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

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