POLICY BRIEF 2010

Province’s People Co

mmittee of Ha

Giang

Province’s People Co

mmittee of Ha

Giang

How to incorporate poverty reduction

with environmental issues to achieve sustainable livelihood

in Ha Giang Province of Viet Nam

Vu Quynh Phuong MSc of Development Studies

UCD

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Policy Brief presents findings and recommendations from a study examining the

POLICY BRIEF 2010

Hà Giang is a province in north-eastern of Vietnam. It is located in the far north of the

country, and contains Vietnam’s northernmost point. It shares a 270 km long border with

Yunnan province of southern China. Hence it is known as the final frontier of Vietnam. The

province covers an area of 7,945.8 square kilometres and as of 2008 it had a population of

705,100 people. Ha Giang province is composed of one town municipality and ten districts,

six of which are included in the list of program for sixty-two poorest districts with over 50%

of households living under the national poverty line.

Following the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS) of Vietnam

2005 - 2015, in a northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, the Province’s People

Committee (PPC) has been currently implementing numerous programs targeted at poverty

alleviation including the Program for 62 poorest districts, Program of socio-economic

development for extremely difficult communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas

(P135-II), Program of granting housing and cultivating land, houses, clean water for poor

ethnic minority households (P134).

Although knowledge and lessons gained from both researches and real world examples

suggest that pro-poor growth and environmental management should be treated as

complementary development targets to best achieve the ultimate goal of sustainable

livelihood, the environment has not been withdrawn adequate attention in such programs. In

other words, poverty reduction programs in one hand bring about benefits but in other hand it

also causes risks to the environment if they are implemented without notion. The

environment is a public asset for everybody to benefit from and also to conserve. Therefore,

the planning and implementation of comprehensive poverty reduction programs should take

into account environmental factors in order to achieve sustainable livelihood.

A key message is how to maximize benefits and reduce risks of poverty reduction

intervention effect to the environment? The Policy Brief recommends that Ha Giang’ PPC as

well as other stakeholders such as donors, lower – level local authorities and the poor people

themselves should pay more attention to environmental protection in the process of planning

and implementing poverty reduction programs, it also suggests a variety of policy

recommendations based on 5 sources of capital including Human, Social, Financial, Physical

and Natural in achieving the sustainable livelihood for the poor in Ha Giang.

POLICY BRIEF 2010

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM:

According to what have been

implementing with poverty

reduction programmes in Ha Giang,

about two-thirds (2/3) of activities

are relating directly to agriculture

production (see Table 1). It could be

stated that the poor’s livelihoods in

Ha Giang are almost depending on

agricultural production activities

while those activities rely mainly on

natural resources. This linkage

shows the fact that poverty

reduction programmes in one hand

support to livelihood but in the other hand they also make them particularly vulnerable to

environmental degradation (PEP, 2008).

Besides, agricultural intensification has also generated environmental problems ranging from

reduced on-farm biodiversity to mismanaged irrigation water to groundwater depletion and

agrochemical pollution (see Table 2). Similarly, a recent research (John et al, 2009) have

demonstrated that, Poverty Reduction schemes improve the living standard for poor people

but may also result negatively to the environment, the benefit of next generation. For

example, construction of transportation road may lead to deforestation; over-cropped

cultivation, inorganic fertilizers and pesticides cause degraded soil…

Table 1 - Overview of poverty reduction programmes in Ha Giang

Programme activity

Relating to agricultural production

Direct

indirect

none

Programme 134+ Ensure each poor ethnic minority household has at least 0.5 hectare of terraced field or 0.25 hectare of one-crop rice field or two-crop rice field for cultivation+ Ensure each poor ethnic minority household has minimum 200 square meters of housing land. + Provincial authority is responsible for funding poor ethnic minority households without stable housing to build their own houses;+ Central Government shall subsidize each poor ethnic minority

X

X

X

X

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household with 0.5 tons of cement or grant VND 300,000 to build their own water tanks or to dig a well

Programme 135+ Improve production knowledge of ethnic minority peoples, accelerate agricultural economic structural shift toward combination of production and marketing, promote agricultural advantages of each individual region+ Ensure basic communal infrastructure facilities that are sustainable and adequate for residential life and agricultural production activities and which contribute to improvement of living conditions, production development and income generation+ Improve the cultural and social activities for ethnic minority people in extremely difficult communes;+ Ensure poor ethnic minority households have access to clean water, electricity, healthcare and sanitation, education, and legal support.+ Capacity building for people to be able to effectively participate into the monitoring process of investment activities within the area. + Agricultural and forestry extension

X

X

X

X

X

X

Programme of rapid and sustainable poverty eradication for 62 poorest districts+ Production support and job creation for poor people;+ Vocational training and background knowledge improvement for villagers in 6 poorest districts;+ Officers supplement at all administration levels within the area;+ Infrastructure investment for poor villages, communes and districts

X

X

X

X

Table 2: Effects of agriculture to environment

Onsite Effects Offsite Effects (externalities)

Global Effects (externalities)

Intensive agriculture (high-potential

areas)

Soil degradation (salinization, loss of

organic matter)

Groundwater depletion

Agrochemical pollution

Loss of local biodiversity (natural

and agricultural)

Greenhouse gas emissions

Animal diseasesLoss of in situ crop and animal genetic

diversity

Extensive agriculture (less-

favored areas)

Nutrient depletionSoil erosion onsite

effects

Soil erosion downstream effects (reservoir siltation)

Hydrological change (e.g., loss of water

retention in upstream areas)

Pasture degradation in common property

areas

Reduced carbon sequestration  (storage) from

deforestation and carbon dioxide

emissions from forest fires

Loss of biodiversity

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None of such mentioned poverty reduction programs take the environment as a core issue for

consideration although there appears to be broad awareness of environmental benefits and

risks amongst stakeholders. Therefore, measures to formalise exploitation of benefits and

reduce risks to the environment are the key motivator for enhancing the sustainability in

poverty reduction programs. At present, without such formal mechanisms, environmental

benefits randomly occur by chance or on an ad-hoc basis.

The small scale of poverty reduction

activities within the province’s area

means that the environmental risks are

generally localized and most importantly,

manageable. However, without

recognition and implementation of

suitable management measures, there

exists the potential for environmental risks to cause adverse impacts both at a local and

regional/cumulative level. For example, if a number of small water extraction systems are

constructed on a particular river and the combined effect is that downstream flows are

reduced to levels that impact on other water users, an adverse cumulative effect can be said

to have occurred. Such cumulative effects typically occur when a large number of relatively

small activities are carried out in a certain area, but are rarely identified through standard

environmental assessment practices.

The potential for environmental risks occurs primarily during the preparation and

implementation stages of poverty reduction activities. For example, construction of a road

that improves access to a protected area for forest product collection. Construction of

infrastructure facilities also has the potential to generate adverse impacts, albeit localized and

minor. Examples include erosion and sedimentation, water quality deterioration or noise

generation.

Once procedures are incorporated

into poverty reduction to identify

such potential adverse effects,

standard management measures

can be identified to adequately

ameliorate environmental risks.

Poverty is the cause

that makes local people over-exploit

natural resources for

their subsistence.

But as natural

resources become

exhausted and cannot well serve peoples’

livelihoods, the poor only

become poorer

(PEP, 2008).

Poverty is the cause that makes local people over-exploit natural resources for their subsistence.

But as natural resources become exhausted and cannot well serve

peoples’ livelihoods, the poor only

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Only when Government policy-

making and planning processes recognize that the livelihoods

of the poorest critically depend upon access to

common natural resources, will issues

of environmental protection be no longer be settled separately from issues of hunger eradication and

poverty reduction

WHY RECOMMENDED POLICIES SHOULD BE PROPOSED TO THE PROVINCE’S PEOPLE COMMITTEE OF HA

GIANG?

The Province’s People Committee of Ha Giang is the

executive arm of a provincial government to be responsible for

all investment activities including planning and managing all

socio-economic plans and poverty reduction schemes within its

areas.

FINDINGS:

1. The poor in Ha Giang is lacking access to, and governance of natural

resources which are essential to their livelihoods.

2. The Ha Giang poor has low productivity on natural resource base with less

access to take advantage of existing or emerging economic opportunities and

technology which is likely to enable them to adapt to climate change.

3. Existing poverty reduction programs haven’t involved the community in

promoting proper environmental management through economic incentives, by

compensating the poor to conserve or manage resources important to others and

by employing the poor to improve public natural resources.

4. There haven’t been adequate, officially recognised assessment and

incorporation of environmental - poverty impacts and costs of environmental

degradation in the decision - making process relating to land and resource use

projects.

5. Social and environmental safeguards or standards haven’t been in place to

guide development and investment activities; and sufficient resources available

for effective monitoring.

POLICY BRIEF 2010

RECOMMENDED POLICIES

To achieve sustainable livelihood in the line of incorporating environmental factor in poverty

reduction, it should be based on 5 sources of capital in an approach that promote benefits

from and reduce risks to environment as follows:

1. Human:

+ Reduce reliance on natural resources as a livelihood source with the development of

alternative livelihoods through providing vocational education and training to diversify

income generation from agricultural production to other industries, employment creation for

the poor from activities of environmental management and infrastructure construction,

improved access to markets, higher agricultural production;

+ Participation Promotion and local Knowledge Appreciation: incorporate poverty -

environment linkages as a thematic issue in the participatory planning manual to facilitate

local inputs and priorities

for development at the

district, communal and

village levels. Local

perspectives of

environmental conditions

and the poverty -

environment impacts reflect

the specific geographical

context of these interactions,

highlight development needs

that are critical for building

resilience and adaptive

capacity to environmental

change, and identify appropriate resource allocation;

+ Improve environmental awareness and develop capacity in use of environmental support

tools such as manual, toolkit and indicators that will enable the assessment of real costs of

environmental degradation relative to poverty reduction goals in the decision - making

process on land use and land allocation since land evaluation and allocation are considered as

among the most fundamental activities in effective resource development and management.

POLICY BRIEF 2010

2. Social

+ Define clearly roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders including provincial, district,

commune levels and villagers involved in the investment management and planning

processes to ensure coordination in the application of pro-poor and environment criteria;

+ Institutionalize environmental guidelines, regulations in planning and implementation of

poverty reduction programs for such activities like construction of infrastructure facilities

like irrigation works, transportation roads;

+ Design and implement an applied research project that examines spatial interaction

between poverty and environment, and the study of distribution and equity in development

activities. The spatial dimension is critical for enabling effective targeting of resource

allocation to poverty reduction program appropriate to the province, as most poverty -

environmental problems are inherently geographical;

+ Provide technical information on land use, suitability, land ownership and protection status,

and propose ecological-based activities, investment identified in consultation with

communities;

+ Promote non-agricultural industries such as eco-tourism, handicraft, services …

+ Attract investment to poor districts and with an eco-friendly manner.

3. Financial

+ Create development - oriented financing mechanisms that provide incentives to include the

poor in environmental management activities, such as payment for environmental service

schemes; environment tax, and reduce their vulnerability to environmental hazards and

support adaptation to climate change, such as risk insurance credits.

+ Allocate fund for new mechanisms to obtain as a portion of the provincial budget of

poverty reduction programs, or through the mobilization from donor funds that are targeted

for biodiversity conservation and green development.

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4. Physical

+ Apply improved agricultural practices including integrated pest management, use of

organic fertilisers, suitable crop selection, mechanism and bio-technology in agricultural

production for high-yield crops and risk reduction to the environment, avoiding impoverished

soil;

+ Roads and infrastructure facilities to be built with careful notion to environment.

+ Irrigation works;

5. Natural:

+ Grant land to poor households for cultivation based on land suitability and conditions with

the focus on environmental problems and the use of limited land resources.

+ Carry out planning on water resource management, and management of watersheds at all

levels (provincial, district and commune).+ Give effect to the judicious regulation on use of pesticides and antibiotics, and mechanism to reduce pollutants from water resources.

+ Undertake and implement planning on development of craft villages and environmental

infrastructure, including proper waste disposal.

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Further reading:

Wroe, M. and Doney, M., (2006) Viet Nam Special report: Revved up development,

Development Magazine, Issue 36, pp. 15-19.

Government of Vietnam (2002) The Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth

Strategy (CPRGS) - Approved by the Prime Minister at Document No. 2685/VPCP-QHQT,

dated 21 May 2002, Vietnam Government Gazette Volume 203, pp. 18 – 256, Hanoi

Jones, R., Hanh, T., Phong, N., Trang, T. (2009) A mapping exercise poverty reduction

programmes and policies in Viet Nam, UNDP Vietnam Publication, Hanoi

PEP (2008), Policy Brief - On Poverty and Environment linkages in Viet Nam, [Online].

Available from: <http://www.un.org.vn/index.php?

option=com_content&task=view&id=168&Itemid=219> [10 January, 2007].