Policy credit helps people in Sop Cop border area reduce poverty

Implementing the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the 2021-2025 period, Sop Cop district (Son La) has focused resources, especially preferential policy capital to improve the effectiveness of sustainable poverty reduction work in the area.

Sop Cop district

At the end of 2003, Sop Cop district was newly established; all 8 communes were in extremely difficult circumstances; 98% of the population were ethnic minorities; people lacked land, lacked capital for cultivation and production; there was no electricity grid, and the mountain roads were bumpy. However, in just a few years, Sop Cop has transformed positively, changing day by day; the Thai, Mong, Lao, Kho Mu ethnic groups... are also much more prosperous than before. The poverty rate in Sop Cop has decreased by 4 - 5%/year. By the end of 2023, the poverty rate according to multidimensional poverty criteria has been 30% and strive to be below 20% by 2025.

Mr. Vu Van Quan - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee shared: In order for the highland border area to have conditions for economic development and social security. In recent years, the locality has made efforts to implement and integrate programs such as 30a, 135, 167 and focus on mobilizing resources, focusing on policy capital, timely and effective investment for rapid and sustainable poverty reduction.

In particular, from 2014, Party committees at all levels have strongly implemented Directive No. 40-CT/TW of the Central Party Secretariat, always paying attention to leadership all policy credit activities. Along with that, the authorities from the district to the commune have prioritized additional budget capital transferred to VBSP to supplement loans for poor households and other policy beneficiaries.

VBSP Sop Cop District is a reliable loan address for poor households and other policy beneficiaries

Mr. Nguyen The Can - Director of VBSP Sop Cop district said: After more than 20 years of operation, the attention and support of authorities at all levels, along with the participation of the entire political system has added motivation and efficiency to the activities of VBSP Sop Cop district. By June 30, 2024, the total policy capital in the district reached VND 368,668 million. Preferential capital has been transferred promptly to the correct beneficiaries, contributing to helping ethnic minorities build effective economic models, thereby arousing the will of self-reliance of the people, overcoming difficulties; taking care of labor and production, rising up to escape poverty sustainably, even gradually getting rich on their homeland.

Not long ago, Mr. Tong Van Phong's family in Poi Lanh village, Muong Va commune, was still considered a poor household. But since he boldly borrowed VND 50 million from VBSP to raise breeding cows; thanks to careful care, the herd has grown to 5 cows, helping him pay off his debt and repair his house. Recently, his family has been taken another loan of VND 80 million from VBSP to expand his livestock farm.

Also in Muong Va commune, 90 households in Na Mon village have used policy capital to switch from low-income rice and cassava cultivation to orange cultivation. Small households have a few dozen trees, large households have up to 4 hectares; the average yield is over 10 tons of fruit/ha. Thanks to that, some ethnic minority households earn hundreds of millions of VND each year from orange trees. Mr. Lo Van Thuan is one of the first households in the village to effectively change the crop structure.

Mr. Thuan confided: “In the beginning, my family converted nearly 1 hectare of food crops to orange cultivation, while growing and learning techniques and experiences. On average, my family harvested nearly 10 tons of fruit each year. Now, my family has established a cooperative with 11 members, growing 12 hectares of oranges. The care process always focuses on applying clean production, using organic fertilizers and organic and biological pesticides to care for orange trees. Thanks to that, the trees always grow well, with large fruits, beautiful appearance, few seeds, juicy, sweet and aromatic, and the selling price remains stable at 30,000 - 35,000 VND/kg. Every year, right from the beginning of the season, traders have placed orders to buy oranges. In the last orange crop, there were no products to sell. People have a stable income from orange trees, everyone is happy and excited".

Thanks to policy capital, many local households develop effective production

Mr. Lo Van Thom - Vice Chairman of Muong Va Commune People's Committee said: Policy capital has helped people in the highland border area successfully transform their production structure and escape poverty. People boldly borrow capital, use the loan for the right purpose, combine visiting and learning in localities with similar soil and climate to research what to plant and what to raise for economic development in the backward area. After more than 10 years of experimentation, the local government decided to choose to test orange planting in Na Mon village.

From a district with many difficulties, after 10 years of strongly and extensively implementing Directive No. 40-CT/TW, preferential capital has covered the mountainous area of ​​Sop Cop, truly becoming an effective tool, contributing to helping the locality achieve many impressive results in economic development and ensuring social security. The capital has contributed to changing people's awareness from free allocation to conditional loans with preferential interest rates; thereby reducing the mindset of relying on of the poor households and other policy beneficiaries; at the same time, it has created conditions for poor households, near-poor households and other policy beneficiaries to have capital to repair houses, purchase tools and equipment for production development, build works of safe water and sanitation meeting national standards, develop production and business, raise livestock, increase income and stabilize life...

Many households are confident in developing their economy, getting out of poverty and enriching themselves

The Party Committee and the district government identified the implementation of Directive No. 40-CT/TW and the Sustainable Poverty Reduction Project for the period 2021 - 2025 as one of the key and regular tasks. On that basis, VBSP Sop Cop district has been joining hands, focusing on mobilizing financial resources, quickly transferring all policy capital to all villages, to the right beneficiaries, contributing to the success of plans and programs for socio-economic development, sustainable poverty reduction and new rural construction in mountainous border areas.

Minh Uyen