Field immersion to Quang Binh DPPR:

DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF IFAD CONTRIBUTION TO RURAL POOR PEOPLE

Three days at two Quang Binh DPPR communes have made the immersion team an interesting experience about the livelihood of the rural people and how effectively that IFAD’s contribution has made.

In the afternoon of October 21st, 2009, after having a short meeting with DPPR Provincial Project Management Unit, the team arrived to Ngu Thuy Nam commune, beginning a 3 days living with rural poor people. On the way, project staff showed team members the long road that ARCD - the IFAD project phase 1 built for people as well as the poplar forest to protect the land that people have grown from the seedlings that the project provided. The households that the team stayed in are very close to the sea. They can hear the sound of sea waves and touch the moisture of sea water. And the first feeling that the team can perceive is the hospitality and friendliness of the rural poor people.

In the morning of October 22nd, the team worked with Ngu Thuy Nam CPMU to have an overview of the socio-economic status of the commune and project contribution to the development of the commune. The team then separated into three groups to participate in a women meeting and 2 wealth ranking meetings taking place regularly at the village level. What they could understand was the strong and ebullient discussion of the participants. The people were very fair in choosing the poor households.
In the afternoon of October 22nd, the team continued their participation in 3 Credit and Savings meetings. They were surprised with the very small savings that women submit regularly monthly before receiving loan. Every member of the group has received the first loan and some have received the second. One thing that all the members raised to the team was that the loan size was low, the need to borrow was very big but the capacity of the Project to satisfy was so limited. The members had to seek for other sources of fund to invest into production activities. The team recognized this and took note for report when they came back to office.

After the Credit and Savings meetings finished, the team went to visit a fish sauce processing cooperative that have been formed and run by 11 women. With support from the project, the cooperative was running very well with a yield of 3,000 liters of fish sauce every year. This contributes a lot not only to the income of these women but also help them to get out of unemployed situation.

The last night at Ngu Thuy Nam commune was the opportunity for team members to express their feelings and make comments for what they had observed. Tiziana Carpenelli, a team member, said: “In some countries that we, IFAD have provided support, we must make campaigns for people to recognize our contribution. When coming here, however, we can see that the rural people in this commune help us to realize how happy we are for our contribution to them”. Responding to that, the chairman of Ngu Thuy Nam CPMU said: “IFAD, through the operation of DPPR project have contributed a lot to the poverty reduction objective of the commune. On behalf of Ngu Thuy Nam CPMU and the rural people, I would like to sincerely thank for what you have done for us and would hope that IFAD continues to support so that the villagers can escape from poverty sustainably and extend production scale and approach market to consume products”.

The third day of the field trip was the time for team members to experience the difference between Ngu Thuy Nam commune - a sandy coastal area of Le Thuy district and Truong Xuan commune - a mountainous area of Quang Ninh district. After having a short meeting with Truong Xuan CPMU staff, the team went to visit a model of bee raising for honey that DPPR supports. The team then came to visit a Van Kieu ethnic minority village. They put a lot of questions to CPMU and PPMU staff when they saw how poor Van Kieu people were. In fact, the livelihood of these people has been improved a lot after receiving project support through production development. The team members gave many gifts to Van Kieu women and children that they met on the way. After that, the team stopped by a cross - bred sow model. This model has improved the income of the family remarkably. However, the condition on facility and necessary tools for life is still limited. After having seen the effectiveness that this model brought about, many farmers around have come to learn and bought the piglets to extend production scale and increase the income.

Three days passed by quickly. The team had to say goodbye to project staff and villagers. On behalf of the team, Mr. Mark Forrest said: “We are very happy when our contribution has been recognized and used effectively. People know how to use our fund to invest into production activities to improve their income. We hope we will not see any poor households if we have another chance to come here in the future”. The closing speech of Mr. Mark Forrest was also the expectation of rural people as well as Quang Binh DPPR. Better life of poor people is always the objective that IFAD and the project aim to achieve.

Lan Anh and Huong - KMO DPPR Quang Bình