The “cow bank” project, which has been implemented in the northern province of Phu Tho over the last four years, has proven effective, improving living standards for local residents.

As part of the project, low-income households in Tan Son, one of the country’s 62 poorest districts, received one breeding cow each, worth 7 million VND (329 USD), from the Vietnamese Red Cross in 2010.

Thanks to the project, many families in the locality escaped poverty and stabilised their household incomes.

The number of cows provided by the project so far has reached nearly 200, worth 2.6 billion VND (over 122,000 USD), Hoang Manh Tam, Chairman of Tan Son’s Red Cross Society, said.

The provincial Red Cross Society said, thanks to donors, it provided an additional 66 cows, costing over 1 billion VND (47,000 USD), for families in the districts of Ha Hoa, Thanh Son, Yen Lap and Cam Khe.

The project is considered a practical activity that contributed directly and immediately to the locality’s social welfare programme.-VNA