VietNam Society: rural

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Friday, January 28, 2011

Clean water proves success of aid

Photo shows the water treatment system of Dung Quat Water Factory in Binh Tri Comune, Binh Son District in central Quang Ngai Province. The ouput-based aid approach ia said to be working in the mobilisation of capital for rural water programmes. —VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Long

HA NOI — The output-based aid approach was an innovative way to mobilise capital from enterprises and individual households to invest in rural water programmes, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dao Xuan Hoc.

The output-based aid (OBA) approach, or performance-based aid, is a development aid strategy that ties the disbursement of public funding to the achievement of clearly specified results. It was first used in Viet Nam in November 2007 with projects aimed at enhancing rural water systems in the Central Region and Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

According to Nguyen Minh Chau, country director of the East Meets West Foundation which piloted the mechanism, to ensure that quality water systems are implemented, recipients are reimbursed 80 per cent of their initial outlay once the infrastructure is in place and the remaining 20 per cent after six months if it works properly.

Chau said the organisation would only provide funds to enterprises that failed to meet standards after proposing the construction of water plants, distribution pipelines, household connections, water metres and water pressures.

In 10 months, 24 businesses in the Mekong Delta's Tien Giang Province, where the project was piloted, were involved in providing water to 7,304 households, consisting of 29,320 individuals, said vice director of Water Resources Department Tran Dinh Hoang.

The total reimbursment was about VND13.5 billion (US$6.75 million), 80 per cent of which had already been disbursed. The local people contributed VND3.8 billion ($190,000).

Hoang recommended that due to the enterprises' limited financial capacity, it would be better to reimburse them earlier so they could repay their debts and reclaim ownership of their land.

Nguyen Van Kha, director of An Thien Company, said the OBA project had been implemented for nearly six months, the biggest challenge was the timing of reimbursements — it took nine months for the company to receive the full reimbursement.

To date, the OBA project has provided 21,000 households and 10,000 sanitation plants access to clean water. — VNS

Sunday, January 23, 2011

VN approaches target of all rural households getting access to power

Vietnam is likely to reach the target of 100 percent of rural households to get access to electricity for rural households.

World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa made the statement at a seminar to assess the impact of Vietnam’s rural electrification (RE) and the announcement of the result of a survey on the benefit of RE in Hanoi on Dec. 9.

All of the nation’s districts have connected to the national grid and had on-the-spot electricity and 97.78 percent of communes and 95.4 percent of rural families now have electricity, Kwakwa said.

She spoke highly of the joint efforts of the Vietnamese Government, enterprises and people and various resources for rural development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the field.

Together with the impact of the education universalisation programme, RE has helped rural people improve their health and income through increasing their families’ production capacity, she added.

However, she said, authorities need to make thorough calculations and give priority to use resources in the context of limited finance and technology to help the remaining five percent of rural families access electricity.

The result of the survey that was conducted in seven provinces of Vietnam in 2002, 2005 and 2008 within the framework of the RE project is an important foundation for WB to consider the decision to provide continued assistance and coordinate with the Vietnamese Government to carry out more power projects, said the seminar.

According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong, the government is striving to have 100 percent electricity access for rural households by 2020 as planned.

The comprehensive assessment of the impact of rural electrification and the potential for on-the-spot distribution will help the Government, enterprises and people select the most effective investment in network power projects or use on-the-spot power sources./.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Comedian Xuan Bac becomes goodwill ambassador

HA NOI — Comedian Nguyen Xuan Bac was officially announced yesterday as the 2010-11 goodwill ambassador for Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation, said Dao Xuan Hoc, deputy minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Bac was invited to play the role of an ambassador by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lien Aid and UNICEF.

As a goodwill ambassador, Bac, 34 is expected to participate in on-site activities and to be a guest of honour at public and mass media events in order to deliver messages designed to raise public awareness about using clean water and hygienic latrines, and to help change human behaviours around water safety in rural areas.

Bac promised to send messages from the Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation Sector widely and effectively to people in rural areas, with a particular focus on children.

More than 20,000 people, most of them children, die each year due to unclean water and poor sanitation in Viet Nam. Almost half of those deaths can be attributed to diarrhoea, the World Health Organisation reported.

Viet Nam has plans to provide clean water to about 83-85 per cent of rural households and build hygienic latrines in 60 per cent of rural households by the end of the year. — VNS

Monday, January 10, 2011

OBA water supplies in rural areas discussed

A seminar on investment and the management of OBA projects which focus on clean water and hygiene in rural areas in the Mekong Delta region was held in Tien Giang province on November 29.

At the seminar, the participants, including staff from water supply systems, officials from various ministries and agencies, donors and the representatives of non-government organisations, shared their experiences in putting into action water supply projects using a newly-applied model known as OBA (outcomes-based technical assistance) which was launched by the East Meets West (EMW) Foundation.

The participants also had the chance to explore Tieng Giang province’s regulations and policies on private investment and management in rural areas and held a discussion on OBA models in several provinces such as Dong Thap, Long An, Tien Giang and An Giang.

Environmental programmes were also put on the table for discussion at the meeting, thus helping improve the effectiveness of water supply projects.

The EMW, a US non-government organisation, has helped private businesses in the central region to carry out over 150 small-scale works to supply fresh water to a number of rural areas, that benefit nearly 230,000 residents.

Since 2007, the organisation has applied a new model outcomes-based assistance and used it throughout the Mekong Delta region, particularly Tien Giang province. The organisation has also supported 24 private businesses to provide clean water for 8,700 households./.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Rural residents pay through the nose

Local residents buy food at Dong Da Market in central Da Nang City. Residents in rural areas miss out on price-stabilised products sold at wholesale markets and supermarkets in urban areas. — VNS Photo Xuan Quang

HA NOI — Residents in rural areas are missing out on price-stabilised products that are mainly being sold at wholesale markets and supermarkets in urban areas.

Nguyen Thi Yen, from Suoi Ngoc Hamlet in Ha Noi's Tien Xuan Commune, said she had heard that some shops were meant to be selling price-stabilised goods in rural areas but that she had yet to encounter one.

Tien Xuan Commune has been asked to establish two shops to sell inflation-busting low-cost goods. However, Pham Van Tinh, the commune's Party committee secretary, said there had been a supply problem.

"There are no shops at the moment because the commune has not yet received any price-stabilised products."

Elsewhere in Da Nang City, six shops selling price-stabilised rice have been established. However, all of them are based in central districts where locals earn higher incomes than their rural counterparts.

In Hoa Vang District, which is largely populated by poor farmers, low-skilled workers and students, there are no outlets.

Rice is meant to be sold at 10 per cent below the market price at certain outlets. However, Le Thi Minh said she hadn't even heard of the programme. Furthermore, she said the price had actually risen almost daily.

It is a similar story in Cuu Long (Mekong) delta provinces where low-cost rice is sold mainly at supermarkets and wholesale markets in urban areas.

"I don't have a clue where to find one of these outlets selling price-stabilised food," said Le Thanh Chien, a farmer from Tan Quy Dong Ward in Dong Thap Province.

Nguyen Van Chien, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Domestic Market Department, said a lack of funds was hampering the programme.

Chien called on provincial authorities to implement the programme HCM City, Ha Noi and Da Nang had done.

"The price stabilising programme is aimed at the poor," he said.

Le Viet Tuoi, deputy director of the Da Nang Department of Industry and Trade, admitted that the programme had not been fully implemented.

He attributed the failure of the programme to a lack of co-ordination among relevant offices and the Da Nang Food Joint-Stock Company, which was tasked with implementing the scheme.

Tuoi pledged to take steps to ensure more people got access to below-market-price goods.

Vu Quang Tuan, deputy director of the Thai Binh Province Department of Industry and Trade, said it was easier to implement the programme in cities such as Ha Noi and HCM City.

"The department does not have the money to fund the scheme," Tuan said.

He added that in Thai Binh, there was a high proportion of poor farmers who could not afford expensive products such as canned goods.

"Farmers are put at the greatest disadvantage because they are endeavouring to supply agricultural products for the price stabilising programme but do not get access to cheap goods," Tuan said.

Participants at a workshop in Ha Noi last Thursday to review the "Vietnamese people using Vietnamese goods" campaign that was launched a year ago, were told that more than 58 per cent of consumers were interested in home-produced products.

They also heard that enterprises focused on urban residents because they had greater purchasing power than their rural counterparts.

Yet according to a survey conducted by the Central Institute of Economic Management, rural areas consumed 70 per cent of domestically made food stuffs, that 70 per cent of consumers lived in rural areas and that 97 per cent of retail outlets were located in those parts.

The institute also cited other surveys conducted by different organisations that showed that the number of rural customers was three times that in urban areas. — VNS

Saturday, December 25, 2010

10,000 rural communes undergo rejuvenation

A road is being expanded in Tan Thong Hoi Commune of HCM City's suburban district of Cu Chi. As many as 10,000 rural communes of the country are covered in a rejuvenation project. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hai

HA NOI — Viet Nam's programme to rejuvenate agriculture had been introduced in 10,000 communes since it was launched in 2009, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cao Duc Phat told its international supporters in Ha Noi yesterday.

The estimated cost had been between VND1.2-1.5 trillion (US$60-75 million), he said.

But more financial and technical help would be needed from both domestic and international community to continue the programme and extend it, as planned, to 2020.

A target of the programme was to increase farmer income by 150 to 250 per cent and reduce the poverty stricken from the prevailing 10 per cent to below 8 per cent by 2015 and 3 per cent by 2020.

It has also set socio-economic infrastructure, social security, education and training targets.

Deputy Minister Ho Xuan Hung listed the need for vast capital, especially for infrastructure in the northwest and the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta as a hindrance to agricultural development.

"The law of development requires that agricultural labour, which accounts for 51.5 per cent, must be reduced but the development of industry and services was so slow that even skilled workers found it difficult to secure jobs," he said.

Therefore, it would not be easy to lower the number to 30 per cent by 2020 unless active and practical measures were defined and implemented.

Understanding rural development

Rural development is described as:

The construction of a modern socio-economic infrastructure;

The application of a proper economic structure and production modalities;

The quick development of agriculture, industry and services are linked;

Rural development is linked to planned urban development;

Rural society is both democratic and rich in ethic cultural identity;

The environment is protected; security is maintained; and material and cultura life is improved. — VNS

The deputy minister said investment in production, farmer training and the application of new technology was needed to overcome the requirement for commodities from fragmented land holdings.

The supporters

Representative of Food and Agriculture Organisation and One-UN Viet Nam Yuriko Shoji said the organisation would continue to support Viet Nam in the building and developing of new urban areas.

One-UN was assessing the results, achievements and experiences of other donors to Viet Nam so as to build concrete actions plans and programmes of rural development, she said.

This would include technical and financial assistance and help to build laws for the use of agricultural land and sustainable agricultural development.

Many FAO-supported trial projects had been undertaken as part of the national agriculture programme.

These included land and forest management, the response to climate change and food security.

Asian Development Bank Viet Nam director Ayumi Konishi told the yearly meeting that any new rural development should focus on capacity building, crop diversification, technology to add value, sector reform and rural infrastructure and maintenance.

Swedish embassy Ha Noi Development Co-operation director Marie Ottosson said it was essential to decentralise so completely that villagers could decide development plans and control the budget.

"Empowerment of local communities requires that the poor gets to influence decision making and control public resources," she said.

This meant significant capacity building among villagers and local officials.

"Sweden will continue to support development activities in Viet Nam," the senior diplomat emph-asised. — VNS

Friday, December 24, 2010

FAO continues aiding VN’s rural development

The UN’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative in Vietnam Yuriko Shoji has affirmed that the FAO will continue to assist Vietnam in building and developing rural areas.

At the International Support Group (ISG) meeting in Hanoi on Nov. 10, the official said FAO will regulate international assistance to help Vietnam implement its new goals for agricultural and rural development.

She referred to FAO’s support for Vietnam ’s implementation of many pilot projects in land management, forestry, environmental initiatives, adaptation to climate change, food security and nutrition as “valuable experiences for the country to realise its new rural development goals”.

Providing the fact that up to 70 percent of Vietnam ’s population lives in rural areas, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said the national rural development target programme for the 2011-2020 period aims to promote multifaceted development in rural areas.

The programme also aims to help rural people raise their income by 1.5 times higher than the current rate by 2015 and 2.5 times by 2020, and will engage various ministries and sectors, the Minister said.

It looks to reduce the number of poverty-stricken households to below 8 percent in 2015 and 3 percent in 2020.

In addition, the programme sets an annual growth rate of 3.5-4 percent for the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector in the 2015-2020 period.

The workforce in agriculture will account for 30 percent of the country’s total workforce and the number of trained labourers in rural areas will reach 50 percent, according to the programme.

To reach these goals, the Vietnamese Government is focusing on planning in rural areas, restructuring communal economies, developing rural infrastructure, training human resources and investing in areas with extreme disadvantages.

According to Dr. Dang Kim Son, Head of the Institute on Agriculture and Rural Policy and Strategy, giving more power to villages and hamlets and increasing contributions by the people, businesses and organisations inside and outside the country are important solutions to aid the implementation of the new rural development programme.

The annual ISG meeting is a policy dialogue forum for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other ministries and sectors, the donor community, international and non-governmental organisations, researchers and local and foreign investors.

At this meeting, the participants discussed proposals for a cooperative framework and international assistance for the national rural development target programme as well as coordination and cooperation mechanisms for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and One-UN in implementing the programme./.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

ADB pledges $108 mln to improve Vietnam roads, irrigation systems

ADB pledges $108 mln to improve Vietnam roads, irrigation systems The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Monday approved US$108 million in aid to upgrade rural roads and irrigation systems in northern Vietnam.

The aid will go towards improving 600 kilometers of roads, irrigation systems across 12,400 hectares of farmland, and upgrading ten rural commune markets to bolster local trade.

It targets 15 mountainous provinces where more than one in four families live in poverty.

It aims to help farming communities boost their rice yield by 25 percent, and allow them to respond to market demands and diversify to more profitable crops, David Salter, Rural Development Specialist from ADB’s Southeast Asia Department, said in a press release.

Travel time, effort and costs, meanwhile, will be reduced by an average of 55 percent, among other benefits, Salter said.

According to ADB, many rural mountainous communities in Vietnam see high poverty rates, partly due to the lack of productive rural infrastructure which limits local people’s access to economic opportunities and services.

While the country has three million hectares of farmland equipped with irrigation facilities, another one million hectares are not currently being irrigated, and many irrigation schemes are in need of rehabilitation, ADB said.

“Improved irrigation and water management is critical for Vietnam's food security, particularly in the face of rising food demands and the worsening effects of climate change,” said Salter.

ADB pledges $108 mln to improve Vietnam roads, irrigation systems

The aid will go towards improving 600 kilometers of roads, irrigation systems across 12,400 hectares of farmland, and upgrading ten rural commune markets to bolster local trade.

It targets 15 mountainous provinces where more than one in four families live in poverty.

Travel time, effort and costs, meanwhile, will be reduced by an average of 55 percent, among other benefits, Salter said.

“Improved irrigation and water management is critical for Vietnam's food security, particularly in the face of rising food demands and the worsening effects of climate change,” said Salter.

Monday, December 6, 2010

ADB grant to provide rural lifeline

The Asian Development Bank on Oct. 25 approved an assistance package worth 108 million USD to upgrade rural roads and irrigation systems in some of Vietnam's poorest areas.

The assistance targets 15 mountain provinces in northern Vietnam where more than one-in-four families live in poverty.

The project will enable the upgrading of 600km of roads and provide better irrigation on 12,400ha of farmland.

"Improved irrigation and water management is critical for Vietnam's food security, particularly in the face of rising food demands and the worsening effects of climate change," David Salter, Rural Development Specialist in ADB's Southeast Asia Department Salter said.

"This project will help farming communities boost rice yields by 25 percent and even diversify into more profitable crops," Salter said.

"Travel time, effort and costs will be reduced by an average of 55 percent while transport reliability will be increased. This will provide farmers with more options for strategic marketing," he added.

"Roads are lifelines for these families," said Salter. "Good roads give rural people access to work in towns and cities to supplement and counter the cyclical incomes of farming.

"They also give women and the elderly better access to medical care, and make it easier for children to get to, and stay in, school."

The ADB-supported project will also upgrade 10 rural commune markets to bolster local commerce./.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

ADB gives $108 mln to improve rural infrastructure

The Asian Development Bank has approved a US$108 million loan for a project to upgrade rural roads and irrigation systems in some of Vietnam's poorest areas.

The project targets 15 mountainous provinces in northern Vietnam where more than one in four families live in poverty.

It will upgrade 600 kilometers of rural roads and irrigation systems for 12,400 hectares of farmland.

"This project will help farming communities boost their rice yield by 25 percent, and make it possible for them to respond to market demands and diversify to more profitable crops," said David Salter, Rural Development Specialist in ADB's Southeast Asia Department.

"Travel time, effort and costs will be reduced by an average of 55 percent while transport reliability will be increased enabling farmers strategic marketing options," he said.

While Vietnam has three million hectares of farmland that is equipped with irrigation facilities, one million hectares of this land is not currently being irrigated.

Many irrigation schemes are in need of rehabilitation, and one third of the country's 50,000 kilometers of irrigation canals are not lined, resulting in significant water loss.

"Improved irrigation and water management is critical for Vietnam's food security, particularly in the face of rising food demands and the worsening effects of climate change," said Salter.

In northern mountainous areas of Vietnam, less than 10 percent of roads are currently paved, while distances to social services are greater than the national average.

The ADB-supported project will also upgrade ten rural commune markets to bolster local commerce.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Agriculture, fisheries census

HA NOI — The Vietnamese Government will conduct a nationwide agriculture and fisheries census next July.

The survey is being conducted to serve the country's socio-economic development policies.

In accordance with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's instructions, the month-long census, which will start on July 1, 2011, aims to collect basic information about the country's rural and agricultural sector.

The census's results are expected to serve as a basis for assessing the implementation of national programmes in rural areas.

Accordingly, the number of production units, labourers and labour structures along with how technology is affecting production and the environment will be surveyed.

In addition, the census will provide an overview of the transformation of the country's rural economy and socio-economic infrastructure.

Information concerning living conditions and individual's ability to access loans and vocational training standards will also be surveyed.

The census's findings will be announced next December and the official results published during the third quarter in 2012.

The steering board at the central level will take responsibility for building plans that will be submitted to the Planning and Investment Minister. Municipal governments will be responsible for carrying out their own surveys.

The census is conducted every five years by the General Statistics Office.

According to the 2006 census, Viet Nam has 10.47 million housing units participating in the agriculture and fishing sector, which is 770,000 units less than in 2001. — VNS

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Survey planned next year of agriculture

A general survey will be conducted of rural areas, agriculture and fisheries on July 1 next year under a new decision by the Prime Minister.

The month-long investigation aims to assess the conditions and development of the agricultural sector in the country. The results will serve as a basis to set up plans and policies to develop agriculture and rural areas in the next stage as well as targets for the national socio-economic development strategy.

Under the decision No 1785/QD-TTg signed on September 27, the survey will collect such information as the number of production units, their size and production capacity as well as the labour structure in the agro-forestry-fishery sector.

The current situation of rural economy and changes in socio-economic infrastructure structure, along with information relating to rural population will also be the subjects of the investigation.

Initial results will be announced in December 2011 while the full outcomes will be made available in the third quarter of 2012./.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Water works makes waves

Ethnic minorities in Nhat Tien Commune, Bac Son District in northern Lang Son Province gain access to clean water. All localities will be equipped with water quality management units by 2020. — VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Tran

HA NOI — A newly-announced VND320 billion (US$16.4 million) programme will ensure that all of Viet Nam's cities and provinces will have water-quality-management units within five years.

And the units will be of international standard by 2020.

The Water Quality Management Programme is part of an effort to promote and sustain the achievements of the National Strategy for Clean Water and Environment Sanitation.

Purpose of the programme was to provide 85 per cent of rural residents with potable water by 2010, National Centre for Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation deputy director Nguyen Thanh Luan told a workshop to introduce and initiate its implementation in Ha Noi yesterday.

Just 18 of Viet Nam's 63 provinces had water-quality testing facilities, he said.

Most were newly-established, poorly equipped and had yet to meet appropriate standards.

Appropriate national and local mechanisms for the effective management of water and environmental sanitation; funds and the necessary construction were also missing.

Nine projects

The money for the programme would be disbursed through nine key projects so that all rural residents had access to potable water by 2020, said deputy director Luan.

The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry had made a variety of proposals to ensure the targets are met.

But priority would be given to the monitoring of all sources of rural water supply and increasing their standardisation from the prevailing 40 to 100 per cent by 2020.

The ministry would begin the building of eight trial standardised testing centres in different ecological regions next year.

Projects to enhance quality control and management capability in all cities and provinces would follow with information about water usage included in a data base as a comprehensive national source.

The programme would also research and trial the application of scientific and technologic methods in monitoring water quality at households in particular terrain or in special social and economic conditions, said Deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry Dao Xuan Hoc.

International co-operation could work through various models including bilateral, multilateral and co-operation with non-government organisations, he said.

The ministry had asked the General Irrigation Department to take key responsibility for the programme's implementation and management.

The People's Committees of all the country's 63 cities and provinces were also responsible for managing their rural water quality.

United Nation Children's Fund, UNICEF, representative Craig Burgess emphasised the ministry's commitment to rural water quality and said he expected a sound implementation of the programme.

The ministry had realised the poor water quality in rural Viet Nam and taken the lead in the development and approval of the water quality management programme, he said.

But more important than the launch of the programme was how the ministry supported the sub-national effort and how each province, district, commune and individual went about improving water quality for all users, he said.

Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry figures show that only 30 per cent of rural water supply meets Health Ministry water-quality standards.

A 2006 Health Ministry survey found that water at only 15.6 per cent of rural households met its standards and of these only 29 per cent met the micro biological standards and 56.5 per cent the chemical standards.

UNICEF estimates that only 2.8 million out of 18 million rural children have access to Health Ministry-standard water.

The Northern and Central Highlands and the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are the worse regions, it says. — VNS

Friday, September 10, 2010

Retired rural workers benefit from vocational training courses

A woman weaves bamboo in the northern province of Thanh Hoa's Hoang Hoa District. Older workers are seeking ways to improve their skills and earn some money. — VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Hoa

HA NOI — Rural workers of pensionable age are being forced to lie about their age to qualify for Government-sponsored vocational training courses.

Nguyen Cong Chinh, 62, has been studying rattan weaving under a Government programme to boost the skills of rural ethnic minorities and farmers. However, the programme is only open to men aged between 16 and 60 and women aged 16 to 55.

Chinh is unrepentant about misrepresenting his age. He said that not only did he now earn enough to support his children, but he was keeping a traditional village handicraft alive.

Younger generations of villagers have been lured away from Xuan Ho Hamlet in Bac Ninh Province to major cities where they can earn more money.

As a result, bamboo and rattan weaving in the hamlet had all but died out until the communal Farmers' Association began running handicraft classes.

Like Chinh, Nguyen Quang Tam also had to lie about his age to get a place on the training course. He is also unrepentant.

"We are both very happy because we have been able to improve our professional skills and sell bamboo and rattan products and make some money," Tam said.

Nguyen Cong Thao, director of Bac Ninh Vocational Training Centre, said he numerous elderly labourers had asked to join the training programme. He said he had felt duty-bound to let them learn a craft so they could support themselves financially.

However, he said, because they are technically not eligible to take part in the Government scheme, the centre was unable to grant them a certificate when they finished their training.

"They are not granted certificates at the end of the training course as the centre is not allowed to provide them with the training under the existing regulation," Thao said.

Others have chosen to ask their friends or relatives who are of working age to register for the programme on their behalf.

Chinh registered for the course in his son's name.

Nguyen Thi Tuoi, president of Lac Ve Commune's Bamboo and Rattan Weaving Co-operative, said more than 200 households in the commune were now making bamboo and rattan products – more than 50 per cent of whom are of pensionable age.

Xuan Ho Hamlet is typical of many rural areas, where 70 per cent of the population is typical elderly.

Tran Van Chuan, head of the Nghia Hung Vocational Training Centre in Nam Dinh Province, said elderly people should be allowed to earn a living if they were fit and healthy.

"The existing regulation means retired people cannot benefit from the Government's vocational training policy for rural workers," Chuan said.

He said that many 70-year-olds and over were perfectly able to work and that many chose to learn crafts that were unpopular with younger people, such as growing bonsai trees and bamboo and rattan weaving.

"How can they survive without working?" Chuan said.

In a bid to alleviate rural poverty, the Government issued decision 1956 last year approving a vocational training project aimed at training about 1 million labourers annually.

By the time the programme ends in 2020, about 10 million of rural workers are expected to have received vocational training.

The decision stated that priority should be given to ethnic minorities and disadvantaged farmers.

Cao Van Sam, deputy director of the Vocational Training General Department, said the Government programme was aimed at those of working age because they were the ones that were most in need. He said local authorities were free to launch their own training programmes for retirees.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, 18.7 per cent of working age men and women in rural communities are receiving vocational training, against a national average of 25 per cent. — VNS

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