Eliminate "gaps" in infrastructure.
For a remote, impoverished commune like Thang Mo, the biggest obstacle to poverty reduction is not only food and clothing but also a lack of information and production knowledge. Outdated farming practices and a self-sufficient mindset, passed down through generations, stem partly from the limited access of local people to new scientific and technological advancements or government support policies. Recognizing this, the local Party committee and government have determined that to reduce economic poverty, the first priority is to reduce information poverty.
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| Modern public address systems have been installed in the villages and hamlets of Thang Mo commune, making a positive contribution to information poverty reduction at the grassroots level. |
Over the past period, using integrated funding from national target programs for sustainable poverty reduction and ethnic minorities and mountainous areas, Thang Mo has focused its resources on investing heavily in grassroots communication infrastructure. According to the report of the Commune People's Committee, in the period 2021-2025, the locality mobilized and integrated funds to invest in the construction and upgrading of 13 village cultural houses with a total cost of over 12 billion VND.
Alongside cultural institutions, the broadcasting system is also comprehensively covered with modern loudspeaker clusters in more than 30 villages and hamlets. In central locations, densely populated areas, and village cultural centers, visual propaganda panels promoting poverty reduction and new rural development goals are erected uniformly, ensuring that information is not only "heard" but also "seen" in a direct and easily understandable way.
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| Members of the community digital technology team guide residents of Thang Mo commune on using smartphones to access and learn about livestock farming and crop cultivation. |
Notably, the modernization of information infrastructure in Thang Mo did not stop at mere news broadcasts on loudspeakers. The locality proactively coordinated closely with the Tuyen Quang Newspaper and Radio and Television to create news articles and reports that closely reflect real-life situations. Stories of real people and events about exemplary individuals who escaped poverty, and successful models of high-value specialty livestock farming, were conveyed in vivid and accessible language, making it easy for ethnic minority people to understand, learn from, and emulate.
Digitizing Livelihoods
Furthermore, the emergence of community-based digital technology groups is seen as an "extended arm" bringing policies, guidelines, and technology directly to households. Instead of waiting for people to seek them out, members of these groups go door-to-door to guide residents on how to transform their smartphones, which were previously only used for making calls, into useful tools for production and transactions.
In Ban Ruong village, the sight of members of the community digital technology team patiently guiding residents in scanning QR codes, accessing online public service portals, or installing digital banking applications has become familiar. Beyond assisting with administrative procedures and preferential loan applications, the team also plays a crucial role in guiding and supporting poor and near-poor households in accessing online production and livestock farming techniques.
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| Residents of Thang Mo commune are being guided on how to access online public services. |
Mr. Phang Ngoc Thuc, village head and member of the community digital technology team in Ban Ruong village, shared: "At first, the villagers were very hesitant, saying that the phone was complicated and they didn't know how to use it. The team members had to be patient, sitting down with the villagers, showing them each button, how to access the internet to find videos on how to raise local black pigs to grow quickly, and how to prevent diseases in goats. When they saw the advantages and benefits of digital technology firsthand, the villagers were enthusiastic and proactively sought out information to learn on their own."
The combination of local loudspeaker announcements, thematic reports, and direct guidance from the community digital technology team has created significant changes in people's awareness. Many poor and near-poor households, after grasping information about livelihood development support policies, have boldly approached commune officials to register for participation. With preferential loans from banks and national target programs supporting plant and animal breeding, many families have proactively invested in commercial livestock farming models suitable to local advantages, such as raising mountain goats, fattening breeding cattle, and raising bio-secure black pigs.
Mr. Giang Minh Tuan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thang Mo commune, affirmed: Eradicating information poverty is the key to paving the way for sustainable economic poverty eradication. The transformation in the mindset and practices of the people in recent times shows that the locality is on the right track. In the coming time, the commune will continue to maintain and improve the quality of operation of community digital technology groups, prioritizing the application of digital technology in connecting agricultural product consumption, and determined to make digital technology the main driving force to help the ethnic people of Thang Mo break through and rise up.
To date, the commune's poverty reduction efforts have shown very positive results, with the number of poor households decreasing to 1,319. Although the overall poverty rate remains high (over 50%), the most valuable aspect is that the "flame" of aspiration and self-reliance to escape poverty has truly been ignited.
Text and photos: Ly Thu
Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/xa-hoi/202605/khi-cong-nghe-so-ve-voi-ban-lang-0863c83/
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