers mainly rely on herding for a living.

In an effort to establish standardized herding practices, scitech commissioners have been dispatched to the county. Today, all sheep in Gampa have ear tags that allow herders to keep track of their growth, contributing to a continuous increase in their numbers.

Lhapa Tsering, a member of the sheep breeding cooperative, was once a successful herder but now runs a restaurant.

"I was finding it difficult to balance family life and herding before the cooperative was established in March 2019," he said.

The increasing number of sheep in his family demanded more time, while his aging parents needed more care.

In the past, when confronted with such a dilemma, villagers such as Lhapa Tsering had no choice but to sell some sheep or ask their school-aged children to give up their studies and return home to herd the sheep.

However, villagers today have a new option, thanks to the cooperative. Lhapa Tsering was among the first to join, though many of his fellow villagers were initially skeptical of it.

They doubted if others could care for their family sheep as well as they could, recalled Phurbu Tsering, head of the cooperative. "After over 30 meetings, we finally managed to convince most of them to join the cooperative," he said.

The cooperative only requires just over 20 herders to take care of all the sheep, with the count reaching thousands.

"I had to herd sheep for my family and did not have the opportunity to attend school properly when I was a child," said Phurbu Tsering. Children in the county can now fully focus on their studies, and villagers with spare time have started exploring other income opportunities.

Before 2019, only three villagers had driver's licenses, whereas today almost every household has at least one licensed driver. More than 70 villagers now work in other places, raising the county's per capita annual income to nearly 20,000 yuan ($2,813).

The modern production and management of the cooperative has also helped to expand sales channels.

Through online channels and contracts for bulk orders, the cooperative sold over 10,000 Gampa sheep last year, generating a total income of over 5 million yuan. Over 2 million yuan and 1,000 sheep were distributed to members as dividends the same year.

By the end of last year, Gampa county had become home to 27 sheep breeding cooperatives. The per capita disposable income of rural residents in the county was expected to exceed 19,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent.

All 146 households in Lhapa Tsering's village have joined the cooperative. He runs a restaurant near his home and continues to enjoy dividends from the cooperative. Today, his family's annual income is about 200,000 yuan.

"My father also works for the cooperative, and my son as well as other children in the county can enjoy their happy winter holidays," Lhapa Tsering said.