Supporting coastal communes to escape poverty and achieve new rural standards.

Under the decisive and close guidance of the Steering Committee for Poverty Reduction at all levels, many projects and policies under the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Thua Thien Hue province for the period 2021-2025 have gradually been implemented. The concretization of resolutions, projects, and plans on poverty reduction is gradually improving people's lives, enhancing the social landscape, and moving towards realizing the goal of building Thua Thien Hue province into a centrally-governed city, as stipulated in Resolution 54 of the Politburo .

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Mr. Ho Tien has been taking very good care of the breeding cow that the government has provided, and now it is about to give birth to a calf for him.

Reclaiming barren land for the poor to grow grass and raise cattle.

Having lived in Thanh Huong Lam village (Dien Huong commune, Phong Dien district, Thua Thien Hue province) for over three generations, Mr. Ho Tien (73 years old) has come to the conclusion that his homeland is a "mountain-surrounded, water-covered" area, with white sand dunes surrounding it, and scorching hot summers. The sandy, barren soil means very few crops can thrive in this coastal area. Therefore, the lives of the people here are difficult and arduous. To help the people of Thanh Huong Lam in particular, and Dien Huong commune in general, overcome poverty, the State has provided many resources, including seedlings and livestock, over the years, including support for Mr. Tien's family (a near-poor household). Accordingly, in September 2022, Mr. Tien's family was approved by the commune's Sustainable Poverty Reduction Steering Committee to receive support in the form of a breeding cow and feed to develop a livelihood model.

Leading us to see the cow, which was provided by the government and is now pregnant and preparing to give birth to a calf, Mr. Tien admitted to being quite "lucky" in livestock farming. "When we first received the cow, I don't know what it ate, but it developed a swollen stomach, and everyone thought it wouldn't survive. I took a chance and gave it a bottle of beer to drink. Unexpectedly, after passing gas, it recovered its health. Not only that, after months of diligent care, my family's cow is now preparing to give birth to its first calf. My family is truly grateful to the Party and the State for providing capital and connecting us with a place to buy the cow. Otherwise, I wouldn't know where to get such a large sum of money to buy it. Meanwhile, my wife is constantly ill, spending more time in the hospital than at home, and my children have their own families and are facing many difficulties and unstable jobs," Mr. Tien said, stroking the breeding cow, which he considers his most valuable asset.

Mr. Tien went to find food for the cows.

Speaking about the feed for his cows, Mr. Tien said that, like many people in the village, his family has set aside 2 sao (approximately 2,000 square meters) of land to grow grass. This is a local weed that grows vigorously and quickly on sandy soil, making it very suitable as feed for buffaloes and cows. In addition, his family also stores straw to feed the cows during the rainy and stormy seasons. Another encouraging thing is that despite their age, Mr. and Mrs. Tien are still very diligent and hardworking in their garden, growing various vegetables, and recently bought 200 turtle hatchlings to try raising them. "As long as we have the strength, we will keep working. Who knows, maybe God will bless us with more income; we can't depend on anyone else," Mr. Tien confided.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Hung, head of Thanh Huong Lam village, said that the village has 246 households. From 2015 to the present, through national target programs and other resources, the State has supported the village with many projects, seedlings, and livestock to help people develop livelihood models, especially breeding cattle. Most recently, from the capital of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction giai đoạn 2021 - 2025, the Thanh Huong Lam village community center has been repaired and upgraded, ensuring that people have a place to organize community activities. “Thanks to state-supported projects, the number of poor households in Thanh Huong Lam village has decreased sharply from 30 in 2015 to 19 at the end of 2022, and the number of near-poor households is also 19. The majority are elderly, single-parent households who are no longer able to work. By the end of 2023, Thanh Huong Lam aims to reduce the number of poor households by 4, leaving 15. In addition, many young people in the village have gone to work outside the province or abroad under contract, sending money back to their families to help them overcome difficulties,” Mr. Hung said.

The coastal commune is now different.

Mr. Thai Duy Khanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Huong commune, said that Dien Huong is one of the seven coastal communes in Thua Thien Hue province designated for poverty reduction in the 2021-2025 period. According to the poverty assessment results at the end of 2022 (based on the poverty standard for the 2022-2025 period), Dien Huong commune has 58 poor households/91 people, accounting for 6.06%; and 73 near-poor households/168 people, accounting for 7.63%. Among the 58 poor households in 2023, 50 are elderly people living alone. The commune aims to reduce the poverty rate to 4.91% by the end of 2023 (corresponding to a reduction of 11 households); and to 36 households by 2025, reducing the poverty rate to 3.90%. According to Mr. Khanh, over the years, the Dien Huong commune government has paid great attention to poverty reduction and alleviation, regularly caring for poor and near-poor households in the area. Using various resources, Dien Huong has supported poor and near-poor households in eliminating temporary housing, diversifying livelihood models, providing vocational training, creating jobs, and sending workers abroad, thereby helping people increase their income, access basic social services, and gradually achieve sustainable poverty alleviation.

The "Grass Planting with Irrigation System" project in the Tram Bang area was initiated by the Dien Huong Commune People's Committee, which reclaimed the land and allocated it to local residents for implementation.

Mr. Khanh added that Dien Huong focuses on selecting livelihood models suitable to local conditions to support people, especially models of breeding cattle, fattening beef cattle, and high-quality breeding cattle. To date, Dien Huong commune has a total cattle herd of 689 head. Of these, through the breeding cattle model funded by the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction, the State has supported 115 breeding cows for poor, near-poor, and newly-escaped-from-poverty households in Dien Huong commune. "Cattle farming makes a significant contribution to increasing people's income. One mother cow giving birth to one calf can bring in an average of 10-15 million VND per year," Mr. Khanh affirmed.

According to the Vice Chairman of the Dien Huong Commune People's Committee, to proactively secure a source of animal feed for the people, the Commune People's Committee has reclaimed more than 2 hectares of barren land in the Tram Bang area to implement the "Grass Planting with Irrigation System" project. Currently, the project has 19 participating households, prioritizing those participating in the poverty reduction program, thereby proactively securing feed for cattle and contributing to the development and improvement of the cattle herd quality. In addition, households also grow grass in their home gardens and on difficult-to-cultivate plots of land to proactively secure animal feed, covering an area of about 4 hectares. Furthermore, after each harvest, the people also prepare dry feed for cattle during the rainy and cold season by stockpiling straw, rice stalks, potato starch, cassava starch, etc.

The community center in Thanh Huong Lam village is now spacious, clean, and beautiful after being renovated with funding from the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction.

Besides the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction, Dien Huong commune also promotes the National Target Program for New Rural Development. From 2012 to the present, along with state budget funds, the commune People's Committee and various departments and organizations have also promoted and mobilized social resources to invest in infrastructure serving production and daily life of the people, with a total expenditure of over 97.625 billion VND. As a result, the rural landscape has improved significantly, and the lives of the people have been enhanced.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Luong, Head of the Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Department of Phong Dien district, in accordance with the policies, resolutions, and plans of the Party and State, sustainable poverty reduction in the locality has been implemented decisively, strictly, and effectively, combining many solutions, thereby achieving positive results. In 2022, 272 poor households (0.94%) were lifted out of poverty, exceeding the target by 72 households. Phong Dien strives to reduce the number of poor households to 553 by the end of 2025, a rate of 1.65%, achieving the target set by Resolution 11/NQ/TU of the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Party Committee. In particular, Phong Dien district is currently focusing resources on the two coastal communes of Dien Huong and Phong Chuong, as well as Phong Son commune, to help these localities achieve the goal of becoming new rural communes.

Students in the coastal area of Dien Huong now have more outdoor recreational and fitness areas thanks to targeted resources.

It is known that during the period 2021-2025, Thua Thien Hue province has 7 particularly disadvantaged communes in the coastal areas, including: Phong Chuong, Dien Huong (Phong Dien); Phu Gia, Phu Dien (Phu Vang); Loc Binh, Loc Vinh, Giang Hai (Phu Loc). Currently, Thua Thien Hue province is also prioritizing investment in essential infrastructure, livelihood support, vocational training, and job creation for people in this area to help them escape poverty sustainably.

THAO VI

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