Lessons in effective mass mobilization in Nam Anh
(Baonghean)As a semi-mountainous commune in Nam Dan district, Nam Anh faces unfavorable natural conditions and terrain. However, thanks to the dynamism and proactive approach of the Party committees and government at all levels, and especially the effective role of the political system in mobilizing the people, Nam Anh has developed quite comprehensively and become a shining example in the construction of new rural areas.
The road passing through the Bau Non area to the center of Nam Anh commune is no longer muddy and bumpy as before, but instead a straight, wide concrete road nearly 3 km long, contributing to convenient connection between the two areas of the commune: the mountainous area (5 hamlets) and the plain area (4 hamlets). This is one of the typical results of skillful mass mobilization work, encouraging people to contribute their labor and money to jointly build a new rural area.
Nam Anh is a semi-mountainous commune located in the northern part of Nam Dan district. Such geographical conditions are not conducive to comprehensive economic development. However, the commune's Party Committee, as a model commune in the district for new rural development, has selected key areas and criteria for implementation, prioritizing mass mobilization and considering skillful mass mobilization as the "key" to success, transforming difficulties into comparative advantages. To ensure the people understand the Party and State's policies on new rural development, Nam Anh focuses on propaganda and mobilization through its information and communication systems, and considers democratic principles as the "all-powerful key" to effectively mobilizing people to contribute funds for infrastructure development. With the motto "perseverance, not giving up, and not quitting," while maximizing the leadership role of the Party committee, the guidance of the government, the propaganda and mobilization work of the Fatherland Front, mass organizations, and influential people in families, clans, and the community.
In terms of economic development, for Nam Anh, the fact that persimmon trees have taken root on the hilly land and become a local specialty fruit crop, "Nam Anh persimmons," generating hundreds of millions of dong in income for many households each year, is no longer surprising. However, besides persimmons, the question of what other crops to plant to provide a regular income and create a movement to improve land and develop agricultural economy is a concern for the local Party committee and government.
Driven by this concern, the commune's Party Committee launched numerous economic development movements, based on local realities to find suitable directions. Therefore, the "bringing gardens and farms to the fields" movement was initiated. Specifically for the Chinese honeysuckle plant, the commune provided financial support to stimulate demand: a subsidy of 200,000 VND per sao (approximately 1000 square meters) to encourage the planting of Chinese honeysuckle in the fields. Initially, this initiative was difficult to implement because households were skeptical about the effectiveness of this crop. However, thanks to effective persuasion and mobilization, with cadres and Party members leading the way and achieving positive results, the people followed suit.
Winter crop fields in Nam Anh. Photo: Sy Minh
Therefore, in 2012, the villagers successfully cultivated 12 hectares of jasmine on the high-lying, barren land, bringing in an estimated economic value of over 300 million VND per hectare annually. They also continued to expand the area of vegetable crops, diversifying with varieties such as cucumbers, bitter melons, eggplants, and various herbs.
Trusting and following the policies of the Party committee and local authorities, many families, initially facing great difficulties, have risen out of poverty and become wealthy. For example, the Nguyen The Viet family in Hamlet 7, with only 3 sao (approximately 0.3 hectares) of lychee trees, earns over 45 million VND per year; the Nguyen Van Yen family in Hamlet 5, with their 2 hectares of persimmon trees, consistently yields over 100 million VND annually. In the Bau Non lowland area, many successful farming models have emerged, such as Nguyen Kim Chien and Ho Viet Linh, who run poultry, pig, and fish farms, generating hundreds of millions of VND in income annually.
Speaking with us, the Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Committee of Tran Van Sinh commune said: "The convincing results we have today are due to a bold process of innovating thinking in the field of agricultural economics. Each area has its own farming method, linked to the transformation of gardens into fields and farms into low-lying areas. During the implementation process, the commune focused on building models and mobilizing the people to resolutely carry out the plan."
Through the land consolidation program, the commune has planned to develop low-lying, poor-quality land into small and medium-sized farms and livestock farms with investments ranging from 50-100 million VND to build barns, dig ponds for fish farming, and combine this with raising ducks and poultry. On hilly land, Nam Anh encourages people to revive some specialty crops such as tangerines and seedless persimmons, and continues to expand the area of cassava cultivation to gradually establish its brand. According to the commune's People's Committee report, out of 455 hectares (70%) of agricultural land, the yield is 70 million VND/hectare/year, with 50% of the area yielding over 100 million VND/hectare/year.
A notable success of Nam Anh in effectively implementing the national target program on building new rural areas is the mobilization of people to contribute to infrastructure development. Selected as one of the three pilot communes for the program, Nam Anh recognized this as an opportunity to accelerate the transformation of its agriculture and rural landscape. Thanks to effective communication and persuasion efforts, people understood the nature of the program, the perspective that resources for building new rural areas primarily come from the people, and the clarification that state support is only a stimulus measure. As a result, the people readily agreed and responded positively. The commune also established a New Rural Area Committee, which combined the development of specific annual plans and roadmaps linked to infrastructure development criteria in each hamlet. In basic construction, the investment management mechanism was applied, maximizing the democratic role of the people.
In Nam Anh commune, people are consulted, make their own decisions, purchase supplies and materials, rent equipment for construction, and directly participate in the construction process. Therefore, they are very proactive in implementation, ensuring the quality of the projects, minimizing material waste, and reducing costs. Thanks to this comprehensive approach, after two years of piloting the new rural development program, Nam Anh commune has mobilized over 32 billion VND in infrastructure investment, of which the people contributed 7.5 billion VND (23.3%).
Most hamlets have done well in mobilizing internal resources. For example, in 2012, Hamlet 8 contributed an average of 1.6 million VND per person to build concrete hamlet roads and inter-hamlet roads through Bau Non, totaling over 2.5 km in length. Now, traveling through all the hamlets in the commune, the transportation and irrigation systems are basically complete, and the atmosphere of democratic competition to develop the economy and create wealth in each area is truly vibrant.
Many effective "People's Mobilization" models have been developed and implemented, linked to the functions and tasks of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations, creating a widespread impact among all strata of the population to promote the construction of new rural areas: the "promoting learning and talent" model of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Veterans Association's model of "building household waste disposal pits", the Farmers Association's "High-income fields", the Youth Union's "Road sections I take care of", the Women's Union's "Five no's and three clean"... The lesson learned from the success in mobilizing people to join hands in building new rural areas in Nam Anh is to effectively carry out propaganda work, promote the people's right to self-governance, and promote the leadership and guidance role of the Party committee and government with the motto of mobilizing cadres and Party members to do first, and the people to follow, following the motto "Perseverance, not giving up and not quitting".
Hong Son
