How ADB Is Helping the Poor in Viet Nam

ADB has been supporting the Government of Viet Nam in its poverty reduction efforts by providing technical assistance and funding to various policy based and investment projects. Find out more about some of ADB's loan projects that focus on poverty reduction.

Second Red River Basin Sector Project

The overall goal of the project is to reduce poverty and protect the environment in the Red River basin through an integrated investment approach in water resources management, watershed protection, water service delivery, agricultural support facilities and services, and in capacity building for sub-project preparation and implementation at local levels.

Its specific objectives include:

reducing poverty and increase equitable benefit distribution among rural households by improving existing irrigation and drainage facilities and services together with agricultural support services, and by flood mitigation in the delta
improving water resources management in the Red River basin through water resources planning and management, water quality control, and watershed protection
strengthening the local ownership and capacity for project design and implementation at community, irrigation system, district, and province levels through stakeholder participation and decentralization

The Red River Basin is home to about one third of Viet Nam's population. Poverty incidence in the upland provinces of the basin is 59 percent, considerably higher than the national average. The project is expected to benefit specifically the farmers in poorer communities, particularly farmers in the upland region of the basin.

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Central Region Livelihood Improvement Project

The immediate objectives of the project are to:

improve household food security in a sustainable manner
promote general incremental household income for the poor through improved and better quality on-farm productivity and off-farm income generating opportunities
develop community capacity to utilize and manage scarce resources
strengthen the capacities of service-providing institutions - both government and others - to respond to grassroots initiatives so that they can deliver improved services in upland communes
transfer project implementation knowledge to provincial staff

The project is designed to assist the Government of Viet Nam in ensuring that the poor in upland communes of Kon Tum, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Tri and Quang Binh achieve sustainable livelihoods.

It also promotes an improved quality of life through a reduction in the incidence of poverty in the area.

The project is expected to benefit 65,000 households - about 348,000 people - through increased agricultural production, improved infrastructure, new technology, and better service delivery.

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Rural Enterprises Finance Project

The project aims to support the Government's efforts to reduce poverty and promote private sector investments in rural and agro-based industries.

It is designed to provide a credit line for financing micro-enterprises and small rural agro-based enterprises.

With its direct and positive impact on the livelihoods of farm families, the project will accelerate economic growth and contribute to rural employment, productivity and prosperity.

About 72,000 farmers, farm households, and rural businesses are expected to benefit from it. Of this, 49,500 poor households - 70 percent of project beneficiaries - will be assisted with support services from rural business centers and about 101,700 full-time jobs will be created.

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Tea and Fruit Development Project

The project is designed to assist the Government in raising the income of farmers through development of tea and fruit by providing a credit line for field development, nursery operations, and small and medium-scale processing of these crops.

To support this credit line, the project will provide the beneficiaries a package of technology and market information to improve their agricultural practices and bargaining power.

In addition to economic benefits, the project is expected to have a positive environmental impact as a result of the canopy cover formed when the tea and fruit crops have grown. It is also expected to create positive direct and indirect impact on poverty reduction in the country.

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Provincial Road Improvement Project

This project aims to improve provincial roads in 18 provinces in northern Viet Nam. It allows better access for the rural poor and connects districts and communes to the provincial cities and the national highway network.

It therefore, contributes to poverty reduction and development of an effective national road network and continued reforms in the road sector.

The main quantifiable benefits of the project include savings in vehicle operating costs and passenger time cost savings.

The project beneficiaries are:

poor people who will have increased access to economic opportunities and human development services
the people living in the 18 provinces that were previously unable to pursue employment and other economic opportunities due to long journey times
companies, employees, consumers, and transport operators in the northern region that directly and indirectly use goods and services transported along the roads

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Rural Health Project

The project is focused on providing primary and preventive health care to the poor and disadvantaged, including ethnic minorities, women and children, in the rural areas of 13 provinces of Viet Nam - Hoa Binh, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Quang Binh, Quang Ngai, Khanh Hoa, Binh Phuoc, Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Can Tho.

The project will improve access to quality health services for 12.7 million people - about 6.7 million women and 6 million men. The majority of the project beneficiaries are the poor and women.

The project is expected to specifically benefit 3 million women in the reproductive age group, 1.3 million people from ethnic minority, 6.2 million poor people, 2 million children, and 1.5 million children. It will improve access to quality health services by upgrading health centers in rural areas and enhancing the skills of health care service providers.

It will also strengthen demand for health services through targeted information, education and communication activities, improved community participation, and more equitable health financing.

In particular, the project will support the Government's scheme to provide free health cards to the poor.

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Vocational and Technical Education Project

The overall objective of the project is to restructure the present supply-driven vocational and technical education - VTE - system into a demand-based system. This will respond to the country's expending private sector and lack of skilled labour.

The project's three components include:

improving the market orientation of vocational and technical education
upgrading the key schools by developing curricula and instructional materials, and by improving facilities
introducing policy reforms in the VTE system through institutional capacity building

The project is expected to benefit the economic development of Viet Nam by preparing approximately 37,500 - including 20,000 women, minorities, and the poor - skilled workers and production technicians urgently needed by industries.

It will support a Women's Healthcare Training School and a Minority Vocational Training School to provide more job training opportunities to women and ethnic minorities. Significant benefits will accrue to these individuals whose knowledge and job-related skills will lead to more highly-paid and satisfying employment, and improved standards of living for themselves and their families.

The most direct benefits will be felt by the graduates of the 15 key schools, especially the women, ethnic minorities, and poor who will be financially encouraged to attend job training programs.