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Workers weave mats in Dam Doi District in the southern province of Ca Mau Province. Traditional crafts play a significant role in the sustainable development of rural areas. — VNA/VNS Photo Le Huy Hai |
HA NOI — Craft villages are vital to the country's sustainable development in rural areas, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat.
The minister, speaking at the 7th international seminar on developing the One Village One Product model, said loss of farmland cost jobs and led to rural unemployment. He said loss of jobs resulted in the migration of job seekers to the cities, which changed the demographic fabric of the country.
The minister said the development of traditional professions in rural areas, particularly in craft villages, would help solve the pressing issue of growing rural unemployment.
This development would be sustainable because it would not only help raise rural people's income and make the most of local resources but also preserve and develop traditional professions.
There are about 2,790 craft villages in Viet Nam, according to the ministry. About 60 per cent of the country's work force is involved in non-agricultural production. There are about 11 million people, representing 30 per cent of all households, earning a living from making handicrafts.
Viet Nam has more than 9 million ha of land under cultivation employing some 30 million labourers, half of them in rural areas. Each year 74,000 ha of arable land is used for housing and urban and industrial development.
Due to the need to promote the development of craft villages, the ministry, in 2005 launched the One Village One Product ( OVOP) programme. The scheme was revised for the 2006-15 to boost competition and quality. Each village is allowed to decide what products it wishes to produce. The programme is expected to create more than 300,000 new jobs each year.
The OVOP programme encouraged local people to preserve traditional occupations and boosted income, said Dr Hiramatsu Morihiko, head of the OVOP promotion association.
The OVOP model was successfully launched in Japan in 1979 and has since been popularly applied in many Asian and African countries. More than 500 participants, including experts from Asia and Africa, took part in the seminar.
The three key factors to successfully implementing the OVOP programme are localisation, self-control, self-reliance, creativity and local resource development, according to Morihiko. He added that local governments had a major part to play in promoting the OVOP programme.
"The government has always attached importance to international co-operation, especially in the field of non-agricultural professions in rural areas," Phat said.
The export value of agricultural and forestry products rose from US$12.5 billion in 2007 to $18 billion this year, Phat said, adding that craft exports were expected to reach $1 billion in 2010.
The export value of craft products has increased by $627 million in the last decade. The development of handicrafts has reduced poverty in rural areas by 3.7 per cent, he said.
However, he said the programme had its shortcomings.
More than 80 per cent of craft centres – especially those producing rattan, bamboo and garments – still used backward technology. He also said craft villages should promote themselves as tourist destinations.
However, Morihiko said the programme would take time to reach fruition. "It took craft villages in Japan decades to become known for their products and it took some of them 20 years to be successful," Morihiko said.
Under the 2015-20 plan, it is hoped craft villages will provide jobs for up to 79 per cent of all labourers and for craft villages to employ at least 43 per cent of the country's work force. — VNS
