'Leverage' for the people of Que Phong to rise out of poverty
Thanks to funding from the National Target Program, poor and near-poor households in the border district of Que Phong are supported with seedlings and livestock, creating a "lever" to rise out of poverty.
Commitment before receiving the breeding stock.
Returning to the Hua Na hydropower resettlement area in Pieng Cu village, Tien Phong commune, Que Phong district today, the most noticeable thing is that every household has a garden full of fruit trees, vegetables, and root crops… But the greatest hope for the poor households here is that the State has just provided them with breeding cows for livestock farming, creating a “lever” for them to have the opportunity to rise out of poverty.
The family of Lo Van Thuy is one of dozens of households in Pieng Cu village that recently received a breeding cow from the government. Mr. Thuy happily shared: "My family resettled here in 2010, and our lives depend year-round on income from 1 hectare of acacia trees, 200 square meters of rice paddies, and doing odd jobs or gathering bamboo shoots in the forest. Because of this, we haven't escaped poverty yet."
In 2023, after village officials confirmed their family was on the list of those eligible for government-provided cattle, the family proceeded to build a barn and set aside a plot of land over 100 square meters on the hillside to grow elephant grass for the cows. Having received one female cow, the family was delighted and took meticulous care of it, including proper grazing and vaccination.
"The local yellow cattle breed is easy to care for, and every member of the family is conscious of taking good care of the cows so that they can grow into a herd later, which will be an opportunity for the family to escape poverty," shared Mr. Lo Van Thuy.
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According to Mr. Ha Van Phong, head of Pieng Cu village: The village has 141 households, including 60 poor households and 14 near-poor households. In 2023 and early 2024, all poor and near-poor households received breeding cows from the State. All households that received cows committed to building barns, planting grass, and taking care of them to ensure breeding, creating a leverage to escape poverty in the coming years.
“After the households received the cows, out of the 74 cows provided, 2 died due to disease. The supplier promptly provided replacement cows to the villagers. In general, the households that received cows for breeding are developing steadily,” said Mr. Ha Van Phong.
Tien Phong commune is one of the localities where hundreds of poor and near-poor households have recently been provided with breeding cows. Mr. Vo Khanh Toan, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tien Phong commune, said that the local government's approach is to focus on eradicating poverty in each village, so breeding cows are provided village by village, rather than being distributed sporadically with only a few cows to each village as before.
In addition, households receiving cattle must commit to the commune/village authorities to build barns, grow grass, and raise the cattle using a combination of grazing and confinement methods, and not to let them roam freely in the forest. They must also ensure that all recommended vaccinations are given annually as advised by the veterinary authorities.
"The purpose of distributing cattle in a centralized manner to each village is to encourage households to compete in cattle care and to learn from each other's experiences; disease prevention also becomes easier," Mr. Vo Khanh Toan shared.
In 2023, Chau Kim commune also received 93 local black pigs from the district for 31 poor and near-poor households to raise (each household received 3 pigs) from the National Target Program's funding.
Mr. Kim Ngoc Luong, Vice Chairman of the Chau Kim Commune People's Committee, said that along with providing piglets, households also received a certain amount of feed. After nearly a year of raising the pigs, although the survival rate did not reach 100%, most households showed a high level of responsibility in caring for them. The villagers utilized readily available local vegetables such as taro, sweet potato vines, and wild bananas, mixing them with rice bran and corn bran to feed the pigs daily.
“Also, using funds from the National Target Program for the period 2021-2025, the commune is currently proposing that the district provide support in the form of local cattle, chicken breeds, and Quy cinnamon trees for people to raise and cultivate. This is truly a leverage for poor and near-poor households in the commune to improve their lives and achieve stability,” said Mr. Kim Ngoc Luong.
Nearly 11 billion VND disbursed to support poor households.
According to data from the Que Phong District Agricultural Service Center, implementing sub-projects to support production development in agriculture and diversify livelihoods, and develop poverty reduction models under the National Target Program giai đoạn 2021 – 2025, in 2023 and early 2024, Que Phong district provided 806 cows, 420 pigs, 4,800 Quy ducklings, and thousands of aquatic animal breeds, macadamia trees, and Quy cinnamon trees to nearly 1,000 poor and near-poor households in communes and towns in the district for farming, cultivation, and economic development, with a total amount of nearly 11 billion VND.
Monitoring in various localities shows that most households that received seedlings and livestock demonstrated a high level of responsibility in their cultivation and breeding.
Mr. Pham Hoang Mai, Director of the Agricultural Services Center of Que Phong District, added that localities are currently proposing support for seedlings and livestock based on people's needs. Therefore, from now until the end of 2024, the district will continue to support people with funding from the National Target Program. However, in the last six months of 2024, the district's policy is to focus on supporting people in planting 600,000 Quy cinnamon trees.
With the policy of providing seedlings and livestock according to the specific wishes and proposals of the people in each locality, it is hoped that the support capital from the National Target Program for the period 2021-2025 will be a "lever" for hundreds of poor and near-poor households in the border district of Que Phong to have the opportunity to escape poverty and achieve stable lives. This is also an opportunity for the people of Que Phong to have additional income, contributing to raising the income criteria in building new rural areas. Que Phong district is striving to eliminate "blank" communes in the new rural development program in the near future.