VIRI's Blog

Diem Village rattan team got third prize and most liked prize in “Innovation for sustainable poverty reduction competition through community effort”.

In December 12, in Hanoi, the final round of “Innovation for sustainable poverty reduction through community effort” commenced with 10 teams competing. The competition is organized by National Office on poverty reduction (Ministry of Labour – Invalids and Social Affairs) in collaboration with Poverty Reduction Project – PRPP sponsored by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Irish Aid. The competition was started in July 2016 and met with registration from 60 teams from 16 mountainous provinces of North, North Central Coast, and South West Vietnam. The teams were made up of 13 ethnic minorities. Passing 50 teams, Diem Village team was listed as one of ten most successful teams to the final.

The group was established in 2014, mainly with old people and women with difficult livelihoods dependent on the forests. The birth of the group with the support from VIRI sponsoring by SDC and Oxfam had helped creating additional employment for old people and women in their free time. The group not only helps its own members but also connect the community in their daily lives.
 
The group showed their efforts and sustainability through the results of many activities in the past few years. Daily income for each members which fell around 20 thousands VND has increased to 120 thousands VND.

From September to December, with the support from the board of the competition and the local government, the group has completed the procedures to become an official cooperative, expanding from 17 to 22 members. The group also received financial support from the commune to buy machinery to split rattan. The group has actively learned to make more designs suitable with tourists’ demands, transfer technology to treat termite problems for products, and build brand and label for the group.

The plan for the next period of the group includes these main activities: First is capacity building and completion of the management machine for the group when moving to operate as a cooperative; Second is to expand the cooperative; Third is to design more suitable designs for tourists’ demands. In addition, in the first quarter of 2017, the group can start to utilize the 01 hectares of rattan as source of raw materials.

The final results was the Diem Village team reaching third prize and most liked team prize. The team is now supported by a sponsor enterprise with a laptop. Congratulations to Diem Village, the effort of the group is the pride of VIRI and sponsors (SDC/Oxfam). Sincere appreciation goes to National Office for poverty reduction and PRPP project for organizing this competition.