Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam - Oxfam Blogs

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Participatory poverty monitoring in rural communities in Viet Nam 42 Maize seeds in Thuan Hoa-Tra Vinh From 2001 to 2009 Maize seeds for home consumption; requirement for highly intensive farming Multi-stakeholders (enterprises, cooperatives, farmers). Technical assistance; advance seeds, fertilizer Due to price volatility, enterprise could not sell products, thereby could not continue contracted farming Maize seeds in Cu Hue- Dak Lak In 2008, failed and stopped Maize seeds for domestic consumption; requirement for highly intensive farming Concentrated (Enterprise signs contracts directly with farmers). Technical assistance; support seeds The quality of seeds introduced was not good, without experiments in locality. Farmers suffered losses in time, energy and investment Peanut in Thuan Hoa-Tra Vinh From 2007 to 2008 Processed into final products for home consumption; requirement for highly intensive farming Concentrated (Enterprise signs contracts directly with farmers) Loose partnership between stakeholders: No contracts signed between enterprises and farmers in purchase of products. Price increases, farmers do not sell products to enterprises but traders It is difficult for the poor to benefit from such arrangements as it requires large scale, intensive farming that requires more labour than poor households can usually provide. The sustainability of contracted farming should be taken into consideration carefully For example, although cassava is often associated with poverty reduction it poses many risks to the poor such as soil degradation, unstable prices, and susceptibility to drought, pests and disease. Other risks In 2011 over a quarter of surveyed households suffered illness or accidents that proved costly in terms of medical costs and lost income (Table 1.6), There are many potential causes of illness at the monitoring points. Adverse weather and shortages of food and warm clothing can cause digestive and respiratory diseases, particularly in children. In flood-prone areas (Duc Huong-Ha Tinh), post-flood epidemics often break out (eye diseases, diarrhoea). Working in forests and sleeping without mosquito nets in mountainous areas increases the risk of contracting malaria (Xy-Quang Tri). Drug use is a cause of HIV/AIDS (Luong Minh-Nghe An, Thanh Xuong-Dien Bien). Strenuous physical work, insufficient food, and unsafe labour conditions can also be harmful. A lack of clean water, and drinking water that hasn’t been boiled or under cooked food is a cause of digestive diseases. Mining projects expose a threat to the local environment. Some projects have are poorly designed, badly managed and do not abide by original commitments. In Thuan Hoa-Ha Giang, for example, broken waste water tanks from a ferrous ore mining project have polluted the environment, heavy trucks have damaged inter-commune roads and the mine has taken valuable farming land. Delayed or suspended plans discourage investment. Infrastructure development projects and new commune centres (Ban Lien-Lao Cai) or district administrative centres (Thanh Xuong-Dien Bien) often affect the land and housing of many households. However, when projects are delayed households can suffer. Residents are reluctant to undertake house repairs or invest in long-term crops. Poor households in planning areas don’t even receive support for housing construction under Decision 167.
Five-year Synthesis Report Part 1: Poverty Trends and Key Themes of Rural Poverty Reduction 1.5. Gender Relations Household labour division and decision-making 43 Gender roles have not substantially changed at the monitoring points over the last five years. Gender roles are determined by culture, long-standing values, stereotypes and prejudices. Men are still expected to undertake “heavy tasks” that require “technique”, “calculation” and “social relations”. Women are generally responsible for tasks that are time-consuming and are identified as “light” or “small”. In poor households, women undertake a larger share of the labour and care for family life, preventing them from engaging fully in production and social activities. However, there are some changes among younger people. Many ethnic minority young men share house work and children care with women because they are better educated, work away from home more and have better social understanding and contacts (Ban Lien-Lao Cai, Xy-Quang Tri, Phuoc Thanh and Phuoc Dai-Ninh Thuan). Investment in infrastructure projects help reduce the labour burden for women. In Luong Minh commune-Nghe An a project to improve the water supply has reduced the distance women have to travel to fetch water. In Xy commune-Quang Tri, a new road completed in 2009 enables men to use motorbikes to carry firewood and fetch water for women. In Ban Lien commune-Lao Cai, electricity newly supplied from the national grid, allows households to use machines in production (weeding machines, tea driers) and use electric appliances (rice cookers) in the home, lessening the domestic work load for women. New household assets provide women with more leisure time. In lowland areas such as Duc Huong-Ha Tinh, Thanh Xuong-Dien Bien, Thuan Hoa-Tra Vinh, and Cu Hue- Dak Lak, more households own gas stoves and fridges. Responsibility for household decision-making varies between monitoring points. In lowland and Kinh dominated areas such as Thanh Xuong-Dien Bien, Duc Huong-Ha Tinh, and Thuan Hoa-Tra Vinh, major household decisions are based on consensus between husband and wife. Some Kinh or Kh’mer women make their own decisions regarding household affairs when their husbands are away. In remote mountainous ethnic minority areas such as Thuan Hoa-Ha Giang, Ban Lien-Lao Cai, and Luong Minh-Nghe An and Xy- Quang Tri, men still dominate household decision-making. However, over the last five years women are participating more in household affairs. In matriarchies such as the Ede in Cu Hue-Dak Lak, Raglai in Phuoc Dai and Phuoc Thanh-Ninh Thuan, women remain the dominant decision makers with regard to major events such as marriage, inheritance and the purchase of major household assets. Gender and market relations Women dominate the production and sale of high demand short-term crops and low-value products. These include cassava and vegetables in Thuan Hoa-Ha Giang, tea in Ban Lien-Lao Cai, rice and vegetables in Thanh Xuong-Dien Bien, beans and peanuts in Duc Huong-Ha Tinh, squash and bamboo shoots in Luong Minh-Nghe An, banana in Xy-Quang Tri, corn in Cu Hue-Dak Lak, beans in Phuoc Thanh-Ninh Thuan, bamboo shoots in Phuoc Dai-Ninh Thuan, and vegetables in Thuan Hoa-Tra Vinh (Figure 1.4). Men tend to dominate the production and sale of long-term crops or high value products such as buffalos, cows, pigs, coffee, pepper and tiger prawns.
Page 3: PARTICIPATORY POVERTY MONITORING IN
Page 7: PREFACE 1 7 In early 2007, Viet Nam
Page 10 and 11: ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS 10 ActionAi
Page 12 and 13: 12 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The last five
Page 14 and 15: 14 and improve monitoring and evalu
Page 16 and 17: 16 TABLE 1. The monitoring points C
Page 18 and 19: 18 transparency, and accountability
Page 20 and 21: 20 TABLE 2. Characteristics of the
Page 23: Part 1 Poverty Trends and Key Theme
Page 26 and 27: Participatory poverty monitoring in
Page 61: Part 2 Challenges to Rural Poverty
Page 92 and 93:
Participatory poverty monitoring in
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 123:
Part 3 Toward Sustainable Rural Pov
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128:
show all

Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam - Oxfam Blogs

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?