Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam - Oxfam Blogs

Five-year Synthesis Report
Part 3: Toward Sustainable Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam
Part 3: Toward Sustainable Rural
Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam
Rural poverty monitoring initiative, round 5, 2011 summarizes poverty trends in the last
five years (2007-2011) at the monitoring points, at the same time study more carefully
key challenges to rural poverty reduction in the coming period. Recommendations for
discussion are made in this report with the hope to contribute to suggesting changes
on approaches to sustainable poverty reduction in rural areas in the 2011-2020 period.
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9. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DISCUSSION
9.1. Achievements and challenges to rural poverty reduction
The last five years (2007-2011) has been a difficult period for Viet Nam. High
inflation, the global financial crisis and economic recession, natural disasters and
epidemics have affected the lives of everybody in Viet Nam, particularly the poor.
Nevertheless, the poverty rate continues to decline. Major Government investments
have provided the poor with improved infrastructure, education, health care, access
to credit, agro-forestry extension services and housing improvements. Improved living
standards at the monitoring points are associated with strategies to combine agriculture
(land-based diversification and intensification), non-agriculture (including labour mobility)
and investment in children’s education.
The recorded achievements are remarkable, yet rural poverty reduction remains a
challenge. Poverty reduction rates are uneven in rural areas. The poverty rate among
ethnic minority groups remains stubbornly high, particularly in remote mountainous
areas. In such situations, it is more important to close the widening poverty gap
between regions, ethnic groups and within communities .
A multi-dimensional poverty analysis is essential. Across the monitoring points
people’s lives have improved in many respects. People own more property (mainly
housing, motorbikes, and livestock) and have improved access to information (TV,
telephones). However, many people face difficult living conditions (safe water, latrines),
have limited access to markets, have little opportunity of non-agricultural employment
and struggle to manage the many risks they face. The percentage of households that
are predominantly engaged in agriculture remains high, and remains a significant
indicator of household poverty. Food shortages between harvests or during epidemics
and natural disasters remains a significant challenge. Gender roles remain the same
today as in 2007, and women still do not play an active role in productive and social
activities. The proportion of women in administration is still low and their capacities at
local administrative levels are limited. In communities in which different social groups
have specific difficulties it is important to tailor policies to each group.
Developing social security systems is a major challenge. Policy coverage is limited,
the level of assistance is low, targeting is imperfect and often inadequate and local
capacity to implement social policies is weak. Recipient households are identified using
a list of poor households. However, the different needs of vulnerable households vary
considerably and are not recorded in the list, making more nuanced policy difficult.