Illustrative image (Source: baoquangnam.vn) Quang Nam (VNA) – About 2,500residents in mountainous districts of central Quang Nam province, mostly womenand impoverished ethnic minorities, are expected to get stable jobs and higherincome thanks to a US-funded sub-project.
The sub-project, worth 57 billion VND (2.45million USD), was recently launched by the Vietnam Handicraft ExportersAssociation (Vietcraft) and Truong Son Xanh (Green Annamites) – a project onclimate change response funded by the US Agency for International Development(USAID).
The sub-project will be carried out in Dong Giang, Tay Giang, Nam Giang, NuiThanh and Phuoc Son districts for a year starting from September 2019.
More than 600 households in the target localities will be supported to plant100 hectares of rattan and exploit 50 hectares of rattan in wild forestssustainably. They will also receive training on making rattan and bamboo handicrafts.
Notably, showrooms will be set up to display the handicrafts, servingcommunity-based tourism.
Under the sub-project, a centre will be established in Hoi An, a populartourist destination in Quang Nam, to design and promote the handicrafts.
According to Le Ba Ngoc, Vice President of Vietcraft, rattan in wild forests inQuang Nam province is on the edge of exhaustion. Meanwhile, there is a huge demandfor rattan to serve handicraft production to replace plastic products.
Therefore, the sub-project will contribute to giving a facelift to the bambooand rattan craft in Quang Nam, while improving locals’ awareness of forestprotection, he said.
Besides, the sub-project will help develop thecultivation of local herbal plants in forest and diversify herbal medicineproducts in the localities, focusing on intensive processing./.
VNA
