Creating income for ethnic minority areas

Statistics show that Lam Dong province has 9 units that contract forest protection to 9 communities and 1,383 ethnic minority households, with a total area of ​​nearly 40,976.3 hectares. In the period of 2021-2025, the total budget allocated to the whole province is nearly 80.7 billion VND, with a disbursement result of more than 49.7 billion VND.

Thereby, local authorities and forest owners have effectively implemented the work of contracting and supporting the protection of assigned forest areas, creating jobs and increasing income for people living near forests, especially ethnic minorities. Through forest management and protection activities of the community, forest encroachment has been limited, contributing to the socialization of forestry, contributing to economic growth in the area.

However, with the disbursement result of more than 49.7 billion VND, corresponding to 61.7%, it is still low compared to the planned target. The reason is that many communes and villages with special difficulties in ethnic minority and mountainous areas have met the new rural standards, the beneficiaries of support for poor and near-poor households are mostly ethnic minorities who do not have the ability to participate in counterpart funds.

Meanwhile, many localities do not have enterprises or cooperatives to lead projects to support the development of value chain production with 70% ethnic minority workers to implement. In addition, the leaders of the association, teams, and community groups are mostly poor and near-poor households who mobilize capital to implement project parts, so they face many difficulties and have to wait for a period of time for acceptance and payment.

Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Environment also stated that sometimes the payment of forest protection wages to ethnic minorities is delayed, affecting the living expenses of the contracted households. Not to mention the large area of ​​forest protection management, rugged and complex terrain; there are many border areas, interspersed with households whose livelihoods depend on the forest, leading to many limitations in forest protection patrols, forest fire prevention and fighting, especially in the dry season; deforestation and illegal forest exploitation still occur...

To increase income from forestry for the community in general and ethnic minorities in particular, Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Environment has identified solutions for the entire period of 2026 - 2030, to overcome the limitations of the period of 2021 - 2025 mentioned above.

Accordingly, specialized units need to innovate information and propaganda content to ensure practicality and effectiveness. At the same time, strengthen the transfer of new science and technology applied to cultivation, animal husbandry, and concentrated economic development for poor and near-poor households, and ethnic minorities in disadvantaged areas. In addition, build and replicate production and business models with high economic efficiency, in line with local agricultural and new rural planning.

Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Environment also proposed that central ministries and branches expand the scope of near-poor households and newly escaped-poverty households to participate in production models and projects to develop sustainable agricultural and forestry economies associated with forest protection and income improvement, creating more stable livelihoods, and gradually getting rich from forestry.

In addition, it is necessary to encourage and promote business startups, attract investment in ethnic minority areas, especially investment in developing combined agricultural and forestry production according to value chains in general, and developing areas growing precious medicinal herbs with great potential in particular...