Ethnic minority residents in Kong Chro District, Gia Lai Province

Vietnam has reduced its poverty rate remarkably, but much still needs to be done as many minority groups are still far poorer than the general population, according to an ethnic minority study by the World Bank.

Giang Seo Phu, chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities, said development among Vietnam’s ethnic groups is not uniform and that the government’s efforts in reducing poverty among ethnic minorities has remained limited.

In the same year, ethnic minorities accounted for about 15 percent of the total population but also accounted for about 45 percent of those considered poor, according to the WB chief in Vietnam.

The report Kwakwa presented, which analyzed data collected from a survey of 2,000 people in a number of minority communities through several provinces in Vietnam since 2006, said lower levels of education, less mobility, less access to financial services, less fertile land, stereotyping and other cultural barriers had caused the disparity.

The most critical barrier to poverty reduction among ethnic minority groups was education, according to the study. Not only is the quality of education worse in ethnic minority communities, but dropout rates are also higher. Minority parents also more often report the inability to send kids to school due to financial problems.

This results in higher rates of illiteracy and lack of fluency in Vietnamese, which hinders minorities’ ability to interact with the community at large. Many ethnic minority citizens, especially the poor and women, cannot read, write or even speak Vietnamese, according to the report.

Minority women frequently reported that they were hesitant to go to the market, afraid they would not understand prices and could be taken advantage of.

Minority groups often expressed that they were “not confident” to ask for higher prices for their goods, or to request government services they are entitled to.

Stereotypes, land

Another barrier to increasing minorities’ voice and self-determination are widespread cultural stereotypes concerning supposed deficiencies in minority people. This stereotyping can have a negative influence, particularly on minorities’ self-esteem and their self-confidence in using their own voice and power, said the report.

Another difference is that Kinh tend to have higher value lands such as perennial croplands, and have been more successful in translating their assets into higher productivity in Vietnam’s new market economy. They are more diversified within the agricultural sector, relying more on industrial crops and less on low-value staple crops, and often supplementing farm income with trading or services.

Meanwhile, minorities continue to be more dependent on staple goods and traditional agriculture, and they report much lower rates of agricultural investment, with resulting lower productivity, according to the study.

In addition, other assets in minority communities tend to be limited.

Programs targeted at poverty eradication in minority areas, such as Program 135, have expanded credit and health services, schools, roads and markets and have improved access to new means by which minorities can profit from their assets. Yet too often minorities remain unable to take advantage of local investment in the same ways as Kinh, said the report.

Capital is noticeably short for many households, as access to financial services is uneven in minority areas, and unequal between minorities and Kinh. The report said the lack of access to affordable credit has serious implications for minorities’ ability to expand agricultural production and diversify livelihoods with the assets they do have.

The study offers some recommendations to help build a more inclusive society in Vietnam, including improving information on minorities, understanding cultural differences, strengthening cultural inclusion, supporting ethnic voices, and opening a dialogue on new approaches.

Reported by Bao Anh