The Central Highlands provinces are working to provide farming land for poor people from ethnic minorities as a main source of their livelihood to secure stable incomes. According to the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands, there are 31,800 ethnic minority households in the region needing nearly 20,000 hectares of land for production. They include 1,116 households in Kon Tum, 13,974 in Gia Lai, 8,094 in Dak Lak and 8,503 in Lam Dong. Since 2002, the localities have provided over 30,000 ha of farming and residential land for 72,000 households of ethnic minority groups. Meanwhile, over 225,000 ha of forests have been allocated, as a source of livelihood, to 12,096 ethnic minority families. Localities have asked for the Government’s financial assistance to aid their project on vocational training, farming machinery purchase and labor export intended for ethnic minorities. The Central Highlands encompasses the provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Gia Lai and Kon Tum with a population of over 5.4 million people, 25.7% of them ethnic minority. Over the past 10 years, its economy has expanded 10% on annual average, generating VND15 trillion ($714 million) to its local budget. The region’s farm products, such as coffee, rubber, pepper, tea and cashew nuts, rake in billions of USD from exports. Nearly 97% of local districts and communes have their own medical stations while many new universities, colleges and vocational schools have been built. A mere 13.64% of local households is living in poverty. For the past 13 years, the region has offered vocational training to over 300,000 and generated jobs to more than 1.15 million workers. (vietnamplus.vn Jul 5)
