Ethnic policy: No sustainable livelihood to escape poverty

Policy for people who... "eat salt at a special level"

For many years, Mr. Lo Van Hac's family in Na Bon village, Tien Phong commune (Que Phong) with 5 members, has been classified as a poor household. Talking, Mr. Hac said: "Thanks to the Party and the State's help and financial support to repair the house, the old couple can go to the doctor for free. But the State's seasoning powder, from last year until now, we have not finished eating it all" - saying that, Mr. Hac took out from the cupboard a bag of seasoning powder, more than ten intact packages, adding that his children went to find jobs far away, the seasoning powder was given to the neighbors but still not finished...

My Ly Commune, Ky Son District (Nghe An). Photo: Huu Vi

Not only the family of old man Lo Van Hac, but also in Na Bon village, Tien Phong commune in particular and 13 communes of Que Phong district in general, poor households are supported with seasoning powder and iodized salt. This policy is the concretization of Decision No. 102/2009/QD/TTg dated August 7, 2009 of the Prime Minister on direct support for the poor in disadvantaged areas. Accordingly, each person in a poor household is supported with 100,000 VND/year. This support source was previously provided through local authorities and then transferred to the people.

Que Phong area produces rice on highlands and terraced fields. Because the support amount is too small, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee has encouraged beneficiaries not to receive production support money but to focus on investing in production and increasing crop productivity. The district uses this source to buy deeply compressed fertilizer to provide to households.

“This is a very effective method, rice fields fertilized with compressed fertilizer have outstanding efficiency, productivity and output have increased. People are very supportive” - Mr. Lang Van Khue, Head of the Ethnic Minorities Department of Que Phong district said. Later, the Provincial Ethnic Minorities Department directly implemented Decision 102, a new method, which is to provide seasoning powder to poor households through an intermediary enterprise. And in 2017, the total budget for poor households in Que Phong district was more than 3,138 billion VND, of which the amount of iodized seasoning powder and iodized salt was 97,731 kg, equivalent to 1,757,408,352 VND; cash grants were more than 1,381 billion VND.

In 2018, the total cost for implementation was more than 2,729 billion VND, of which the iodine seasoning certificate was more than 1,143 billion VND. Thus, each person is supported with 100,000 VND converted to seasoning powder. If calculated according to the retail market price, 1 seasoning powder package costs 4,000 VND, 100,000 VND can buy at least 25 packages. A household of 5 people will own 125 seasoning powder packages/year. Therefore, to use up all this seasoning powder, many people say that it is necessary to have people who "eat a particularly salty level".

Support poor people in Quy Chau district to buy cows to develop the economy. Photo: Document

Mr. Tran Huu Dan - Vice Chairman of the People's Council of Que Phong district said that most of the beneficiaries of the policy under Decision 102 did not agree with the support of seasoning powder. There are families that have stockpiles of seasoning powder in their houses... Currently, there is information confirming that this policy has been abolished, but Mr. Lang Van Khue - Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department of Que Phong district asserted that it is still being implemented in the area.

The shortcomings surrounding the policy "cake"

In order to improve the material and spiritual life of ethnic minorities in difficult areas, in recent years, the Party and the State have issued and implemented many important policies. Up to now, Nghe An province is implementing 68 policies of the Central Government and 11 policies issued by the province.

The province has assigned 14 departments, branches and sectors to participate in implementing policies for ethnic minority mountainous areas. Currently, the provincial Ethnic Committee is taking the lead in implementing 22 policies; the Department of Education and Training is taking the lead in implementing 13 policies, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is taking the lead in implementing 7 policies;...

Children in Keng Du (Ky Son) now go to school more regularly thanks to support policies from the Party and State. Photo: Tuan Anh

Many local officials have expressed concerns: most poverty reduction programs are implementing the policy of "giving away", leading to people relying on, expecting support and giving themselves the right to receive special attention. At the same time, there are many policies "stepping on each other's toes" in the same area.

Previously, in Quy Chau district, there was a case where poor households living in the same village received "a whole cow" under the 30a program, while other households received only "2/3 of a cow" under another program, so many households had to pay 1/3 of the money to receive "a whole cow".

There have been many conflicts and disputes between households and between the people and the local government regarding this issue. There are projects to support poor households with a flock of ducks, but immediately after receiving them, people kill them to eat gradually. The reason is that for them, rice is not enough for people to eat, let alone livestock.

People are even willing to slaughter the project cows. In addition, the project imported cows from outside the area that could not adapt to the local environment, and the habit of letting cattle roam freely are also problems that prevent the number of livestock from growing as expected...

Planting raw material forests in the western region of Yen Thanh. Photo: Huu Nghia

“Many policies that are free and preferential for poor households make the poor not want to escape poverty. There are policies that are issued on a term-by-term basis, short-term, with little capital but large goals, many departments, branches and sectors implement the same policy, so there is overlap,”Ms. Le Thi Ngoc - Head of Ethnic Affairs Department of Quy Chau district said

Ms. Ngoc gave an example: Implementing the loan policy to support production development for households lacking residential land and production land according to Decision No. 2085/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister, up to this point in 2018 in Quy Chau district, only 44 households have received loans, while the demand is several thousand households, and this policy will expire in 2020.

The Education and Training sector is currently implementing 13 policies for students in ethnic minority mountainous areas. Among them is Decree No. 116/2016/ND-CP dated July 18, 2016 of the Government regulating policies to support students and general schools in communes and villages with special difficulties. Accordingly, based on the prescribed criteria, students are supported with food, housing and rice for 9 months of the school year. There would be no problem if the provision of money and rice to support students took place monthly or once every few months, but in reality, students receive it twice a year.

“The amount of rice accumulated each month caused the children to receive up to half a ton. Every time the school distributed rice, traders bought it right at the school gates. Monthly hunger relief was no longer possible.”- said a parent.

Similarly, the support money is not provided evenly every month, so some graduates still do not receive the allowance, while others who receive a lump sum of money immediately spend it all.

According to statistics, in the mountainous area with rich potential, accounting for 83% of the province's area, there are 42,846 poor households, equivalent to 15%; 42,846 near-poor households, equivalent to 14%. Livelihoods for ethnic minority areas are issues that need to be studied, evaluated intuitively and based on reality.

Fish farming on Hua Na hydroelectric reservoir. Photo: Ho Phuong

Currently, there are many policies but they are fragmented, with low capital and no sustainability. Even with Resolution 30a, according to the principle that the program's capital is only reserved to support poor districts and mountainous areas with special difficulties, many other programs and projects have been and are using this capital to implement. It is like a cake that any knife can cut and divide into portions.

There have been core solutions proposed by many local leaders to overcome practical shortcomings. That is, we should not issue petty, small policies; we need to integrate many policies of similar nature into one. In addition, there needs to be unity when assigning tasks to implementing units, avoiding the same content being implemented by many levels and sectors. The mindset of the policy-making department must also change, that is, it must closely follow people's lives, and especially limit the "free" method as before.

Staff of the Nghia Dan District Plant Protection and Cultivation Station instruct people on sweet potato growing techniques. Photo: Minh Thai

According to Mr. Tran Huu Dan - Vice Chairman of the People's Council of Que Phong district, the reality requires a big enough solution to attract investors to the mountainous area, on that basis creating production and raw material areas to attract people to participate. Only then can we hope that people will change their habits and thinking, not waiting for a piece of policy cake and leaving their lives to the State.

Located in the North Central region, Nghe An is the largest province in the country with nearly 16,500 km², in which the western mountainous region of the province accounts for over 83% of the area. The population of this area is 1,197,628 people, accounting for 41% of the province's population, ethnic minorities have 466,137 people, equivalent to 15.2% of the province and accounting for 36% of the population in the mountainous area. Western Nghe An is also home to ethnic minority communities, the most populous of which are the Thai, Mong, Kho Mu, and Tho ethnic groups. This area also has 252 communes, including 46 communes in area I, 112 communes in area II, 94 communes in area III and 1,175 extremely disadvantaged villages and hamlets.