[Ngo-emwg] Oxfam's latest publication: “Growing a Better Future”
EMWG
emwg at ngocentre.org.vn
Thu Oct 18 03:27:38 BST 2012
Dear all,
I would like to share Oxfam’s recent publication: “Growing a Better
Future”.
The report present Oxfam’s analysis about Vietnam’s development
challenges and its proposition in relation to the future of agriculture
and small-scale farmers.
Please find the following link for the English and Vietnamese translation.
http://www.ngocentre.org.vn/pub/oxfams-latest-publication-%E2%80%9Cgrowing-better-future%E2%80%9D
Below is an Op-Ed article with the key messages of the report.
If you would like to receive a hardcopy of this report, please do not
hesitate to contact me. You can also download the report from our website.
Your comments and feedback are most appreciated.
I am happy to discuss the content of the report with you in more detail
if you are interested.
Best regards,
Bert
****
*Growing a better future*
Vietnam needs a new approach in overcoming poverty claims the
international NGO Oxfam. In a new report ‘Growing a better future’
Oxfam says that whilst Viet Nam’s poverty reduction achievements are
well-known and duly celebrated, the fight against poverty is not yet won.
Vietnam has often been praised for its inclusive growth. From paddy
fields in the rural lowlands to upland remote districts along the
nation’s borders, many people speak of an era of new opportunities and
prosperity in Vietnam, albeit achieved through backbreaking labor in the
paddy fields, on hot and noisy factory floors, or on street corners
trading produce for the local market. But we must build on these
achievements or risk seeing them slip away.
One in five people in Vietnam still live in poverty, applying a proposed
new General Statistics Office/World Bankpoverty line. Eight million
people regularly go to bed hungry. In 2011, UNICEF reported that at
least one in five children was malnourished. Hunger and malnutrition
remains the scandal of our time.
In the face of record-level production and export quantities, poverty
continues to be a predominantly rural phenomenon. It is a cruel irony
that in the countryside people are surrounded by the means to produce
food and yet go without.
At the same time, pro-poor growth – the hallmark of Vietnam’s successes
– is increasingly at risk as the benefits of economic growth have
favored better-off households. Since 2004, the richest households’
incomes have increased twice as much as those of the poorest households
– nine per cent and four per cent respectively.
Today, the potential of women remains underutilized and still too often
unrecognized, while other groups, such as ethnic minorities and migrant
workers, are excluded from the wealth creation altogether. Interest
groups are growing strong and, drowning out the voices of the less
well-off and poor. Meanwhile, vulnerabilities are increasing because of
economic shocks, price volatility, natural disasters and the impacts of
a changing climate. The drivers of exclusion and inequality have gained
strength, while poverty reduction strategies are losing their impact.
We can grow a better future if we choose to pursue it. We have the tools
and knowledge to overcome enduring and emerging development challenges,
but we need stronger determination and focus to uproot poverty and
pursue social justice. The drivers of our problems are diverse, but too
often they are linked to poor people’s inability to shape and benefit
from public policy. To realize the aspiration of overcoming poverty and
achieving opportunity for all, it is critical that poor people and their
associations have a stronger voice in the decisions that impact their
lives.
For example, in the past two decades, farmers have demonstrated their
ability to lift themselves out of poverty and grow a better future. The
agriculture sector remains key to sustaining growth and reducing poverty
because it is the largest employer of the poorest people in the country.
With over nine million farmer households each living from less than 0.5
hectares, small-scale farmers and the rural economy are critical to Viet
Nam’s development process. In many instances, small-scale farming has
proven to be as productive and often more sustainable than large-scale,
highly mechanized, and high external input agricultural models.
Focusing on these farming communities is therefore vital. It is critical
that poor and marginalized farmers are kept at the heart of the
decision-making process to ensure that growth is sustainable, equitable
and resilient. A modernization strategy that ignores the contribution of
small-scale farmers and denies their potential and aspirations will
result in cohorts of landless, jobless and hungry people. This reality
must not be forgotten as Viet Nam aims high in the pursuit of its
modernization agenda. /‘New Rural Areas’/ should be built with and by
small-scale farmers.
We must also recognize that the increasing pressures of natural resource
constraints is one of the biggest challenges to building a prosperous
and just society for all. Landis central to securing and improving the
livelihoods of poor people, yet it is an increasingly scarce and
contested asset. In the last five years, as many as three million
Vietnamese people have been displaced or had their lives disrupted as a
result of land conversions. In the first six months of 2012, 90 per cent
of the 5,326 complaints received by the government related to land. Land
policies are failing poor people. Ensuring farmers have stable land
rights, with better protection and more voice in cases of land-use
changes is critical for poverty reduction, development and social
justice. Irresponsible and unjust land-use changes need to stop, and
fair processes and just compensation must be guaranteed for all.
Growing a better future will take all the energy, ingenuity and
political will from many actors in the society. But if we choose to
pursue a just and optimistic vision, it is a future well within reach.
To read more, go to: www.oxfam.org/vietnam <http://www.oxfam.org/vietnam>.
//ENDS//
*Bert Maerten*
Associate Country Director
Oxfam
22 Le Dai Hanh, Hanoi
Vietnam
Tel +84 4 3945 4406 (ext 103)
Mobile +84 983 365 769
Skype bert_maerten
bertm at ohk.org.vn <mailto:bertm at ohk.org.vn>
www.oxfam.org/vietnam <http://www.oxfam.org/vietnam>
oxfamblogs.org/vietnam <http://oxfamblogs.org/vietnam>__
Oxfam in Vietnam on Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oxfam-in-Vietnam/199803143390683>
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