Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam - Oxfam Blogs

Participatory poverty monitoring in rural communities in Viet Nam
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Other food. The poor also reduced their consumption of other foods such as instant
noodle, seasoning powder and cooking oil, turning instead to using animal fat or buying
small bags of cooking oil worth only 2,000-3,000 VND each.
Reducing other expenses. The poor also spent less on electricity, clothing, weddings
and funerals. Poor households are especially interested in the education costs, many
people have to reduce the extra classes of their children. However, no cases of poor
children dropping out from schools at the monitoring points are observed due to high
inflation.
Relevant support policies
The poor in mountainous areas who are in short of food often receive “relief rice” from
the Government prior to harvests. When prices rise, they can receive ad hoc support
under Decision 471/QD-TTg 25 . However, there are no similar policies for social assistance
recipients (under Decree 67 and Decree 13). Although most social assistance recipients
are classified as poor some people are not (people over 80 years old, handicapped
people who are unable to earn a living or care for themselves), yet face many difficulties
in the wake of price increase.
When the government readjusted the electricity price in March 2011, poor households,
and low-income households are subsidized with every poor household receiving 30,000
VND/month under Decision 268/QD-TTg 26 . Most of the poor at the monitoring points
received this assistance. But it is difficult for households who share the same electricity
meter to receive this assistance because it is unable to identify households using less
than 50 Kwh/month (without separate electricity bill for each household). An example is
Phuoc Dai commune, Ninh Thuan. Of the 123 poor households in Ta Lu 1 village, only
several households have separate electricity meters, and the rest share meters (4-5
households/meter); in Ma Hoa village only 20 of 131 poor households have separate
meters.
25 Under Decision 471/QĐ-TTg dated 30 March 2011 of the Prime Mister: the level of assistance is 250,000
VND/person for civil servants, and armed forces... that have wage coefficient of 3.0 and less; pensioners and
social insurance recipients of 2.2 million VND/month and less; and people who rendered great services to the
revolution and receive regular allowances. The level of assistance of 100.000 VND/person for recipients of
dead allowances. The level of 250,000 VND/household for poor household according to new poverty line.
26 Under Decision 268/QĐ-TTg dated 23 Feb. 2011 of the Prime Mister, households regularly use electricity
not more than 50 kWh/month can register with electricity supplier to enjoy concessional electricity price (993
VND/kWh) and poor households receive price subsidy for 50kWh/month, the level of assistance is 30,000
VND/household/month.