Despite their important role in forest protection, Vietnamese those designated to protect and grow forests find it difficult to make a living.

Illustrative photo

During the 2006-2011 period, a total of 10 hectares of forestland was allocated to 1.25 million households, with nearly five million workers, including 485,000 poor households from ethnic minority groups.

Their incomes come from different sources, including sales of wood products from their planted forests and environmental service fees for forest protection, cultivation and husbandry. However, their incomes remain very modest.

“It takes around five to six years to grow trees and harvest them. Growers earn an average of less than VND10 million per year, much lower than families who grow to other crops,” said the deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)’s Department of Forestry.

Nguyen Duy Luong, vice permanent chairman of Vietnam Farmers' Union (VNFU)

Many growers opt to chop down their trees early, which results lower prices and low-quality wood. Also, growers have had difficulty finding stable markets for their products and depend on traders who take advantage of them. .

“They do not have the ability to bargain and are often taken advantage of due to the lack of information and business skills,” said Nguyen Duy Luong, vice permanent chairman of Vietnam Farmers' Union (VNFU).

In order to increase their incomes and protect the environment, the VNFU proposed an initiative to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Forest and Farm Facility (FFF). FAO has approved to accept Vietnam as one of ten countries to benefit from the FFF. A seminar to launch the programme was held on the morning of August 22 in Hanoi.

Jeffrey Y Campbell, director of FFF said, this is multi-financed programme that is funded by the governments of Sweden, Findland, Germany, the US and the Agricord organosation. It will supply USD500,000 to each participating country over three years.

Jeffrey Y Campbell, director of FFF

“In order to provide these growers with chances to protect their interests and contribute to the process of policy making, it’s necessary to encourage them to set up groups of producers and family-based enterprises so they can participate in the market and develop their business,” Jeffrey commented.