"In some localities, investment priorities aiming at reducing poverty have not met people's expectations". This is one of Oxfam’s conclusions on "The programme of Rapid and Sustainable Poverty Reduction for 64 poor districts" across the country, also known as 30A-Programme - the result of a independent study recently carried out by Oxfam in collaboration with the local authorities in three typical districts, namely Simacai (Lao Cai), Tuong Duong (Nghe An) and Ba To (Quang Ngai).
This study was conducted in year 2012 - 2013, based on data through a random survey of 1,440 households and local officials in districts, communes in three districts mentioned above.
The survey aimed at assessing the implementation of some key goals in some places which did not achieve the desired efficiency. Specifically, although the goal of the programme is to reduce agricultural labour to below 60 percent of the labour force (till 2015); however, the actual employment structure in agriculture in some districts have not changed much. For example, in Tuong Duong and Ba To, the number of ethnic minorities mainly worked in the sector of agriculture is 80 percent and this figure has not changed after 5 years of programme implementation.
For objectives of the Livelihood Support Programme through five major contents which are forest protection and labour export promotion, training, rice subsidies and free loan also face many challenges. In terms of the forest protection programme, in two communes: Luu Kien and Tam Quang in Tuong Duong District, there are about 3-4 percent of households enrolled in the programme, in other communes, the rate is only 0-1 percent.
With the labour export programme, 30A Programme expects to send 7,500-8,000 labourers to work abroad, equivalent to 10 people per commune. However, the survey showed that only three districts in Tuong Duong are able to achieve this goal. In Simacai district, there are an estimated only 0-3 people/ commune or in Ba To, there are three communes but none want to work abroad.
Another example is the programme for free loan. The number of households benefiting from this programme is very low, estimated at only 2 percent of households in two districts Tuong Duong and Ba To accessing to the programme.
With these figures, Oxfam is concerned about the suitability of a number of objectives and priorities of 3A Programme as well as the effectiveness of the implementation of the programme.
The study showed that a number of factors such as language, gender, or participation in social organisations may create barriers to people participating in training courses or vocational training. The training programmes or vocational training are fully conducted in Vietnamese, while there are a significant number of ethnic minorities who are not fluent in this language. The number of members of organisations such as the Women's Union, Farmers' Union, Youth Union attending training programmes is higher than those who are not members of these organizations. On the other hand, in some ethnic groups such as Hmong, the proportion of men participating in training courses is 65 percent higher than that of women.
According to the survey, like other programmes of poverty reduction, 75-80 percent of budget from 30A programme is spent on infrastructure investment. However, in some localities, investment priorities of the programme have not met people’s aspirations. For example, clean water is today a top priority, but it is not of appropriate concern and the budget for this item (in Simacai district in the period from 2009 to 2011 and plan 2014) are at the lowest level.
According to Ms Nguyen Le Hoa, Acting Director of Oxfam Vietnam, Vietnam has made great efforts to eradicate poverty and 30A programme is the one with the largest scale. However, the assessment of the appropriateness and effectiveness of these programs are still in debate.
"Through this study we hope to contribute to an independent voice, in order to improve the effectiveness of poverty reduction, ensure targets of sustainably improving lives of the poor. Oxfam also recommends reconsidering priorities and ensuring rational allocation of investment capital in sectors in accordance with needs of people", said Ms Nguyen Le Hoa.
30A Programme is a key initiative for poverty reduction in Vietnam in 64 poorest districts which was approved by the Government in 2008. During the period from 2009 to 2011, Vietnam has spent more than US$400 million for this programme; each district received an average of about US$2 million a year. Besides the above money, the programme also received additional support from state enterprises.
Quynh Anh