Farmers Support Fund: Helping members escape poverty effectively

(Baonghean) - Over the past years, the Farmers Support Fund has helped thousands of households in the province borrow capital at preferential interest rates, invest in business, contribute to the restructuring of the agricultural and rural economy, gradually improve the lives of farmer members to create more internal strength in mobilizing to build new rural areas...

In May 2012, from the Central Farmers' Support Fund of 1.3 billion VND, 60 households in 4 communes of Dien Ngoc, Dien Xuan, Dien Phong, Dien Binh (Dien Chau) were able to borrow capital to invest in seafood processing and breeding sows. Taking us to visit his family's breeding pig model, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoa (Dien Binh commune) shared: "Although the loan capital from the Fund is only a few tens of millions of VND per household, for my family it is a valuable condition to continue investing in production and breeding. In mid-2012, when the breeding industry encountered difficulties in capital, the family had to sell off the herd of sows.

After receiving a loan from the Farmers Support Fund, my family focused on investing in buying food and medicine to prevent diseases for the pigs; at the same time, by participating in the pig breeding project, we were trained in disease prevention for livestock, exchanged and learned farming experiences from many other households in the area. Thanks to that, my family's pig farming has grown more and more. In the first 6 months of 2014, my family earned over 25 million VND from selling piglets"... According to the calculation of Mr. Bui Van Khuyen - Vice Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Dien Chau district, after 1 loan cycle (2 years), 60 households in the district participating in the farmer support fund projects all earned an interest amount 2 - 2.5 times higher than the initial loan capital.

Seafood processing in Dien Ngoc commune (Dien Chau).

Also in 2012, receiving capital from the Farmers' Support Fund, 65 farming households in 3 communes of Nghi Long, Nghi Trung and Nghi Van (Nghi Loc) borrowed a total of 1.1 billion VND to develop breeding of Sind crossbred cows and raising porcupines; on average, each household borrowed from 12 to 30 million VND. After more than 2 years of receiving capital, the cows of households participating in the project all gave birth to 1-2 calves, which means that raising a Sind crossbred cow on average earned a profit of more than 20 million VND per year. Summing up a loan cycle of 65 households in Nghi Loc, there was a net profit of about 1.6 billion VND. Households participating in the project all had a common comment: Compared with traditional yellow cow breeding, raising Sind crossbred cows has many outstanding advantages such as not being picky eaters, having few diseases, growing quickly, and having a large, beautiful appearance, so they are more popular in the market...

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ha - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nghi Long commune said: Many families have bred 1-2 more cows to raise and some households have sold 2 litters, earning nearly 50 million VND. Households participating in the project all used the loan capital for the right purpose, promoted the efficiency of capital, knew how to calculate in production and business, and the biggest benefit was helping them with methods and ways to change their awareness and behavior, contributing significantly to the movement of hunger eradication and poverty reduction. Currently, after the project ended, the locality is mobilizing union members to build a fund to support farmers at the grassroots level to create capital to develop livestock farming in a sustainable direction."

With the goal of having more and more farmer members escape poverty and become rich thanks to capital from the Farmers' Support Fund, the Provincial Farmers' Association has focused on mobilizing capital in many forms to build and develop the fund. As of July 31, 2014, the total capital of the Farmers' Support Fund managed by all levels of the provincial Farmers' Association is 24,924,174,000 VND; of which the central government's entrusted capital is 10,500,000,000 billion VND, the provincial budget annually provides 12 billion VND (the additional source in 2012 is 10 billion VND, in 2013 is 1 billion VND, in 2014 is 1 billion VND), the district-level capital directly built and managed is 1,070,000,000 VND. With the Central Union's entrusted resources, it has focused on implementing at 26 union bases for 430 households to borrow, of which 19 projects with a total loan capital of 7.1 billion VND have been rotated for the second time; the provincial budget has lent at 38 union bases with 598 households to borrow, currently there are 17 projects with a total loan capital of 4.4 billion VND have been rotated for the second time; the district-level fund has managed to build 27 models at 27 union bases in 14 districts for 100 households to borrow.

From the first cycle loan projects, the number of cows increased by 500 (450 breeding cows, 50 beef cows), the estimated value reached 6,948 million VND, the total number of sows increased by 10,325, the value reached 6,600 million VND. The shrimp farming model increased by 15,828 kg, fish sauce processing increased by 10,000 liters; civil carpentry with income value reached 2.4 billion VND... In order to promote efficiency, after disbursing capital to implement project models, farmers' associations at all levels coordinated to organize training courses to transfer science and technology, methods of raising, planting, and preventing pests and diseases for crops and livestock so that the capital when reaching the people is most effective. At the same time, inspection and guidance on the use of capital are conducted to avoid misuse.

From the initial results of the models using loans from the Farmers' Support Fund, it shows that although the capital is not much (from 15 - 30 million VND/household), it has created conditions for members of the Farmers' Association to build and replicate economic development models, contributing to the transformation of the rural economy. Many localities have formed clubs and cooperatives, in which there is a close connection between member households in the production and consumption process such as: using the same type of seeds, animal feed, sharing experiences, methods... to help reduce production costs. Most households that receive loans voluntarily contribute to the Farmers' Support Fund mobilized by the commune level from 50,000 - 100,000 VND/year, contributing to capital growth, creating conditions for other farming households to borrow capital to develop production.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Nhi - Chairman of the Provincial Farmers' Association said: Since 1996, the Farmers' Support Fund has been established and put into operation, affirming the milestone of innovation in the association's operation methods, laying the foundation and creating direct resources to promote farmers' movements. In particular, since implementing the project to innovate and improve operational efficiency (2011-2020 period), the fund has fundamentally innovated the method of supporting farmers, which is to borrow capital to develop production and business according to the project model (instead of borrowing by household or small household group) to build and replicate models of association, cooperation, household groups, farms, small enterprises; Focusing mainly on implementing the core criteria of the new rural construction program, which is to create jobs, increase income, improve the lives of members and farmers... Through the activities of projects borrowing capital from the support fund, it has positively impacted the awareness of local Party committees and authorities towards the farmers' association. At the same time, it has created favorable conditions for associations at all levels to promote activities, propaganda, gather farmers, and successfully implement economic development programs.

Ngoc Anh