Changing the difficulty of commodity thinking for people
In early October, we went to Cao Loc commune - a "new" commune that was just established on July 1st on the basis of merging three particularly difficult communes: Loc Yen, Thanh Loa and Thach Dan.
Mr. Hua Anh Tuan (left of photo) - Chairman of Cao Loc Commune People's Committee discussed with households about growing orange trees on the difficult land of Cao Loc. Photo: Hoang Tinh
Cao Loc Commune is a mountainous border commune with an area of nearly 104 km2, a population of 6,920 people (99% are ethnic minorities), 12/13 villages are in particularly difficult situations, currently the commune has 92 poor households (accounting for 5.93%) and 250 near-poor households (11.16%).
Along with perfecting and stabilizing the organizational apparatus according to the 2-level government model, an important task that the entire political system of Cao Loc commune is focusing on is sustainable poverty reduction activities.
Talking to us, Mr. Hua Anh Tuan - Chairman of Cao Loc Commune People's Committee, did not hide the local difficulties and shared: Cao Loc's poverty is not due to lack of land or lack of agricultural production potential, but the difficulty is how to change the mindset and way of thinking of the people, which is to only raise and grow for food, not for sale.
“Therefore, after coming into operation from July 1, Cao Loc commune has established a Steering Committee for Poverty Reduction and assigned specific tasks. The Steering Committee assigns poverty reduction orientations to villages and implements the State's policies for poor households. At the same time, the commune assigns organizations to help households escape poverty by 2025, aiming to reduce the rate of poor households and limit re-poverty according to the Resolution of the Party Committee and the People's Council of the commune,” said Mr. Tuan.
Cao Loc commune has strengths in growing crops (forests, fruit trees) and raising livestock (hill chickens, stream ducks, buffaloes, cows, pigs)... but there is a story that when someone orders a few dozen chickens, a few ducks or a few dozen kilograms of fruit to make goods, they absolutely cannot meet the demand. Because the mindset of the people is only to raise and grow enough to eat, not to produce goods.
Cao Loc commune will proactively exploit its potential strengths in agricultural production to improve people's lives.
That "self-sufficient" mindset is the biggest obstacle. Therefore, when the commune encourages people to grow crops and raise livestock in combination with businesses and cooperatives that commit to consuming all products, people are not interested in implementing it.
This reality shows that if we do not "shake up" our thinking, all support policies and all capital flows will hardly be effective. People will still be stuck in a vicious circle: having land and labor but still poor, because they do not dare to produce on a large scale and do not believe in getting rich from their own land.
Building economic locomotives
Immediately after the merger, Cao Loc commune organized training and implemented a review of poor and near-poor households, identifying households working in agriculture, forestry and fishery. This will be the basis for correctly assessing the current state of people's lives, thereby promptly and effectively implementing social security policies and sustainable poverty reduction programs of the Party and State.
Successful economic development models in agricultural production in Cao Loc commune will be typical examples for people to learn from. Photo: Hoang Tinh
To untie the "bottleneck" in people's thinking, the Cao Loc Commune Poverty Reduction Steering Committee has determined that it is necessary to change the way of doing things and thinking. Instead of general calls, the commune has focused on the strategy of "showing, feeding" - that is, building successful "locomotive" models right in the locality so that people can "see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears" and then follow suit themselves.
First, Cao Loc commune organized delegations to visit and learn experiences in getting rich from agriculture in many places. The commune organized to send village chiefs to Bac Son, Chi Lang areas... to learn about economic development models in agriculture. From those trips, the leaders in the villages returned and had a different mindset about developing plants and animals with high economic value.
Next, Cao Loc commune focused on supporting existing effective economic models in the locality, turning them into local "lighthouses". Such as the model of Mr. Ly Van Lung (nearly 1,000 orange and tangerine trees with an income of over 200 million VND/year) in Ban Hec village; Mr. Lanh Van Tu in Ban Rooc village (with 300 peach trees and 400 plum trees also with an income of over 100 million VND)...
Cao Loc Commune also aims to help people convert the area from ineffective, low-value crops to growing key fruit trees such as persimmons, tangerines, oranges, peaches, etc.
Along with that, Cao Loc commune also promotes the establishment of Cooperatives and Cooperatives. On that basis, the commune will proactively coordinate with the provincial departments in opening training classes, supporting seeds, fertilizers, capital... When the cooperatives operate effectively, 3-4 cooperatives will combine to form a Cooperative. The Cooperative will be the legal entity that signs contracts with businesses, people only need to produce, not worry about output, that will be a sustainable direction in poverty reduction.
Leaving Cao Loc when the afternoon sun was setting on the hillsides, we understood that the "war" against poverty in this "new" commune was still extremely difficult. As Mr. Tuan said, "The difficulties outweigh the advantages, because changing the mindset of an entire generation is not something that can be done overnight."
But with a dynamic government apparatus that dares to think, dares to do, and a strategy that targets the "bottleneck" of thinking, we believe that Cao Loc will soon find a solution to the problem of poverty reduction, awakening the huge potential of agriculture that this land possesses.
Source: https://sonnmt.langson.gov.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/xa-cao-loc-tinh-lang-son-giai-bai-toan-giam-ngheo.html
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