A sheep farm funded by Huzhou in Longyan village, Guang'an district, Guang'an city in Southwest China's Sichuan province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

Five thousand sheep native to Huzhou were transported to Longyan village, Guang'an district, Guang'an in Southwest China's Sichuan province in June. 

The sheep have given birth to more than 300 lambs since arriving in their new home, creating additional income for locals.

Ding Yulin, a horticulturist from Huzhou's Nanxun district, said that local crop waste, including sweet potato vines and corn stalks, are suitable as food for Huzhou sheep.

Selling crop waste priced at 0.8 yuan ($0.11) per kilogram to the sheep farm in Longyan has become a new source of income for local villagers, according to Ding.

In addition, the farm has also hired 22 impoverished residents from the village to tend the sheep pens. Among them is Li Yinghong, 48, who can earn more than 3,000 yuan per month working on the farm.

Li said that what she now earns at the farm in two months is more than what she used to make in a year of farming.

On top of the one in Longyan, additional 75 sheep farms are currently under construction in Guang'an district, and impoverished local families will be encouraged to get involved with them. 

Wu Qiang, a government official sent from Nanxun to Guang'an as part of poverty relief efforts, predicted that the new farms will generate more than 2,000 yuan in annual income for every impoverished family.

Huzhou is playing an active role in the nation's east-west cooperation strategy for poverty relief. Since 1996, the city has been helping raise less-developed regions out of poverty, including Guang'an district in Guang'an city and Qingchuan county in Southwest China's Sichuan province.