Many shortcomings from poverty reduction policies in mountainous areas

Participating in the discussion on the morning of July 21 at the 15th session of the 17th term People's Council of Nghe An province, term 2016-2021, many delegates spent time reflecting on the shortcomings related to labor and employment associated with forest livelihoods of mountainous ethnic minorities.

Ancient sa mu trees in the protective forest of Luu Kien commune (Tuong Duong). Photo: Dao Tuan

3 "best" things of mountainous areas

The biggest problem, according to delegate Luc Thi Lien, is the degraded transportation and irrigation systems without timely investment. The problem of domestic water and electricity, especially in remote areas, is still a big gap.

Delegate Luc Thi Lien cited: The quality of jobs and income of workers in mountainous areas is still low. According to the report on poverty reduction results in 2019, Nghe An has 41,041 poor households, equivalent to a rate of 4.11%. However, in mountainous areas, this rate accounts for 81.16%, equivalent to 33,307 households (excluding Thai Hoa town). This is a reality that the province needs to consider to have specific solutions.

Delegate Luc Thi Lien (Quy Chau unit) gave her opinion during the discussion. Photo: Thanh Cuong

According to this delegate, the mountainous region has three best qualities: the largest land area, the most forest and hydropower resources, but the poorest. Therefore, the question is what is the quality of jobs and income of the mountainous people? Currently, the mountainous population accounts for about 36.34%, the labor force is about 36.27% compared to the whole Nghe An province. Forest cover in Western Nghe An accounts for 75-80%. The province's goal is that the mountainous people can live off forestry and sustainably reduce poverty. With this goal, some districts have registered to exit Program 30a. However, there is no mention of any specific solutions to achieve this goal.

In reality, the current investment mechanism and policy for the mountainous areas of the province is focusing 80% on infrastructure investment, while support for production development only reaches 20%. Therefore, there needs to be a more specific policy in supporting investment in developing mountainous areas.

Also related to the issue of labor and employment in mountainous areas, the province has long set an annual target of vocational training and job creation for 37,000-38,000 workers through vocational training centers. However, the quality of employment is low. According to the draft Political Report of the 19th Provincial Party Congress, the issue of employment and income in mountainous areas is one of the key tasks set to narrow the gap with the plains.

Scene of the discussion. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Nghe An currently has up to 65 vocational training facilities including colleges, intermediate schools and vocational education centers. However, the facilities of the facilities are still very limited, there is a shortage of teachers, only 3/11 vocational education centers in the districts (mountainous areas) have invested in equipment.

What to do to create livelihoods from forests?

Regarding forest management and protection associated with creating models and livelihoods based on forest resources for mountainous areas, Ms. Luc Thi Lien expressed: “The Forest Protection Management Boards and Forest Rangers are under the management of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, but when the issue of responsibility in case of forest fires occurs, it is assigned to the People's Committees of the districts. This is not strict, and there needs to be a regulation on forest protection coordination between forest owners, forest rangers and local forces.

Regarding the policy of building economic models based on forest resources, it is recommended to have strict management of forest areas, and at the same time, there must be solutions to convert poor and ineffective forests. Departments, branches and localities need to have specific policies to develop livestock, invest in expanding the area of ​​fruit trees and specialty trees to create products from forests.

Nurturing and processing yellow flower tea in Que Phong district. Photo: Lam Tung

The province also needs to stipulate specific reward policies for households and forest owners who do a good job of protecting forests. Regarding the policy of supporting funding for forest protection, Nghe An needs 405 billion VND per year, but currently only has more than 170 billion VND (of which the central budget is 71.5 billion VND and the cost of forest environmental services is 98.8 billion VND) and the demand is only met 42%.

“So how will the remaining 68% of the population live, while the funding source under Decree 75 has been discussed a lot but has not been resolved. To support the people, we suggest reviewing the costs of forest environmental services more closely, specifically, and closely,” added Ms. Luc Thi Lien.