New source of livelihood for highland people

Step by step change

This season, after the rains, in My Thanh, the only road leading to the commune also witnessed many groups of people hunting for wild bamboo shoots, the sound of laughter and calling to each other echoed... More than 20 years ago, when I first started my career, it must be said that when mentioning My Thanh, at least I mentioned the road to get to the commune center, passing through streams with flowing water, which could sweep away both motorbikes and people, every time the water from the source poured in.

My Thanh was very difficult at that time. The most difficult among the neighboring communes such as Ham Thanh and Ham Can. My Thanh was isolated in the depths of the forest. But My Thanh has gradually changed. Today's changes are linked to national target programs on poverty reduction, giving My Thanh a fresher coat, becoming a necessary bright spot.

To get to My Thanh now, you no longer have to wade through streams, but go over a sturdy concrete bridge, on a flat asphalt road all the way to the destination. My Thanh is a bit lucky, when there are many programs, support for poor households, poor people, social security policies are fully and promptly implemented to help the poor reduce difficulties, thereby creating conditions to find jobs, increase income, improve family life. In one of the most difficult times, after two epidemics passed, when everyone, especially ethnic minorities, was still struggling to stabilize their lives, the project to support breeding cows was born, also part of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction, as a key to help people feel more confident.

The "target" herd of cows

*The "target" cows are herded every day like the property of the poor.*

37 ethnic households were supported, including 10 breeding cows for 10 poor households in the commune with a capital of 185 million VND invested by the Commune People's Committee. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development was the investor with a capital of 391 million VND to support 22 cows and the Department of Labor was the investor with a capital of 80 million VND to support 5 cows. Up to now, the cows are still well cared for and nourished by households and waiting for the day of the first breeding.

The small house made of woven bamboo sticks, rickety, is located close to the road of Mr. Hoang Van Trong (village 2, My Thanh). For the past few years, his family has been living on corn fields, but it is also unstable, with good harvests and bad harvests. Mr. Trong recalls: "When the local government supported the cow to breed, my wife and I were very happy." It has been almost a year since we received the cow, and we are happy because it is healthy, disease-free, and grows quickly. My wife and I are very grateful for the government's support for our family during the most difficult time, giving us more motivation to work to raise our children and educate them."

Nguyen Thi Lai's family is one of the households participating in the project. Without any land for production, the family is also struggling in poverty. "It's been almost a year, it's still healthy and I take good care of it. In the dry season, there's no grass so we can go further, in the rainy season it's a bit easier. Not only do we have to take the cow out to graze, we have to keep an eye on it for fear of destroying other people's fields, and partly because we're looking forward to the next generation" - said Ms. Lai. Every day, rain or shine, she takes the cow out to graze, taking care of the family's "goal", waiting for the day to welcome a new "member".

My Thanh is now more favorable, infrastructure serving production, people's lives are being invested in and gradually improved with more appropriate policies to help the poor feel secure in production and develop their family economy . According to the commune officials in charge of poverty reduction, the results of the investigation and review of poor and near-poor households at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023: 171 poor households/549 people, accounting for 66.02%. Near-poor households: 29 households/103 people, accounting for 11.19%. 14 households escaped poverty/51 people. Poor and near-poor households are mostly ethnic minorities, the main cause of poverty is the lack of basic services, mainly in terms of employment, dependency ratio, housing quality, toilets and some other basic services.

*The road to My Thanh has been concreted all the way to the commune.*

Belief in escaping poverty

With My Thanh's goal, 23 households will escape poverty by 2023, even though they have not yet received support from production development and sustainable poverty reduction programs. This is also the true hidden strength in the potential of ethnic minorities.

*Mr. Hoang Van Trong takes care of his "capital" to escape poverty every day.*

Secretary of the My Thanh Commune Party Committee, Mr. Hoang Ngoc Tuong, shared about this project: “This is a meaningful project for the people because it has created stable employment conditions, gradually surpassed the minimum living standard, helped families reduce poverty sustainably. Supporting cows also helps people be proactive in raising livestock, improve their skills, and gradually master the application of science and technology in raising livestock. Although it has not been a year yet, and has faced many difficulties, the project has helped people overcome many difficulties to maintain their "capital" and take good care of them every day. During that process, the local government also monitored and promptly supported the people when necessary so that they could have confidence in implementing the project to focus on raising livestock, developing the economy, thereby having more opportunities to escape poverty”. If My Thanh wants to become a bright spot in escaping poverty, it still needs a lot of resources from the central government and the provincial budget to support. My Thanh is a locality specializing in seasonal agricultural production, so economic development is still difficult. More importantly, to make My Thanh a bright spot, it is necessary to create conditions for poor households to learn a trade, borrow preferential credit from the Social Policy Bank, transfer technology and guide how to do business, develop production, and improve their material and spiritual life. They, the people of the mountains and forests, have better access to social policies, programs and projects on poverty reduction, ensuring poverty reduction and more sustainability in the future.

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