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The Center for Rural Progress38B Trieu Viet Vuong Str,Hanoi, Vietnam.Tel: (84-4) 9433 854Fax:(84-4) 9433 853Email: [email protected] site: http://www.crp-vn.org

Participatory Poverty AssessementNinh Thuan

2003Photos: CRP

Poverty Task Force

The World Bank in Vietnam63 Ly Thai To Str,Hanoi, Vietnam.Tel: (84-4) 9346 600Fax:(84-4) 9246 597Web site: http://www.worldbank.org.vn

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Ninh Thuan Participatory

Poverty Assessment

July ‐ August 2003

Ninh Thuan Participatory Poverty Assessment

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Table of Contents

Foreword by Poverty Task Force...............................................................................................v Executive summary......................................................................................................................1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................7

The Research Area.................................................................................................................7 The Team ................................................................................................................................9 The Approach.......................................................................................................................10 Research Limitations...........................................................................................................11

Perceptions of Poverty ..............................................................................................................12 Current Perspectives ...........................................................................................................12 Causes ...................................................................................................................................12 Perceptions of Poverty Broken Down by Different Groups ..........................................14 Trends of Poverty Dynamics:.............................................................................................14 Risks and vulnerabilities ....................................................................................................17 Recommendations to Poverty Reduction Efforts ............................................................19

Participation in Local Decision‐Making and Empowerment of Poor Households .......21 Grassroots democracy – General Sense ............................................................................21 Levels of implementation ‐‐ discrepancies in opinions..................................................22 Enhancing Local participation ‐‐ local planning and budgeting processes.................25

Delivering Basic Services to Poor People Education ..........................................................27 General Assessment ............................................................................................................27 High education cost‐ barriers to entry for poor households .........................................29 Some other Limitation ........................................................................................................30 Recommendations ...............................................................................................................32

Health...........................................................................................................................................34 Better health service ............................................................................................................34 Free Health Care for the poor ............................................................................................34 Prior to Decision 139 ...........................................................................................................34 After Decision 139 ...............................................................................................................35

Agricultural Extension Services..............................................................................................37 Agricultural Extension Services: Demand and Supply Gap..........................................37 Demand.................................................................................................................................37 Supply ...................................................................................................................................37 Recommendations ...............................................................................................................39

Social Assistance........................................................................................................................41 Quality of Current Assistance............................................................................................41 Regular Assistance ..............................................................................................................41 Emergency Relief .................................................................................................................41 Healthcare Assistance .........................................................................................................42 Quality of Targeting............................................................................................................43 Consensus between Household Wealth Ranking Results and the Official Poverty List.............................................................................................................43 Local Perception of Poverty versus The Official Poverty Line......................................43 Near‐poor Households .......................................................................................................45 The Downside of the New Certification...........................................................................45 Knowledge of Rights...........................................................................................................45


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Biased Lists ...........................................................................................................................46 Recommendations ...............................................................................................................46

Public Administration Reform................................................................................................49 “One‐Door” Model..............................................................................................................49 Amendment of Ordinance on Civil Servant 2003 ...........................................................50 Decentralization and Democracy ......................................................................................50

Migration.....................................................................................................................................52 Outgoing Migration ............................................................................................................52 Incoming Migration ............................................................................................................55 Migration and social support:............................................................................................54 Recommendations on migration, poverty and social supports ....................................55

Environment ...............................................................................................................................56 Water Accessibility..............................................................................................................56 Water Access ........................................................................................................................56 Shrimp Farms.......................................................................................................................57 Waste Management.............................................................................................................59 Garbage Collection ..............................................................................................................59 Access to Facilities ..............................................................................................................60

Appendix 01: Communal Socio‐economic Planning Procedures......................................62 Appendix 02: A Sample of a Communal Budget .................................................................64 Appendix 03: Process of Selection/Issuance of Poverty Certificates................................66 Appendix 04: Research Participant List .................................................................................67 Appendix 05: The Economics of Shrimp Farming..............................................................68 Appendix 06: Selected Quantitative Analysis......................................................................69 Appendix 07: Wealth Ranking Exercise Results .................................................................73

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Foreword by the Poverty Task Force In May 2002, the Government of Vietnam finalized its Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS) and embarked on a process to make the CPRGS a reality at local levels of Government. Through information campaigns and a series of regional workshops, officials from key national ministries have been explaining to representatives from local authorities how local level planning processes could be made more pro‐poor, more evidence‐based, more outcome‐focused, better aligned to resource allocation decisions and better monitored. During 2003 the Poverty Task Force (PTF) supported Participatory Poverty Assessments (PPAs) in twelve provinces in Vietnam. These PPAs used a common research framework and methodology to investigate issues around poverty that were not well captured by the available quantitative date. The intention was to produce research which could be used, together with data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey, to inform the CPRGS secretariat on progress to date in implementing the CPRGS. The PPAs were also designed to provide information for new regional and national studies of poverty and these have now been published separately. The regional poverty assessments will, in turn, be used as an instrument in building capacity in pro‐poor planning processes at sub‐national levels of Government.

Eight donors contributed financial and human resources to support the PPAs underlying the preparation of this report and its complementary RPAs. These are the ADB, AusAID, DFID, GTZ, JICA, SCUK, UNDP and the World Bank. Each of the donors played a leading role in one of the regions of Vietnam. The distribution of regions among donors, summarized in Table A, was based on the donors’ trajectory in the field. By choosing regions where they are well‐implanted, through projects and technical assistance activities, donors could take full advantage of the insights accumulated while working there.

Several teams conducted the PPA work in 43 communes scattered across the entire country. Among them were two international NGOs (Action Aid and SCUK) and various local NGOs and research institutes, including CRP, the Institute of Sociology (IOS), the Long An Primary Health Care Center, the Rural Development Service Center (RDSC) and Vietnam Solutions. In addition, two of the donors carried out the research by setting up teams of local researchers under their direct management. The local knowledge and expertise of these NGOs and research institutes was key to the quality of the exercise. A coordinating mechanism was set up for the PPAs. Members of most of the research teams were involved in drawing up the research framework and establishing a common understanding of what was to be achieved from the field research. The latter was piloted by several of the teams and the research outline was modified to reflect


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the lessons learned. The final research framework covered the following areas of investigation:

• Perceptions of and trends in poverty, poverty dynamics and vulnerability; • Progress in strengthening democracy at the grassroots level, especially the

degree to which poor households can participate in a meaningful way in planning and budgeting processes;

• Challenges in the delivery of basic services, focusing on how poor households interact with service providers and how poor households can be empowered to claim their rights to basic services more effectively;

• The current mechanisms for delivery of social assistance (linked to the targeting work above) and how they might be improved;

• How the reform of the public administration is taking place at local levels of Government;

• The challenges of migration and the link between household mobility, poverty and access to services; and,

• Information about the environment of the poor and how it is changing. These PPAs are now being published as a series. A separate report will synthesise the findings across the 43 communes and provide a more aggregated analysis of these themes. Another report summarizes the approach to the research, the methodology use and sets out the detailed research questions.

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Table A: Partnerships for the Regional Poverty Work

PPAs Region Provinces included in the region

Donor in charge of the RPAs

Province District Communes

Team in charge of the PPAs

Bao Thang

Ban Cam Phong Nien

Lao Cai

Muong Khuong Pha Long Ta Gia Khau

Ageless Consultants

(funded by DFID)

Vi Xuyen

Cao Bo Thuan Hoa

Northeast Uplands

Ha Giang , Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh

Northwest Uplands

Lai Chau, Son La, Hoa Binh

DFID and

UNDP

Ha Giang Dong Van Sang Tung Thai Pin Tung

Action Aid

(funded by UNDP)

Hai Duong Nam Sach Nam Sach Nam Trung

Dan Phuong Tho An Lien Ha

Red River

Delta

Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Ha Tay, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh

WB

Ha Tay My Duc Te Tieu Phuc Lam

RDSC (funded by WB)

Nghi Loc Nghi Thai Nghe An

Tuong Duong Tam Dinh

IOS (funded by JICA)

Hai Lang Hai Son Hai An

North Central

Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue

GTZ and JICA

Quang Tri

Gio Linh Gio Thanh Linh Thuong

Team comprising MOLISA, ILSSA and independent researchers

(funded by GTZ)

Son Ha

Son Ba Son Cao

Central Coast

Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa

ADB

Quang Ngai

Tu Nghia Nghia Tho Nghia An

Vietnam Solutions (funded by ADB)


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Table A: Partnerships for the Regional Poverty Work (continued)

PPAs Region Provinces included in the region

Donor in charge of the RPAs

Province District Communes

Team in charge of the PPAs

EaHleo Eaheo Ea Ral

Dacrlap Đao Nghia Quang Tan

Central

Highlands

Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak

ADB

Dak Lak

Buon Ma Thuot city Ea Tam town

Action Aid (funded by ADB)

Binh Chanh District An Lac Township Tan Tao

HCMC

District 8 Ward 4 Ward 5

SCUK (Funded by itself)

Ninh Phuoc Phuoc Hai Phuoc Dinh

Southeast

HCMC, Lam Dong, Ninh Thuan, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Binh Than, Ba Ria-Vung Tau

WB

Ninh Thuan

Ninh Son Luong Son My Son

CRP (Funded by WB)

Tam Nong Phu Hiep Phu Tho

Dong Thap

Thap Muoi Thanh Loi

Thanh Phu

My Hung Thoi Thanh

Mekong River Delta

Long An, Dong Thap, An Giang, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Ben Tre, Kien Giang, Can Tho, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau

UNDP and AusAid

Ben Tre

Mo Cay Thanh Thoi

Long An Primary Health Care

Centre (Funded by UNDP and AusAid)

Executive Summary

1

Executive Summary Key Objectives

The CPRGS proposes many social and poverty targets. This participatory poverty assessment was part of a regional poverty assessment, which set out to: • achieve a better understanding of remaining poverty occurrences and their

determinants to assist the government in reaching its poverty reduction priorities (as stated in the CPRGS);

• study current government policies, in terms of their effectiveness of implementation and service delivery;

• as well as, provide capacity building activities to local officials that they may participate in participatory dialogues with the poor on policy issues.

Topics and questions covered included: perceptions of poverty; participation and grassroots democracy; basic public service to include healthcare, education and agro‐extension services; quality and targeting of social assistance; public administration reform; migration; as well as environment.

Key Findings

Reduced Poverty

Poverty is reducing in Ninh Thuan Province. According to official statistics, local peoplesʹ standard of living has improved. Main causes for these improvements include: increased economic activity, better infrastructure, access to education and health care as well as benefits stemming from available poverty alleviation programs. The fact remains, however, that there is still poverty in the area and it is this type of poverty which remains that may prove to be the most challenging. Future poverty reduction activities will need to target hardcore poverty head on. Further, is the need to recognize the “near‐poor” who are hovering at the poverty line. A minor negative economic shock is enough to push the near‐poor below the poverty line. Particular care must be given for a small segment of the population whose welfare had in fact worsened – the elderly, with no one to care for them; those suffering from long‐term illness; as well as ethnic minorities living in remote areas. Enhanced grassroots democracy

There has been a notable increase in community activities. More village meetings have occurred. Society in general has become more open. General interaction between officials, at all levels, and the local people has improved. People are starting to get more involved in socio‐economic planning activities for their community. Causes for these improvements include general open‐door reforms, Decree 29 on Grassroots Democracy, as well as the implementation of Public Administration Reform. The challenges ahead call for improvement in the quality


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of local people’s participation. The structure of information flows needs to be enhanced, particularly access to information for the poor. Further is improvement to the quality of performance of the People’s Council’s activities. Capacity building for Elected Officials as well as Public Servants is required. Finally, the quality of interaction between Officials, at all levels, and the local people needs to be improved. Key Issues

There are twelve key issues that can be drawn out from these PPA’s findings.

Issue 1:

A Call for Higher Quality and Better use of Statistics/Data Collection for Planning Activities

The quality of poverty reduction planning is dependent on the utilization of quality statistics and data. Current planning activities and programs, at all levels, are developed without the support of reliable data. Socio‐economic statistics are lacking, outdated. The data on current policies and programs implemented in the locality is not adequately collected and stored, and hence, not readily available to planners and researchers. Collecting data for poverty reduction planning is not sufficiently done by any agency involved at provincial, district or commune level. Available data on poverty suffers from an exclusion of migrants and “lazy or drunken” people. Poverty reduction quotas (average two per cent per year) serve as another means to exclude the poor. In addition, the criterion used to measure poverty does not fully reflect what officials at all levels and local people perceive poverty to be. Because of these limitations in data collection, the official poverty data is not representative of real poverty in Ninh Thuan. This, in turn, has negative implication of the quality of pro poor programs/policies.

Issue 2:

Information Flow

There is a general cry for greater transparency regarding government policies and programs which have immediate impacts on the lives of local people, especially the poor. Improved information access generates involvement and support from local people, hence, enhancing local participation. Better information flow is dependent on user‐friendly activities. Information flow channels, which are highly supported by local people, include village meetings, household visits (targeting the poor), village public notices, as well as information found on key documents (which is printed on the back of poor certificates and health certificates.). Attendance to meetings organized by mass organizations (The Women’s Union, Farmers’ Association and Youth League) is also a very good source of information for farmers and especially for women. Challenges ahead include enhancing the access to information for the poor as well as empowering the poor to seek that knowledge.

Executive Summary

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Issue 3:

Accountability

In all focus group discussions at the village level, local people stated unanimously that they did not have access to “supervise” the implementation of programs and other activities of the government. There is strong need for improved accountability by institutionalizing a better monitoring and evaluation system which would allow for a more participatory assessment of governmental programs and activities. In addition, as cited by many officials and local people, decentralization must go hand in hand with improved accountability in order to avoid any potential abuse of power – for example through an independent evaluation and monitoring mechanism.

Issue 4:

Grassroots Democracy and further Decentralization – in tandem Grassroots democracy has started to gain momentum since implementation five years ago. The road ahead, however, is largely dependent on further decentralization and improved empowerment of local people. This includes an array of policies involving the delegation of more power vis‐à‐vis planning and budgeting to lower levels of government. It is about empowering local people to participate in decision‐making, implementation as well as evaluation and monitoring. At the grassroots level, this would mean more responsibility for commune authorities over such things as small infrastructure projects, as well as an increase in the role of communes and local people in decision making and provision of basic services __ particularly agricultural extension services. Further, financial transparency across the different levels of government is very important to this process. For government at the local level it is about knowing what one has to spend, in order to further one’s ability to plan. Issue 5: Role of the Commune in Poverty Reduction

One issue which came out very clearly from consultations with officials and local people is the important role of the commune authority in poverty reduction. As the administrative level which works the closest to the people, commune authorities are in a good position to add value to polices that target the poor. In maintaining direct, regular contact with local households, commune officials can gain a better sense of the resulting impacts that various policies and programs may have on households in their area. Commune authorities, by virtue of their location close to the people, are in a good position to collect qualitative data. This is a direct advantage for evaluation, monitoring and feedback. Commune authorities, by nature of their location, are also closer to the problems. As such, they have a better understanding of the people and local environment, and thereby have the capacity for innovative initiatives which better reflect local needs.


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Issue 6:

Risk and Vulnerability

Despite a rapid rate of poverty reduction, there are reasons to doubt the sustainability of this achievement. The number of households, who live near the poverty line, is extensive. In Ninh Son, the official poverty list is comprised of 2,144 households, while the “near‐poor” list has 2,500 households. A small negative impact to their lives is enough to send them into poverty. Further, Ninh Thuan is disaster‐ridden province with harsh climatic conditions. Additionally, natural resources namely coastal resources, underground water and woodland areas are shrinking. This is resulting in eroded sources of income and degraded living conditions for the local people. Unsustainable development activities, like shrimp farming, in Ninh Phuoc District further worsen the poor’s livelihood. Shrimp farming consumes a large amount of the limited underground water resources and produces a lot of polluting waste by‐products. Pro‐poor policies need to reflect the current situation, such that they not only provide means for the poor to escape poverty, but also incorporate protective measures for those who are “near‐poor”.

Issue 7:

Protection and Enhancement of the Asset Base for the Poor

In continuation of “issue 6”, the poor of Ninh Thuan are currently facing an erosion of their asset base. Many poor have either sold their land completely or are facing production with land that has severely degraded soil stemming from a lack of water. Ground water and coastal resources are disappearing – used up or polluted by shrimp farming in the area. Production‐related services including extension as well as credit and savings are weak – the poor have to rely on credit from private lenders at high interest rates. Healthcare for all has yet to be implemented. Access to education for children is limited by cost. Given the inherent lack of accessible social assets, the poor face the danger of being isolated in their own community. To allow for this trend to continue, without intervention, will further magnify the problem. Effectively the poor will become poorer.

Issue 8:

The push for “139”Free Health Insurance for the Poor:

Decision 139 is awaiting implementation. Currently, approximately 30% of the poor get free treatment. In Ninh Thuan, acting in accordance with this decision and in reference to local conditions, the Ninh Thuan People’s Committee has decided that free medical treatment will cover 100% of the poor, ethnic minorities and people living in “135 Communes.” This is a big stride in improving access to health care services for the poor. However, this decision has yet to be implemented for certain financial and administrative reasons. It is expected that

Executive Summary

5

the implementation will start in September. Upgrading of staff capacity and facilities will be required for effective implementation.

Issue 9:

The Burden of Educational Costs

Researchers estimate that costs incurred for the poor to send a child to school run upwards of VND 225,000 per year for the primary level and VND 450,000 at the junior secondary level. For a family with two school‐age children, education is a heavy financial burden. When taking a close look at a poor family’s living expenses, for those with incomes under VND 100,000 per person, per month, after taking into account food expenses, the poor has nothing left for education. Consultations with officials and local people reveal that most of the poor children if they go at all, get to the 3rd or 4th grade – a lot of children are illiterate. The aim of “education for all” must incorporate free primary education for all poor. It is not enough, however, to exempt fees altogether, without replacing the funding as exemptions and reductions in fees/contributions are not incorporated into budgets. The schools, themselves, have to shoulder exemptions/reductions, resulting in reduced services available to students.

Issue 10:

Recognizing Migration and Employment Trends

Migration is an avenue by which families can potentially improve their incomes. Be it outgoing, people leaving Ninh Thuan for Ho Chi Minh or Dong Nai Cities; or incoming, people from other regions choosing Ninh Thuan as a place to settle down – migration is a growing issue for the province. Incoming migrants to Ninh Son District have brought with them new knowledge and an increase in economic activities, both of which are benefiting the local economy. It is interesting to note that an individual who is working outside of their residential commune, sending home remittances, is a criterion for his/her family to be excluded from the poor list – regardless of size and impact of remittance. In Ninh Thuan, where the risks of poverty are generally high and production‐related services are weak, many people are giving up agriculture and are selling their land. Finding a waged job becomes a coping strategy for many poor. A pro‐poor policy needs to include the easing of procedures for household registration, as well as the elimination of discrimination against migrants with regards to social assistance and other kinds of support. Further, the implementation of a policy on vocational training and job placement services that facilitate the Poor’s search for gainful employment can help recognize and deal with this growing economic trend.


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Issue 11:

Increasing Resources for Social Assistance

It is very important that poverty criteria be revised to reflect the real extent of poverty. To do this, exclusionary practices must end. Coverage of assistance should be made available to all who are eligible, as opposed to the current level of 15%. The implementation of Decision 139 needs to be made as soon as possible __ to include 100% of the poor, ethnic minority and people living in 135 Communes. Full exemption of all school contributions for poor children, as well as textbook subsidies will exponentially increase access to education in the area. Programs designed to improve income generating opportunities, like agricultural extension programs, need to be tailored to local needs, and in particular the needs of the poor.

Issue 12:

Slow and Inaccurate Issuance of Poverty Certificates

During one of the village meetings, researchers learned of delays and inaccuracies occurring with the issuance of poverty certificates. The extent of delay and inaccuracy was surprising. The participants received certificates on July 26, 2003 that were dated January 1, 2003. As the annual review of the official poverty list is normally occurs in October, these certificates will be recalled very soon. Further, 5 out of 15 certificates had incorrect date‐of‐births for holders. Investigation into the potential causes for these delays and inaccuracies revealed that the process of identification and certification is lengthy, involving a number of agencies, and is in essence poorly coordinated. As well staff, both in terms of number and capacity is limited. Combined, these reasons effectively limit the administration capacity of the program overall, which in turn has severely affected the programs efficacy.

Introduction

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Introduction

Key objective

The Participatory Poverty Assessment headed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment with the technical support from the World Bank and donors in Vietnam was implemented in 13 provinces nation‐wide. The Center for Rural Progress (CRP) was assigned to conduct the research from 10th to 30th August 2003 in Ninh Thuan Province. The objectives were to update information and local people and officials perception of poverty and their recommendations on implementation of the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS) approved by the Vietnamese Government. Topics and questions covered included:

• Perceptions of poverty; • Participation and grassroots democracy; • Basic public service to include healthcare, education and agro‐extension

services; • Quality and targeting of social assistance; • Public administration reform; • Migration; as well as environment

The research opened an opportunity for local officials to discuss with local people and research experts on their opinions and recommendations for effective implementation of Hunger Alleviation and Poverty Reduction Programs as well as other development programs in the localities and the province in general.

The Research Area

Ninh Thuan is located in the North central part, bordering Khanh Hoa to the North, Binh Thuan to the South, Lam Dong to the West and East Sea to the East. The province is along 1A Highway, the North‐South Unity Railway and Highway 27 (leading to the Highlands). Total area is 3,352.27 km2 with 105 km of coastline. The natural area is characterized by plain, mountain (with ranges which surround the province) and coastal areas. The diversified terrain slopes to the east, towards the sea. The capital, Phan Rang, is in the center of the province. There are four districts: Ninh Hai, Ninh Phuoc, coastal plain districts; and Ninh Son, Bac Ai, mountainous districts.

Climate‐wise, Ninh Thuan is one of the most drought‐ridden, hottest areas in the country. The Truong Son Mountain Range is situated such that it retains wind throughout the seasons. The province has the lowest average rainfall in the country – 600 mms per annum. While overall, there are few storms, mainly occurring in October and November, the terrain is an enabling factor for storms to


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become highly damaging __ characterized by heavy rain and flood and with harmful results to production and livelihoods.

Ninh Thuan Province has a population of 539, 000 (data of 2002) at a density of 160 persons per square kilometer. Most populous is Ninh Phuoc District with 171, 000. Least populous is Bac Ai District with 19, 000. Cultural diversity in the province stems from the 20.1% Ethnic Minority Population Base which includes Cham (Ninh Phuoc) and Rac Lai (Ninh Son) communities (as of 2002).

Rated the 59th poorest province of the country, the Ninh Thuan Economy is primarily agrarian. Accounting for 50% of the province’s GDP, agriculture employs over 70% of the labour force. Main products include food stuffs like rice, maize and peas. Recently, for the coastal areas an aquaculture industry (shrimp) is emerging with some remarkable initial benefits. Specialty products such as sheep (a species accustomed to drought‐ridden areas), and grapes are rising. In terms of non‐agrarian products, Ninh Thuan is famous for such handicraft products as Bau Truc Pottery and My Nghiep Brocade.

For the research, Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts were chosen as survey sites. These areas have relatively representative characteristics for the province in terms of poverty, ethnicity and terrain. Most of the villages chosen in this assessment are the same as samples taken in the 2002 VLSS. The areas breakdown as follows:

Table 1: Research sites

District Commune Village

Son Hai Phuoc Dinh

Tu Thien

Thanh Tin Ninh Phuoc

Phuoc Hai Hoa Thuy

Tra Giang 2 Luong Son

Tan Lap 2

My Hiep Ninh Son

My Son Phu Thanh

Ninh Thuan was chosen as the pilot area in the development of the survey on the national scale. As such, it should be noted that the areas chosen for the research were not the same as those in the pilot study; namely, Tuan Tu and Hoa Thanh Villages, An Hai Commune.

Introduction

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The Team

The research team, led by Pham Anh Tuan, Director, The Center for Rural Progress (CRP), was comprised of twenty‐two members in total. Nine of the team members were designated Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) experts based in Hanoi and coming from: CRP; The Institute for Social Science Research, The National Center of Social Science and Humanity; and The Center of Environment Research, Ministry of Education and Training. The Hanoi team members are as follows:

Table 2: Research Team

Pham Anh Tuan The Center for Rural Progress

Hoang Xuan Quyen The Center for Rural Progress

Tran Van Long The Center for Rural Progress

Vu Thi Phe The Center for Rural Progress

Vu Xuan Dao The Center for Rural Progress

Ann Marie Aase The Center for Rural Progress

Nguyen Dinh Quan The Center for Rural Progress

Luong Van Chuong The Institute for Social Science Research,

The National Center of Social Science and Humanity

Le Dong Phuong Education Strategy Institute,

Ministry of Education and Training

The remaining fourteen team members were local officers comprising of one provincial officer, nine district officers and four commune officers (see Appendix 04: Research Participant List). Many of these local officers were involved in PPA exercise conducted in 2000 in 3 communes in Ninh Phuoc District to prepare for a poverty reduction project in the same district, now managed by CRP. The Hanoian experts were responsible for the overall design and implementation of the research. Local officers were given a two day training sessions which covered survey contents and PPA skills. For the purposes of implementation, survey subjects were segregated and assigned to research team members. To promote a sufficiently diversified understanding, members exchanged assigned topics during group discussions.


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The Approach

At the Provincial Level, individuals were interviewed and secondary data was collected from representatives of the Provincial People’s Committee, the Planning and Investment Department, the Health Department, the Department of Education and Training, the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, as well as such province‐wide agencies as: The Center for Agricultural Extension and The Women’s Union. At the District Level, individuals were interviewed and secondary data was collected from representatives of the District People’s Committees, the Board of Hunger Eradication and Poverty Alleviation and other related agencies (similar to the province level). At the Commune Level, group discussions, individual interviews and secondary data collection stemmed from the participation of Commune People’s Committee Leaders, related agencies, local peoples, as well as individual officers (those whose responsibilities correlated to the survey topics: public relation, health, agriculture extension, education, and justice as well as on the Hunger Eradication and Poverty Alleviation Program). Group discussions at the commune level included such individuals as commune leaders, commune‐related departments as well as heads of villages and commune mass organizations (to include Fatherland Front, the Youth Union, the Farmers’ Associations and the Women’s Union). At the Village Level, interviews included village heads, village managing board members as well as local households. Wealth ranking exercises were a key tool used at the village level. Because all villages have a population, which is too big for a full wealth ranking exercise, an administrative unit of the village was chosen comprising around 100 to 150 households. In addition, the unit chosen was given official registration and official poverty lists (using MOLISA’s criteria). In each of such units, 30 households were chosen to represent the unit and to conduct the wealth ranking exercise. The poverty list produced by the households’ wealth ranking exercise is compared with the official (MOLISA) poverty list for assessing targeting (See Appendix 07: Results from Wealth Ranking Exercises.) For group discussions, participants were split into three groups comprised of one male‐only group, one female‐only group and one mixed‐gender group. At the Household Level, team members visited and filled out prepared questionnaires ‐‐ 30 households per village. In each village, 8 designated households that showed “special characteristics” when compared to the others were further interviewed in‐depth. While the active tool of a PPA is that of participation, the team used the questionnaires to both support the qualitative analysis, as well as to collect more in‐depth quantitative information from local

Introduction

11

households. SPSS Software was used to quantitatively analyze the collected information.

Research Limitations

Firstly, as the survey was limited to a sampling of two out of the four provincial districts, the research cannot truly expose the situation found in the remaining two districts. Further, as the survey reviewed only rural villages, the research cannot reflect situational poverty for the province’s urban areas – namely Phang Rang Town. Secondly, the original Commune 135 designated for the survey, Ma Noi Commune had to be replaced by My Son Commune (another Commune 135) as the remoteness of Mai Noi Commune had prevented Commune officers’ ability to attend the PPA Training Courses. Thirdly, in some places, local people had the notion that the research team was there to survey for a potential poverty program/project, despite the sending of an official letter explaining the research activity in advance. This may have resulted in a limited distortion in assessment for both household discussion and the classification exercises. Finally, there was a language barrier in group discussions with the Rac Lai Minority. Overall, given the research team’s previous experience conducting PPAs in the area, most potential limitations were cared for in advance and therefore rapidly overcome. Thus, the fundamental objectives of the research were successfully reached.


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Perceptions of Poverty

Current Perspectives

Characteristics of the Poor

When asked to describe the common characteristics of the poor, surveys across all eight villages, revealed the following:

Table 3: Characteristics of the Poor

Characteristics of the Poor

Number of occurrences topic is repeated during 8

focus group discussions

1 Long-term diseases (without treatment) 7

2 Thatched-roof houses and/or mud huts and/or homeless 7

3 Illiterate children and/or quit schooling early at grades 3/4. 6

4 Working for someone else 6

5 Lack of Basic needs: food, clothes and clean water 6

6 Large Families: many children/children working 6

7 Women: widowed or husbands left for another woman 3

8 Elderly – with no means of support 2

9 No hope/many worries 2

It is important to note that the analysis is based on interviews with the poor who are currently hired and/or working in paddy fields. This exercise in poverty evaluation showed a noticeable change in terms of people’s perceptions, in comparison to the assessment conducted three year previous. Perception of poverty incorporates less tangible characteristics of poverty to a growing extent. The definition of poverty, while still fundamentally based on material wealth such as shelter, food and clothes, is less so then before. Further, indicators such as disease treatment, education for children and expectations have had more importance placed on them.

Causes

Local Perception

Household categorization of local people’s perception of causes of poverty is as follows:


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Table 4: Causes of Poverty – Local Perception

Causes of poverty Number of occurrences topic is repeated during 8 focus group

discussions

1 Drought-ridden and/or non arable land 8

2 Jobless 8

3 No capital 7

4 Lack of knowledge 5

5 High cost of education 3

6 No and/or poor and limited land 3

7 Elderly – with no means of support 2

8 Women: widowed or husbands left for another woman 2

Natural disasters, particularly droughts, are frequently mentioned by households as a major cause of poverty. Many have considered no land or poor soil as an emerging issue. Children’s education is a new concept, something that had not been previously considered or discussed in earlier surveys.

Official’s Perception

Through in‐depth interviews, and stemming from focus‐group discussions with Officials in Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts and their respective villages, perceptions of causes of poverty were ranked, as such:

Table 5: Causes of Poverty – Official’s Perception

Ranking Causes of poverty

1 Lack of capital

2 Multiple dependents

3 Elderly – with no means of support

4 Lack of arable land

5 Jobless

6 Lack of technical knowledge relating to agricultural production

7 Lack of able-body family members

For the most part, households and officials share a common perception in terms of causes of poverty. One notable difference between the two groups is that households refer to the burden of educational expenses for children as a source of vulnerability. Education expenses here is two‐fold; the actually monies outlaid for education, as well as the opportunity cost of children forgoing immediate income over schooling.


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Perceptions of Poverty Broken Down by Different Groups

Men

Poorer men are characterized by a lack of means of production, resulting from natural disasters, or further to that, a lack of job options altogether. Migrants leaving Ninh Thuan, in search of better options, are primarily men, at working age. Though there are cases where entire families migrate, most seasonal migrants are male family members following the harvest season in search of additional means for support for their families.

Women

Women fear a lack of cultivatable land or animals. This becomes more serious in cases where woman are either widowed, or whose husband had left them for another woman. Poorer women, are witnessing the slow erosion of traditional income sources (such as natural coastal resource exploitation), and are turning to part‐time waged employment as a nominal source of income.

Cham Ethnic Minority

The Cham Minority is a matrilineal society, for Cham woman to be widowed or “divorced” is a scary prospect __ particularly when left with a lot of dependants. Access to education for Cham children is very important to this community. However, given the costs of education, the opportunity costs of a child generating income for the family is sometimes too high to ignore.

Rac Lai Ethnic Minority

Traditional means of cultivation for the Rac Lai occurs deep in the mountainous areas of Ninh Thuan Province. Access to cultivatable land is key to the survival of this community. Further, lack of water – in an area known for its droughts __ negatively affects Rac Lai standards‐of‐living.

Trends of Poverty Dynamics:

General Sense

Through focus group discussions and in‐depth interviews with households and officials in Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts and Villages it was noted that there has been a drastic reduction of poverty across all classes and groups of households. Statistics from the Annual Report of the Steering Committee on Hunger and Poverty Reduction show that the ratio of poor households to wealthy households is declining year‐to‐year. There is a general sense, stemming from the opinions raised by all 8 resident groups that the standard of living has improved over the past three years. The group discussions and households in‐depth interviews shared the same view. Prominent improvements include better infrastructure (bridges, roads, electricity and clean water) better services (schools and hospitals) and higher prices for


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agricultural products (rice and maize). Few say that a better standard of living has stemmed from job creation (farmers hired to work on shrimp ponds). However, this trend of improvement is uneven within the individual communities as well as regionally. Within the community, well‐off members are characterized as those with capital that can be used to access newer technology. Poorer groups ‐‐ including the elderly and single woman – are often without capital, and struggling with high costs for children’s schooling and medical treatment. Under‐developed communities are often comprised of rural ethnic groups with poor infrastructure and irrigation. Cham Ethnic Communities also face higher expenses for burials and weddings (as per custom); Rac Lai Ethnic Communities rely mainly on nature for agricultural production. Results stemming from questionnaire analysis show that poorer members of the community often maintain a deeper pessimism towards their situation ‐‐ more so than the overall community. Half of all poor households said that they did not see any changes to their standard of living, some in fact being worse off, over the course of the past three years. Group discussions revealed a perception that the gap between poor and rich is increasing at a high rate, up to 10 times as many beleived. Well‐off households are benefiting from shrimp farming (Phuoc Dinh) and cattle ranching (Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts). However, well‐off households are seen to be hard working, as such, any potential tension that may stem from this growing “gap” between community members is lessened, except for the enviroment pollution caused by shrimp farming in coastal villages. Interviews show that migrating for seasonal jobs can mean access to higher income for people, especially for poor households. Discussions in Phuoc Hai and An Hai Villages (pilot survey), Ninh Phuoc District also share this common view. Worth noting is that in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) on categories of poverty __ households with migrant laborers working outside of their original village are not incorporated into poverty line analysis.

Job Generation: Agriculture Sector

Agricultural jobs are being generated in Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts. For example, shrimp ponds are developing in Phuoc Dinh Commune, Ninh Phuoc District. Currently, there are 320 hectares of surface water set for shrimp ponds which are being cared for by 400 owners, 70% of which originate from other villages and Phan Rang Town (they are effectively migrants to the villages). Thanks to the favorable weather condition, the shrimp farming develops years around with high production. This farming created great benefit for shrimp ponds’ owners and in‐put supply enterprises. The farming development brought


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about job and income generation activities. It should be noted that shrimp pond development is encouraged at the Provincial, District and Commune Levels. Shrimp production has meant an overall increase in investment as well as short term jobs and incomes for households particularly in Phuoc Hai and An Hai Communes, Ninh Phuoc District. Initially, the setting‐up of the ponds required a lot of labor in order to set up the ponds. Over time the need for local labour decreased with the day‐to‐day maintenance of the ponds being run by migrant workers. Local labor is still required, but for such things as harvesting and cleaning the shrimp ponds – the local labour are mainly women working for a rate of VND 25,000/working day. In addition to cattle ranching, sheep and goat herding are adding to the overall economic performance of Ninh Son and Ninh Phuoc Districts. In the last two years goat herding has brought in high profits – with prices increasing from VND 12,000 to 26,000/kilogram (as of 2001). The price of nanny goats has increased in 2001 from 1.3 million to 4 million. Furthermore the sheep, cattle and goat that are being reared are tropical breeds with high immunity and lower risks. Household opinions show strong support for cattle ranching as a good opportunity for overcoming poverty but realize the hurdles of capital and breeding techniques. So far, cow, goat and sheep rearing is an opportunity reserved for wealthy people __ poor people are often hired as laborers.

Job Generation: Non-Agriculture Sector

References through discussions and interviews with officials at the District Level, show that gainful employment is of great concern with the poor, especially women. Mr. Khanh, Deputy Chairman of Ninh Phuoc, notes that in Ninh Phuoc a growing number of non‐agriculture jobs are being created by private enterprises. In Ninh Phuoc District, there is a rattan and bamboo handicraft making company run by a Taiwanese owner as well as a cashew nut processing factory. In Ninh Son District, there is a noodle processing joint venture between a local enterprise and a private enterprise in Ho Chi Minh City. State‐owned enterprises (SOEs), however, have not been a source of jobs.

Non-income Aspects of Poverty:

Group discussions revealed that the poor are shy and lack confidence. They are limited in communications and rarely join in on meetings. If present at a meeting the poor often sit in the corners of the room and do not participate in the discussions. Poor living conditions seem to result in making poorer community members less sociable, with poorer people often alienating themselves from communal activities. The same findings can also be seen in individual household interviews. The majority of the poor constantly worry that their living conditions may get worse.


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Natural disasters, pests, illness and price reductions for agricultural products are among their daily worries. Additional burdens include life events such as weddings, funerals as well as the beginning of the school year. During the meeting on categorizing households, many people noted that poverty could result from school fees for their children. People’s thinking of poverty has changed. Children’s schooling is considered as a part of benefits, as without it they feel poorer. Many households want to be listed as poor to earn some support. This is popular among communities and relatively new phenomenon which was reconfirmed during the face‐to‐face interviews. In a way, this means that many households do not feel ashamed when ranked as poor. Talks with teachers revealed, however, that children, unlike their parents, are very sensitive to their poverty. They do not want to be called or be referred to as “poor.” While the public is showing much concern for the poor overall, certain community members maintain tough attitudes towards people who are lazy. Some communities (My Son Commune, Ninh Son District) do not rank lazy or alcohol‐addicted people on their poverty list.

Risks and vulnerabilities

Many "near-poor” households

As per a household wealth ranking exercise (across all 8 villages), for a total of 955 households, 213 were listed as poor and 180 very poor. If selected using the criteria given by MOLISA, as in the official poverty list, these numbers are just 84 poor and 43 very poor. The differences were respectively 2.5 times and 4 times. In the mountainous District of Ninh Son, there are 2,144 households listed as poor according to MOLISA criteria. As a unique initiative, the District devised a list which ranked “near‐poor” – with income ranging from 80,000‐100,000 VND. The result added other 2,500 households for consideration. These numbers were meant to reflect the many households in the district that while not officially considered poor, their living‐standards were found to be “rather similar” to the official poor. With even a minor negative impact on the “near‐poor’s” lives, a large number of “near‐poor” could easily drop to below the official poverty line. Given that Ninh Thuan is a province with regular natural disasters, this trend is likely to become true.

Natural disasters

In Ninh Phuoc District, droughts and floods are occurring more frequently – droughts are increasingly listed as serious recently while several years before, more floods were seen. Together with the hot climate, disasters have negatively


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affected living and livelihood of people. In Ninh Phuoc, natural resources such as underground water for daily use and production have become exhausted. Further a polluted ocean environment has caused degraded living conditions in turn damaging local villagers’ livelihood activities. In Ninh Son, shortage of water for irrigation and a dependence on natural rain has affected local people greatly, particularly in Rac Lai Communities. Many villagers believe that natural disasters are a major force driving people below the poverty line. Unsustainable economic activities

Also mentioned was increased vulnerability faced by local people due to unsustainable socio‐economic development programs. Any impact on the local environment and ecology affects all people’s lives. Cases of shrimp farming in Vinh Truong and Tu Thien Villages in Phuoc Dinh Commune were cited examples.

Production- related support services

A household’s ability to recover production after a natural disaster largely depends on the support available. Such support is still very limited in the two districts. Farming extension services are limited and unavailable when farmers require it. The extension services that are available are structured in a top‐down approach, and are unable to respond to immediate needs in a flexible, timely manner. As for credits, most poor households have borrowed money from the Hunger Eradication and Poverty Reduction Fund (HEPR). Most of them, however, did not repay these funds due to difficulties caused by natural disasters and lack of an effective micro‐finance management method. The non‐repaid househouses were prevented from borrowing money of official credit channels. Most households end up borrowing production inputs from private lenders in the village. Production input loans are very popular in Luong Son and My Son Communes, Ninh Son District. As the production input lenders live in the same villages as the “material borrowers,” loan providers understand the economic status of the borrowers well. They lend such materials as fertilizers and seeds at the beginning of the season and receive the payment for the principle plus interest at the end of harvest. Though this service is flexible, the interest is much higher than regular market rates – in most cases, too high for the poor. Many poor households depend totally on this credit service and become long‐term debtors. In Phuoc Hai and An Hai Communes (where the pilot assessment occurred) numerous droughts and floods have deprived many households from their land (they either sold or rented out) or have become employees for others. Migration to seek employment becomes a common coping strategy for the poor in communities, especially where risks in production are high.


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Weak social security network

Because of a weak social security network, social assistance to the poor is limited. Support from the State and communities to minimize the risks and vulnerabilities are restricted.

Recommendations to Poverty Reduction Efforts

In‐depth interviews with planning officers from Ninh Thuan Province as well as Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts revealed that the design and implementation of existing HEPR programs have characteristics of charitable activities – consisting mainly of putting the poor on a list and doling out rice. Reports at all levels and sectors divulge a preference to “giving a fishing rod not a string of fish.” Essentially, it is viewed that “the poor should earn their own living.” However, support and incentives for the poor to invest in production are small and ineffective. Consultations with the local people revealed that they are highly in need of production support services ‐‐ including market information as well as credit and agricultural extension services. Most comments focused on the fact that existing programs were sectorally‐driven and top‐down in planning and budgeting. Provincial and District Governments have a limited role. Commune authorities have no role – other than naming poor households for the poverty list and relaying any respective relief. The commune level is dependent on subsidies from above because of limited resources to support their own planning. This severely discourages local initiatives to combat poverty. There is a need to empower local governments, especially the commune level, in planning and budgeting for poverty reduction. As mentioned earlier, migration to other provinces for work has become a popular coping strategy for the poor. While the local economy hasn’t been developed to absorb the surplus labor force, the province needs to design policies to support people to seek jobs outside the province. These include vocational training and establishment of employment centers so as to assist for local people in their efforts to find decent wage jobs. As examples, some provinces in the Red River Delta have set up representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City or Dong Nai, in addition to a local office, in order to support such activities. Many cited cases of HEPR programs failing to achieve what were expected of them. Examples observed by the research team include households who borrow money from Bank for the Poor to buy motorbikes instead of investing in production as required by the loan. Further, researchers met with households, who cooked the rice seedlings from the Price Subsidy Program, instead of sowing. The team also observed a case where turn‐key construction project broke down months after delivery (clean water cases in Vinh Truong, Phuoc Dinh). Group discussions in Phuoc Hai and Phuoc Dinh Communes, Ninh Phuoc District and Luong Son Commune, Ninh Son District focused on the important role of


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commune authority in poverty reduction. Communes, in which local authorities have close relations with the people, can have positive contribution to the National HEPR Programs in terms of: i) identifying poverty reduction objectives; ii) monitoring the changes and implementation process; iii) encouraging people to contribute their opinions to the design of the programs; as well as, iv) participating in evaluation, monitoring and feedback of the policies. In current settings, the commune level is not able to contribute and live up to their potentials. Local people and commune officials agreed that in order to improve the quality of programs, it is necessary to strengthen participation of the local people and commune authorities in project development, implementation, supervision, evaluation, monitoring and policy feedback. In order to increase the participation of local people and local authorities, it is essential to further decentralize and empower to the grassroots level in the task of building and managing the implementation of the National HEPR Programs.

Participation in Local Decision-Making and Empowerment of Poor Households

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Grassroots democracy – General Sense

Through in‐depth interviews with Provincial and District officials, researchers learned that the Grassroots Democracy Regulation has generated positive impacts, making public life more open since its initial creation. Increased participation is being facilitated across many social and public activities. Party Members and officials have shown more responsibility to their jobs and the people they serve. The relationship between the People, and Party Members and officials is closer. Commune level officials and Village Heads noted during the group discussions that the extent of the people’s participation in local activities has greatly improved. Complaints and grievances have decreased. Local people’s confidence in officials has increased and they pay much attention to the authority’s activities. Group discussions and in‐depth interviews with households divulged further that there are more opportunities for people to participate. People are invited to take part more and more. People are becoming better informed about local social and economic activities as well as programs and policies which influence to their lives. In general, researchers felt that the overall atmosphere for all discussions was extremely open, noting that people were well aware of their participatory role in the development of their communities. The study of grassroots democracy level focused on discussions on the motto “people know, people discuss, people do and people supervise”. At the local level, when village members were asked about such specific issues as the “Grassroots Democratic Decree,” people responded with, ʺI donʹt know.ʺ When asked about the motto, ʺpeople know, people discuss, people do and people superviseʺ the response was positive. All of the group discussions with local people and communal officials showed strong support for measuring the level of democracy at grass root level by these four criteria. During the discussions, all local officials and household participants consistently stated that the information system from communes to villages, since establishment, had created opportunities for people to access information about their authorities as well as those policies which influence their lives. Through village and communal meetings, as well as dialogues with voters, social societies and unions; people have gained a voice.


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Levels of implementation - discrepancies in opinions

One of the key findings in the research is with the difference between opinions of local officials and people on the level of grassroots democracy. Note the following table:

Table 6: Discrepant opinions on grass root democracy

1 Assessment of local Officials Assessment of people

The decision making process at communal level runs as such: a) People’s Committee raises an issue; b) Local people discuss the issues during

village meetings; c) Resulting comments and

recommendations are submitted back to the Peoples’ Committee;

d) The People's Committee makes a decision, which in turn is announced to every village member and group.

Many people are too busy making a living and can not afford to take the time to attend meetings; Illiterate people rarely attend village meetings. Those that do go may not understand the salient issues being discussed. Attendance is on invitation basis; those invited are known to be “nodders.” When recommendations have been proposed, the changes did not ensue.

2 All policies, socio-economic development plans are diffused at every village.

People only care what directly influences their lives. They know family planning well, but not necessarily development planning.

3 Participation in village meetings is high -- 80% - 90% of population.

High level of attendance (70% - 80%) for Youth Union's or Women Union's meetings or on such issues as sanitation/ cultivation and animal husbandry, rice relief only.

4 People’s contribution to socio-economic development plans is made through dialogues with voters.

Meeting hall capacity is up to 100 seats, most of which are for reserved for officials and representatives of mass organizations, few are available for people. People know nothing about infrastructure, invested and managed by Central, Provincial and District Levels.

5 People make their comments on local authority activities through their elected deputies on the People’s Council.

Incompetent elected deputies do not have the ability to and reflect the peoples’ opinions and demands.

6 The mechanism by which communal leaders who are responsible to villages must join party activities in those villages is applied.

Local officials, particularly Council Deputies, are less in touch with the people.

7 Information is publicized at communal office or through village speaker system.

People get information though their village heads only. It is impossible to hear what is said via headwind speakers. People, didn’t know the communal budget.

8 Public question and answer venues are located in village.

People only ask about what influences their lives and disputes and conflicts such as the current shrimp aquaculture land dispute.

9 The motto, "People know, People discuss, People do and People supervise" is active.

Supervision is weak, with no opportunities for people to supervise Central, Provincial or District-managed construction in the area.

10 People participate in authority-building processes.

People have not yet participated. Many communal officials and village heads are not trusted and are clutching onto their positions.


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The research noted several reasons for these discrepancies. Infrastructure for information dissemination (speakers; radios, papers; meetings) is still limited at commune and village levels. Policy awareness by local officials is low. In terms of the latter, some officials commented on the lack of appropriate time to study new policies – seven days at the Central Level, three at the Provincial one day at the District with only half a day at the Commune level. A village official from Phuoc Hai noted that the implementation of the Grassroots Democracy Decree depends a lot on the local mass organizations’ activities but they do so with a limited budget. Further, since the revised budget law was implemented such spending has faced new difficulties. Officials in all surveyed communes argued that local people in general do not concern themselves with issues and activities of their community. They further argue that information dissemination to poor groups is always a big challenge to local authorities (see further analysis in section 2.2.). Some raised the opinion that in order to attract more participation and grassroot democracy, more guidance is needed to facilitate the people supervision mechanisms of the socio‐economic activities at the communities, of the performance of the Commune People’s Committee and the People’s Council. Many called for increased participation of both the local authorities and local people in the provision of basic services (e.g. agricultural extension) and in upper‐level managed construction projects in area. Others furthered that by saying that to empower local people and local authorities, it is necessary to include them in decision‐making process. It was also said that the implementation of the Grassroots Democracy Decree must go together with Public Administrative Reform of local government apparatus. Households, in all surveyed communes, noted that local officials are lacking in terms of numbers overall and job skills in particular. In addition, some do not maintain regular contact with the local people. There is a tendency for a lot of officials __ in pursuit of praise __ only paint a “rosy picture,” when it comes to reporting. In most focus group discussions, people said there was a need to build the capacity for officials to be able to supervise construction activities in the area, which are currently managed at a higher level; as well as in providing basic services, especially agricultural extension services. Researchers observed further reasons leading to discrepancies between local authorities and local people, mainly in terms of perceived levels of implementation of grassroots democracy. Firstly, when evaluating the quality of programs, officials tend to focus on activity‐based criteria whereas local people cared more about result‐based impacts. For example, in terms of agricultural extension services officials often reported in terms of number of training events, number of kilograms of paddy seedlings or number of demonstration sites. Farmers, however, cited incidents of low harvests stemming from use of bad seedlings. When talking about the level of participation of local people in planning and budgeting, officials tended to quote the numbers of meetings/dialogues between voters and elected officials, while people are


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interested in whether their stated views are reflected in the Resolutions of the People’s Council or the socio‐economic activities are addressing their problems. Another example in terms of financial transparency, officials in My Son Village, Luong Son Commune stated that the communal financial report was posted on the public notice board. The local people, however, said they do not know anything about communal finance. The rationale for this discrepancy could be that those who were interviewed had either not read the notice, or if they read it, may not have had the capacity to understand it – assuming they were literate at all. Many local people had noted that a number of activities that had been carried out did not create any positive changes in their lives. Secondly, the current methodology for evaluation and monitoring used by government at all levels is to rely on reports prepared by lower level of government with out cross‐checking with targeted beneficiaries. There was no participation in evaluation and monitoring, hence, no feedback from the local people to be fed into the next round of planning. As a result, people do not agree with the assessment of many programs.

Information channels

Group discussions with people showed that information dissemination on the authority’s activities, basic services and poverty reduction programs was done through public notices, announcements or direct dialogues, etc. At the lowest level, people considered direct dialogues the most important. There are two main forms of direct dialogues: village meetings and actual door‐to‐door visits made by officials. Such forms allow for better information exchange and clearer understandings of the issues being discussed. The poor are especially interested in these forms as they help increase confidence when raising opinions further allowing them a sense of growing closeness to their elected officials. In some villages, meetings at community houses are very important. Not all villages, however, have separate community houses. Other important means to disseminate information include notice boards located at the village heads’ house/or at local community houses as well information provided on official papers such as the back of Health Insurance Cards and Poor Household Certificates. For many reasons, including inferiority complexes and heavy workloads, the majority of poor people do not know a lot about available/current local activities and programs. Enhancing information access to the poor is a big challenge according to authorities at all levels. Stemming from this is the potential for the poor become isolated even in their own communities. Activities of other civil societies such as Woman and Farmer Unions are also considered effective in regards of information dissemination. The official channel for people to contribute to their local socio‐economic development plan is through the Councils: i.e. through activities of elected deputies, dialogues and Council Assembly Sessions. In talking with district and communal officials it was shown that the most effective way to get feedback from local people is through direct, door‐to‐door dialogues with village households.


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Such an activity creates for an opportunity for officials and people to understand each other. Local people also appreciate these community‐based dialogues. Currently, district and communal authorities are using a mechanism where core officials must increase visits to those villages they are responsible for.

Enhancing Local participation __ local planning and budgeting processes

Through dialogues, voters raise their concerns with such basic services as health, education, agricultural extension as well as infrastructure needs – water access, bridges and roads. During group discussions, however, some local officials said that the local planning process was done by communal or village planning experts who work with Officials at higher levels. Local participation is very limited. Effective local participation is only found with the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) or grant projects found in their area. There people were joining in on discussions and the decision making process. Such projects in the area include: The Community Based Rural Infrastructure Program (CBRIP), funded by the World Bank, Phuoc Ha Commune; and The Ninh Phuoc Poverty Reduction Project, funded by the Center for Rural Progress and Action Aid Vietnam. The government‐run Program 135 also allows for local participation in planning process. (See Appendix 01: Communal Socio‐economic Planning Procedures) Communal socio‐economic development plans normally consist of major targets for production, health, education, population and family planning as well as environment and poverty reduction. With regards to actual production, households play active roles. District authorities only provide guidelines for production in terms of seasonal crops, cultivation and animal husbandry. Districts also provide assistance via irrigation and agricultural extension services. In case of lost or damaged crops, the district may consider reduced taxes or provide emergency relief. Interviews with district and communal officials noted that the Communal Budgetary process falls under specific divisions – namely, the Economic Division, the Financial Division, and the Taxation Agency. Officials work with Peoples’ Committees, submitting reports to the Committee for approval. There is no local participation. The Economic Division plays its role as an advisory body to the District Peoples’ Committee, handing over general targets to communes. The Financial Division consults with Peoples’ Committees over detailed targets including budget revenue and expenditure. The Tax Agency works with tax collection rates and the percentage of collected taxes that would be left available to the communes. The Financial Division, based on what has been agreed to, relays to the State Treasury suggested transfer increases to communal budgets. Communal budget revenue consists of i) tax collection left for communes (ranging from 30‐50%); ii) subsidies from district budgets (ranging from 50‐70%); and iii)


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miscellaneous funding sources including public contribution funds, war memorial funds as well as education stimulation funds, etc. (ranging from 3‐5%). Communal budge expenditure consists of: i) operating expenditures of the Peoples’ Committee and Council; ii) operation expenditures of Party Committees and Mass organizations; iii) expenditure for military and security activities. Expenditure items are mainly salaries, non‐wage fees, and office supplies/equipment. Average expenditure for a single commune is approximately VND 300 million per year. There is no category for investment, health services, education or extension. Planning and budgeting for this category is done by the districts, the provinces or at the central level depending on specific projects or services. (See Appendix 02: A Sample of a Communal Budget) Officials at the Peoples’ Committee and Communal Levels, as well as Officials from the Statistic and Land Office, noted that: Grassroots Democracy must go together with administrative reform including the decentralization of budget and investment. Currently, socio‐economic development planning has too few contents. Communes only raise demand but districts arrange the budget. All infrastructure construction at District and Provincial levels are in the form of turn‐key contracts. Services are provided by line divisions under approved Provincial and Central Programs. The National Targeted Programs for Poverty Reduction (poverty funding, 135, safe water provision, health insurance, and 139, etc.) are all designed and assigned at the Central levels. Communal budgets are very limited, hence, not being able to back up planning activities. The only potential source for such an initiative would be to wait for a subsidy from Upper‐Level budgets – a very passive approach that depends a lot on Central Plans. The best way to enhance participation in the planning and budgetary process is to decentralize as far as lowest level authorities. Without further decentralization, planning is essentially limited to the activities funded by contribution from the local people. What the people’s contribution is allowed for is very limited as compared to the communal budget, not to mention the total investment by the higher authorities made in the communes. As the economic horizon for Ninh Thuan Province is very poor, in the short run the local budget will have to depend on central subsidies. Further, decentralization must be implemented at the uniformly across all levels of authorities. Group discussion also showed that there is a need to enhance the role of participation with basic service provision, particularly extension services. People, as beneficiaries, must vocalize service quality assessments in order to improve quality of policies. For state‐run projects it is necessary to build monitoring channels and independent assessment in order to have decent feed back from people in turn allowing for the creation of more well‐rounded policies.

Delivering Basic Services to Poor People Education

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Delivering Basic Services to Poor People

Education

General Assessment

Better education service Areas surveyed are well facilitated with basic education. There are kindergartens and primary schools in all villages. Secondary schools exist in lowland communes. Not all mountain communes, however, have junior secondary schools. Most secondary schools are located in Phan Rang Town. In consultations with individual Educational Officers from the Province, District and Commune, as well as School Headmasters researchers were informed that there are a numbers of Provincial policies designed and implemented to assist children coming from poor households to go to school. Such policies include exemptions for full/partial tuition (partial as applied to secondary and high school levels) as well as school construction fees (primary to high school levels) and are applicable for also other social policy beneficiaries. Normally, pupils from poor and hunger families are exempted from 50% and 100% of the tuition fee respectively. Further, primary schools in Ninh Phuoc District have set up a third reduction in school construction fees as well as a parent’s fund for families with three or more children at school age. The education in Ninh Son District comprises of investment in school construction under the National Program 135 – as well as free‐of‐charge delivery of textbooks, notebooks and other fees for students from ethnic groups. Parents and headmasters noted that this policy effectively reaches children in ethnic communities – opening up more opportunities and access to education, hence the number of pupils from ethnic groups has considerably increased recently. Ethnic students, who achieve academic excellence, have access to boarding education at the Provincial and District expense. However, the allocated quantity is rather limited as in Luong Son Village, Ninh Son District, an area with a high concentration of ethnic minorities, only one pupil was selected to continue their education at the District’s Secondary Boarding School in 2002.

… but still limited access for poor pupils

Most kindergartens are privately run ‐‐ parents have to pay for their children’s education as high as 45,000 VND/year for supplies and 5,000 VND/month for tuition ‐‐ totaling 100,000 VND/year. These fees are a heavy burden on poor families and explain why many poor cannot send their children to school.


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Children, age 6, who do not attend kindergarten, are opted to attend a 35‐class preparation course for primary school. Not all children, however, can participate in such activities. Women in My Hiep Village, My Son Commune say children are prevented from attending school given the language barriers – they cannot speak Kinh (Vietnamese.) Primary education: Group discussions and in‐depth interviews revealed that localities have achieved the national standard of Primary education. However, the number of poor children not attending or dropping out of school at the primary level is noticeable. Reasons given for this included “[sic] the poor don’t have money,” parents care little for children’s education as well that the distance to school for those in remote mountainous areas was prohibitive. Further, some children must work as wage laborers to assist the family ‐‐ attending school is just a dream. Headmasters in Phuoc Dinh and Phuoc Hai noted the highest ratio of dropouts are in grade one classes for those children not accustomed to learning methods. The ratio of dropouts among higher grades is also high. Reasons for low attendance rate includes: peer pressure; being forced to look after younger siblings so parents can seek employment; and finally, forgoing school for immediate income needs. In Phuoc Dinh Commune, Ninh Phuoc District, only 80% of children attend primary school at the designated age. Many families believe the children will attend school when they get older. However, those that begin school later are susceptible to developing a complex about attending school – resulting in a lack of interest in applying themselves. There is even one case in Son Hai, Phuoc Dinh where a pupil start grade one when he is fourteen years old. At the Junior Secondary level: education is very general. The great challenge for administrators is those older children from poor families. They represent a higher ratio of dropouts that translates into higher education costs. From the children’s perspective the opportunity costs of going to school versus earning for the family is high. At the High School level: Consultations revealed that education at this level is hardly suitable for students coming from poor families. In Phuoc Dinh Commune, the number of school attendants is very low. Primarily seating is limited at public high schools, and normally only students achieving excellent academic records from better‐ off families can continue on to tenth grade and above. Average students, most of which coming from poor families, if they choose to continue their education, have to go to semi‐private schools. This is limited in number for high costs. Tuitions at this level run upwards of 300,000 VND/year. These costs do not include accommodation and travel expenses.


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Box 1: Education cost Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa and Mrs. Tran Thi Anh Nhi in Tra Giang 2 Villlage, Luong Son Commune, originally from Quang Tri Province, migrated to Ninh Thuan in 1972. Their family has 7 children aging from 7 to 20. The oldest daughter just finished Food and Food Stuff Vocational School in HoChiMinh City and is waiting for recruitment. Their 5 other school‐age children attend primary and secondary schools. When it comes time to send their other children to high school, they will have to send their children to their relatives in Phan Rang Town, Ho Chi Minh City and Quang Son Village for adoption. As not officially registered as permanent residents, their children are not admitted to the public school, they have to go to the semi‐subsidized education system. The family took on a loan of 35 million VND (20 million being the loan with 15 million in interest.) The loan is currently insolvent.

High education cost- barriers to entry for poor households

Over 80% of parents interviewed by questionnaire say that tuition is too high, particularly the poor. Exemption of school and construction fees has been implemented but these are not the main costs. The table below shows the school expenses per annum of one family with one child at primary and secondary school. The expenses may not be high for the families of average and good level but is a considerable burden for the poor households which have to worry for daily life and no money for learning. In‐depth interviews with households revealed that all tuitions, school fees, etc, are due at the commencement of the school year. Such a sum of cash places a heavy burden on many families and is the key factor as why many poor cannot send their children to school. Mrs. Lan in My Hiep, My Son Commune, Ninh Son District, stated that given her financial situation, she cannot send her son to school as she cannot afford the school uniform.


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Table 7: School Expenses per annum (Unit: thousand VND)

Primary level Secondary level No Expenses

Non poor Poor Non poor Poor

1. Tuition No No 60 30

2. Construction fees 50 25 70 35

3. Parent Association Fund

40 20 50 25

4. Textbooks 60 60 80 80

5. Supplies: notebook, pen and book bag

60 60 80 80

6. Uniforms 60 60 100 100

7. Insurance 40 Not bought 40 Not bought

8. Facilities: Bicycle parking/ water and toilets

0 0 100 100

Total 310 225 580 450

Some other limitations

Opportunity Costs: Poor children have to shoulder the difficulties with their families. In Ninh Phuoc District, children, from age 10 and up, have the opportunity to get a permanent job, and hence, income, doing such things as tending to cattle for wealthy households. The older children get, the more money‐making possibilities there are.

Box 2: Earning money instead of attending school With the development of cattle ranches in the area, owners more and more are hiring young labor to tend to their herds. Thuo, the third of six children – four of which are at school age ‐‐ of Mr. Duong Van Luan, Tu Thien Villlage, Phuoc Dinh Commune had to quit school after the first grade to tend to 25‐head of cattle for a wealthy village rancher. After one year, the owner paid 800,000 VND to Thuo’s parents for services rendered – offering Thuo food and clothes. “My family cannot afford four children to go to school,” confessed Mr. Luan. “Thuo had to quit school to support the family.”

Lack of locally‐sourced teachers: Headmasters and commune officials are concerned with the small rate of local teachers in remote areas. Most teachers are sourced from other localities. In Son Hai Primary School, for example, only two out of the total twenty‐one teachers are local. Further, these non‐local teachers are not necessarily fully committed to the schools in which they teach. In Phuoc Hai, for example, teachers only teach in the mornings, returning to their homes in other localities in the afternoon. In Phuoc Dinh, teachers have to lodge at the schools. Most teachers, stemming from other localities would prefer to teach at the schools in their own areas.


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A second key concern of headmasters is with those teachers that are locally sourced. These teachers are often limited in the skills required to do the job. Local teachers are objectively restricted in their capabilities being less proficient, and armed with poor methodologies. As such, they are unable to carry out educational requirements. Textbooks are expensive and changeable: People in Phuoc Hai and Phuoc Dinh Communes divulged that textbooks are not only too expensive for the poor but also subject to change on a yearly basis. This prevents the reuse of textbooks within families with more than one child. For many, this is a strike on the poor. The idea of opening a common bookshelf for students from poor families once was discussed but given a difficulty in its management, nothing came to pass. It was primarily prevented by yearly changing textbooks. Some poor families are able to borrow textbooks from previous years. They, however, still have to buy half the number of textbooks due to the changes. Parents with limited knowledge: through household interviews, people noted that many children who go to school – learning such things as how to read – do not recognize the value of what is offered to them stemming from parents with limited knowledge as well. “Girls do not need higher education”: choosing which child will continue their schooling is a hard decision for poor families. In such cases, girls are often the ones left out. This stems from the old school of that that education is wasted on girls. They are going to marry anyway, therefore there is no need for high grades of education. A family in Thanh Tin Village, Phuoc Hai Commune, noted that their daughter had to quit at the high school level, so that she could earn the money to support her brother’s completion of high school and his university entrance examination. Distance to school is an inhibitive problem. The Rac Lai Ethnic Minority in Ninh Son District cultivates land high in the mountainous areas. During harvest season, Rac Lai people conduct limited, three‐month migration – distance‐wise about ten kilometers. Migration is for the entire family, in turn, greatly disrupting children’s schooling. In Ninh Phuoc, there are people living far away from schools preventing their children from attending school. Parents association: There is one Parents Association for every school and is appointed by parents themselves. The Association represents all other parents throughout each school year. Discussions with a women’s group in My Hiep revealed that most members of these association are literate men with good reputations. However the extent of their activities is limited to three meetings per annum: at the beginning, at the end of the 1st term and at the end of the entire school year. Further the association is only for the school level, not class level.


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All parents whose children attend school perceive the role of the association as to disseminate information and requirements from the school to all parents. They can also convey or speak out demands or suggestions to the school, yet there is no scheme to have the school to be bound on such demands. Further, the association lacks a system for monitoring the execution of their recommendations.

Recommendations

Free attendance and exemption from contribution for poor pupils Most people interviewed believed that poor families can only afford essential items for their children. Any other expense such as sending children to school is a serious burden. In that condition, instead of keeping their children at home working, their sending of them to school should be seen as a great effort. Full exemption of all fees/contributions for poor children needs to occur to help improve access to education for the same. If possible, free‐of‐charge delivery of textbooks ‐‐ the basic ones at the very least ‐‐ is necessary. Budgets for exemptions Any policy faces difficulties in implementation if resources are lacking. If there is no room for budgetary exemptions, schools will be subject to poor conditions and a lack in quality of education. Most of them are already in need of teaching material and equipment‐ the exemptions of construction contribution would further this shortage. Budgets must take into account these exemptions as without a means to recoup losses from exemptions; it is the schools, themselves, that will suffer from a decrease education quality – as will the students. The exemptions, should it be considered as a policy, financial resources must be assigned for. Languages‐ ethnic children need help to overcome language barrier prior to primary school For ethnic children, teaching in Vietnamese is a great barrier that can inhibit their interest in studies. They struggle in becoming accustomed to the school environment – the lack of ability in Vietnamese limits ability to fully understand lessons and hence, cause psychological barrier. Even with the 35‐class preparation, language is still prohibiting many of them from confidently and efficiently acquiring the knowledge from the school at the beginning. Given this, it is necessary to provide some classes to help ethnic children learn Vietnamese before they begin the first grade. Standard textbooks for years for Primary and Secondary levels is also necessary so that children from poor families are not affected and do not create any costs for children in general. The planning of school network need to take into account the distance for enabling all pupils to attend the school.

Health

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Health Better health service

Local people commented during focus group discussions and in‐depth interviews that health care services have improved in recent years. Household’s access to health care services has been made easier due to an increase in facilities and stemming from the implementation of such national programs as mass vaccinations. There is a clinic in all surveyed communes. All clinics are equipped with sufficient facilities to provide first aid and general health care services. Although Luong Son Commune clinic doesnʹt have a doctor, all health workers are sufficiently trained to do their jobs and their services are generally accepted by the local people. Besides the communal clinic, each commune has developed village health care stations network to provide first aids and other general health care needs. In general, infectious diseases have been curbed. The general comments from discussion and interviews were that the government, in the recent years, has made repeated efforts with the provision of subsidized and/or free health care services to the poor/ethnic. As a result, many have benefited from such efforts. However, there is still room for improvement in reaching the poor. The discussion is broken into two periods of time: before and after Decision 139.

Free Health Care for the poor

Prior to Decision 139

Prior to Decision QD 139, free‐of‐charge medical examinations and/or treatment vouchers for poor households was implemented in line with Circular 05 dated 29th January, 1999 of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Labors, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). Pursuant to that Circular, food poor households and at least 30% of general poor households received free‐of‐charge medical examinations and/or treatment vouchers valued at VND 30,000/holder. Funding for this free service was made available from social insurance contingency fund. Nevertheless, around 2/3 of poor households were still excluded from this support. Consultation with local people and officials revealed that just about 30% of poor households in Ninh Phuoc District and about 50% of poor households in Ninh Son District received free‐of‐charge medical examinations and/or treatment vouchers. Most households interviewed said they are not happy with the process of selection of beneficiaries. They believed that the selection process was not transparent or democratic. The criteria for becoming a beneficiary, number of vouchers as well as the attached rights were not clearly defined. Local people were not involved in the selection process. Many poor people as well as people


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who suffer from prolonged disease did not received free‐of‐charge medical examinations and/or treatment vouchers. They did not know why. Box 3: Health in a poor family Nguyen Quang Hien, aged 46 and his 6‐member family lives in Tan Lap 2 Villlage, Luong Son Commune; Ninh Son District. His is a poor household and has a Certificate of Poor Household. His eight‐ year old son suffers from epilepsy. His wife has been suffering from a spiral condition for the past three years. Before 2001, his wife and son received free‐of‐charge vouchers. In 2002 these vouchers were revoked. The family faces high medical bills ranging from VND 60.000 to VND 200.000 each visit. They are now in heavy debt.

After Decision 139

Decision 139 allows for free‐of‐charge medical examination and treatment for the poor in order to provide accessibility to health service to all the poor. The date of the Decision was October 15th 2002 which state clearly that all recorded poor people are eligible to this service. Targeted groups include:

• Poor households under Decision 1143 issued by MOLISA; • All households living in extremely poor communes under Program 135; • Ethnic minority people in the Central highlands under Decision 168 by the

Prime Minister. The significant improvement is that Decision 139 facilitates the financial mechanism regarding free‐of‐charge medical examination and the extending of such those approaching the poverty line. Opinions gathered through discussions and interviews with officials at all levels, mass organizations and households shared a common outlook on Decision 139 as a new progress of health policies dedicated to the poor communities and people in difficult villages under program 135. Department for Social Affairs of Ninh Phuoc District declared that the delivery of insurance card for the poor under Decision 139 will be carried out by departments of social affairs in the Districts on the base of approval of Provincial People’s Committee. Re‐granting of insurance will be carried out by people’s committees of villages. References through interviews carried out by research groups in localities to the date of July 2003, Decision 139 has been under deployment by District Department for Social Affairs to make lists of poor households for ratification of district and provincial People’s Committee. Officers of Department for Social Affairs and Department of Health of Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts explained the consideration of poor households meet difficulties therefore lists of poor households are not timely provided.

Health

35

Direction of Ninh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee referred to Document 57 dated January 8th 2003 submitted to Chairmen of People’s Committees of Villages, Towns and Directors of relevant branches in the province on the free‐of‐charge medical examination and treatment for the poor (ratified certificate of poor household), pointed out: “All expenses for free‐of‐charge medical examination and treatment and medicines for the poor in line with medicine list of Ministry of Health dedicated for insurance beneficiaries will be liquidated’. However, the Decision has not been implemented in fact. Officers of Department for Social Affairs and Department of Health of Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts said around 60% of the poor household possessing vouchers are not accessible to the services as late of July, 03 as the spirit of Document 57/VX of Provincial People’s Committee. It is said that policies on insurance for the poor and implementation is inconsistent. The fact in the research areas shows that the spirit of Document 57/VX of Provincial People’s Committee has not been put into practice so the poor have not received any favors of heath policies. Regarding to Decision 139, long‐lasting diseases carriers and/or patients with serious diseases are pleased with opportunities to access to the free‐of‐charge medical treatment, despite some suspicion with regards to the selection. People are more concerned with equality in selection. Group discussions and interviews suggest a democratic and open solution when making profiles of poor households. More people will have opportunity to participate in the selection process of beneficiaries at their localities. Quality of free‐of‐charge health service For poor people, free‐of‐charge medical examinations and/or treatment vouchers is very important. Of 240 households interviewed in 8 villages, 24.2% were voucher holders ‐‐ 64.3% of them have used the free service. Many have been benefited from this service and their health problem has been properly cured. The vouchers have reduced the difficulties of their lives. “I have been suffering tuberculosis since 1997. Since that time, I had to sell my cow to pay for the medical treatment. With free‐of‐charge medical examinations and/or treatment vouchers I did not have to pay the medical bills, only for food.” (Mr. Thanh Quyen, aged 57, poor peasant of Thanh Tin Villlage, Phuoc Hai Commune, Ninh Phuoc District). Poor households from ethnic groups living in communes under Program 135 get more health care service than those who are Kinh. The clinic head of Luong Son Commune explained that every year, the clinic is allocated a budget line to pay for provision of medicine to ethnic minorities. This fund is from the Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas (CEMMA).


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Voucher holders have different opinions on attitude of health care workers on people who were treated using free‐of‐charge medical examinations and/or treatment vouchers. 44.4% of those interviewed said health care workers were attentive and efficient while 38.9% say it is normal and 16.7% say it is very troublesome. The same assessment was affirmed in focused group discussions and in‐depth interviews of households. When compare the quality of service of free treatment versus pay‐as‐you‐go treatment, 22.2% voucher holding patients say free services are better; 33.4% say it is the same as paid service; 22.2% say it is poorer and 22.2% say they don’t know. Some complained about unfavorable treatment when using free examination voucher‐ some even said their problems could only be properly identified when they paid additional charge. Households said that free‐of‐charge medical examinations and/or treatment vouchers are not as relevant when dealing with less serious diseases. Although the value of voucher is low (VND 30,000), the free prescription may only run at VND 5,000‐10,000. Meanwhile unredeemable transportation fees can be higher. (On average, patients pay about VND 10,000‐15,000 for motorbike taxis). Nor is there a means to recover losses incurred during recovery periods. Further, medications prescribed are often weak dosages implying a longer time for recuperation. Health workers interviewed also had the same comments along the line of time lost. Voucher holders are only entitled to medicines in the designated list – which are normally weak in dosage. People who pay for their health care service can have prescription with better medicines therefore taking less time for recuperation. In many cases, poor people, while already finding it difficult to pay such bills, preferred paid services to offset the opportunity costs of spending less time in the sick bed.

Agricultural Extension Services

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Agricultural Extension Services: Demand and Supply Gap Demand Discussions conducted in Phuoc Hai, My Son and Luong Son Districts showed local people, especially poor residents, requesting training and education relating to those types of plants and/or animals which could easily adapt to the unforgiving natural characteristics of region (exhausted soil and dry climate, etc.) Local residents also demand market access for their goods. These wishes are still left unanswered. Interviews with local people divulge a high need for training on basic techniques in the form of on‐the‐site consultations for various forms of production – including fertilization, pesticides and quality control in order to fulfill market demand in terms of quantity and quality. Agricultural extension services are located in the districts – the distance being inaccessible for many in case of need. Group discussions with poor households as well as within Rac Lai communities reveal little understanding of cultivation techniques. As a result, they runs the risks of low productivity and infectious diseases. Local people are in need of hands on, easy to understand technical guidelines. Current programs, which are designed and deployed using a top‐down approach, do not address these needs. In Ninh Son District, local people, more than ever, are buying inputs that are poor in quality. Reliable sources for decent quality inputs are needed such as plants and fertilizer. At the other end of production cycle local people’s knowledge regarding market access, pricing and market information was found by researchers to be lacking. Presently, in Phuoc Hai, Luong Son and My Son Communes, there are private lenders who offer production input materials on account. While this access is extremely useful for poor households, it comes at a high interest rate of four to five percent per month. Given the modest capabilities of local peoples, production services tailored to small‐sized production is needed. Most local people have to take on loans to invest in their cultivation activities. As such, they are afraid of increased risks relating to newer forms of cultivation. They view newer forms of cultivation as reserved for the wealthy.

Supply

The interviews with local extension officials reveal the impression that the current organizational structure and assigned resource is not sufficient for fulfilling the


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demand of local people, especially of the poor. There is no on‐site assistance. Further, extension workers are not allowed to collect fee for their service. Organization: There is one Farm Extension Centre (FEC) and a Veterinary and Plants Protection (VPP) Centre for the Province. There are five stations in the four districts and one town, under FEC and in connection with 94 farming extension clubs throughout the province. Personnel include: two to four district farm extension workers, three FEC workers and three VPP workers. The organizations as well as the level of services they provide are modest when compared to needs of local people, particularly in relation to geographical distance and coverage. According to Mr. Dung, Head of Ninh Phuoc District’s Agricultural Extension Service Station, there needs to be 8 workers in order to fulfill the needs of his area. The request for personnel for commune level is still pending approval. The main responsibility of agricultural extension workers is the dissemination of newer scientific and technological knowledge stemming from research, to local people through available programs. Input and output services do not fall into their functions. Main activities of district farm, forestry and fishery extension stations are the implementation of programs in such areas as “newer breeds”, as directed by provincial levels. They are also responsible for strengthening clubs at the village level. Given the shortage of personnel and financial resource, farming extension services cannot cover local production ‐‐ the real needs of people. Nonetheless local stations are not allowed to provide for‐profit services. Farming extension workers are well aware that they are only equipped with technical knowledge. They are not salient in the ways of information access, communication and people mobilization. Besides they also lack new and updated information themselves. Program expenses are allocated by the Provincial Center which is subsidized by Central Programs. Total operation costs are around VND 2.02 billion (in 2002.) sourced from the Farming Extension and Forestry Extension Department, the Provincial Budget, Program 135, and the National Breeds Program ‐‐ around more than 20 sources for varying projects. The failure to meet local people’s needs becomes apparent. As with other programs for the poor, the set‐by‐side means of support, has little impact on their lives. Farm extension and credit consistency helps. Credit loans help local people to start farm extension‐based cultivation. In turn, farm extension helps reduce risks of credit loans. Little effort has been seen, however, in ways of harmonizing these activities.


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Development of farming extension club networks: The question arises as to whether these clubs are belonging to farming extension stations or the local people given that they are imposed upon the later. Only a few clubs are effective. Others are newly established and often ineffective (particularly 5 clubs in Luong Son). Poor people do not join clubs and in turn do not enjoy the benefits derived from membership. Training and transfers of technology (e.g. IPM classes) are essential and people expressed wishes of having more training for more topics . For those sessions that are offered, illiteracy in Phuoc Hai Village, Phuoc Dinh Commune as well as within Rac Lai Communities in Ninh Son District is a big barrier. Further, the attitude toward these training cast more attention. For example local people, such as in Phuoc Hai Commune, won’t participate in training seminars unless there is a stipend available. What services are available can help wealthy and proactive local people improve their production activities. Such things as hunger reduction assistance and poverty programs which target ethnic minorities, however, are limited and need future improvements. The introduction of new variety or new animals to farmers has been merely in form of demonstration without further effort in dissemination or fulfillment of local needs (Luong Son). It is unreasonable to consider paddy cultivation as the main agriculture activity for this dry area. While there have been a number of product introduction services, they primarily serve well‐off households and only a few programs that target the poor – such as chicken and duck husbandry. Particularly recent top‐down designed program failures, for example a 29 hectare crop of “no‐corn” maize in Luong Son Commune cause worry in local people. The newly introduced “4‐house model”1 has been implemented in a limited manner and has yet to make any sort of impact (although local people have found it useful having the assistance in input and output services.) There are few good businesses in the locality that support this model. For example, in Ninh Phuoc District, in 2002 soybean harvest, the local business failed to buy the bean as committed to the farmers, causing considerable loss to them. Recommendations

Local farmers, particularly poorer ones, would like to see services that are demand‐driven, such that their expectations are fulfilled. It must be suitable to the farmers’ needs and local conditions rather than the current top‐down method. Programs need to be managed by professionals. They must be provided at the 1 “4‐House” model is concept where the 3 houses: the State, the Scientist, and the Business join force to assist the Farmer.


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village level and upon the availability of institutional framework and with an appropriate decentralized budget. Local workers suggested that farming, forestry, fishery and plant production activities could be combined in one center with branches in communes which are closely connected to credit organizations. This could help each sector to better serve local people as a whole. Further, this approach could provide for a more well‐rounded view when making recommendations to District Peoples’ Committees, particularly in terms of direction of production. If combined, support for local personnel is reinforced. Farming extension becomes more feasible and effective. Extension workers at the site is needed, such that they can provide prompt and suitable assistance to farmers (in terms of technical solutions such as cultivation, and livestock raising, veterinary and plague). Timely and on‐farm reaction is the first indicator mentioned for any extension service. Successful households noted, as well, that they were ready to share knowledge and experiences with those in their own village. The extension service at local level should at least but not last, induce this dissemination process to the whole community, including the poor. It is recommended to alter the resource allocation according to sector/industry to regions/province. One option might be the direct resource flow to farmers’ organizations such as extension clubs or collective groups which would effectively assist their members and other local poor. Farm extension clubs and cooperative groups should be encouraged to match farm extension programs with assistance programs for poor people. Yet attention must be paid to ensure such organizations to be voluntary, fully‐cost recovering and effectively run. Newly introduced, privately run services are another option that could allow for flexibility in farming extension services. This marks a change needed in the perception of extension service as entirely government’s job. Assistance should be made to facilitate the birth and operation of these kinds of services as with adequate treatment, they are very efficient and effective. In most cases, farmers need prompt rather than free assistance. Market‐based principles are applicable. It does not mean the insignificant role of government workers. They are in higher need for providing minority and remote community with on‐ farm instruction. It is worth repeating the call for effective combining of extension services with credit programs from banking sector, thus creating mutual support and effects. On a minor note, local people expressed high interest in farm extension programs broadcasted on Vietnam Television (VTV2). They asked that contact information, which is posted on the show be made clearer so that they can follow up on for more information.

Social Assistance

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Social Assistance

Quality of Current Assistance -- Are they effective in terms of improvement of the poor’s living? Regular Assistance

In all eight villages, but particularly in Son Hai and Phu Thanh Villages, many people claimed to be especially disadvantaged though they did not receive any assistance as the case of other people in similar condition. District and Communal Officials spoke of a regular assistance program for these three vulnerable groups (the elderly, with no means of support; the disabled, as well as orphaned children.) Support is VND 45,000/month for those living in the community and VND 100,000/month for those living in Social Protection Centers. The budget for the regular assistance program is limited. The monies are enough to distribute to a small fraction of those targeted (reported to be 15% of total needs in a June 2003 report from DoLISA). This poses a challenge for local Officials having to face those who do not receive such support – trying to explain why. Officials find this sort of exclusion difficult to explain. Local people feel that state policies must be equal for all. Besides, this support turns out to be too limited to be able to make a serious impact. The policy was found to be insufficient. Implementation is proving difficult.

Emergency Relief

According to the Decision No. 63/2002/QD‐TTg and the Circular No. 2131/LDTBXH victims of flood and storms (drought was not mentioned) are provided with anywhere from VND 500,000 to VND 3 million in the case of injuries, death and destruction of property. Further, victims of flood should be distributed with 10 kilos of rice per person per month within 1 to 3 months. In practice, the application of rice distribution is for victims of both flooding and drought. In all group discussions and interviews, it came across that emergency relief was not discussed as such, but rather referred to as rice relief distribution. Local officials in Luong Son and My Son spoke about the time lag for disaster relief – sometimes two to three months after a disaster. The reasons lie in the identification procedures to identify who needs relief after a disaster takes too long and at the same time the resources need to be mobilized from central levels. Emergency relief loses its meaning when it comes late. People can not distinguish between emergency relief and other forms of poverty assistance. In turn, a lot of misunderstanding and conflict between people and Officials within communities is created. The conflicts in some localities have grown so serious that local official want to avoid receiving emergency assistance.


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Emergency relief is not implemented uniformly across districts. In 2002, Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son conducted drought relief differently. Ninh Phuoc provided rice to all the poor, while Ninh Son distributed rice to all middle and poor households that were affected by drought, regardless of it whether or not the household had a poor certificate. In both cases, people thought it was the food assistance for a poor family – not related to disaster relief at all. Mang To, Second Head, Tra Giang 2 Village said that in the Luong Son Area, a Rac Lai community, local officials would face problems if they did not distribute rice equally. People in these communities think of receiving rice distribution as ʺreceiving love from the Stateʺ‐ as such it needs to be non‐discriminative and equal. In 2002, in a number of cases, officials had to redistribute the rice of listed households and give to other households. The pressure exerted by needy households towards officials in question makes for a tense situation. Officials have a limited opportunity to promote a clear understanding. In turn strained relationships between local people and officials are created. In Phuoc Dinh and Phuoc Hai Communes people complained that while “the policy said ten kilos per person” they had only received five kilos. Officials were forced to cut the rice form listed households to give to others as a means to diffuse the situation to reduce the tension. Officials are afraid to hold responsibility over rice distribution. Some don’t even want their communes as targets of the relief policy. They see little actual assistance, only trouble stemming from its dispersment. Post‐disaster production assistance draws little attention: after a disaster the most basic need is to recover production activities but assistance, such as free‐of‐charge provision of fertilizer and insecticides does not seem of concern for local people. Rice distribution is still a popular means of disaster relief for all four surveyed communes. This assistance is more likely taken as poverty relief, and does nothing to help production recovery.

Healthcare Assistance

Discussions and in‐depth household interviews revealed a high interest in health care assistance. Illness and accidents causing harm, are the biggest and sometimes most permanent difficulty facing the poor. Many poor people said they were not provided with free‐of‐charge health treatment certificates. In reply, officials in Ninh Phuoc District noted that due to limited funding only 30% of poor households are provided with a health card. Free health services are not available at local health stations for poor, even if they have a poor certificate. Officials in Districts/Communes said that the Province is implementing Decision No. 139 since 2003, to provide free health cards to 100% of poor households. They added that it would take effect only by the end of the year (please refer to Basic Service Section for more information). The card value is

Social Assistance

43

valued at VND 50,000 per person per year. This is an important step in that it reflects the Government’s desire to support local poor.

Quality of Targeting

Researchers conducted a comparison between results stemming from wealth ranking exercises at the village level in eight sites (embedded in Household Wealth Ranking Lists) and the official Poverty List (using MOLISA poverty criteria) for the same villages. Two key findings came from of this activity. Firstly, there is a high consensus between the Household Wealth Ranking List and the official Poverty List, in terms of identifying the poor in the area. Secondly, the Household Wealth Ranking Lists, were much longer than the official ones, indicating that people think there are more who are poor than listed in the Official Poverty List.

Consensus between Household Wealth Ranking Results and the Official Poverty List

Out of the total 955 households assessed, there were only 3 households classified as poor in the Official Poverty List were classified as average in the Household Wealth Ranking List. The explanation for this discrepancy might be that these 3 households had “escaped poverty” since the since last official selection process in October 2002. Otherwise, these were the only difference between the two Lists. Therefore, it is safe to say that the two lists are consistent with each other. It helps to conclude the question of quality of targeting social assistance programs based on the official list.

Local Perception of Poverty versus the official Poverty Line

As discussed in the Risk and Vulnerability section, the Household Wealth Ranking List reveals the number of poor as 2.5 times greater and the number of very poor is 4 times greater as compared to the official Poverty List. In all villages, when asked officials could easily point out any number of poor households that did not have a poverty certificate. This shows that the real poverty situation is not mirrored by the official list. There are 3 groups of reasons for these effective inconsistencies mentioned in discussion with local people and officials. Firstly, MOLISA’s poverty line criterion is low compared with the real life and perception of local people. In all discussions, officials and local people in Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts stated that poverty line of VND 100,000/month for Ninh Phuoc (a delta district) and VND 80,000/month for Ninh Son (a mountainous district) is too low. Those amounts can never be enough for essentials for even average households. During group discussions in Tuan Tu Village, An Hai Commune and in Hoa Thuy Village, Phuoc Hai Commune, people said that the current criterion does not incorporate expenditures such as education, healthcare, or income generating investments. Essentially, the current poverty line does not reflect local people’s perceptions of poverty.


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Additionally, the measuring using this criterion appears to be difficult. Discussion with officials reported a common view that this low criterion (VND 100,000/month) makes it more difficult to do conduct the ranking. It is only equal to what an elderly person living in a Social Protection Centre. General opinions are that the minimum level must be VND 150,000. Secondly, there is the possibility of a bias with the local people when conducting Household Wealth Ranking Lists, making it somewhat longer than it would have been. This lies in the implicit assumption of the local people that the PPA would result in a poverty reduction program or project for their area. Finally, the Official Poverty List suffers from exclusion of important elements such as migrants, poverty reduction quotas as well as the attitudes of local people towards a group of poor people In terms of migration, there are a lot of families, which have moved, out of the area, without changing their residential registration, were excluding from the Official Poverty List. Further, incoming migrants are not registered locally and obviously, not incorporated in any list or ranking. Results from discussion with commune officials and village heads reveal that their Poverty Lists prepared from June 2001 are subject to further scrutinized by authority at higher levels. The list got shorter and shorter. Besides, the poverty reduction targets, which are set at the Central level, are normally about 2% per year. These percentages are accompanied with exact numbers assigned for reduction per village. Village heads and their assistants must develop plans using minimal resources to achieve the set targets. How this can translate, however, is a situation where, for example, in Tan Lap Village, where 25 poor families can be identified poor using MOLISA criteria but the commune approved only 15. Village leaders must choose 15 of these 25 families to receive benefits from poverty assistance programs. Then there is the issue which arose from group discussions in Luong Son and My Son communes whereby many mentioned the need to leave out of the list all households that are really poor but “drunk and lazy.” They are deemed to be simply undeserving. In these two communes there are communities of people migrated from other areas years ago Near-poor households: There are a lot of families in Ninh Thuan living just above the official poverty line. It is hard to distinguish the difference between the near‐poor and the poor. These families consider it unfair to be left off the poverty list. They posed few questions on the families on the list but wondered on the understanding of officials on their living conditions. Ninh Son District is attempting to take on their near‐poor problem ‐‐ 2,144 are listed in the Poverty List and 2,500 in the Near‐ Poor List2. The district requested the local Social Policy Bank to alter their policies and open up access to such banking instruments for to near to line families.

2 Near Poor people are defined to have the average income of VND 80,000- 100,000/month

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The Downside of the New Certification -- a comparison to the former poverty books

The research team took the opportunity to review changes made to poverty certification ‐ namely, the “green books” which were used up until 2002, and the newer poverty certificate. Poor households do not show much attention to the content of these documents. Officials are seen to prefer the old poverty book (often called the “green book” due to its green cover) to the newer poverty certificate. To them the “green book” form was of a better design – at least for their usage. The book had space to update information, to list the identified reasons for being poor; as well as the rights afforded to and allocations already received by the family. Most of this information was not updated. The newer certificate is merely a card certifying the named household as a member in the poverty list. The officials considered the old poverty book as a multi‐purpose document. It was not only a certification but also a transparent record of support. It provides information concerning the rights of poor households and the assistance they received, thus helping the monitoring process as well as evaluation of impacts. By this, it is suggested to keep using the old poverty book rather than switch to the new one. Further, the issuance of the newer poverty certificate is subject to slowness and a high margin of errors. During a meeting in Tra Giang Village, on July 26th, villagers noted their surprise when they received poverty certificates that were dated for January 1st 2003. These poor households will have to give the certificate back the commune for the annual review of poverty status from August to October. For most of the time, the certificate is being processed.. Further, 5 out of the 15 cards issued, had the wrong date‐of‐birth recorded for the bearers ‐‐ a mistake said to be common. Moreover, in some villages, the certificates are even kept by the official for avoiding lost.

Knowledge of Rights

When asked directly, card bearers did not know what rights they were entitled to. They just remember some receiving rice as well as reductions in school fees for their children. Poor people simply claim the same as their neighbour. This lack of knowledge prevents poor people from fully benefiting what is allotted to them as well as commune or village officials from fulfilling their tasks. When asking for any documents issued by District or Commune Authorities regarding the rights and benefits of the certified poor, all officials, in both districts and all communes, working in the Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Office said that they didn’t have such a thing. Officials operate by experience knowing that certified poor are entitled to the following:


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• Reduction or Exemption of School fees; Reduction or Exemption of School Construction Fees by 50% for the poor households and by 100% for “hunger” households; other fees remain the same (see Basic Services section);

• Healthcare Cards and Vouchers are given, free of charge, to all poor households ‐‐ in the past only 30% of poor people received, but recently according to Decision 139, 100% will be receiving (see Basic Services section);

• No compulsory public work; • Exemption from agriculture tax (currently all subjects are exempted); • Exemption from contributions of all kinds (national security and defense,

education promotion, natural disaster prevention, village events, association fee, etc.)

• Food provision between harvest seasons; • As well as, New Year gifts.

(See Appendix 03: Process of Selection/Issuance of Poverty Certificates)

Biased Lists

Many locals said poor households lists were chosen at the whim of village heads rather than via the villagers themselves. Meetings dedicated to this topic could not be arranged such that they would allow for the full attendance of all villagers. For larger villages, arranging meetings are more difficult. The revisions by the commune and districts have not created any significant improvement. It is the lack of transparency that is deemed as the worst about choosing who gets on the list. Difference in opinions concerning the preciseness and the democracy in setting up the list between local officials and local people can be seen here. Generally, officials tended to be more positive towards peoples situations, while local people more negative. Further the information channels between the two groups are limited. Information on the preparation of such list is normally broadcasted in the village, yet, not effective to reach all stakeholders. While essentially it is supposed to be the village that makes the decision regarding those who make the list, the capacity and knowledge of the village heads and officials needed to achieve this, is too limited. There is also discussion on the favourable treatment for certain people incorporated in the list. Reasons are named as their being relatives or close friends to officials.

Recommendations

Both officials and households share the view that poor families need assistance for production development to get rid of poverty. The assistance should be in form of an effective, accessible network of input support ‐‐ credits, agriculture extension and risk prevention. Such a quality and comprehensive network can

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also prevent other households, particularly the near poor, from falling to poverty. This is the foundation for a sustainable poverty reduction strategy. Both Officials and households, who have escaped poverty, comment that while “free‐of‐charge” support may be enjoyed by some of the people, it is not a sustainable means to support the poor. In fact there can be a negative counter effect – such as the creation of a “wait‐and‐enjoy” habit. There should be always conditions attached to raise responsibility and efforts of the poor. It is also suggested that the Steering Committees for HEPR at all levels need to be more proactive to coordinate all relevant programs. To meet this end effectively, resources should be decentralized to the district and commune levels. Emergency assistance, in particular, can therefore be made more readily available to its targets when they are managed directly by district. The availability of an official poverty list proves to be crucial in the facilitation of poor household access to social assistance programs. Improvements in setting such list are required in order to ensure clear understanding and application of right programs to the right targets. One simple solution goes with the motto “people know, people discuss, people do and people supervise”. More consultation meetings with local people from (village or under‐ village for large village) level should be organized to get all feedback. Another way might be having local people prepare the list on their own under the instruction and supervision of officials. Transparency and regular two‐way communication channels must be maintained between officials and local people ‐ via face‐to‐face as well as village meetings, leaflets, notices, as well as public speakers ‐ in order to keep all households well informed of the policies affecting them, and those rights affording them. Officials recommend the reinstatement of the “green book” form of certification – as a further means to achieve this. The process of selection and issuance of certification needs to be more comprehensive and less exclusionary. Such includes:

• Complete and finalized the poverty criteria, either qualitative or quantitative ones. If income is to be used as the main criteria for determining the poverty line, it needs to reflect the real cost of living for a given area – such as the 150,000 VND/per person/month put forth by many of the local people.

• The avoiding of exclusionary practises due to subjective reasons. Eliminating migrants, for example, can translate to households facing an inability to gain support when they really need it. A case was cited where a poor family, whose house was blown away during a storm, could not get any support to rebuild, because they were not registered as permanent residents.


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Local people also put forth the suggestion that the government expand its emergency relief policy and ensure sufficient resource to account for all eligible households. Distinguishing among post‐disaster production assistance and emergency relief assistance (rice distribution) as well as food assistance between harvests needs to be clarified. Emergency relief must be timely while post‐disaster production may flexibly take forms of input provision and must be well‐analysed. Further, given that Ninh Thuan Province is a recognized disaster‐ridden area, policies and activities design to mitigate the impact of these regular disasters need to be incorporated into the socio‐economic planning at all levels. Additionally, it was suggested by poor households that access to social assets such as education needs to be done so uniformly —preferably translating into a total exemption of school fee and other fees until their children finish junior secondary school. Concerning the health assistance, it ought to make clear to poor people on the extent of assistance of the health card. At the same time, its provision should be available at the local health station. A majority of informants see the important role of the village head as a “governor.” Being the crucial link between government and people, they convey all information from new policies initiatives to regulations on assistance programs. Therefore there is need to focus on the support given to village heads, ensuring their competency. Further, their allowance should be comparable to that of commune officials. Professional training or even a manual for them may become other supporting factors. A database on the implementation, coverage, budget of all social protection programs from provincial to commune level would be essential. The Steering Committees should assign adequate personnel to coordinate and work for this end.

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Public Administration Reform Through interviews with district and provincial officials and through secondary data collection, the research team learned that public administration reform was carried out almost immediately after the policies and guidelines were passed by the Central Government. There are two main areas of public administration reform in Ninh Thuan Province: i) ‘One‐Door’ Model; and ii) Institution and Administrative Body Reorganization

“One-Door” Model

According to the Provincial Committee’s 2002 Annual Report, Ninh Thuan boasted six institutions, two districts and three communes that practiced ‘one‐door’ procedures. The areas covered included real estate, construction, public notary, information, culture and sport, business registration, investment, electricity and natural resources. Results of implementing “one door” model, according to the report, were positive and effective. Waiting times and bureaucratic hassles for people and enterprises were reduced. Further interviews with officials in the planning department revealed that when the ‘one‐door’ model was introduced, the number of registered companies increased immediately as did the number of investment projects and their inherent values. The increase was mainly in the private sector. Resulting from which, the number of jobs created also increased. Further, once the state institutions were re‐organized, the attitude to serve and the public administration management skills were perceived to have improved as well. The re-organization of provincial institutions and administrative body included a review of functions and duties for a number of institutions. The resulting changes meant the reorganization of some institutions ‐ smaller in size with an increased flexibility to respond to Central Government changes. The ʹone‐doorʹ model was applied in three communes in Ninh Phuoc District – none of which were part of the study. It is important to note, however, that the model was found favourable by most local people in the research area. Those communes that did not currently have the model were looking forward to it. Public servants were found to be happy with improving their level of knowledge through any arising re‐training programs stemming from the administrative procedure reform. Concerns, however, were voiced with the increase of workload assuming that the number of officials remained unchanged. Public servants who are a part of the ʹone‐doorʹ reform still have to contend with their regular duties. Another obstacle to reform is the lack of coordination among sectors and even among departments within one sector. Some argue that administrative reform led by the Central Government should be uniform across each ministry or sector.


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Each ministry or sector must streamline its guidelines and procedures in order to support “one‐door” model. Many public servants felt that, without such uniformity, reforms may come across as “’one‐door that is shared by several houses,” hindering further administrative reform. There is also doubt that the process would still need time to complete.

Amendment of Ordinance on Civil Servant 2003

District and Commune Officials agreed across the board that Amendment of Ordinance on Civil Servant 2003 fulfilled a longstanding desire of commune officials. By recognizing their positions, public servants felt more appreciated by the government and society in general. More importantly, it gave them more confidence and pride when serving the people. District officials say that, on the one hand, the amendment has described the standard of public servants in case of promotion and recruitment. On the other hand, it shows the need to improve servants with limited capacity to serve. The amendment requires re‐training as well as large scale training initiatives. Difficulties were seen to potentially arise in communes with rotating pubic servants, particularly those that lacking the votes to hold certain positions as elected by people. Some noted that with the reforms, the workload of village heads is much heavier than any of the division heads at the Commune level. The gap between a village head’s salary and benefits as compared to the Commune level division head was large and grew even larger after the amendment was enforced. An increase in salary and benefits for village heads is needed to address this discrepancy. Through group discussions on the changeover of “communal cadres” to “public servants”, it was learned that many viewed the move as a positive step. It was felt that such changes had potential to instill confidence and pride in officials with their positions. The access to self‐training and re‐training would enable public servants to serve the people better. It was also suggested that, with these reforms, well‐trained/higher educated youth could be attracted to serve in commune government. Fears arose, however, over the potential for village’s servants, once installed in a stable position, ending their training/re‐training initiatives. Further, once installed, the ability to remove poor‐performing, poorly‐driven “public servants” from their position would prove difficult.

Decentralization and Democracy

Many argued that commune authorities should be given more power as they are integral parts of any poverty reduction effort. Such decentralization includes the power to decide and manage small‐scale investment projects in infrastructure within the commune and its villages (as per the 135 Program); the role to provide and control then provision of services in the areas of health care, education and particularly, in agriculture extension.

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Officials in planning and financial sectors revealed in in‐depth interviews that such decentralization would generate more income for the overall budget. Sources may be derived from increased responsibility of officials during tax collection. Infrastructure investment for the area is also hoped to increase with the local eagerness of turning land into construction. Further, it was suggested that decentralization would encourage local authorities to develop better policies designed to attract investment from the private sector. Through increase business activities, through private sector investment, jobs would be created, in turn, increasing the tax base. Coinciding with decentralization is the need to improve responsiveness and accountability of local authorities. A popular thought stemming from many local people and officials at the communal level, was the use of grassroots democracy as a tool to improve local authority accountability. This could be done through fostering increased opportunities to meet/exchange views at the local level; overall improvement of information dissemination activities ‐‐ in both directions; promoting activities of the people councils as well as the participation of local people in the council. Most imperative is the furthering of communicative efforts and venerable targeted policy initiatives designed for the poor and vulnerable groups. Household interviews revealed a support for the role of mass organization in providing individual households with information, in return, increasing the associations’ understanding of people’s needs. It was noted that the participation of mass organizations amounted to improved responsiveness of the authority in terms of the needs and queries of the people. Concerns with decentralization arose in terms of a potential for “abuse of power,” the question of a monitoring scheme was mentioned. A number of cases were cited in which the officials were able to abuse their power stemming from a lack of safeguards – particularly one of assessment. Others brought up the concept of mobilizing people and mass organizations to monitor over such things as the implementation of projects, in particular and the authority’s overall activities, in general. It was suggested that some form of evaluation and monitoring should be set up with the assistance and participation of the local people. Such feedback, in turn, should be integrated in next round of planning and budgeting.


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Migration

Group discussions and individual interviews with households and local people revealed that migration is popular in Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts3. Migration mentioned in the field study includes both the outgoing and incoming groups. Although very much different in terms of features and direction, these groups share a common purpose: searching for better income sources. There are three kinds of migration in Ninh Thuan, as it relates to length of stay.

Short‐term migration: short periods of time, movement made for temporary employment. Return home is inevitable, generally rural‐to‐rural movements.

Seasonal migration: movement based on harvest seasons, generally rural‐to‐rural movements, sometimes, rural‐to‐urban.

Long‐term migration: Ultimately permanent migration, sometimes for the entire family.

Outgoing Migration

In Ninh Phuoc District, long‐term migration tends to be rural to urban – going from district to Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province. Seasonal workers tend to migrate in a rural to rural pattern, going to other districts either within the province or as far as the Central Highland. Short‐term migrants run rural to rural as well, looking for employment in surrounding communes. During focus group discussions, better job opportunities and the higher wages are the main reasons for migration. In‐depth interviews with the migrants and their relatives reveal that a lack and/or shortage of farming land or other means of production that increases migration. Recently, some families in Phuoc Dinh Commune sold their land to shrimp pond developers and end up working for the new owners. During the initial stages of shrimp pond development, work on the ponds was easy to find. As pond construction completed, these jobs ended as well – forcing people to leave their homes in search of other employment. Many people in Ninh Phuoc noted repeated crop failures caused by droughts or flooding as the immediate reason for migration. In addition, production‐related support service such as agricultural extension, veterinary services as well as credits are limited. When farmers lose their crops stemming from frequent natural disasters, they cannot access necessary support services to recover. They are either forced to rely on inputs and credit with high interest rate from private lenders, or to sell young paddy at cheap price. In‐depth interviews with district officials reveal that “crop insurance services” is still not available in Ninh Thuan. Given the limited social

3 Migration mentioned hereby means the movement of people out of any plan of the government

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security network (see Social Assistance chapter), and the high risks faced in agricultural production, many farmers leave their land to join the army of job seekers into cities. Incomes from remittance are very important for their families at home. Migrants are usually at working age with good health. For married men/women, work is generally seasonal or short‐ term as a means for an additional source of income for their families. In some cases, entire families migrate. In those situations, the husband goes first to prepare while remaining family members wrap up remaining at home. Single youth tend to seek seasonal jobs as a means to leave. Once relocated, they then try to find permanent jobs. This is a growing trend for young job seekers heading to industrial parks in Ho Chi Minh and Dong Nai Cities. Most migrants are unskilled and possess little qualifications. Information on jobs is through word‐of‐mouth – generally between family members or neighbours. Neither the district nor commune is conscious of all moves and are only officially informed when the migrants require certification for registration in new “home”. There is little assistance service and vocational training for them. Many Cham ethnic people practice traditional medicines and earning their living by selling medicines in many other provinces ‐ from Da Nang to provinces in the Mekong Delta. Their families are excluded from the official poverty list because of this. Box 4: Migration and Income Mr. La Be, 45, and his wife Chau Thi Giong, 43, Cham people, returned to their home in Thanh Tin Village, Phuoc Hai Commune, Ninh Phuoc District ‐‐ with two daughters and one son. Their eldest daughter could not come with them because she already had a job, working as a technician for a private electronic company in Dong Nai. The couple settled in Ho Nai, Dong Nai three years ago. His wife sells fruits in a rented stall in the local market and Mr. Be sells fruits on the street. Their children go to school in Ho Nai. This home visit is different from other visits. In previous visits they went home at Chamʹs New Year and staying a week to participate in the festivities. This time, they stayed longer for two reasons. First, they came to build a house with money from the rent of their land and partly from three years of savings. They said that the house would be locked up while they are gone and only to be used to accommodate their home return for the New Years. The second and most important thing they had to do was to “celebrate” the death of their mother. Two years have passed since her death. This is the first “celebration” as only now they have money for the ceremonial expenses. Activities include a 3‐day reception with the meat from 2 buffaloes. Costs are reaching VND 18 million – the burden is shared equally among 9 brothers and sisters.


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Incoming Migration Immigrants to Ninh Phuoc District, mostly short‐term and seasonal, are found in fishing communities in Phuoc Dinh Commune where shrimp farming has recently been developed. Shrimp farming requires a large investment in feed and medicines. Owners of shrimp ponds, most them from outside the commune, tend to employ their relatives to work on the ponds. Sea products processing also use non‐locals – who lodge either at the farms or at the houses of the owners. They are hard working and law‐abiding migrants. No conflicts have been reported between immigrants and the local community. Migration, both controlled and uncontrolled, is a normal occurance in Ninh Son District. A mountainous district with low population, Ninh Son has attracted many people from different corners of the country since the war. At a meeting in Luong Son Commune, the Vice‐Chairman of the Commune Peopleʹs Committee noted that for a time the area was like a ʺUnited Statesʺ as the population was made up of migrants from 57 provinces – primarily, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa and many North‐Central provinces. These new inhabitants came with their own farming experiences and integrated them with local practices. Land disputes and social evils have not been seen here. Authorities did not have anything bad to say about migrants, nor did any local. Land is plentiful here migrants could therefore easily purchase paddy fields from local farmers for cultivation without having to destroy the forest. There are views that this purchase has actually added value to the remaining land. Officials this land transfer did not bring any negative effect to the living and production of local community. Satisfaction with the behaviour of the new residents is seen widely in the response of local people and even ethnic groups.

Migration and social support:

During focus groups discussions in Thanh Tin and Hoa Thuy Villages, Phuoc Dinh Commune, Ninh Phuoc District, and Tra Giang and Tan lap 2 Villages, Luong Son Commune, My Son District; participants noted that locals, who had left their community to get jobs in other provinces, were excluded from official poverty list despite the fact that they were still officially registered at the home villages. Likewise, new comers, who were not officially registered in the new settlement, were excluded from official poverty list. Effectively, migrants are excluded from any assistance – either from their original or current locale. Box 5: Migration and social support

Mr. Mai Ni, 53, and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Lap, 50, from Tam Quan, Binh Dinh Province came to settle in Tan Lap 2 Village, Luong Son Commune, Ninh Son District 10 years ago. They came with their 3 children and bought a piece of land of 15 meters in property along the national road using money from the sale of their land in their home village. In 2002, their business went bad and their children became sick. They had to sell this piece of land to buy smaller piece at the edge of the village at a lower price (1 million VND).

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For 10 years, Mr. Mai Ni and his family have lived in Luong Son Commune as law biding citizens ‐‐registered as temporary residents, they contribute to all local funds. However, they are not officially registered as permanent residents. As a result, they are not allowed to join such mass organizations as local Farmers’ Association or Women’s Union. One of their daughters has problems with her health which could not be cured in Phan Rang. However they could not afford the treatment in Ho Chi Minh city. Despite of their low income, they are excluded from the poverty list as they do not have permanent residence permission. Their youngest child was born in Luong Son Commune but they had to go back to their village in Binh Dinh Province to register her birth. They have to pay full fees for her primary education. They do not receive any emergency relief in the event of drought or flood. Further, they are not eligible for loans from the Bank for the Poor. In early July, 2003, their thatched‐roofed house was completely destroyed by a violent whirlwind. When the research team came to interview the family, they were using 3 sheets of canvas to form a tent as a shelter. They do not have enough money for another house.

In a meeting in Tan Lap 2, all households agreed that any individual who cannot overcome difficult times should be entitled to governmental support. Many were sympathetic with the Mai Ni family who, by virtue of not being officially registered, are ineligible for support.

Recommendations on migration, poverty and social supports

In a market economy, migration is a natural occurrence that helps to use labour force, as an essential input, more efficiently. Industrialization in Vietnam will certainly restructure the pattern of population location __ more people will gravitate to urban areas. Governments in many other countries have succeeded in encouraging migration patterns which reflect the demands of the market. Vietnam is not an exception.

Stemming from in‐depth interviews, migrant households revealed that Ninh Thuanʹs agriculture has continually suffered from poor climatic conditions – including, but not limited to, natural disasters. The network of agricultural support and social welfare are poor leading to high risks and vulnerabilities in production. Migration serves as a coping strategy of many families. This is a fast growing trend.

Many Provincial Governments are creating policies designed to attract investors and grey‐matter workers. In the face of this competition, Ninh Thuan Province should work out a set of policies that aims at creating favourable conditions for attracting quality migrants and ”migratory investment dollars.” Through the establishment of job‐centers and labour information databanks, and the elimination of discriminatory practices towards migrant labour; employers and employees will be encouraged to seek Ninh Thuan as a place to reside. In turn, economic growth and poverty reduction will occur.


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Environment Household interviews and group discussions at the village and commune levels reveal a general lack of understanding for broad natural resource management and environment protection – including sustainable development, as well as watershed and forest management, etc. Environmental concerns at the local level can be linked to more specific, immediate issues relating to drinking water; waste management and hygienic conditions. According to District Healthcare Officials, the Ninh Thuan “poor” are not concerned with such things as the greenhouse effect or the ozone layer, but rather specific issues relating to, waste and water management issues.

Water Accessibility

Water Access

In all eight villages, local people noted that their main source of drinking water comes from natural sources including wells and rivers designated for drinking. These sources are untreated. Attempts to expand water sources through rainwater capture via water cisterns (in Ninh Phuoc District) and water jars (in Ninh Son District) have been made. Given the area’s dry climate, however, these attempts are not entirely effective. For more remote villages like Tra Giang 2 or Tan Lap (Ninh Son District) local people have to buy water from tanker‐trucks which transport water from rivers to the villages – a distance too far without this service. Communities in Luong Son and My Son Communes say that they depend on the Dinh River as their only source for water. There is no current water source management activity in the area, causing local people to take risks with water quality. Local people recalled an incident in 2002, when a waste water pipeline from a nearby noodle processing plant broke. The Dinh River was polluted __ people and cattle were poisoned. This is only one example illustrating the concerns of people on the rapid degradation of water resource in the area over the last few years. Recently, in the mountainous Ninh Son Commune, water levels have reduced remarkably – in turn so has water quality. Water from rivers and streams are becoming contaminated with silt. Local people in Vinh Truong and Tan Lap 2 Villages report of a number of cases where people had become infected with kidney disease and diarrhea, etc most likely caused by contaminated drinking water. In Vinh Truong, the natural water source has dried up. People must now collect water from other villages using tanker trucks.

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Shrimp Farming and Environmental Concerns

In recent years, mass, unplanned shrimp farm development in Phuoc Dinh has changed the coastal land belt into a greater and greater shrimp farming area. It is reported by the commune that shrimp is being cultivated in about 500 individual ponds, covering 320 ha. These shrimp ponds belong to 250 owners, of which 96 are local. Others are from Phan Rang and neighbouring provinces. In Ninh Thuan, despite its harsh conditions, the all‐year round hot climate provides an ideal environment for shrimp farming. Back‐of‐the‐envelop estimate of the economics of shrimp farming runs as follows: The average yield is 700 kg per Sao (1,000 m2). With average price at VND 90,000 per kg, revenue from 1 Sao is VND 63,000,000. On the cost side, initial capital investment is estimated at VND 39,600,000 per Sao to include land acquisition, construction and equipment. Fixed costs estimated (using 10% interest rate and 3 year depreciation on construction works and equipment) runs at VND 9.232,000 per year per Sao or VND 4,617,000 per crop. Variable costs run at VND 35,600,000 per crop to cover seedlings, feed, medicine, fuels and labour costs. Gross margin is VND 22,783,000 per crop per Sao. Key financial ratios look as follows: Gross margin: 36%, Return on Investment: 58%. If things are going fine, you could double your asset base and find yourself becoming a billionaire in less than a year. At the end of the same period of time, an average farmer in Ninh Son District was expecting his nanny goat to give birth to her first child. (see Appendix 05: The Economics of Shrimp Farming) Farmer households in such coastal villages as Son Hai, Vinh Truong, Tu Thien belonging to Phuoc Dinh Commune say they were initially happy with the development of the Shrimp Industry in the area. The poor found, the price of their land increased as investors acquired land to set up ponds. Many have sold their land or part of it to build houses or other durables that they had not dreamed of. Many found their life improved from the incomes when they take on construction work. Overtime, however, the shrimp industry, in its current form, has proven to be more troublesome than it is worth. The local perspective is an anxious one. Ground water sources, once plentiful, have gradually become exhausted and/or contaminated with salt water; the demand for hired labour has gone down. They understand part of the cause is the overdevelopment of shrimp ponds beyond environmental sustainability. Through both direct observations of shrimp farms activities, as well as interviews with individual households, a technique was shown, wherein shrimp ponds pump a great volume of water (sourced from ground water) to regulate the salt level in the ponds themselves. Ground water resources are exhausting quickly. On average, one ha of shrimp pond uses 23,000 m3 (per crop of 4 months) of ground water from a deep drilling well that in turn is dissolved into the pond’s sea water to making brackish water suitable for shrimp. Hundreds of drilling wells are set up to capture ground water __ in a region already lacking of water


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resources. Local experts report that the overall level of ground water has decreased by as much as 2‐3 metres to 5‐6 metre depth. For the reverse part of the process, pumping sea water for shrimp ponds that are situated in high mounds and hills and the discharging of resulting waste water has gradually contaminated and salted water sources. The problem becomes more severe for such isolated community as Phuoc Dinh – which already faces poor access to water sources as well as water being tapped for Phan Rang Town. Such water renewal activities are done regularly. After every harvest (a 4‐month period), owners must clean the ponds before a new crop. Mud, waste water and sand generated from cleaning the ponds are the causes of the pollution. Currently, no owner is treating the waste their farms. The smell stemming from untreated mud is disgusting. By‐products are discharged directly into the sea. According to local poor people, who depend on small‐scale livelihood activities basing on coastal ecology, since the development of shrimp farming activities, waste from shrimp ponds have killed off coastal marine creatures which were used as an income source __ causing their life to become harder. Many of those interviewed recall people in Phuoc Dinh earning a decent income from collecting Glacilaria as well as different kinds of shrimps and fish found in the cracks of coral along the shore line. For the past three years, and corresponding with shrimp farming locales, the amount of coastal natural shrimps, fish and crabs have reduced remarkably. The Glacilaria population has almost disappeared. People, who in the past depended on these natural resources, now work for the shrimp pond owners. Even shrimp pond owners commented that while shrimp productivity in the first harvest year was extremely high, the last two years have been characterized by low returns – losses even. Many shrimp have become disease‐ridden __ loss from death has been massive. Pond owners believe that polluted sea water is the main reason for this and agree that their farming activities have generated a large amount of waste and garbage. Observations of the coastal line show that different kinds of ragged sacks and broken bottles discharged from shrimp farming. The water edge has become a huge waste dump. Local people living near shrimp ponds in Son Hai, Tu Thien and Vinh Truong Communes say they not only suffer from contaminated water, but also bad air quality (a general stench created from dumping activities) as well as exposure to “un‐known poisonous substances” found in the ponds. The discharge of daily bargage into the sea has added to the trouble. Shrimp farming produces about huge benefits estimated at VND 145 billion per year to the owners with little risk. However, no portion of the proceeds is retrieved through state budget and channeled back to the locality so as to repair damages inflicted. Underground water, a natural resource in limited supply in

Environment

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Phuoc Dinh for the living and production of the local poor, are mostly used up in shrimp farming by the non‐ local well‐offs without paying any taxes. Leaders in Phuoc Dinh authority were concerned about this regressive development, do not have any solutions for this problem. There is no tax code to levy on the incomes of the shrimp business to recover part of the loss of the environment or the living condition of local people. While government budget has to spend on fresh water supply to the community, there is no revenues is generated from shrimp farming businesses. When asked about the responsibility mechanism for owners of shrimp ponds, leaders of Phuoc Dinh Commune say that most shrimp farm owners are not native to the area – that no responsibility for damages incurring are currently taken. Local people indicated, as well, that there are no authorized agencies responsible for regulating ground water exploitation activities. The local authority does not have the necessary legal and administrative tools nor do they have the resources required to minimize any environmental pollution. The sad fact remains that poor people in the community is not benefiting from this activity. On the contrary, many are feeling that their life is worsening as their natural asset base is being eroded. Essentially this industry represents a win‐lose‐lose situation. Owners, those who can afford to invest in shrimp farming are benefiting from this activity, the local poor and local government are not. The rich are getting richer, but at the expense of the local poor and the government budget. The side‐effects of such unsustainable methods of production are effectively eroding the asset base of the poor. Traditional means of income generation for the poor is being killed of, literally. Costs are incurred at the government level to contend with such things as lack of access to water. For shrimp farming to continue, in a sustainable matter, modes of production needs to incorporate less environmentally harmful methods. Further, the true costs of production as it reflects the situation at hand needs to be absorbed by the owners.

Waste Management

Garbage Collection

One of the biggest environmental concerns for local people is with garbage. Programs for garbage disposal are found in some of the villages supported by the Ninh Phuoc Poverty Alleviation Project namely Son Hai (Phuoc Dinh) and Thanh Tin (Phuoc Hai). Through a Local Development Fund, local people were able to purchase trucks used to collect and take village garbage to a local landfill. For a nominal waste removal fee, truck maintenance was recouped and salaried positions were created.


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According to local residents in villages outside of the project area there are no current garbage removal activities. There is no garbage dump in their villages, garbage is not collected and buried. Through outside observations garbage both from living and production activities is thrown everywhere – simply scattered. Areas where shrimp ponds are located are visibly worse (Vinh Truong, Tu Thien Villages of Phuoc Dinh). Both group discussions and household interviews reveal a lack of awareness of their own role in solving such problems. The majority of local people at the village level are found reluctant to pay for garbage collection activities. Poverty is a main reason for this reluctance – people can’t afford to pay. What results is that local people, especially the poor, are suffering directly from such environment degradation but having no means for remedy. Support is needed in terms of both governmental assistance and suitable management scheme.

Access to Facilities

Household observations and interviews reveal a phenomenon in which local people do not have use of facilities. In both Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son Districts the use of toilets is not common ‐‐ even in public places like schools, health station and markets. The facilities are just not there. The local authority in Ninh Son estimates that approximately 90% of poor households and over 50% of households with high and medium level income do not have toilets. Being poor might be one reason, however, lack of awareness is the primary one. For those villages under the Ninh Phuoc Poverty Alleviation Project, namely in An Hai, Phuoc Hai and Phuoc Dinh Communes, a movement which encourages local people to build personal toilets for their private use has become a welcomed initiative. After an initial awareness‐building, education campaign in 2001‐2003, over 1,000 household toilets were built. At the outset of the project a small level of cost‐sharing occurred as a means to further the campaign – a “rebate” of 300,000 VND/toilet was granted. The average price a single unit runs from 700,000VND ‐ 1,000,000VND/toilet.

Appendix 01: Communal Socio-economic Planning Procedures

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Appendix 01: Communal Socio-economic Planning Procedures

The planning cycle at the Communal Level is for one year – starting in February. The planning cycle runs as follows: Step 1: In August, the Economic Division of District Authorities reviews the implementation of Communal plans for the first six months as an estimate for the remaining year. Step 2: In October, all Commune Level Divisions and Unions prepare plans for the next year. Based on Resolutions approved by Communal Party Committee and People Council, Divisions and Unions evaluate and review what they have done (and not done over the course of the year) as well as project results. All elementary reports prepared by Divisions and Unions will be collected at the Communal People Committee’s Office and a draft of overall report will be synthesized on those collected. At this moment, the Economic Division works with Commune Level Divisions and Unions, harmonizing all data in the draft report. The annual report is built on (i) the actual performance of this year and (ii) the approved Resolution. The Economic Division builds a draft report on the data it gets when working at the Communal Level and submits it to District Party Committee for approval. The draft communal plans must be completed by the end of October, beginning of November. Step 3: Once completed (and agreed by district’s Economic Division) the draft reports of the Communal People Committee will be submitted to the Communal Party’s Standing Committee. This institution works under the Resolution for Five‐year Plan (for example 2000‐2005) that is approved by upper‐level Party Committee. To achieve targets of the five‐year plan, the Communal Party’s Standing Committee has to issue annual resolutions with detail targets. Obviously, the Communal Party’s Standing Committee bases on the Resolution for five‐year plan and annual resolutions to evaluate the current socio‐economic performance (to see what targets are achieved, what are not, and the reasons either way) and sets social and economic targets for the next year. Until this moment, the Communal Party’s Standing Committee issues a draft resolution that consists of 2 parts: (i) Review of current socio‐economic situation and plan for the next year and (ii) current party admittance and political activities and plans for the next year. The Standing Committee arranges a Party General Assembly for hearing the draft resolution and collectively approving (by major votes). After the assembly, the resolution will be official and submitted to upper party committee (district) for approval. At this stage, the Communal Party Committee’s Resolution is officially published ‐‐ normally around the middle to end of December.


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Step 4: Right after the Communal Party Committee’s Resolution, the People Council and the Fatherland Front Committee (at the same level) holds dialogues with their voters. There are 4 dialogues every year, 2 before the 6‐month summary meeting and 2 after the end‐of‐year sum‐up. These dialogues are when voters get to comment on the socio‐economic development plans. As well they get their questions answered, and hear reports of recent activities by the People Council. After the dialogues, the People Council, the Fatherland Front Committee and the People Committee shall arrange a general assembly at the Council with the approved Party’s Resolution and voters’ comments available. In this assembly session, the People Council presents its current supervising achievements and plan for the next year. The People’s Council takes this opportunity to request the People’s Committee and its line divisions to report on current executive activities and plans for the next year. The People Council issues a common decision to further concretize the Party’s Resolution, forwarding it on to the People’s Committee for execution. The decision is normally issued at the beginning to middle of January. Results of these dialogues are then passed on to the voters. Communal People’s Councils inform voters at village level, province and district People’s Councils meet voters at the commune. Step 5: After a decision is agreed upon, the People’s Council drafts its report to sum up the (current) socio‐economic performance of the year and the Committee’s plan is officially acknowledged and consistent with the Resolution and Common Decision. The Committee shall formally arrange a summing up meeting and set objectives for the next year. In this meeting the Committee concretizes the Party’s Resolution and Council’s Decision to detail targets, (what, where, who and when) and then assigns them to every line division and every village. At this stage, the District’s Economic Division also assigns District‐Level targets (agreed previously in last October) to every commune. Thus the People Committee builds its plan and executes under the Party’s Resolution, the Council’s Decision and the District‐level assignment. Planning preparation must be completed at the end of January then the plan is implemented from February. Conclusively, the Party’s Resolution, the Council’s Decision and District‐level targets are all built on the Communal People Committee’s report. Thus form, content and figures in the report, resolution and decision are identical the only difference is in wording, ideas or additions. For example, in the Party’s Resolution, in addition, to the current social and economic setting there is one particular part on party admittance and political activities. In the Council’s Decision there is an additional part on its supervising activities. To ensure consistency the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee is also Chairman of the People’s Committee, the Secretary is Chairman of the People’s Council.

Appendix 02: A Sample of a Communal Budget

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Appendix 02: A Sample of a Communal Budget Commune budgets are set on a 3‐year cycle. In case of intermittent changes like salary increases, or unexpected expenditures, adjustment are decided on by higher authorities. Budgets are developed as such: Step 1: In July or August, commune tax collectors, after consulting newer directives on tax collection as issued by District Tax Offices, estimate the types of tax to be collected (land tax, trade tax, etc.) How much is to be collected depends on (i) the amount collected in the previous year, and (ii) changes, if any, stated in the Districtʹs guidelines. Step 2: During this time, District Finance Offices instruct communes to estimate the amount of budget contribution and expenditure for the coming year. Upon receipt of instructions, the Chairman of the Commune People’s Council asks the budget accountant to prepare an estimate of tax collection as well as an estimate of expenditure. (The term ʺestimateʺ here is based on collections of all kinds which must come to the State Treasury first.) Communeʹs estimate collection includes: (1) tax collection, prepared by tax collectors; (2) fees of all kinds; (3) contribution to funds (security, national defense, and education, supporting the poor, etc.) An accountant prepares the second and third collection after consulting the results of the previous year as well as the instructions from the district level. Communeʹs estimate expenditure consists of regular and reserve expenditure. The former includes expenditure for social activities, propaganda, administration (salary, bonus, stationery, etc.), commune police and national defense, additional (raise in salary). The reserve will be used in case of extension in regular expenditure. This is very popular and all communes have no reserve at all. Estimate expenditure bases on expenditure of the previous year and the set amount of expenditure of the coming year (suggested by districtʹs finance office). After the budget plan is finished, it is submitted to the Chairman of the Commune Peopleʹs Committee, in theory, for submission to People’s Council’s review. In practice, it goes right to the Districtʹs Finance Office. The process should be completed in late August or early September. The budgets for infrastructure projects in the Commune are currently under District Level management. When the project is finished, the expenses are charged to the Commune. This will be changed with the decentralization of financial management (for project under VND 500 million) from district to commune. Commune budgets, at this point, will be larger.


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Step 3: The communeʹs budget plan will be reviewed by the District Finance Office who will advise a balance. Such a suggested balance also indicates whether there would be a subsidy from District to Commune. In reality, 100% of all Communes need additional monies from their respective Districts. For example, in 2003, Phuoc Hai estimated budget revenue of VND 52 million but was adjusted to VND 41 million. The expenditure estimation ran upwards of VND 232 million. Monies transferred from District to Commune ran about VND 191 million. Such a re‐investment is not the same for all communes but depends on their revenue. The same budget planning procedure applies between all communes, and their villages; between districts and district towns, as well as between provinces and their respective districts. An overall provincial budget plan will be submitted to the Provincial Peopleʹs Council. Finally, the Provincial Peopleʹs Committee will issue its comments __ usually early to mid‐February. Step 4: Once Provincial recommendations are received by Districts, Commune recommendations are then furthered on __ at the end of February and a month behind Annual Working Plan. Budget planning from District to Commune is not generally changed. The District may lower the target of contribution and increase the subsidy for the Commune. If collection is not as sufficient as estimated, the District may work out a more reasonable rate of transfer. The district may leave the total amount collected in the hand of the commune, or offer the commune further subsidies.

Appendix 02: A Sample of a Communal Budget

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Appendix 03: Process of Selection/Issuance of Poverty Certificates

The process of poor household ranking, for the purpose of listing and issuance of poverty certificates is as follows: Step 1: Under the guideline of the Province, the District (the Labor and Social Division) categorizes poor households to issue the relief book set for the ensuing year (done in August of every year). The Social and Cultural Officers at the Communal Level disseminate this to the village level. Step 2: The Village Management Board names poor households for the list – using “village judgment.” Village authorities consider what households should be ranked as ʺbelow the poverty lineʺ as well as those who should be listed as new poor. Step 3: The Village Management Board holds a public opinion meeting. It is normal for a few villagers to participate in this. Step 4: The Village Management Board submits this plan to the People Committee. A civil servant in charge of social issues reviews the contested cases. Step 5: The Communal People’s Committee submits the poverty list to the District People‘s Committee. District Authorities examine and revise the list pending sudden changes to the poverty status of certain households. After getting approval of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the District will issue a poverty certificate to those households listed. The validity of the certificate might be extended for the following years should that holder is verified to be still poor. The whole process often takes three or four months to ensure that households get poverty certificates at the beginning of following year.


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Appendix 04: Research Participant List

Area Name Organization

Research Team Ha Noi Pham Anh Tuan CRP

Hoang Xuan Quyen CRP

Le Dong Phuong Education Strategy Institute, Ministry of Education and Training

Vu Thi Phe CRP

Vu Xuan Dao CRP

Luong Van Chuong The Institute for Social Science Research, at The National Center of Social Science and Humanity

Tran Van Long CRP

Nguyen Dinh Quan CRP

Local Level

Nguyen Thi Hong Diem

Phuoc Dinh

Pham Ba Quang Ninh Son

Nguyen Sac Specialist, Ninh Son

Do Thanh Hoai Specialist, Ninh Son

Nguyen Thanh Quang Ninh Son

Le Thi Trung Ninh Son

Nguyen Thi Hien My Son

Vo Thi Xuan Tuyet Ninh Phuoc

Do Van Nga Ninh Phuoc

Dang Nang Toan Ninh Phuoc

Tran Van Na Ninh Phuoc

Nguyen Thi Chat DPI Ninh Thuan

Quang Dai Long Ninh Phuoc

Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet

Project Manager

Che Thi Minh Truyen Project Manager

Tu Nu Cong Nhuy Project Manager

Pho Binh Nha Project Manager

Chau Thi Xeo Project Manager

Report Writing/ Analysis

Pham Anh Tuan CRP Hoang Xuan Quyen CRP Ann Marie Aase CRP Le Dong Phuong Education Strategy Institute, Ministry of

Education and Training Tran Van Long CRP

Appendix 05: Research Participant List

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Appendix 05: The Economics of Shrimp Farming

Resource Consumption

Water consumption Sea Fresh Total

Ratio sea-fresh water 2 1 3

Depth of the pond (in meters) 2

Water volume per ha in Cubic Meter (m3) 13,333 6,667 20,000

Water used to clean ponds 2 times (sea water) 40,000 40,000

Change water per crop of 4 months

time (10 days) 12

% change 0

Vol. of water 32,000 16,000 48,000

Total water consumption per ha per crop 85,333 22,667 108,000

Resource consumed (tons per year)

Per ha per crop

Cultivated area Total

Feed consumption 15.0 320 9,600

Underground, fresh water consumption 22,667 14,506,667

Waste water discharged to the ocean 108,000 69,120,000

Financial Analysis

Unit of measurement: sao (1,000 sqm) per crop, VND in thousands

1- Production Inputs Quantity Unit price Amount

1 medicines

5,500 2 baby shrimp 2,000 3 labour cost 800 4 feed (tons) 1.5 15,000 22,500 5 fuels 2,500

6 others 2,300

Total 39,600

2- Capital Investment

1 land aquisition 17,000

2 construction costs 17,000

3 machineries 5,600


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3- Assumptions Depreciation (years) 3 interest rate 10% yield (kgs) average 700 max 1,000

sale price (kg) min

80

average

90 max 100 4- Financial Analysis revenue 63,000 per year per crop costs 9,233 4,617 fixed costs interest payment on land 1,700

provision for depreciation

7,533 variable costs 35,600

1 Medicines 5,500 2 baby shrimp 2,000 3 labour cost 800 4 feed (tons) 22,500 5 Fuels 2,500 6 Others 2,300

Total costs 40,217 Margin 22,783 Ratios Profit Margin 36% Return on Investment 58%

Summarize of indicators for shrimp raising in Phuoc Dinh

Per crop/sao Cultivated area Amount per year

Investment Costs 39,600 320 253,440,000

Working Capital 35,600 320 227,840,000

Revenues 63,000 320 403,200,000

Profits 22,783 320 145,813,333

Appendix 06: Selected Quantitative Analysis

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Introduction Information collected using PPA tools reflect common ideas from different levels ‐‐ province, district and commune. They are the most important base for assessment and evaluation. However they are average opinion in term of qualitative only, and fail to shed further lights into depth and quantitative analysis. To supplement with the PPA research, a sample of 240 households in 8 surveyed villages were interviewed using questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed under the same themes as PPA questions. Depth interview helped to prepare case studies for the report. Key points stemming from the Research A. Perceptions of poverty

Tests for the null hypothesis of “no statistical difference in wealth ranking between individual household and community assessment” were conducted. It was found that the poor rank themselves “poorer” than the community did, statistically at a 10% significant level. For households ranking themselves as “medium” or “higher living standard” the test implied statistical insignificance between two points of views;

The correlation between education and poverty is statistically significant. Indeed, 80% of the poor did not go beyond the 5th grade level; 40% of the poor are illiterate.

70% of the poor in the area live upon agricultural production and hired‐labor wages.

The survey’s results do not demonstrate statistically significant relation of size of households with their “poverty” levels.

No statistical evidence supported a correlation between poverty and minority groups.

The poor are considerably pessimistic about their prospects. Better‐off and medium households share the perception about the improvement of their community’s living over the last few years. In contrast, more than 50% of the poor believe that their life has not recorded any significant change, even become worse.

The test found no statistical evidence on different views among the poor, medium and better‐off households on factors which help explain the improvement of the whole community. Also, no primary factor could be identified as reason for that achievement.


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The informants consider animal husbandry as the most profitable and potential activity for raising income.

For households who see little improvement of lives in the past few years, they attribute the lack of improvement to having too many children, facing tough climate and lacking capital for production.

B. People’s Participation

Generally speaking, the people, especially the poor households possess little awareness about the activities and members of their Party Committee and People Council at the commune level. People’s Committee and mass organizations are better known by local people ‐ over 50% of respondents report this understanding, yet, the statistic is more modest for poor and medium groups. The people are most aware of the Policy on Hunger Eradication and Poverty Reduction as well as prevailing village security schemes. Little awareness was recorded for other economic activities such as land planning, commune budget formulation or budget revenue and expenditure. C. Basic services

Education: The high cost of education is the primary reason for school‐age children to dropout. The next cause is their obligation to help their family’s production. Over 50% of those respondents confirmed this. Health Care: Opinions on the quality of healthcare services vary among those interviewed. Of 36 people experienced with using Health Care Insurance Certificate, one in three satisfied with the treatment from health care workers, one in six said it was inefficient and the remainder stated there was no significant difference. Provincial hospital first, and then district and commune clinics are the main destination for patients in that order. As people only seek medical attention for serious illness is one explanation for the choice of provincial hospital over local clinic. Agricultural Extension: Few of those interviewed had knowledge of agricultural extension services available. D. Quality and Targets of Social Assistance

Ultimately it is the poor who receive the most assistance. In fact, three quarter of those who receive assistance are the poor. Government assistance is most well known ‐ very little recognition on other potential sources from agencies or enterprises. It was revealed that, on the one hand, while assistance significantly targeted the poor it could only meet 80% of


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demand. On the other hand, when targeting middle‐income households, although modest, this support could be used more effectively. Timeliness of the assistance is a great concern. Only 25% of those who receive assistance said that it is provided in a timely manner; over 50% said not. Targeted groups include the disadvantaged, the “large family” (poor with many dependants), the elderly and ethnic minorities. Besides official social assistance, when people face difficulties they rely on their relatives and friends first. The heads of villages are the first level of authority people come for help. The general view of informants reveals a lot of people requiring assistance, of which many of them are still left outside assistance programs when the case happens. Migration and Environment

Migration: The view and assessment of those interviewed on immigration in the province is intricate and blurred. Negative impact of immigration was observed pertaining to security concerns and illegal land appropriation. The positive impacts of immigration counted less concern. Seasonal migration is considered a major way for most households to source income, particularly poor households. Environment: Over 50% of households with high and medium levels of income and 90% of poor households do not have latrines, consequently is polluted environment. In most villages, garbage is not collected or buried. Daily living‐waste is a tough issue, 25% of households admitted to being responsible for the creation of such pollution. Approximately 25% of households source their daily water requirements from local rivers, streams, ponds and lakes. Over 70% of households are not aware of impacts of industrial wastewater on water resource for living. Water pollution and droughts, particularly in terms of the resulting lack of water for cultivation is the greatest concern for people in the community. The eradication of local forest lands attracts little concern of only 10 – 15% of informants.


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Appendix 07: Wealth Ranking Excercise Results

No Name As per MOLISA criteria

As per WR Exer.

Present at exercise

Remark

Thanh Tin - Phuoc Hai - Ninh Phuoc

1 Bao Khenh Poor

2 Bao Van Chuan Poor 1

3 Tai Thanh Quyen Poor Very poor 1

4 Thi Bieu Poor Very poor

5 Thi Luc Poor Very poor

6 Nguyen Dao Average 1

7 Lo Tru Average

8 Tri Hoi On Poor Very poor

9 Thi Si Very poor Very poor

10 Tai Thi Pho Very poor

11 Kieu Thi Luong Average

12 Thi Bo Poor

13 Kieu Kiet Average

14 Chau Thi Thuoc Average

15 Thi Hop Very poor Very poor

16 Kieu Duc Average

17 Thi Ho Average

18 Hung Tiu Average

19 Thi Bac Poor Very poor

20 Thi Bo Poor Very poor

21 Tu Cong Phu Good

22 Tu Cong De Good 1

23 Hua Dat Average

24 Thi Toi Good

25 Lo Tan Average 1

26 Thi Boi Mu Very poor Very poor

27 Chau Ray Average

28 Bao Ngo Poor

29 Thi Phin Average

30 Kieu Thi Phi Average 1

31 Chau Loi Poor

32 Dang Nang No Average

33 Hung Huong Average

34 Thi Xum Mu Poor

35 Dao Le Poor

36 Kieu Thi Lam Very poor

37 Thi Kinh Average

38 Kieu Phan Average

39 Dao Thi Dat Average

40 Dong Thong Poor

41 Chau Thi Tuyen Average


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42 Chau Tung Average

43 Chau Thi Pho Average 1

44 Kieu Tham Average 1

45 Kieu Tham Poor Very poor

46 Chau Oi Average

47 Kieu Toai Average 1

48 Thi To Poor

49 Thi Coi Average

50 Kieu Hung Average

51 Thi Deo Average

52 Thi Tot Average

53 Kieu Du Average

54 Chau Thi Them Average

55 Thi Dieu Average

56 Thi Da Average

57 Thi Dich Average

58 Tu Cong Thanh Good

59 Kieu Bang Co Average

60 Nguyen Ngo Average

61 Kieu Suoi Average

62 Kieu Tinh Average

63 Nao Cui Average

64 Kieu So Average

65 Kieu Quang Sang Good 1

66 Thi Nhut Average

67 Chau Dung Average

68 Kieu Thi Loang Poor

69 Kieu Sieu Poor

70 Hung Thi Mat Poor

71 Kieu De Average 1

72 Nao Thi Re Average 1

73 Chau Trung Poor 1

74 Chau Thi Gon Average 1

75 Kieu Tai Poor

76 Kieu Thi Nha Poor Poor

77 Kieu Thanh Giang Average 1

78 Lo Let Average

79 Thi Rep Average

80 Thi Quan Average

81 Tu Thi Nom Poor Very poor

82 Thi Ngot Poor

83 Thi Nhep Average

84 Thi Che Mu Very poor

85 Lu Hao Poor

86 Thi Dan Mu Poor Very poor 1

87 Kieu Thi Duong Poor 1

88 Tu Thi Tru Poor Very poor

89 Tu Thi Thiet Average 1


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90 Thi Rlay Mu Average

91 Thi Lua Poor Very poor

92 Nao Thi Chuyen Very poor

93 Thi Xep Poor

94 Chau Thi Dam Đ Very poor 1

95 Hung Muon Đ Very poor 1

96 Nao Thi Ban

97 Thi Rung Very poor

98 Kieu Van Hanh Average

99 Bao Doi Good 1

100 Tu Ky Good

101 Dao Van Chanh Average 1

102 Tai Thi Diem Good

103 Chau Ham Good 1

104 Tu Bat Average

105 Thi Diem Poor

106 Kieu Thi Im Average 1

107 Chau Thi Huyen Đ Very poor 1

108 Thach Tuyen Average 1

109 Kieu Nho Average

110 Dao Van Tien Average

111 Chau Minh Lau Average 1

112 Chau Duong Average

113 Kieu Thanh Tra Average

114 Chau Thi Phieu Average

115 Chau Thi Gan Very poor

116 Danh Nang Dai Average

117 Chau Thi Tiem Average

118 Kieu Mai Average

119 Chau Lo Poor Average

120 Chau Van Troi Average

121 Thi Hoang Very poor

122 Chau Don Average

123 Tai Thanh Rom Average

124 Lo Ve Average

125 Ma Minh Average

126 Lo Trung Average

127 Bao Thi Du Good

128 Chau Thi Hoang Good

129 Chau Thi Xa Average

130 Chau Ngo Average

131 Chau Anh Average

132 Nao Mo Good

133 Chau Xeo Average

134 Thi Nhe Very poor

135 Tu Cong Binh Average

136 Chau Thi Thoi Average

137 Hung Tai On Good


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138 Kieu Hong Very poor

139 Thi Dai Average

140 Kieu Thi Y Average

141 Kieu Nin Average

142 Tu Thi Su Poor

143 Bao Trung Trich Average

Hoa Thuy - Phuoc Hai - Ninh Phuoc

1 Nguyen Hanh Average

2 Tran Hai Average 1

3 Phan Van Thu Average 1

4 Phan Van Thanh Poor Average 1

5 Huynh Thi Danh Very poor 1

6 Nguyen Thi Tham Very poor 1

7 Tong Trung Xuat Very poor Very poor 1

8 Tong Trung Thanh Poor Very poor

9 Nguyen My Average

10 Tran Den Average

11 Nguyen Thi Thu Average

12 Duong Lac Good

13 Nguyen Anh Average

14 Nguyen Thi Chiem Very poor 1

15 Nguyen Thi Quanh Poor Very poor 1

16 Nguyen Son Average

17 Nguyen Thi Tu Very poor

18 Tran Tan Lich Average

19 Tran Ro Average

20 Nguyen Thi Kim Vuong Very poor

21 Pham Thi An Poor 1

22 Nguyen Quan Average 1

23 Nguyen Phuoc Poor Very poor 1

24 Nguyen Huu Phong Average

25 Nguyen Sao Poor 1

26 Nguyen Sang Poor Very poor

27 Tong Tinh Poor

28 Hoang Van Sy Average

29 Dao Kha Average

30 Dao Dang Poor Very poor

31 Ha Long Average

32 Pha Duong Average

33 Nguyen Thi Hong Very poor 1

34 Nguyen Thi Dem Poor Very poor 1

35 Pham Na Very poor 1

36 Huynh Thi Thap Very poor

37 Nguyen Thi Bay Very poor 1

38 Tran Thi Thanh Huong Poor

39 Tran Van An Poor 1

40 Nguyen Thi Rem Very poor

41 Duong Van Hung Average


76

42 Pham Thi Dao Very poor Very poor 1

43 Pham Huu Sinh Average

44 Nguyen Duc Very poor 1

45 Le Van Danh Poor Very poor 1

46 Phan Van Ti Average

47 Tran Thanh Average

48 Nguyen Van Thang Poor

49 Nguyen Thanh Hung Average

50 Nguyen Thi Muoi Poor Very poor 1

51 Nguyen Van Sang Poor

52 Nguyen Van Chau Average

53 Nguyen Kep Average

54 Nguyen Ut Average

55 Nguyen Huong Average

56 Nguyen Thi Lung Poor Very poor

57 Nguyen Cang Very poor

58 Tran Phan Average

59 Nguyen Thanh Average 1

60 Nguyen Hai Poor Very poor 1

61 Nguyen Thi Gai Average

62 Nguyen Lep Average

63 Huynh Mua Average

64 Le Nho Average 1

65 Truong Tao Average 1

66 Pham Nhat Average

67 Nguyen Phuc Average

68 Phan Tan Hien Very poor 1

69 Le Man Average

70 Tran Thoat Average

71 Nguyen Tho Average

72 Nguyen Dong Poor 1

73 Pham Tu Average

74 Pham Soi Average

75 Tran Lanh Average

76 Nguyen Thi Day Average

77 Pham Ha Poor 1

78 Nguyen Teo Very poor

79 Le Hoa Average

80 Dao Dat Average

81 Nguyen Canh Good

82 Nguyen Ngoc Good

83 Tran Lang Average

84 Pham Lam Average

85 Le Van Tan Poor 1

86 Dinh Duy Nghia Average

87 Nguyen Bap Average

88 Tran Phuong Average

89 Nguyen Ti Poor


77

90 Tong Thi On Good

91 Nguyen Thi Tuc Very poor 1

92 Nguyen Canh Average

93 Nguyen Hoa Good

94 Nguyen Tu Average

95 Phan Thanh Liem Average

96 Trinh Han Average

97 Nguyen Thi Huong Very poor

98 Phan Dai Average

99 Nguyen Thi Roi Good

100 Le Thi Xem Average

101 Nguyen Van Thoi Average

102 Huynh Thi Nghe Poor Very poor

103 Pham Thi Hoan Very poor Very poor

104 Nguyen Nap Good

105 Nguyen Ngo Very poor

106 Nguyen Nhu Tinh Good

107 Nguyen Thi Hiep Poor

108 Nguyen Bung Poor Very poor

109 Huynh Diet Very poor

110 Huynh Ly Poor

111 Huynh Bi Poor

112 Huynh Thuong Poor

113 Nguyen Thi No Average

114 Huynh Thuong Average

115 Nguyen Thi Nga Very poor

Son Hai - Phuoc Dinh - Ninh Phuoc

1 Nguyen Van Binh Good

2 Huynh Van Do Average

3 Nguyen Van Son Average

4 Nguyen Van Vuong Average 1

5 Nguyen Van Tho Average 1

6 Do Van Duc Average

7 Tran Van Hai Average 1

8 Dao Van Thanh Poor

9 Tran Thi Den Very poor Very poor

10 Huynh Van Hung Poor

11 Nguyen Thi Lun Poor

12 Tran Ngoc Tan Poor

13 Luu Te Ngoai Very poor

14 Pham Van Co Average 1

15 Ly Van My Very poor

16 Le Van Khon Poor

17 Le Dao Average

18 Tran Dam Poor

19 Luu Te Nhan Poor

20 Hoang Xuan Thao Average 1

21 Nguyen Thi Bay Average 1


78

22 Tran Thi Rap Average 1

23 Nguyen Thi Luom Average 1

24 Tran Gioi Poor

25 Truong Thanh Niem Good

26 Truong Thanh Phai Good

27 Truong Thanh Le Good

28 Nguyen Thi Doi Poor

29 Nguyen Chi Hung Average

30 Nguyen Van Tu Average

31 Nguyen Van Thuc Poor Poor 1

32 Phan Truong Poor

33 Tran Van San Average

34 Tran Thi Tui Very poor Very poor 1

35 Nguyen Van Luyen Average

36 Pham Pho Poor

37 Nguyen Van Su Poor

38 Nguyen Van Luc Very poor Very poor 1

39 Le Van Hung Average 1

40 Nguyen Van Hon Average

41 Nguyen Thi Lun Poor

42 Tran Van Mai Poor

43 Nguyen Thi Rim Good 1

44 Nguyen Van Dao Poor

45 Nguyen Van Hai Poor

46 Le Thanh Lap Very poor

47 Le Van Minh Poor

48 Bui Huu An Very poor

49 Nguyen Van Quang Poor

50 Nguyen Xuan Phuong Very poor

51 Le Hien Poor

52 Nguyen Van Truc Poor

53 Le Nam Poor

54 Tran Van Loi Poor

55 Tran Van Thuan Poor

56 No Van Phuc Average

57 Nguyen Van Tho Average 1

58 Tran Van Duc Poor

59 Pham Thi Gai Poor 1

60 Ngo Xung Hoan Average 1

61 Tran Van Do Good 1

62 Nguyen Van Dinh Average

63 Tran Van Nhu Very poor

64 Truong Thi Na Poor Very poor 1

65 Doan Van Gianh Average

66 Nguyen Thi Ganh Average

67 Doan Van Hai Poor

68 Le Xuan Nhon Good 1

69 Nguyen Thi Tiep Very poor 1


79

70 Bui Xuan Thai Good

71 Pham Than Average

72 Nguyen Thi Tho Poor 1

73 Ngo Xuan Chien Average 1

74 Le Van Chuc Good

75 Nguyen Van Cuong Average

76 Le Xuan Xiem Average

77 Le Xuan Thanh Average

78 Le Xuan Do Average

79 Nguyen Van Coi Poor

80 Nguyen Thi Meo Very poor Very poor 1

81 Nguyen Van Quyen Average

82 Nguyen Van Bon Average

83 Le Van Thai Very poor 1

84 Phan Van Hai Good

85 Nguyen Van Boi Average

86 Le Thi Loan Very poor 1

87 Tran Thi Sang Average 1

88 Phan Van Muon Good

89 Co Thi Nguyen Tram Average

90 Nguyen Thi Dang Average

91 Le Chut Poor

92 Le Cong Chi Average 1

93 No Van Trong Average

94 Huynh Van Dam Average

95 Le Mai Average

96 Mai Van Tin Average

97 Tran Van Hue Poor

98 Pham Van Lua Average

99 Nguyen Thi Em Average 1

100 Tran Thi Nhin Very poor Very poor 1

101 Phan Van Huong Average 1

Tu Thien - Phuoc Dinh - Ninh Phuoc

1 Ho Thi Ngay Poor Very poor

2 Nguyen Thi Hai Very poor Very poor 1

3 Nguyen Thi Kieu Very poor Very poor

4 Tran Van Ho Very poor

5 Lam Thi Muoi Very poor Very poor 1

6 Nguyen Van Thien Average

7 Le Van Phong Very poor Very poor

8 Nguyen Van Hoang Very poor Very poor

9 Truong Van Tam Poor

10 Nguyen Thi Hue Poor Very poor

11 Mai Van Chuong Very poor Very poor

12 Nguyen Van Gioi Very poor Poor 1

13 Phan Hui Very poor Very poor

14 Tran Thi Lien Poor Very poor 1

15 Nguyen Tan Du Average


80

16 Huynh An Good

17 Nguyen Thi Bich Good

18 Le Dac Thang Good

19 Mai Van Thanh

20 Mai Thi Nhuong Good

21 Pham Thi Xieng Good

22 Le Thanh Trung Good

23 Huynh Mai Good

24 Phan Van Muon Good 1

25 Le Cong Chinh Good

26 Nguyen Dung Poor 1

27 Mai Tong Poor

28 Ho Kim Thanh Good

29 Dao Thanh Phuong Poor

30 Nguyen Nhi Average

31 Do Van Nhan Good

32 Nguyen Van Quy Good

33 Nguyen Luong Average

34 Huynh Thi Beo Good 1

35 Huynh Van Gioi Poor 1

36 Ho Thi Loi Good

37 Tran Thi Y Average

38 Huynh Van Binh Average

39 Dang Huu Phuoc Poor 1

40 Nguyen Tong Average

41 Bui Van Thu Average 1

42 Dao Thanh Yen Average

43 Nguyen Van Teo Poor Very poor

44 Nguyen Thanh Au Very poor Very poor

45 Pham Van Thuc Poor 1

46 Tran Van Hang Poor Poor

47 Tran Van My Poor

48 Ho Van Thuong Very poor Poor

49 Pham Hieu Poor 1

50 Huynh Van Nghien Poor

51 Huynh Van Tha Poor

52 Nguyen Thi Ban Poor

53 Phan Thanh Du Average

54 Nguyen Thi Mat Very poor Very poor

55 Le Thi Cho Poor

56 Huynh Truoc Poor

57 Le Van Hong Poor 1

58 Nguyen Dai Very poor Very poor

59 Thanh Minh Very poor Very poor

60 Phan Cu Very poor Very poor

61 Tran Nga Poor Very poor

62 Phan Thanh Bet Very poor Very poor

63 Nguyen Van Truoc Very poor Poor


81

64 Le Thi Bi Very poor Very poor 1

65 Le Van Loan Poor 1

66 Le Xat Average

67 Ly Van Dinh Average

68 Phan Van Luan Poor

69 Nguyen Nong Average

70 Nguyen Van La Very poor

71 Vo Thi Em Average

72 Mai Thi Lieu Poor

73 Nguyen Thi Hoa Average

74 Duong Van Luon Very poor

75 To Thi Kha Poor

76 Mai Van Meo Very poor Very poor

77 Ho Thi Thanh Hoa Poor Very poor

78 Nguyen Cuong Very poor

79 Le Kim Ngoc Poor 1

80 Nguyen Van Cam Poor

81 Nguyen Quoc Tan Average

82 Nguyen Thi Muoi Very poor Very poor 1

83 Dao Thanh Phong Poor Very poor

84 Truong Van Minh Average

85 Vo Thi Hieu Very poor

86 Nguyen Thi Nhut Very poor

87 Nguyen Van Hung Average

88 Le Thi Sau Poor

89 Phan Van Luong Average

90 Pham Van Chet Poor

91 Ly Van Doat Poor

92 Dinh Van Rang Average

93 Nguyen Quoc Average

94 Ho Van Hieu Poor

95 Le Van Tam Very poor Very poor

96 Nguyen Tan Du Good

97 Nguyen Van Thang Poor

98 Phan Co Very poor Poor

99 Nguyen Nhi Average

100 Doan Thi Chin Poor Very poor 1

101 Truong Van Tam Poor

102 Le Van Thanh Poor Very poor

103 Nguyen Van Duong 4 Poor

104 Le Thang Loi Poor

105 Tran Van Ngot Poor

106 Mai Thi Duc Very poor Very poor

107 Huynh Thi Meo Very poor 1

108 Mai Van Noi Poor

109 Nguyen Thi Cat Very poor

110 Nguyen Thi Hanh Very poor Very poor

111 Nguyen Van Luan Poor


82

112 Do Van Xin Very poor

113 Ngo Dinh Tham Poor Very poor

114 Nguyen Van Vet Average

115 Le Van Tam Poor

116 Nguyen Van Do Average

117 Nguyen Van Ha Poor

118 Mai Duc Xuan Poor

119 Mai Thi Hoa Very poor 1

120 Huynh Ngoc Tan Poor Poor

121 Nguyen Thanh Poor Poor

122 Nguyen Van Bon Very poor Very poor

123 Nguyen Van Hai Average

124 Tong Van Lap Poor 1

125 Nguyen Van Hoan Poor 1

126 Le Duy Hien Average

127 Le Hoi Poor 1

128 Le Thi Hai Average 1

129 Phan Thi Tang Very poor

130 Nguyen Bien Poor

131 Tong Thanh Trung Very poor

132 Vo Van Mua Average

133 Nguyen Ech Average

134 Le Phuoc Hai Poor

135 Nguyen Van Linh Good

136 Nguyen Van Bon Poor

137 Nguyen Thi Dat Average

138 Vo Van Nhut Poor 1

139 Nguyen Van Ranh Good

140 Nguyen Tuan Khanh Poor

141 Nguyen Van Hiep Very poor

142 To Thi Hoang Poor

143 Dao Yen Average

144 Dao Thi Huong Average 1

145 Le Quang Chien Poor

146 Nguyen Ti Good

147 Nguyen Phu Poor

148 Nguyen Van De Good

149 Huynh Xoan Average 1

150 Do Thi My Le Poor 1

151 Huynh Ngoc Tuyen Average

152 Nguyen Van Thien Average

153 Nguyen Van Rong Average

154 Nguyen Van Den Average

155 Nguyen Van Chien Poor

156 Dao Huong Average

157 Mai Duc Thang Average

158 Nguyen Tri Tuan Poor

159 Ho Van Loc Very poor


83

160 La Duy Canh Very poor

161 Huynh Van Loi Average

162 Le Van Thanh Poor

163 Phung Khac Man Poor 1

164 Kieu Hong Son Poor Poor 1

Tan Lap II - Luong Son - Ninh Son

1 Pham Ba Le Good

2 Nguyen Thanh Tra Average 1

3 Le Bao Average

4 Bui Thanh Hung Poor Poor 1

5 Nguyen Hoang Dung Average

6 Nguyen Tien Huan Average

7 Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai Average

8 Pham Van Thanh Average

9 Doan Van Hoa Good

10 Doan Van Nhung Average

11 Doan Van Tam Good

12 Le Minh Good

13 Dang Tien Sy Average

14 Tran Van Trung Average

15 Dinh Dau Average

16 Nguyen Xuan Thoi Average 1

17 Hoang Huu Khanh Average

18 Mai Van Don Average 1

19 Dao Xuan Hai Good 1

20 Pham Thi Thanh Poor

21 Phan Thi Oanh Good

22 Vo Tue Average

23 Nguyen Quang Ha Poor

24 Hoang Van Ky Poor Poor 1

25 Hoang Van Viet Average

26 Dang Dinh Dai Good

27 Dang Dinh Ly Good

28 Nguyen Cong Lang Average

29 Pham Gom Poor

30 Nguyen Quang Minh Poor Average 1

31 Nguyen Thanh Trung Good

32 Nguyen Tan Hoach Average 1

33 Tu Trong Phat Average

34 Nguyen Van Cuong Good

35 Pham Van Hung Good

36 Nguyen Dinh Duong Good

37 Nguyen Dinh Tu Average

38 Nguyen Dinh Dung Average

39 Ho Van Quang Good

40 Ho Van Chung Good

41 Ho Thi Muoi Average 1

42 Le Huong Average 1


84

43 Luong Xe Good

44 Le Tung Poor Very poor 1

45 Tran Nhon Average 1

46 Do Minh Average 1

47 Nguyen Van An Average

48 Nguyen Quy Tuong Average

49 Dang Quoc Thang Average

50 Dang Trong Nghia Good

51 Nguyen Lanh Average 1

52 Nguyen Thi Le Hoa Average

53 Doan Huy Nhiem Good

54 Doan Huy Nang Average

55 Luong Thi Thuy Thuy Average

56 Luong Thi Thuy Loan Poor

57 Nguyen Van Hung Average 1

58 Nguyen Van Quang Good

59 Nguyen Van Vu Average

60 Nguyen Ngoc Bach Good

61 Lai Ba Ly Average 1

62 Nguyen Hai Ung Average 1

63 Nguyen Kim Nhat Average

64 Vo Tan Sinh Average 1

65 Nguyen Xuan Len Average

66 Nguyen Xuan Pho Average

67 Nguyen Van Phi Average

68 Nguyen Minh Yen Average

69 Nguyen Minh Long Average

70 Vu Van Thien Average

71 Mai Van Tuyen Average

72 Nguyen Duc Oanh Average 1

73 Nguyen Quang Ty Good 1

74 Le Quy Yen Average 1

75 Hoang Thi Hoa Average

76 Nguyen Quang Truong Good

77 Nguyen Thi Ngai Poor

78 Nguyen Dang Duy Average

79 Nguyen Dang Luyen Average

80 Le Dang Vung Average

81 Nguyen Duc Linh Average

82 Nguyen Cong Hieu Good

83 Do Kim Thin Poor 1

84 Do Kim Oanh Poor

85 Doan Thi Luyen Average

86 Bui Trung Minh Good

87 Do Thi Diem Poor Poor 1

88 Nguyen Dang Lai Average

89 Do Kim Khanh Good 1

90 Ha Quoc Minh Good


85

91 Hoang Van Dung Average

92 Do Kim Hanh Average

93 Nguyen To Van Poor Poor 1

94 Nguyen Cong Dong Average 1

95 Nguyen Thi Xoe Average

96 Bui Thi Nhung Average

97 Luu Thien Thanh Average

98 Luu Ba Ha Poor Poor 1

99 Nguyen Duc Sung Poor Very poor 1

100 Nguyen Quy Hanh Average

101 Do Duc Nghia Very poor

102 Nguyen Duc Phe Good

103 Nguyen Dang Nhang Good

104 Do Kim Hung Average

105 Do Kim Nhuan Poor

106 Do Kim Ngai Good 1

107 Trinh Xuan Chien Average

108 Vo Thanh Tuan Average

109 Nguyen Huy Dai Average

110 Nguyen Duong Thuy Average

111 Do Tien Cao Average

112 Luu Thien Deo Good

113 Nguyen Quang Hien Poor Very poor 1

114 Nguyen Minh Chau Good

115 Luong Van Tuoi Good

Tra Giang II - Luong Son - Ninh Son

1 Pham Thi Ly Good 1

2 Pham Thi Ngoan Average 1

3 Ya Chanh Average

4 Thi Hanh Very poor

5 Thi Dong Poor

6 Ya Tung Average

7 Thi Chuong Poor

8 Thi Mo Hai Very poor

9 Thi Ban Very poor

10 Ya Phu Poor

11 Dinh Van Son Good

12 Thi Ty Average

13 Thi Hon Very poor

14 Ya Vien Poor

15 Ya Cung Very poor

16 Pham Dang Giau Average 1

17 Ya Yen Average 1

18 Nguyen Thi Minh Viet Average 1

19 Nguyen Thi Thao Average

20 Huynh A Lin Good

21 Nguyen Viet To Very poor

22 Thi Thoi Very poor


86

23 Thi Dau Average

24 Thi Do Very poor 1

25 Thi Bo Average 1

26 Mang To Good 1

27 Ya Bang Average

28 Ya Nhi Average

29 Thi Hon Average

30 Ya Coi Very poor

31 Ya Linh Very poor

32 Ya Khe Average 1

33 Thi Hien Very poor 1

34 Thi Duong Very poor 1

35 Ya Chang Very poor 1

36 Tran Thi Chin Average 1

37 Ya Ty Average

38 Ya Meo Very poor

39 Thi Xanh Poor

40 Nguyen Thi Nga Average 1

41 Thi Qua Average

42 Ya Sai Average

43 Mang Dao Good

44 Thi Ton Average

45 Thi Boi Poor

46 Ya Sam Poor 1

47 Thi Hong Poor

48 Ya Bao Very poor

49 Hoang Thi Pho Very poor

50 Ya Thanh Average

51 Ya Long Poor

52 Thi Sai B Very poor 1

53 Ya Tuyen Average 1

54 Thi Ke Very poor

55 Mang O Quat Average 1

56 Thi Hanh Very poor

57 Gia Binh Average

58 Chuong Hech Suong Good

59 Thi Rom Very poor

60 Ya E Ra Poor

61 Le Thi Linh Chi Good 1

62 Le Thi Lam Average 1

63 Huynh Ngoc Cuong Average 1

64 Ya Thu Average

65 Nguyen Thi Cuc Average

66 Thi Chi Average

67 Ha Ba Poor

68 Thi Sia Very poor

69 Thi Sa Very poor

70 Thi Dum Very poor


87

71 Ya Lieu Average 1

72 Thi Da Very poor

73 Ya Cuong Average

74 Thi Co Very poor

75 Ya Bay Poor

76 Thi Bam Poor 1

77 Ngo Thi Thanh Tam Average 1

78 Nguyen Thi Yen Nhi Average 1

79 Thi Ho Poor 1

80 Ya Hang Average

81 Thi Chai Very poor

82 Thi Khang Average

83 Ya Tia Poor

84 Thi Phuong Very poor 1

85 Ya Dai Good 1

86 Mang Thi Moi Average

87 Mang Thi Le Xuan Very poor Poor 1

88 Mang Phuong Very poor Poor 1

89 Ya Sang Average

90 Ya Toan Poor

91 Thi Tra Poor

92 Ya Soai Average

93 Ta Doc Ma Dam Poor

94 Ya Nhan Very poor

95 Ya Hoi Average

96 Thi Ni Very poor

97 Thi Ba Poor

98 Thi Re Very poor

99 Ya Dong Average

100 Ya Den Good

101 Ngo Thi Ngoc Average

102 Thi Thang C Average

103 Ya Lu Poor

104 Thi Mai Poor

105 Thi Tinh Average

106 Ya Tang Average

107 Ya Bong Average

108 Ya Dong Average

My Son commune - Ninh Son

My Hiep - My Son - Ninh Son

1 Tain Ngang Average 1

2 Chau Thi Xe Average

3 Tain Thi Quanh Very poor Poor

4 Chamale Khang Good

5 Cham Hai Poor Poor

6 Mau San Good

7 Bo U Average

8 Bo Thi Banh Average


88

9 Cao Dy Average

10 Mai Nhiet Poor 1

11 Cham Coc Average

12 Bay Thanh Nghieu Poor Poor

13 Tain Bieu Good 1

14 Bo Phuoc Average

15 Mang Trien Average

16 Bo Thi Bong Poor

17 Tain Khoa Poor

18 Bo Nha Average

19 Tran Thi Banh Poor Poor 1

20 Cao Thi Lanh Very poor Poor 1

21 Bo Ba B

22 Mai Anh Poor

23 Nguyen Ngoc Tan Good 1

24 Bo Lo Poor Poor 1

25 Mai Xuan Nghi Average 1

26 Tran Dom Poor Poor

27 Cao Chuong Average

28 Tain Bo B

29 Cao Van Pho Poor 1

30 Cham Thi Ngan Poor

31 Tran Phieu Poor 1

32 Tro Thi Xi Poor

33 Cao Thi Nen Poor Poor

34 TaiN Phuong Good 1

35 Bay Dua Average

36 Cham No Average

37 Bo Chuong Good

38 Tain Phuong Good

39 Tain Sam B

40 Tran Van Nghiep Good 1

41 Tain Nhung Good 1

42 Tain Thi Ly Good

43 Bo Giai Poor

44 Cham Dai Good 1

45 Cham Thi Quy Good

46 Cao Du Average

47 Bo Xuan Tu B 1

48 Tain Thon Poor

49 Bay Thanh Den Poor Poor

50 Bo Thien Average

51 Suong Chau Poor 1

52 Tain Thuy Poor Poor 1

53 Cham Binh Average

54 Tain Dung Average

55 Bo Phoc Average

56 Bo Cang Good


89

57 Cham Nhanh Poor Poor 1

58 Tain Thi Kho Poor Poor

59 Bo Phong Poor

60 Mau Sang Poor Poor

61 Mai Noi Poor Poor

62 Bo Kho Poor Poor 1

63 Cham Nhu Good

64 Tain Thi Lich Poor Poor

65 Bay Thi Dung Poor Poor

66 Mau Thi Quyet Poor Poor

67 Cham Thu Poor

68 Tro Bong Poor

69 Cham Chieu Average

70 Bay O Good 1

71 Bo Nga Average

72 Le Thi Thanh Average

73 Bo Du Good 1

74 Mau Kho Poor

75 Bay Thi Tanh Average

76 Mai Thi Lan Average 1

77 Tain Le Poor 1

78 Bo Thi Tich Poor Poor

79 Bo Thi Bay Good

80 Tain Thi Binh A Average

81 Mai Thi Duoc Average

82 Tran No Average

83 Bo Thi But Average

84 Cao Ti Average

85 Bo Thi Sang Average

86 Y Dung Poor

87 Bay Thanh Nghieu Poor Poor 1

88 Mau Liep Average

89 Bo Tieu Average

90 Tain Thi To Average

91 Bay Thanh Cau Average

92 Cham Phong Average

93 Bo Ong Poor 1

94 Mau Ton Average

95 Bo Son Poor 1

96 Bay Thi Be Very poor Poor 1

97 Cham Day A Good

98 Yac Dao Average

99 KaTo Be Poor

100 Tain Thi Ot Poor

101 Bo Pha Average

102 Bo Duong Cho Good

103 Phu Bac Mui Good

104 Phu Man Phung Good 1


90

105 Vo Thanh Ngu Good 1

106 Tain Hai Good 1

Phu Thanh I village

1 Le Tan An Average 1

2 Lam Van Binh Poor Very poor 1

3 Tran Van Tien Poor Very poor 1

4 Cao Van Minh Good 1

5 Duoc Que Poor Poor 1

6 Tran Van Cu Poor M 1

7 Le Thi Xun Poor M 1

8 Vo Xuan Thanh M

9 Bui Tan Son Poor Very poor 1

10 Nguyen Thi Kinh Poor Very poor 1

11 Ho Duc Hung Good 1

12 Nguyen Phuoc Hai Poor

13 Mai Van Thanh Average 1

14 Nguyen Van Minh Average 1

15 Ha Van Cuc Poor Poor 1

16 Bui Tho Average

17 Nguyen Thi Kieu Poor Poor 1

18 Nguyen Lan Very poor

19 Vo Xuan Tuoi Poor Poor 1

20 Nguyen Thi Lan Poor Very poor 1

21 Nguyen Thi Hoa Poor

22 Duong Ngoc Khanh Average

23 Tran Dinh Khoi Very poor

24 Truong Tri Poor

25 Nguyen Van Tho Average

26 Le Thanh Diep Average

27 Nguyen San Average

28 Tran Van Lam Average

29 Dao Trung Tich Average 1

30 Nguyen Van Nuoi Average 1

31 Pham Han Average 1

32 Nguyen Khac Dung Average 1

33 Nguyen Khac Sy Average

34 Phan Van Hop Average

35 Truong Van Bap Average

36 Ton Van Hoa Average 1

37 Le Van Ly Average

38 Tran Ri Average

39 Nguyen Thi Xuan Lan Average

40 Tran My Good

41 Pham Vo Thanh Average 1

42 Le Van Nghi Average

43 Le Van Phung Average

44 Nguyen Van Hiep Average 1

45 Le Van Tra Poor


91

46 Truong Van Dien Average

47 Nguyen Thi Dong Poor Poor 1

48 Pham Van Phuoc Average

49 Ho Nho Average

50 Nguyen Van Bay Poor 1

51 Nguyen Quang Binh Average

52 Nguyen Thi Du Average

53 Nguyen Cong Duc Average 1

54 Nguyen Thi Kim Loan Poor

55 Huynh Thanh Son Poor 1

56 Nguyen Tri Average

57 Nguyen Huu Phuoc Average

58 Nguyen Thi Tai Average

59 Nguyen Trau Average

60 Do Xuyen Average

61 Tran Van Chien Average

62 Dang Van Giac Poor

63 Nguyen Thi Quai Poor Average

64 Duong Van Hau Average

65 Huynh Trong Nghia Average

66 Le Dang Tin Average

67 Huynh Van Thong Poor

68 Le Minh Tuan Poor

69 Nguyen Thom Poor Poor 1

70 Le Thanh Tam Good 1

71 Tran Hai Average

72 Le Van Trong Average

73 Lam Van Cha Poor

74 Le Thuc Poor

75 Pham Trau Poor

76 Vu Minh Hoang Average

77 Dang Ngoc Thanh Poor

78 Nguyen Ngoc Sang Poor

79 Cao Thi Nu Average

80 Tran Van Nhut Poor

81 Phan Thi Sau Average

82 Phan Thanh Average

83 Hoang Thi Le Average

84 Le Thi Tham Poor

85 Le Ham Good

86 Le Thi Tron Good

87 Le Thai Good

88 Phan Loc Average

89 Phan No Average

90 Phan Van Thanh Poor

91 Ho Hoang Trong Good

92 Nguyen Thi San Poor

93 Dang Thanh Average


92

94 Tran Van Cuong Good

95 Trinh Thi Hong Good 1

96 Tran Van Tam Average

97 Nguyen Thi Hoa Average

98 Dao Van Tuan Average

99 Nguyen Van Hiep Average

100 Doan Ngoc Luan Average

101 Tran Thi Phuong Very poor

102 Tran Van Hanh Average

103 Nguyen Van Thai Average

237

Trung tám Phaït triãøn Näng thän38B Triãûu Viãût Væång,Haì Näüi, Viãût Nam.Tel: (84-4) 9433 854Fax:(84-4) 9433 853Email: [email protected] site: http://www.crp-vn.org

2003AÍnh: CRP

Danh gia ngheo co su tham giacua cong dong tai

NHOÏM HAÌNH ÂÄÜNGCHÄÚNG ÂOÏI NGHEÌO

Ninh Thuan

Ngán haìng Thãú giåïi taûi Viãût Nam63 Lyï Thaïi Täø,Haì Näüi, Viãût Nam.Tel: (84-4) 9346 600Fax:(84-4) 9246 597Web site: http://www.worldbank.org.vn

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