Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam - Oxfam Blogs

Five-year Synthesis Report
Part 1: Poverty Trends and Key Themes of Rural Poverty Reduction
More ethnic minority women participate in buying and selling than five years ago.
The main reasons are improvements in infrastructure, communication and information;
the emergence of more markets, shops, and street vendors; and improved education for
young ethnic minority women.
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In Xy commune-Quang Tri a new asphalted road (completed in 2009) running through
the commune brought an increase in the number of shops and street vendors in the
commune, providing Van Kieu women with opportunities to access markets. More
women now understand and play a role in managing household finances.
In Ban Lien-Lao Cai, ethnic minority women take are more involved in buying and selling.
In 2007, H’Mong men often kept money and undertook transactions. However, by 2011
many H’Mong women knew how to keep money and sell and buy small things worth
less than 100,000 VND. In Tay villages, in 2008, Ban Lien market, established in the
commune centre, helped improve the market participation (Box 1.9).
BOX 1.9. Impacts of the newly built market on women in Ban Lien
commune
Ban Lien (Bac Ha, Lao Cai) is a remote commune. Before 2007, women had little contact
with the outside world. Since 2008, Ban Lien market has provided opportunities for
women in the commune:
• Women spend less time going to market: “In the past, we had to walk to Bac Ha
in the middle of the night, lighting torches, as flashlights were not available, and
the road was difficult to walk. Today it is very convenient, buying and selling in the
commune. If we have money we can buy everything. Fish and meat are available
every day”.
• People have more opportunity to buy and sell products: “In the past, there was
only a butcher. He forced us to sell tea to him at a low price while selling meat to
us at high price. Now that the market is established, there are more traders and
we can sell our tea at a higher price and meat, seasoning powder, and soap is
cheaper”.
• Women can sell many products in the market: “In the past households with surplus
vegetables gave them away as they could not be sold. Today, they can sell in the
market to new households who are not yet able to grow vegetables”.
• Increasing accessibility to market information of women: “Today women can
update information very quickly. People talk to each other: “I can sell tea at a
price of 50,000 VND while you only sold it for 40,000 VND “. We know what prices
are doing”.
• Improving capacity of communication and calculation of women: “Now only
women go to the market. Women can take hold of more money because they sell
tea at the market. Some, who did not know about money, now know about it. At
the market we can talk to each other more and more”.
Domestic violence
There are fewer cases of physical violence at all monitoring points. In 2007,
in communes such as Thuan Hoa-Tra Vinh, Phuoc Thanh, Phuoc Dai-Ninh Thuan, Xy-
Quang Tri and Cu Hue-Dak Lak, domestic violence was common. In some cases women
required medical treatment. By 2011, local people and officials agreed that physical
violence was on the decline, with fewer cases brought to the commune headquarters for
settlement. In Pa Dong village, Thanh Xuong commune, Dien Bien in 2008, 6 domestic
violence cases were brought to the commune for settlement. In 2011, there was only
one case. In Cu Hue, Dak Lak, there were nine cases of domestic violence cases in 2009
and none in 2011. Similarly, in Thuan Hoa, Tra Vinh, there were seven recorded cases in
2007 and none in 2011.