Hakka Farmers Turn to Tradition To Meet Climate Challenges
A Hakka family in Taiwan’s northwestern Hsinchu County has used the same method for drying persimmons for over one hundred years. And with sunshine and wind becoming more unreliable because of rising global temperatures, these farmers are using their traditions to find solutions.
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00:00 (machine whirring)
00:03 The orange fruit, the peeling motion,
00:06 the racks where they dry under the sun.
00:09 Almost everything here is circle-shaped.
00:13 This hacker family in Taiwan's northwestern Hsinchu County
00:17 has used the same production line
00:18 for drying persimmons for over 100 years.
00:22 (speaking in foreign language)
00:26 Hacker people are an ethnic minority in Taiwan,
00:39 making up around 20% of the population.
00:43 Centuries of migration from southern China
00:45 brought over their agricultural and preserving traditions
00:49 and sweet persimmons.
00:51 There are three kinds of persimmons
00:53 here in Taiwan's hacker heartland.
00:56 This one's like a beef heart, this one more like a stone,
00:59 and this one like an ink brush,
01:01 and they're all being dried here on these racks.
01:04 And this process relies heavily on sunshine
01:06 and seasonal winds, which are growing less reliable
01:10 due to the changing climate.
01:12 Lychees, mangoes, guavas, all kinds of fruits in Taiwan
01:17 are feeling the effects of longer summers
01:19 and extreme weather, and persimmons are no exception.
01:23 (speaking in foreign language)
01:27 But small-scale family-run initiatives like this
01:46 are using time-tested methods
01:48 to make the most of what they have.
01:50 No part of the fruit goes to waste.
01:53 The mountains of peeled skin are fermented
01:55 and used as compost to nourish the persimmon trees.
01:59 (speaking in foreign language)
02:03 Even the copper stains from the peeling process have a use.
02:13 They're used as a natural dye for textiles
02:15 and to make beauty products.
02:18 (speaking in foreign language)
02:21 But perhaps the biggest impact
02:31 comes from the operation's public accessibility
02:34 for education and tourism.
02:37 These farmers hope to pass on
02:39 their persimmon-growing methods
02:40 generation after generation.
02:43 But in an age of unprecedented change,
02:46 their larger goal is to promote the idea
02:48 of circular regeneration.
02:51 John Su and Sally Yenson in Hsinchu County for Taiwan Plus.
02:55 [BIRDS CHIRPING]