Policy credit, a lever to help ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands escape poverty

Policy credit has become an effective lever for tens of thousands of ethnic minority households in Dak Nong province. Through preferential loan programs, many households have boldly invested in production, replanted crops, and developed livestock, thereby escaping poverty and stabilizing their lives.

For ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, borrowing capital for production and repaying loans is a stressful task, which has forced many households to accept poverty. However, since the Social Policy Bank established transaction offices in all districts, communes and many villages have loan groups..., low-interest policy loans have become familiar and have been very effective in the fight against hunger and poverty. Many households, thanks to this source of capital, have had a stable economy .

In mid-April, at the peak of the dry season, the durian garden intercropped with coffee of Ms. H'Sen's family, a Ma ethnic group, in Bu Sop hamlet, Dak Nia commune, Gia Nghia city, is still blooming with promising flowers. Ms. H'Sen said that the 90 durian trees in the garden and 900 replanted coffee trees were all newly planted in 2021, using a loan from the Social Policy Bank. Last year, she harvested coffee; this year, the prospect of harvesting durian is expected to improve the family's economy rapidly, and paying off the bank loan is also very easy.

“Thanks to the 90 million VND loan from the Policy Bank, the family will have income from coffee and durian by the end of this year. Without this preferential loan, the family would not be able to replant the coffee garden, as well as grow more durian to increase income. This year, a portion of the income will be paid to the bank, the rest will be reinvested,” Ms. H’Sen shared.

Ms. H'Sen in Bu Sop hamlet, Dak Nia commune, Gia Nghia city effectively uses loans from the Social Policy Bank to escape poverty. (Photo: VOV.VN)

Boldly borrowing capital and successfully producing is also the story of Mr. K'Bieng's family, in Phai Kol Pruđang hamlet, Dak Nia commune, Gia Nghia city. Mr. K'Bieng said that his family used to be in the poor group of the hamlet. Although he owned up to 2 hectares of cultivated land, due to lack of capital, he could only grow corn, cassava and cashews, so his income was very low. The turning point came to him in 2015, when he borrowed 90 million VND from the Social Policy Bank. Thanks to this capital, the family started investing in growing coffee, then developed pepper. Currently, the family has 1,000 coffee trees, 200 pepper pillars, earning several hundred million VND each year.

“This year, I harvested about 2.5 - 3 tons of coffee beans, and pepper too. I sold it for over 300 million VND. All thanks to the capital borrowed for production investment from the Policy Bank many years ago. Recently, I borrowed an additional 12 million to drill a well and buy a water tank. Thanks to that, I have a clean water source that ensures hygiene for use, and the whole family's health is good,” said Mr. K'Bieng.

Policy Bank staff guide borrowers to use capital for the right purpose and effectively. (Photo: VOV.VN)

Dak Nia is one of three suburban communes of Gia Nghia city, with 2,628 households, of which more than 56% are ethnic minorities. To help people have resources to invest in production, the Social Policy Bank has provided preferential loans to 1,538 households, with a total outstanding loan of more than 75 billion VND. Mr. Ngo Ngoc Khanh - Chairman of Dak Nia Commune People's Committee - said that thanks to policy credit, many households have not only escaped poverty but also become rich, reducing the poverty rate of the commune every year.

“People in Dak Nia commune who are poor, near-poor households and ethnic minorities with difficult lives have access to loans from the Policy Bank to invest in production development such as buying fertilizers, seeds, and seedlings for livestock and crop development. The effectiveness has increased income. The fact that many households have an income of over 62 million VND/year has helped the commune's income criteria meet and exceed the target, contributing to the socio-economic development of the locality,” Mr. Ngo Ngoc Khanh assessed.

By the end of the first quarter of 2025, Dak Nong province had nearly 71,000 households borrowing capital from the Social Policy Bank, with a total outstanding loan of nearly VND 4,800 billion, with an average loan of about VND 68 million per household. Of which, more than 24,000 households were ethnic minorities, borrowing over VND 1,655 billion. Mr. Vu Anh Duc - Deputy Director of the Social Policy Bank of Dak Nong province - said that policy credit capital has made an important contribution to sustainable poverty reduction, new rural construction and socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas, in accordance with the spirit of the Resolution of the Dak Nong Provincial Party Congress and Decree 28/2022 of the Government.

“For the poor who borrow capital from the Social Policy Bank, we implement the motto: Prepare documents at home, disburse at the commune. In each locality, there are community agricultural extension teams that go down to villages, hamlets, and communes to support social policy credit. The bank also proactively promotes to households that borrow capital with effective business models to share and replicate in the community, helping everyone learn and follow. In addition to lending, the bank always considers the effectiveness of capital use, sustainable livelihoods for the poor, and especially for local ethnic minorities,” said Mr. Vu Anh Duc.

A transaction office of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies in Dak Nong. (Photo: VOV.VN)

Policy credit has been providing practical capital, igniting confidence, creating opportunities for many poor and near-poor households, especially ethnic minority households in Dak Nong province, to rise up. From low-value fields, many families have successfully changed direction, escaped poverty, and stabilized their lives.

According to VOV.VN
https://vov.vn/kinh-te/tin-dung-chinh-sach-don-bay-giup-ba-con-dan-toc-thieu-so-tay-nguyen-thoat-ngheo-post1194073.vov

Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/tin-dung-chinh-sach-don-bay-giup-ba-con-dan-toc-thieu-so-tay-nguyen-thoat-ngheo-212936.html