Doan Ket Commune develops from a sustainable livelihood model

In late June, we arrived at Doan Ket commune (Da Bac), the fresh air amidst the vast forests seemed to dispel some of the harshness of the land that is difficult all year round. In Long hamlet - one of the most difficult hamlets in the commune, Ms. Lo Thi Tam was busy taking care of her buffalo that had just given birth to her second litter. On her sunburnt face was a bright smile of a woman who had just crossed the "poor household" threshold with her family...

Effectively implementing national target programs, the rural and mountainous appearance of Doan Ket commune has many positive changes.

The difficult place is changing strongly

Ms. Lo Thi Tam recalls: Before, my family had no land, no capital, and no labor because my parents were old and weak, and we had several small children. The whole family could only survive on forest products and a small amount of rice fields. But for several years, natural disasters occurred, and the fields were buried by rocks and soil, making our poverty-stricken life even more precarious...

Then, in 2023, Ms. Tam's family received support for a breeding buffalo from the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas (DTTS&MN). After only 1 year, the buffalo gave birth to 2 litters. Thanks to good care, her family has more resources to develop the economy and escape poverty, becoming a near-poor household in the commune.

Also from this program, in early 2024, Mr. Xa Van Duc in Cang hamlet and Ms. Ha Thi Quyet in Lam hamlet were supported with 3 breeding goats each. Up to now, the family's goat herd has grown to 8-9 goats. Not only does it improve income, but raising goats also opens up a sustainable direction for households in difficult circumstances in the commune.

Ms. Ha Thi Quyet shared: In the past, my family and many other families in the commune only relied on the forest, exploiting forest products to sustain their lives. Now that we have goats and buffaloes, we want to learn more about how to care for and breed them to improve our lives, step by step, to be self-reliant and escape poverty.

According to comrade Luong Van Vinh, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, Doan Ket is a particularly difficult highland commune of the district. The commune is located about 50 km from the district center, with terrain divided by high mountains and steep hills. The total natural area is about 4,120 hectares, of which agricultural land accounts for only 13.26%, the rest is mostly protective forest land, steep slopes, difficult to cultivate. The whole commune has 728 households with 3,256 people, living in 6 hamlets, including: Khem, Cang, Lam, Long, Ken, Tham Luong. The Tay ethnic group accounts for 78%, the rest are Dao (18.9%), Kinh (2.1%) and Muong (1%). The people's economy mainly relies on agricultural and forestry production. Therefore, life is still difficult, the rate of poor and near-poor households accounts for more than 70%. Of which, there are 347 poor households and 248 near-poor households.

Effectiveness of national target programs

Based on those difficult conditions, over the past years, the Doan Ket commune government has actively implemented the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas. The commune People's Committee has proactively reviewed the needs of each hamlet and household, especially in particularly difficult areas, to select appropriate investment models and forms. "In particular, we are particularly interested in livelihood models supporting the development of breeding buffalo, cows, and goats, because that is the shortest way to help people sustainably escape poverty" - said Mr. Luong Van Vinh, Vice Chairman of the Doan Ket Commune People's Committee.

From the allocated capital, in 2023, the commune supported 33 breeding buffaloes for 33 households and provided 200 breeding goats for 100 households. After more than 1 year, most of the supported households have risen up, many of which have escaped poverty. Continuing that result, in 2024, the commune proposed and received funding to support an additional 54 breeding cows for 54 households and 220 goats for 74 other households. In addition to livestock support, households benefiting from the program and project also received technical training, care instructions, disease prevention and breeding. One of the most obvious changes is that people's economic development thinking has changed. From only relying on support from the State, people want to rise up by their own strength. Many people also borrowed capital to invest in expanding the scale of livestock farming. Not only supporting livestock, the Program also invests in supporting the construction of essential infrastructure works serving production and life such as hardening the road of Bua Pet production area in Khem hamlet, the main road in Long hamlet, the inner village road in Cang hamlet... Besides, 218 poor and near-poor households in all 6 hamlets of the commune are also supported with domestic water tanks, contributing to improving environmental sanitation, ensuring a minimum living standard. In particular, the project "Supporting the development of production according to the value chain of medicinal plant growing areas" is also being implemented, promising to open up new directions for people in Doan Ket with a focus on linking people's livelihoods with commodity production.

Looking back on the past journey, from a commune with a poverty and near-poor household rate of up to 2/3, Doan Ket has now made a strong transformation from effective livelihood models. The herds of buffalo and goats growing every day are the clearest proof of the efforts of the local Party Committee and government to "leave no one behind" and the awareness and efforts to rise up from hardship of each person.

MH

Source: https://baohoabinh.com.vn/12/202502/Xa-Doan-Ket-phat-trientu-mo-hinh-sinh-ke-ben-vung.htm