The Impact of the Renovation Policies on the Livelihoods of ... - RCSD

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3.5.2 Health careMost case studies have no health centre or community health-care workers. In <strong>the</strong> past, sickpeople were cured by traditional healers. In recent years, sick people have received treatmentfrom health centres located at <strong>the</strong> commune or district centres. Because <strong>the</strong> health centres arelocated far from <strong>the</strong> villages, <strong>the</strong> transportation cost for sick people is high. Many poor peoplecannot afford proper medical treatment. <strong>The</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> health services and qualifications <strong>of</strong>health care workers in <strong>the</strong> commune are <strong>of</strong> poor standard. Often patients are referred to district orprovincial hospitals.As part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Renovation</strong> <strong>Policies</strong>, health services are free to poor ethnic upland people. Because<strong>the</strong> treatments are <strong>of</strong> low standard some poor patients have to pay extra money to obtain bettertreatment. <strong>The</strong> government’s policy on health services for <strong>the</strong> poor seems to have failed.3.5.3 Infrastructure• Poor transportMost <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> case study areas except Ban Cam village are located in remote upland areas where <strong>the</strong>condition <strong>of</strong> transport is very poor. Unsealed rural roads or dirt tracks link commune centres andvillages. <strong>The</strong>se villages are divided into different residential areas, 2-4 km away from each o<strong>the</strong>r,and communication between <strong>the</strong>m is by dirt tracks only. Ban Cam people communicate with <strong>the</strong>outside mainly by river boat, which is easier than walking through steep mountains. However,boat services are expensive.O<strong>the</strong>r infrastructure support such as electricity and telephone services are still not available in any<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> case study villages. However, some better-<strong>of</strong>f people can afford generators to service <strong>the</strong>irhouses.• Market access<strong>The</strong>re is no formal market within any <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> villages in any <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> case study areas. Markets arelocated some distance away at <strong>the</strong> commune centre, and are only open once a week. Access to <strong>the</strong>commune market is made difficult by poor road conditions. Villagers sell raw products and buysupplies from traders who come from towns or cities. <strong>The</strong> prices for raw products from <strong>the</strong>village are low but bought goods are expensive due to <strong>the</strong> high mark-up <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> traders and alsohigh transport costs. Villagers as local producers <strong>of</strong>ten do not have access to sufficient capital,market contacts and information nor have <strong>the</strong> technology to exploit new market opportunities.Compared with people in <strong>the</strong> lowland regions, <strong>the</strong> upland villagers are at a disadvantage in <strong>the</strong>free market economy.In some case study villages located at <strong>the</strong> tops <strong>of</strong> mountains, like Nac and Khau Qua villages,market access is even more difficult than for o<strong>the</strong>r case study villages located near <strong>the</strong> communecentre. In Khau Qua, villagers live in valley which is located on a limestone mountain. <strong>The</strong>distance from this valley to <strong>the</strong> plain land is 4-5 km. Villagers sell <strong>the</strong>ir products like maize,beans, and chickens at <strong>the</strong> bottom <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mountain which is half way to <strong>the</strong> commune market.Traders, mainly Tay people, buy <strong>the</strong> products at a much lower price than in <strong>the</strong> market. <strong>The</strong>H’Mong people in Khau Qua are aware <strong>of</strong> this but <strong>the</strong>y have no alternative.3.5.4 Credit systemIn all case study villages, access to formal sources <strong>of</strong> credit is limited. Better-<strong>of</strong>f people have cashfrom <strong>the</strong>ir own savings while poor people borrow from private sources, especially traders.Traders are an important source <strong>of</strong> credit but this ties <strong>the</strong> seller (villager) to <strong>the</strong> buyer (trader) andremoves <strong>the</strong> flexibility <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> seller to look around for a better market. Many loans are used todeal with capital shortage for family expenses, especially at <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong> food shortage before <strong>the</strong>Paper for International Conference “Critical Transitions in <strong>the</strong> Mekong Region”29-31 January, 2007, Chiang Mai18
harvesting season, or at <strong>the</strong> start <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> school year or during illness. <strong>The</strong> interest charged byprivate sources/traders is always higher than that from government sources but private sources aremore flexible and easy to access in times <strong>of</strong> need.With <strong>the</strong> land allocation process, <strong>the</strong> Government-owned Bank for Agricultural Development and<strong>the</strong> Bank for <strong>the</strong> Poor have expanded services to households for development <strong>of</strong> agriculturalproducts and forestry activities on household farms in <strong>the</strong> upland region. <strong>The</strong>se banks with manymicro-credit schemes <strong>of</strong>fer loans to <strong>the</strong> rural poor with subsidised interest rates, but poor peoplehave not been able to access <strong>the</strong> special credit programs. Credit groups have been established insome areas only and access to a loan is difficult. Bank loans are very short term and services arepoor, with considerable administrative paper work. Borrowers are required to put up <strong>the</strong>ir land orhouse as loan equity; however, most poor people cannot meet this requirement. Poor people canaccess special credit through a paper issued by commune authorities to guarantee <strong>the</strong>m, but localauthorities do not generally like to guarantee villagers who are too poor. <strong>The</strong> poorest families are<strong>of</strong>ten not able to access bank loans as <strong>the</strong>y are perceived as high risk. Most poor households stress<strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> capital to invest in multiple activities <strong>of</strong> agriculture and forestry.3.5.5 Extension servicesExtension can play a key role in facilitating farmers to utilise <strong>the</strong> full potential <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir lands.Without any external assistance, farmers find it very hard to carry on production activities on <strong>the</strong>land. Since <strong>the</strong> 1990s, a network <strong>of</strong> extension in agriculture and forestry has been establishedfrom provincial level to hamlet level to support farmers during and after <strong>the</strong> land allocationprocess. This extension system with a service package including techniques and services wasestablished to help farmers develop an appropriate cultivation system and extract higher yieldproducts on <strong>the</strong>ir own farm. Many government reports show that <strong>the</strong> extension system hascontributed to successful economic development in lowland and upland regions. However, <strong>the</strong>extension system has not reached many remote areas.In interviews, villagers in most case study areas said that <strong>the</strong>y did not benefit from <strong>the</strong>government extension system because no one has visited <strong>the</strong>m to teach or help <strong>the</strong>m. Extensionworkers prefer to visit villages which are located near town centres and have good road access.<strong>The</strong>y do not go to remote upland villages by foot. However, <strong>the</strong> renovation process givesopportunities for remote villages to receive support from international donors.3.5.6 Support from government programs/outside projects<strong>The</strong> Vietnamese government has established many programs related to poverty reduction in <strong>the</strong>nor<strong>the</strong>rn mountainous region. <strong>The</strong> objectives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se programs are to eradicate hunger, alleviatepoverty and develop education and health care for <strong>the</strong> people. Toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> governmentprograms, <strong>the</strong>re are many o<strong>the</strong>r poverty reduction programs/projects in <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn mountainousregion funded by NGOs. For example, Vau village was supported by Program 135 forresettlement and poverty reduction. Tea plantation was developed here by this program o<strong>the</strong>rwiseVau villagers would continue shifting cultivation. Tea planting has expanded at a scale muchwider than that in <strong>the</strong> early 1990s. In Nac and Khuoi Ken village, a Small Grant from aDeveloping Community Forest program launched a credit scheme to provide financial assistanceto <strong>the</strong> villagers, which has encouraged <strong>the</strong> farmers to manage <strong>the</strong> forest as an investment since2004. Most farmers in Nac received loans from <strong>the</strong> credit program for investment in forestryrelated activities. Credit is available only for inputs (such as seedlings, seeds and nurserysupplies) procured from outside <strong>the</strong> farm. However, not every poor community can benefit fromPaper for International Conference “Critical Transitions in <strong>the</strong> Mekong Region”29-31 January, 2007, Chiang Mai19
Page 1 and 2: The Impact
Page 3 and 4: authorities, central government aut
Page 5 and 6: There have been ma
Page 7 and 8: 1,000VND/person/month30020010002382
Page 9 and 10: Table 4: Criteria for different wea
Page 11 and 12: Table 7: Distribution of</s
Page 13 and 14: 10 08072.7 72.510 080Khuoi KenPac H
Page 15 and 16: Table 9: Average agricultural land
Page 17: (Thai Nguyen province), 12.4% in Ba
Page 21 and 22: people per household is 3.5. With l
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