Efforts to increase income for ethnic minorities and mountainous areas

With the goal of narrowing the gap in living standards and average income of ethnic minority and mountainous people compared to the province's average, the province has recently focused on implementing many support programs and projects. Thanks to that, the lives of ethnic minority people have gradually improved, and the face of rural mountainous areas has changed a lot.

Narrowing the income gap

Vinh Phuc currently has 11 communes in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas. In 2017, the average income was only 3.5 million VND/person/month. The ethnic minority and mountainous areas of the province were previously known as areas with low starting points, low and simple production levels, mainly relying on agricultural production.

The model of workers' boarding house and grocery business of Ms. Truong Thi Hang's family, a San Diu ethnic group, in Trung My commune (Binh Xuyen) brings in an income of 25 - 30 million VND/month. Photo: The Hung

However, in recent times, ethnic programs and policies in the province have been implemented promptly and effectively, helping to improve the appearance of rural areas in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, and significantly improve the lives of ethnic minorities.

Currently, the province no longer has particularly difficult communes, the socio-economic situation of ethnic minority areas basically meets development requirements; the structure has shifted in accordance with the reality and production level of the ethnic minorities. The synchronous investment and construction of infrastructure and technology has contributed to promoting socio-economic development and improving people's lives.

In Trung My commune, a locality with 58% ethnic minorities, it used to be known as one of the poor communes of Binh Xuyen district. However, up to now, the lives of ethnic minorities in Trung My have changed significantly.

Owning one of the largest boarding houses in the commune with 36 rooms, Ms. Truong Thi Hang, a San Diu ethnic, Trung Mau village shared: “In the past, in addition to farming, I also worked as a factory worker and trader to earn extra income. However, my income was still low, only 3-4 million VND/month.

In 2022, realizing the sharp increase in accommodation demand after Ba Thien 2 Industrial Park came into operation, my family boldly invested in building 36 rooms. Although it has only been officially in operation for more than a year, the room occupancy rate regularly reaches 70 - 80%. At times, all the rooms are even full of tenants. Income from renting out the house is currently quite stable, at 25 - 30 million VND/month."

With the guidance and facilitation of local authorities, more and more effective economic models of ethnic minorities in Central America have been developed and replicated, such as raising chickens, growing black grapes, renting out houses, providing entertainment services, etc.

In 2023, the average income of people in Trung My commune will reach over 56 million VND/person, an increase of 15.4% in 2022. Mr. Luu Van Thanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Trung My commune, said: "Currently, the commune government is focusing on exploiting the potential strengths of the locality, especially the strengths of landscapes, spiritual relics and cultural identities of ethnic minorities to develop tourism. Thereby creating jobs and increasing income for people in the commune in general and ethnic minorities in particular."

With the attention of the province and the will of self-reliance of ethnic minorities in hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and economic development, the average income per capita of ethnic minorities and mountainous areas has increased significantly in recent years, reaching 51.6 million VND/person by the end of 2022, an increase of more than 1.2 times compared to 2020 (reaching 48 million VND/person). In 2023, this figure will continue to increase to 53.9 million VND/person.

Support for sustainable livelihoods

In the plan to implement the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas in Vinh Phuc Province for the period 2022 - 2025, the Provincial People's Committee has identified the goal of exploiting the potential and advantages of ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the province, promoting economic development, narrowing the gap in living standards and average income of ethnic minority and mountainous areas compared to the general average of the province.

The black grape growing model of Mr. Luu Van Hai's family, a San Diu ethnic group, Trung My commune (Binh Xuyen) brings in hundreds of millions of VND/year in income. Photo: The Hung

According to the annual plan, the province will support each commune to build 1 model/project for concentrated pig farming (the provincial budget supports 50% of the cost, not exceeding 3 billion VND/model), 1 model/project for growing fruit trees or safe vegetables (the provincial budget supports 70%, not exceeding 3 billion VND/model).

At the same time, support each commune with 1-3 models/projects to start a business in production, business, processing, and product consumption activities to create livelihoods and promote sustainable development in ethnic minority areas.

From the province's support, in 2023, in 11 communes of ethnic minority and mountainous areas, 8 products participated in the evaluation and classification of OCOP products and achieved quality of 3 stars or higher, bringing the total number of OCOP products in ethnic minority and mountainous areas to 22 products.

At the same time, there are 3 models of production development according to the value chain in Minh Quang commune and Dai Dinh town (Tam Dao) registered for support, including 2 models of fruit tree planting and 1 model of safe vegetable planting.

Currently, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is coordinating with the People's Committee of Tam Dao district to continue implementing and guiding households participating in the model, learning about guiding documents and implementation mechanisms.

In addition to developing agricultural and forestry production, promoting the potential and strengths of regions to produce goods according to the value chain, vocational training and job creation for ethnic minority and mountainous workers continue to receive attention. Implemented in the province's vocational training program in 2023, the whole province has organized vocational training for more than 230 ethnic minority people.

The effective implementation of the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas in Vinh Phuc Province for the period 2022 - 2025, together with the province's support mechanisms and policies, has been creating great momentum to promote localities in ethnic minority and mountainous areas to exploit their potential strengths in production development, create jobs and increase people's income, striving to increase the average income of ethnic minority and mountainous people in 2025 by over 1.5 times compared to 2021, in accordance with the set plan targets.

Nguyen Huong

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