Supporting households newly escaped from poverty

QTO - Escaping poverty is a difficult journey, but avoiding falling back into poverty is even more difficult. Fortunately, on this journey, households always have the Provincial Social Policy Bank (CSXH) to accompany them, promptly supporting preferential loans for them to invest in production and business, striving to become rich sustainably.

Mr. Hoang Van Vi (born in 1976), in Vinh Phuoc village, Nam Gianh commune, has had access to preferential credit programs since 2016. With the active support of Ba Don Social Policy Bank staff, he and his wife were able to borrow capital to invest in breeding cows. Over time, the herd of cows has grown healthier and healthier, thanks to which, Mr. Vi has an additional source of stable income and gradually escaped poverty by the end of 2022.

“At that time, besides the happiness of successfully escaping poverty, my wife and I were also worried because from now on we would no longer enjoy preferential policies for the poor. While struggling to find capital to develop our breeding cow model, I was fortunate to be introduced by an officer of the Ba Don Social Policy Bank about the loan program for newly escaped poor households. This source of capital was truly a “springboard” for my wife and I to escape poverty sustainably,” Mr. Vi recalled. After receiving the disbursement of 100 million VND, he invested most of it in breeding animals and building barns for the cows.

Ms. Nguyen's pepper growing model has been expanded thanks to preferential capital from the credit program for households newly escaping poverty - Photo: TP

Excitedly sharing with us, Mr. Vi said that from the first cows, up to now, he and his wife have raised and sold 10 cows. He is currently taking care of a mother cow and a calf, continuing with the new cycle of raising. In addition to raising cows, Mr. Vi and his wife also raise chickens and pigs; the couple also do other jobs. Currently, he and his wife have an income of over 150 million VND/year, their children are fully educated, and he himself is no longer worried about falling back into poverty.

Director of Ba Don Social Policy Bank Hoang Anh Toan said that Mr. Vi's case is just one of thousands of customers who have access to loans for newly escaped poverty households, with a total outstanding loan balance of nearly 223 billion VND. In recent times, to make preferential capital sources effective, the unit has closely coordinated with localities to actively promote new policies on preferential credit for people; the network of entrusted organizations, management boards, savings and loan groups have reviewed each customer in need of loans. Thereby helping many households avoid the risk of falling back into poverty.

The family of Ms. Bui Thi Nguyen (born in 1975), in Tay village, Cua Tung commune, escaped poverty thanks to the effective use of loans from the Bank for Social Policies. By September 2023, she continued to borrow 90 million VND from the credit program for newly escaped-poverty households, invested in crops, and expanded the family's pepper growing area to 200 trees, equivalent to 3 sao of pepper. Along with that, taking advantage of the local red soil, she planted many short-term crops, such as Nem, cassava, corn, taro, peanuts... to increase income. Thanks to that, each year, these economic models bring her an income of about 100 million VND.

“My husband passed away, so I had to take care of the family alone, so it was very difficult. Luckily, the Vinh Linh Social Policy Bank provided timely capital support with low interest rates and long loan terms, which helped me feel secure in investing in production and developing the family economy,” Ms. Nguyen confided.

The timely deployment of preferential capital has helped many newly escaped poverty families develop their economies - Photo: TP

According to statistics in the whole province, the credit program for newly escaped poor households has provided preferential capital to 19,018 customers, with a total outstanding loan balance of nearly 1,316 billion VND. In fact, compared to poor and near-poor households, newly escaped poor households have better ability to manage and use loan capital due to their previous experience in using preferential loans. However, if they are not supported in time, they still face the risk of falling back into poverty at any time.

Director of the Provincial Social Policy Bank Tran Duc Xuan Huong said that the credit program for newly escaped poor households, established in 2015, is one of the humane decisions of the State. Not creating a mentality of dependence, this policy encourages people to be proactive, helping them to be responsible in using capital effectively, both repaying debts on time and reinvesting in production. Unlike commercial loans, the credit program for newly escaped poor households has a maximum loan amount of up to 100 million VND, a term of 5 years, with simple and quick loan documents and procedures. In addition to loans, the system of savings and loan groups plays a bridging role, accompanying people from the time of making documents, consulting on capital use to repaying debts on time. Thanks to that, capital not only goes to the right people but is also used properly. “Practice shows that if we only stop at supporting people to escape poverty, the risk of falling back into poverty is always lurking when there are natural disasters, epidemics or unexpected events. Therefore, supporting newly escaped households is the solution to ensure sustainability in multidimensional poverty reduction,” Ms. Huong said.

Truc Phuong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/kinh-te/202510/tiep-suc-cho-ho-moi-thoat-ngheo-a434367/