Addressing the issue of land scarcity for production among people in mountainous areas.

(Baonghean) - For many years, mountainous districts have faced a shortage of land for production, primarily due to lax land management. Since the transition to a new management mechanism, agricultural and forestry farms and youth volunteer brigades have been leasing forest land and orchards to workers' families on a long-term basis, but without completing the procedures for granting land use rights as stipulated in the Land Law.

Forest land has become the private property of workers' families; buying, selling, and transferring it are not strictly regulated, and many agricultural and forestry workers and Youth Volunteer Corps members have become forest owners. The allocation of forest land is also not strictly managed; many people without household registration in the area are still allocated tens of hectares of forest land to build farms. Therefore, people in mountainous areas are increasingly lacking land for production.

Due to a lack of arable land, some ethnic minority groups have reverted to nomadic farming practices, leading to social ills and further backward living conditions. People from the lowlands who migrate to mountainous areas for work and life lack arable land, hindering economic development. While the government has implemented numerous policies to support economic development and improve the lives of people in mountainous regions, the lack of arable land prevents these support efforts from being effective. The New Rural Development program in mountainous areas struggles to meet its criteria if people lack arable land and the government lacks land for constructing public welfare facilities.

This is a very difficult and complex problem, requiring comprehensive solutions. From the overall socio-economic development plan for Western Nghe An, long-term land use plans must be developed for each district, commune, and economic zone in the mountainous region; based on this, land use plans should be developed for each agricultural and forestry farm and Youth Volunteer Brigade. The mechanism for allocating forest land and orchards to workers, forestry farms, and Youth Volunteer Brigades must be changed to grant long-term land use rights to the right recipients, according to the standards stipulated in the Land Law. Currently, most of the forest land in Western Nghe An is managed by agricultural and forestry farms and Youth Volunteer Brigades, but its exploitation and use are inefficient and do not match its potential.

A comprehensive land inventory must be conducted for each agricultural and forestry farm and Youth Volunteer Brigade. Based on this inventory, clear regulations should be established defining who is eligible for long-term land use rights with specific quotas. Cases of land allocation to the wrong recipients or not in accordance with planning must be resolutely reclaimed and reallocated to people who lack land for production. The situation of mountainous people lacking land for production cannot continue while agricultural and forestry farms and Youth Volunteer Brigades are exploiting land inefficiently, and local authorities have not yet allocated land for production to the people. This negatively impacts people's lives and hinders the socio-economic development of western Nghe An province.

TRAN HONG CO