Sustainable Livelihoods

In remote areas of Viet Nam, small-scale farmers and fishers have limited access to land and water to make a living. Poor men and women, particularly from ethnic minority groups, have little to no capital to invest in farming, fishing, or small businesses. Their lives are further challenged by the absence of farmers’ groups in villages to manage irrigation systems and exchange good agricultural practices.

Oxfam's programme assists 15,000 poor men, women, and children in Lao Cai, Ninh Thuan and Tra Vinh Provinces to improve food and income security.

In Tra Vinh Province, in southern Viet Nam, Oxfam assists poor men and women living along coastal areas to gain access to seashores to raise mussels. Mussel farming requires a high degree of community co-operation and a large investment, both of which small-scale fishermen lack. Oxfam and its partners facilitate the formation of mussel clubs and show communities how to raise and harvest mussels. A capital loan of $460 was also provided to each poor family who joined the club. Today, the communities have turned idle coastal lands into productive assets, clearing overdue debts for many families and raising their standard of living.

In Lao Cai Province, in northern Viet Nam, ethnic minority groups have limited access to agriculture market and services. Oxfam works with partners to form farmers’ groups in villages and provide training to the villages’ representatives. In turn, the trained farmers are able to organise training in their own village, helping ethnic farmers better understand how to increase rice yields and livestock. We provide a revolving fund to villages and support partners to establish more farmers’ groups. Oxfam and its partners also support villagers to manage irrigation systems and construction of small infrastructures.

Oxfam and its partners support farmers, especially women, to have access to land for farming through the participatory land allocation process. Today, more women in Lao Cai have their name on their Land Use Certificates, increasing women’s assets and status in their family and society. Farmers are also shown how to use their allocated land better through agricultural training and workshops.

At a national level, Oxfam supports partners to develop a Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) policy as well as policies that will enable poor farmers’ groups to manage natural resources along coastal and upland areas.

Campaigning in Viet Nam

Make Trade Fair is a campaign calling on governments, national and global institutions and multinational companies to change their trade policies and practices so that trade can become part of the solution to poverty.

In Viet Nam, Oxfam works with partners to conduct research on poverty, including the impact of Viet Nam’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as well as the impact of economic integration on commodities such as rice, coffee, and maize. We have launched a series of papers on Viet Nam’s entry into the WTO and are working with non government organisations and government bodies to minimise the negative impacts caused by its accession to the WTO and trade liberalisation.

For more information about our campaign visit www.maketradefair.com

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Last updated: August 06