Chieng Hac strives to build a new rural area.

Following the merger, Chiềng Hặc commune now has a large geographical area with 41 villages and a population of over 18,000 people. The dispersed population, underdeveloped infrastructure, high poverty rate, and limited investment resources pose significant challenges in the process of building a new rural area in the locality. The Party Committee, government, and people of Chiềng Hặc commune are actively implementing various solutions to gradually overcome these difficulties, progressively improve the criteria, and strive to achieve the new rural area standard by 2030.

The appearance of the new rural area in Chiềng Hặc commune has undergone many changes. (Photo: Hoàng Giang)

Mr. Cao Xuan Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chieng Hac commune, said: The commune's Party Committee and government have determined that building new rural areas is not just about completing infrastructure, but more importantly, about creating consensus among the people and developing internal resources right from the grassroots. Along with the support of the State, the commune actively promotes internal resources, mobilizing people to contribute labor and money to build rural roads, improve the environmental landscape, and create facilities serving the people's needs; creating a new look for the villages in the journey of building livable rural areas.

The road leading to Cang village used to become muddy and slippery every rainy season. In 2025, when the local authorities began paving the road with concrete, Mr. Lo Van Lan from Cang village voluntarily donated over 2,000 square meters of land to expand the inter-village road. Not only Mr. Lan's family, but many other households also readily cut down trees, moved fences, and contributed their labor to the road construction. Mr. Lo Van Lan shared: "Before, travel was difficult, and everyone in the village longed for a new road. When the local authorities launched the new rural road construction program, my family also voluntarily donated land to expand the road. Now, the concrete road is clean and beautiful, making travel more convenient for the villagers, and transporting agricultural products is easier, so everyone is happy."

The road in Cang village, Chieng Hac commune, has been paved with concrete, making travel more convenient for the local people.

Thanks to the consensus of the villagers, the nearly 5km long inter-village road leading to Cang village has now been paved with concrete. Besides donating land and contributing labor to the road construction, the villagers also contributed over 120 million VND to install 54 solar-powered streetlights. These lights not only make it easier for people to travel at night but also enhance the appearance of the village.

During the period 2020-2025, the former communes of Chiềng Hặc, Mường Lựm, and Tú Nang (now Chiềng Hặc commune) intensified their efforts in disseminating information and mobilizing people to participate in the construction, upgrading, and repair of 18 inter-village and intra-village roads with a total length of over 18km and a total cost of more than 33.6 billion VND. Of this, the people contributed over 2.3 billion VND, donated thousands of square meters of land, and provided labor. To date, the entire commune has 65.4km of roads that have been asphalted or concreted, accounting for 60%.

Besides mobilizing the people's efforts in infrastructure development, Chiềng Hặc commune also focuses on economic development and increasing people's income. Identifying crop cultivation and livestock farming as strengths, the local authorities have directed villages to encourage people to diversify crop structures, develop commodity production, and apply appropriate scientific and technical methods to the conditions of each region. To date, the entire commune maintains nearly 3,200 hectares of fruit trees, mainly mangoes, bananas, longan, and plums, with an annual output of over 20,000 tons; the total livestock and poultry population reaches over 100,000 animals. Along with this, the commune has created conditions for people to access capital for production development. Through entrusted organizations and credit institutions, more than 3,000 households have received loans with a total outstanding debt of over 150 billion VND. With these loans, many households have boldly diversified their crop structures, gradually increasing their income.

In 2021, Mr. Ha Van Phong's family in Na Nga village received a loan of 100 million VND, which they used to convert 2 hectares of land previously used for growing corn and cassava to planting green-skinned mangoes. After 5 years of care, the mango trees have begun to yield a stable harvest, bringing high economic efficiency. To date, his family earns 120 million VND annually. Mr. Ha Van Phong shared: "Previously, my family mainly grew corn and cassava, so the income was unstable. After being given the opportunity to borrow capital for production development, my family switched to growing green-skinned mangoes. Now, the trees are growing well, yielding higher economic returns, and our family's life is gradually becoming more stable than before."

This is the result of more than 5 years of crop restructuring by the family of Mr. Ha Van Phong in Na Nga village.

With the motto "Where agriculture develops, cooperatives develop," Chiềng Hặc commune focuses on developing cooperatives to link production and support product consumption for the people. To date, the entire commune has established 8 agricultural cooperatives operating in the fields of fruit tree cultivation, livestock farming, and agricultural services. Through these cooperatives, many households have gradually changed their production methods, linked along the value chain, improved the quality of agricultural products, and expanded their markets, aiming for the export of the local area's key products.

Ms. Quang Thi La, Director of Na Nga Agricultural Cooperative in Chieng Hac commune, informed: The cooperative collaborates with villages and households to produce according to VietGAP standards. Currently, the cooperative purchases an average of 30 tons of mangoes daily for export to the Chinese market. The processing and packaging process also creates seasonal jobs for about 20 local workers, contributing to increasing people's income and stabilizing the economy.

Despite the achievements, the journey of building new rural areas in Chiềng Hặc still faces many difficulties. A review shows that the locality currently only meets 7 out of 19 criteria according to the set of criteria for new rural communes in the 2021-2025 period, including: irrigation; electricity; rural commercial infrastructure; education and training; information and communication; and national defense and security. The entire commune still has 29 out of 41 particularly disadvantaged villages; average income is approximately 28 million VND/person/year; and the poverty rate remains at 13.9%. In the face of these difficulties, Chiềng Hặc commune is continuing to mobilize resources to invest in essential infrastructure, develop production, increase income, and promote the leading role of the people in building new rural areas.

With the determination of the Party committee and the government, along with the consensus of the people, Chieng Hac is gradually overcoming difficulties and fulfilling the targets and criteria in building new rural areas. From roads widened through the collective efforts of the people to economic models that are gradually yielding results, not only is the face of the rural area changing, but it is also creating more confidence for the people and the government to continue writing the journey of building livable rural areas.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/nong-thon-moi/chieng-hac-no-luc-xay-dung-nong-thon-moi-XdRwgbJDg.html