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

1000VND/person/month3002001000176128235192260Vau Nac Ban Cam Khau Qua Pac Han KhuoiKenProduction forest Special use forest Protection forest150Figure 3: Average monthly income per person in <strong>the</strong> six case studies<strong>The</strong>re are considerable differences in <strong>the</strong> average monthly income per person in <strong>the</strong> different casestudy areas. Average income per person per month is very low; 128,000 VND in Nac, 171,000VND in Vau, and 150,000 VND in Khuoi Ken while it is much higher, at 260,000 VND in PacHan, 253,000 VND in Ban Cam and 192,000 VND in Khau Qua (see Figure 3). According to <strong>the</strong>government’s new criterion for classification <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> poor, only Pac Han and Ban Cam villageshave an average monthly income per person above <strong>the</strong> poverty threshold. Each villager in Nacearns an equivalent <strong>of</strong> only 26 US cents per day.In <strong>the</strong> early 1990s, <strong>the</strong> average income <strong>of</strong> people in Thai Nguyen province, which is located nearHanoi, was higher than that <strong>of</strong> Bac Kan and Cao Bang. After ten years <strong>of</strong> renovation, <strong>the</strong> income<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people in Bac Kan and Cao Bang has improved considerably and in 2005 <strong>the</strong> averageincome is higher than that in Thai Nguyen (Figure 3). <strong>The</strong> main reason is that upland people inThai Nguyen have fewer valuable resources, suffer more competition in <strong>the</strong> markets, have highpopulations and no longer receive a subsidy from <strong>the</strong> government, while upland people in BacKan and Cao Bang have more available natural resources with a special subsidy (e.g. school fees,credit program, seed supply) from <strong>the</strong> government.• Income in different wealth ranking groups<strong>The</strong> average income discussed above does not show <strong>the</strong> full picture <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> incomes <strong>of</strong> differenthousehold groups under <strong>the</strong> new free market system. <strong>The</strong>refore, income in different wealthranking groups is more informative. Three wealth ranking groups (very poor, poor and better-<strong>of</strong>f)are identified and classified based on local criteria, given in Table 4.Paper for International Conference “Critical Transitions in <strong>the</strong> Mekong Region”29-31 January, 2007, Chiang Mai8