A district in Lai Chau escapes poverty thanks to livelihood diversification

Phong Tho district has implemented many solutions, focusing on diversifying livelihoods for people to escape poverty sustainably and in many dimensions. The district aims to reduce the poverty rate to 32.5% by 2024, and strive to be out of the list of poor districts by 2025.

Phong Tho is the northernmost border district of Lai Chau province, with terrain mainly covered by mountains and forests, agricultural land accounts for only 10% of the area. The majority of local people are ethnic minorities, with limited education and awareness. The poverty rate of the district by the end of the year was 43.8%, and will remain at 37.9% in 2023.

Phong Tho district sustainable poverty reduction

Implementing the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in 2024 and the policy of Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee on supporting Phong Tho district to escape from the extremely difficult situation in the period of 2022-2025, the District People's Committee has set many goals and solutions, in which the district is determined to get out of the list of poor districts by 2025.

Specifically, the multidimensional poverty rate in Phong Tho district in 2024 is estimated to decrease by over 5.4% compared to 2023, down to 32.5% and strives to reduce the poverty rate of the district to approximately 27% by 2025.

To realize the goals, in parallel with supporting investment in infrastructure development and providing basic social services including: roads, schools, medical facilities, irrigation works, bridges, and electricity infrastructure to ensure meeting people's needs, one of the fundamental solutions proposed by the district leaders is to focus on diversifying livelihoods, creating jobs and stable income for the poor.

Thanks to overseas labor, many households in Phong Tho have escaped poverty.

The district has implemented support for building and developing poverty reduction models, supporting production development, entrepreneurship, and business start-ups based on local strengths in communes and towns.

With various resources, 375 households in poor communes of Ma Li Pho, Huoi Luong, Muong So, and Khong Lao have been supported by the district to develop the production of arrowroot and taro according to the value chain with a total amount of over 2.1 billion VND; 1,902 poor and near-poor households have been supported with seedlings (arrowroot, taro, fruit trees), mini plows and harrows under the Sustainable Poverty Reduction Program with a total cost of over 24 billion VND.

Hundreds of households were supported to plant new tea, fruit trees, orchids, produce commercial rice, raise bees, and build concentrated barns. The implementation of production development has created key local products, initially forming value chains linking production; forming a number of concentrated production areas, with increasing production value.

Thanks to hard work, a household in Phong Tho district has escaped poverty.

Not only focusing on supporting livelihoods through developing cultivation and livestock, Phong Tho district also mobilized many resources to lend 1,146 workers to solve employment problems, and 313 workers to borrow for labor export.

In 2024, the district connected, consulted, provided career orientation, developed labor market information, and supported finding sustainable jobs for 1,000 workers (including sending 50 or more workers to work abroad under contract) with stable income.

Continuing to promote the work that has been done to complete the set goals, the district will implement synchronous solutions, focusing on key investments, prioritizing support for poor ethnic minority households, poor households with members who have contributed to the revolution, and children and women in poor households. In addition, the district continues to pay attention to and attract investment to develop industries and handicrafts with potential and advantages...

In 2024, Phong Tho district was assigned a total budget from the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction of more than 144.7 billion VND. The Project on Diversifying Livelihoods and Developing Poverty Reduction Models of the District under the program was assigned a central budget capital of more than 12.4 billion VND, equivalent to 8.59% of the total budget.

Vu Diep

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/mot-huyen-o-lai-chau-thoat-ngheo-nho-da-dang-hoa-sinh-ke-2356603.html