Community livelihood

Facing the Problem

One of the three main goals of sustainable development in rural mountainous and upland ethnic minority communities is to ensure livelihoods while also protecting natural resources, including forests and indigenous culture.

For thousands of years, upland communities have relied on exploitation, resource management, and sustainable forest management for their livelihoods. The forest is considered a community’s survival space, making the role of upland communities, especially ethnic minorities, in forest and natural resource management crucial.

However, under the pressure of the market economy, deforestation and biodiversity loss have narrowed or disrupted the living space of these communities, directly impacting their food security. Resources are depleted, and traditional sustainable harvesting methods are no longer enough to maintain their forest-based livelihoods. This is the general situation for communities living near forests in countries around the world, including Vietnam.

35.5%

of households in Vietnam belonging to
ethnic minorities are poor or near-poor, which is equivalent to more than 5 million people. Ethnic minorities account for the majority of the country.*

Despite the many programs in Vietnam that directly support the community, developing sustainable livelihoods, fighting poverty, and ensuring food security in the highlands remain challenging issues that require awareness and attention.

*according to survey data of 53 ethnic minorities (published on April 1, 2019)

HOW TO SOLVE

These Problems?

Promote forest economic development, support education and capacity building

These efforts aim to provide mountainous communities, as well as communities living near and on forests, with access to social security policies and opportunities for livelihood development. This is achieved through direct and indirect support programs, such as policies that support economic development in mountainous areas, and policies that support education and capacity building.

In Vietnam, there are currently over 15 documents still in effect, including 3 resolutions, 1 decree, 12 decisions, 6 circulars, and other related documents that support agricultural and forestry production in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, as well as national target programs on sustainable mountainous livelihood development.

These policies reflect the efforts of the Vietnamese government to implement livelihood development policies for mountainous communities and ethnic minorities, with a focus on forest-based livelihood development. The government aims to ensure the right to access and use forests and forest land through policies such as land allocation and forest allocation to people and communities. Such policies also help people to protect forests in association with the development of other forest products, contributing to the improvement of their livelihoods. These efforts have the potential to improve livelihoods, alleviate poverty, and enhance income for these communities.

Solutions From CEGORN

Building value chains to improve community livelihoods

One of the key strategies that CEGORN has promoted and supported over the years is improving community livelihoods through sustainable management of natural resources.

CEGORN has specifically promoted the value chain of honey, bamboo shoots, herbal medicines, and non-timber forest products for many communities living in the Truong Son Mountains and the Central Highlands.

Depending on the characteristics of resources, culture, community capabilities, and market needs, CEGORN collaborates with the community to decide on promotion solutions for each agent to improve the product value. The value chain upgrading solutions have helped the community achieve a stable and sustainable livelihood over time.

Tuyen Hoa Honey is gradually expanding its customer base, both within and outside Quang Binh province. The development of the product has also helped thousands of households in the area to establish beekeeping as a reliable source of income for producing honey.

Despite having been recently introduced to the market, the demand for Ma Lieng Dried Bamboo shootsconsistently exceeds the production capacity of the community. To address this issue, CEGORN suggested establishing the Ma Lieng Community Forestry Enterprise to promote product trade, manage production, and sustainably exploit non-timber forest products in the Ma Lieng community forest area.

CEGORN didn’t stop there; we established and operated the Western Quang Binh Ecological Co., Ltd. to promote the market for agro-forestry products from the community. Simultaneously, CEGORN signed a cooperation agreement with the Vietnam Non-timber Forest Products Exchange Program (NTFP-EP) to expand its scope and ability to support community livelihood improvement associated with sustainable management of natural resources.