Poverty reduction - many challenges remain

(Baonghean) - Hunger eradication and poverty reduction are identified as the top priority task in the province's socio-economic development strategy. After more than 3 years of implementation, the Poverty Reduction Target Program for the 2011-2015 period has achieved initial results, helping people improve their lives. However, to improve the sustainability of poverty reduction, it is necessary to remove existing problems and difficulties...

Practical models

On September 26, 2011, the Provincial People's Committee issued a decision to promulgate the Poverty Reduction Target Program of Nghe An Province for the period 2011 - 2015 with the specific goal of striving to reduce the poverty rate of the whole province from 22.89% at the beginning of 2011 to 10% at the end of 2015, reducing the equivalent of 88,800 poor households, an average of 17,800 households per year; creating stable jobs and diversifying income-generating activities for the poor, increasing the average income per capita of poor households by 3 times compared to 2010. The solutions are to strengthen propaganda, raise awareness of poverty reduction, in which it is clearly identified that the poor themselves must strive to escape poverty, fight against the mentality of waiting and relying on the support of the State and the community; develop the socio-economy, linking job creation with sustainable poverty reduction; Implement well policies to create conditions for the poor to develop production and access social services; prioritize investment resources for poor districts according to Resolution 30a of the Government and 42 poor communes according to Decision No. 59/2010/QD-UBND dated August 12, 2010 of the Provincial People's Committee; closely coordinate between provincial departments, branches, sectors, and mass organizations with the Steering Committee of the Poverty Reduction Program at all levels to focus on directing assistance and support for poor communes and poor households...

Safe vegetable growing model in Thach Giam (Tuong Duong).

Implementing the above policy, local Party committees and authorities have taken many practical measures to support poor households such as prioritizing loans for production development, vocational training, job creation; developing and replicating poverty reduction models. For example, Ngoc Son commune - one of the mountainous communes of Quynh Luu district faces many difficulties, especially in terms of transportation and irrigation. The majority of people in the commune live on agricultural production, so their income is still low, the poverty rate in 2010 was over 10%. Mr. Nguyen Huu Bo - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said: In recent years, to help poor households develop their economy, the Party Committee and the Commune People's Committee have directed mass organizations to strengthen surveys, grasp the needs of poor households, coordinate with the Social Policy Bank to deploy preferential loans for livestock and crop development. Thanks to that, the poverty rate decreased to 6.2% in 2013.

A typical case is the family of Mr. Ho Minh Dang, one of the households with particularly difficult circumstances in Hamlet 4B, Ngoc Son Commune (Quynh Luu). In 2011, with the attention and support of the government and mass organizations, his family was able to borrow 20 million VND to develop breeding cows. Taking advantage of the available source of food from green vegetables along with guidance on science and technology, care and disease prevention from the commune veterinary staff, after 2 years, his family's livestock grew well and gave birth to two litters with a total of 3 calves. Currently, his family has sold 2 breeding cows to pay off the bank debt on time, the family continues to invest in caring for the remaining 3 calves to develop breeding, the family has escaped poverty. It is known that in recent years, Quynh Luu district has effectively implemented many poverty reduction policies such as mobilizing the "For the Poor" fund, supporting labor export, building a breeding cow bank to help poor farmers... Thanks to that, in 2013, the average poverty rate of the whole district was 9.2%, down 5.78% compared to 2010.

Going up to the West, which is a poor district 30a with limited resources, Thach Giam commune (Tuong Duong) has chosen to implement livestock and crop models suitable to the local characteristics to replicate and improve people's income. Since 2011, the commune has effectively implemented poverty reduction models such as the black pig farming model in Phong village, Mac village, Lau village, Chan village; developing buffalo and cow farming in Khe Chi village, Thach Duong village, Lau village... One of the cases of escaping poverty thanks to participating in the model is the family of Mr. Vi Duc Tuan in Mon village. Since 2011, the family has participated in raising black pigs crossbred with wild pigs and up to now, his family has about 50 pigs; in addition, there are also goats, pigeons, chickens... each year bringing in an income of 60 - 70 million VND. In addition to livestock models, the commune has also developed a safe vegetable growing model to increase income for ethnic minorities. Ms. Luong Thi Hien - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thach Giam commune said: "To successfully build this model, the district directed the sectors to mobilize, provide technical guidance and support fertilizers, provide seeds for people to grow cabbage, beans, tomatoes, etc. Although the area for these models is small, it brings in a good income, with some households earning 7 - 10 million VND per vegetable crop. Thanks to that, the poverty rate of the whole commune has decreased from nearly 30% in 2010 to 15.7% in 2013".

From 2011 to present, through poverty reduction policies supported by the Central Government, provincial mechanisms and together with the socialization of resource mobilization, Nghe An has invested over 6,978 billion VND in poverty reduction. In addition to implementing the Central Government's poverty reduction mechanisms and policies, the Provincial People's Committee has issued local mechanisms and policies such as Decision No. 59/QD-UBND dated August 12, 2010 on poverty reduction support for 42 poor communes with a poverty rate of 30% or more outside the districts benefiting from Resolution 30a; Decision 1310/QD-UBND dated April 20, 2012 on assigning 86 agencies and units to help 88 poor communes in the West... To concretize policies and guidelines on poverty reduction, departments, branches and localities have implemented propaganda to raise awareness among people, mobilize internal resources to shift economic structure, build demonstration models on production and livestock breeding, help people improve knowledge and skills in production and economic management in the agricultural sector... With the active participation of Party committees and authorities, the average annual poverty rate of the province has decreased by 3.16% (from 22.89% in 2010 to 13.4% in 2013). Particularly, poor districts according to Resolution 30a of the Government such as Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong have been invested over 353 billion VND to invest in 75 infrastructure projects (41 projects have been put into use); Nearly 120 billion VND was allocated to implement policies on supporting production development, agricultural and forestry development, land allocation, afforestation, and attracting young intellectuals. The poverty rate of these 3 districts decreased by an average of 6-7%/year.

Many challenges remain

Although the poverty reduction program in the 2011-2015 period of our province has achieved many results, there are still many difficulties. Currently, the poverty rate of the province is still higher than the national average (9.6%); the near-poor rate is still high, over 14% (equivalent to 109,342 households). The reason is that Nghe An is a province with a large area, large population, and harsh climate; the majority of poor households in the province have an unstable source of income from agricultural production; there is still a group of poor households who have the mentality of waiting and relying on the support of the State, especially in mountainous areas, remote areas.

On the other hand, in the province, there are still some localities that have not implemented poverty reduction work in a timely and effective manner; the management and operational capacity of officials to implement poverty reduction goals is still limited, especially at the commune level. For example, in Tuong Duong district, out of more than 290 poverty reduction models implemented from 2010 to present, up to 125 models had to be eliminated due to ineffectiveness. And among the nearly 170 remaining models, some models are also very precarious, such as the hybrid acacia planting model in Tam Quang, Tam Thai, Luu Kien communes...; the pink banana planting model in Tam Quang, Tam Thai, Tam Dinh, Luu Kien, Xa Luong, Nga My, Xieng My communes; porcupine farming model, free-range chicken farming, Luong Phuong chicken, black chicken, egg incubator model, beekeeping model, biogas pit model... The main reason is due to the limited capacity and sense of responsibility of agricultural extension officers, not properly assessing the practical application conditions such as climate, land, people's level, not calculating the output for the product or lacking guidance and supervision, so many implementation models are ineffective. Therefore, people return to the traditional production method of growing rice and corn, poverty alleviation is at a standstill. Not only Tuong Duong but also other mountainous districts with high poverty rates such as Ky Son, Que Phong, Con Cuong, Quy Chau... also face similar problems.

Furthermore, it can be seen that the current poverty reduction policies still have some shortcomings. Although the State's support resources are large, they are scattered, lacking focus and synchronization. Poverty reduction policies are still implemented in a leveling manner, without classifying poor households for what reason (unemployment, laziness, newly separated households, lack of capital, lack of land, lack of means of production, lack of scientific and technical knowledge, lack of human resources) ... to have appropriate and effective support measures.

To improve the effectiveness of the sustainable poverty reduction program, in the coming time, the solutions implemented by the province are to continue to further promote propaganda work, raise awareness of poverty reduction work; focus on socio-economic development, linking job creation with sustainable poverty reduction; effectively implement vocational training programs, agricultural, forestry and fishery extension, improve capacity for poverty reduction teams and key officials in poor communes; prioritize investment resources for poor districts according to Resolution 30a of the Government; continue to mobilize agencies, units, and enterprises to receive assistance and support for poor districts and communes... In particular, to further concretize poverty reduction policies, the Provincial People's Committee is currently completing the Project "Reducing poverty and improving the living standards of people in the Western and coastal regions of Nghe An province by 2020" with specific solutions: gradually attracting facilities and processing factories to the Western localities to use and consume raw materials as well as local labor; ensuring preferential policies for ethnic minorities and fishermen to feel secure in working and producing; prioritizing investment in building essential infrastructure, vocational training, and job creation to improve the lives of people in coastal areas and the Western region...

Minh Quan