Policy credit capital: Economic "leverage" to help people escape poverty

Receiving us in a spacious, fully-furnished stilt house, Mr. Ksor Hoa (Suoi Cam hamlet, Chu Drang commune) said: Before, when building their own family, the assets of the couple were only a temporary house and 3 sao of land to grow cassava. Without investment capital and lack of understanding of farming techniques, the harvest was not much.

Mr. Ksor Hoa (Suoi Cam hamlet, Chu Drang commune) watering and taking care of the tobacco seedlings garden in preparation for the next crop. **Photo: Minh Phuong**

In 2016, after attending training courses on technology transfer and directly visiting and learning from effective economic models, he boldly borrowed 30 million VND from the District Social Policy Bank Transaction Office to invest in production. With capital in hand, he bought 2 breeding cows and used the money from selling calves to rent land to invest in tobacco cultivation.

Thanks to his hard work and thrift, he quickly paid off his debt and accumulated capital to invest in expanding farming and livestock farming. Currently, his family has 2.5 hectares of tobacco. Thanks to favorable weather and proper care, the yield is estimated at 4 tons/ha. With the current selling price of 65-70 thousand VND/kg of dry tobacco, after deducting expenses, Mr. Ksor Hoa's family is estimated to earn over 200 million VND.

Similarly, in 2018, Mr. Ksor Blip (Du village, Chu Rcam commune) also "started a business" with a capital of 30 million VND borrowed from the Transaction Office of the District Social Policy Bank. When he had the capital in hand, he bought cows, goats and used a part to invest in fertilizer to take care of cassava plants. To date, Mr. Blip's family has paid off all the debt and still has a herd of more than ten cows, 3 hectares of cassava and 2 hectares of cashew.

Mr. Blip said: “Thanks to the investment capital to buy fertilizer to care for crops, productivity has increased significantly. I hope that many poor households will be able to borrow capital to invest in production development, rising up to escape poverty sustainably.”

As for Mr. Nie Nguyen (Ngol hamlet, Uar commune), he said: In 2018, when his family's economic situation was at a standstill, he was supported with a loan of 40 million VND from the District Social Policy Bank Transaction Office. "From this loan, I initially bought 3 breeding cows. After the cows bred, I sold some calves to get money to buy more land to grow cassava and rice. Currently, each year after deducting investment costs, my family earns more than 100 million VND and has escaped poverty," said Mr. Nguyen.

Thanks to preferential capital from the District Social Policy Bank Transaction Office, Mr. Nie Nguyen (Ngol hamlet, Uar commune) has risen above poverty and become a well-off household in the hamlet. **Photo: Minh Phuong**

According to Ms. Tran Thi Thu Thanh - Vice President of the Farmers' Association of Krong Pa district: Up to now, the total outstanding debt managed by the Farmers' Association at all levels in the district has reached 131 billion VND with 3,322 households borrowing capital at 57 Savings and Loan Groups in communes and towns. From 2023-2024, 72 farmer members will escape poverty thanks to this preferential capital source.

The Vice Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Krong Pa district affirmed: "Policy credit capital is not only a boost to help many households overcome difficulties but also becomes a "midwife" for people to invest in livestock, crop cultivation, and family economic development. In particular, many poor and near-poor households have now risen out of poverty, many households are well-off. Therefore, the Farmers' Association of the district will continue to accompany and support people in accessing capital, guiding them to use capital for the right purpose, effectively, contributing to sustainable poverty reduction."

Talking to reporters, Ms. Phung Thi To Trinh - Director of the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Krong Pa district - said: In recent years, the unit has developed plans and proactively implemented policy credit programs for poor and near-poor households in the district.

Up to now, the total outstanding debt of the unit's policy credit programs is over 553 billion VND with 11,435 households still having outstanding debt at 240 Savings and Loan Groups; the average outstanding debt is over 48 million VND/household. Of which, the total outstanding debt of ethnic minority households is over 440 billion VND with 8,084 households.

Thanks to policy credit capital, from 2020 to now, the whole district of Krong Pa has had 1,570 households escape poverty, helping 1,621 workers find jobs, building 3,882 toilets and a number of clean water facilities; lending money to 9 students to go to school, helping poor ethnic minority households eliminate 81 dilapidated houses.

“Policy credit capital has played an important role in pushing back “black credit”, accelerating the progress towards the new rural finish line in communes and helping poor and near-poor households and policy beneficiaries feel secure in production and economic development, contributing significantly to poverty reduction in the area,” Ms. Trinh affirmed.