Project description

Title: Rural Development in Dak Lak Province
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Lead executing agency: People’s Committee of Dak Lak (PPC)
Overall term: 2003 to 2009

Context

Numerous ethnic minority groups live in Dak Lak Province, in the central Vietnamese highlands with their great expanses of forest and farmland. Since reunification, economic growth has been strong and the population has grown significantly. Members of ethnic minorities have increasingly withdrawn into higher and less fertile areas in order to engage in their traditional shifting cultivation. Shortened fallow periods and increased clearance of forested areas accelerate the degradation of forests and soil. This process has become a substantial threat to the area’s natural resources and is consequently an important cause of rural poverty, particularly among the local ethnic minorities.

Objective

Ethnic minorities derive greater benefit from economic development in Dak Lak Province and their quality of life approaches the province average. State development planning, allocation of funding and service delivery meet the needs of the ethnic minorities in two districts. The provincial government decides to apply successful models province-wide.

Approach

In planning and implementing community development measures and managing natural resources, concepts and procedures are applied that benefit the rural population.

Priority areas of the project are:

• Participatory development planning and budget allocation
• Forest land allocation and village forestry
• Improving agricultural use of the highlands

The interests and socio-cultural traditions of ethnic minorities and of women farmers are always given special consideration.

Results achieved so far

The inhabitants of 279 villages and 21 municipalities in the project region have introduced village and municipal development plans. More than 85 percent of the villagers believe that pursuing the priorities they have set themselves has already substantially contributed to improving their quality of life. About 6,600 hectares of forest land have been allocated to the participating villages. Following technical training by the GTZ project, six villages are now in a position to prepare forest management plans, using simple monitoring and cartographic procedures.

Improvements in highlands management and in rural service provision systems are already showing results. The forage grass cultivation that has been introduced is greatly in demand by farmers both within and outside the project region. The newly established community tree nurseries produce numerous improved seedlings.

Since January 2005 the province authorities have published official guidelines for participatory planning of land usage and distribution in the province.