Gia Lai: Project helps locals escape from poverty

Gia Lai (VNA) – Poor residents in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai have been benefited from a poverty reduction project which has been implemented in the locality over the last two years.

Notably, measures to improve the livelihoods and living conditions for poor locals, especially those from ethnic minority groups, in the period proven effective, making it easy for the locals to promote sustainable production and improving their living conditions.

Statistic of the local authorities revealed that the number of households benefited from the project rose to 6,000 in mid-2016 compared to 2,000 households in 2015.

Locals have been assisted in expanding cultivation of traditional crops such as hybrid corn and rice, and sugar-cane as well as others like ginger and green bean.

Beginning from 2014, the five-year project on poverty reduction for the Central Highlands region is being implemented with a total investment of 165 million USD sourced from the World Bank.

It aims to better living standards through improving livelihood in poor communes.

Infrastructure facilities in the locality have been upgraded and developed, towards serving production.

The project also focuses on helping local residents get access to public services, while training managers at all levels to be able to perform the project well.

According to Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment Ho Phuoc Thanh, who is also Director of the project’s management board in Gia Lai, the project helped poor residents, especially ethnic minority people, escape from the poverty as they have been provided with knowledge and ways of doing business.

In the coming time, campaigns will be held to call for the participation of more households in the project, he said.-VNA