Factors influencing multidimensional poverty of households in luong thuong commune na ri district bac kan province vietnam

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY STUDENT THESIS Title FACTORS INFLUENCING MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY OF HOUSEHOLDS IN LUONG THUONG CO

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY

STUDENT THESIS

Title FACTORS INFLUENCING MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY OF HOUSEHOLDS IN LUONG THUONG COMMUNE, NA RI DISTRICT,

BAC KAN PROVINCE, VIETNAM

Major: Natural Resources Management Code: D850101

Faculty: Forest Resources and Environmental Management

Class: 59B Natural Resources Management Course: 2014-2018

Advanced Education Program Developed in collaboration with Colorado State University, USA

Supervisor: PhD Le Dinh Hai

Ha Noi, 2018

ABSTRACT

The investigative result of interviewing 150 households (including 75 poor households and 75 non-poor households) in Luong Thuong commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan province shows that the main causes on multidimensional poverty of households in study area include: (1) Average land area of the household, (2) Ability to access information by households, (3) Participation in agriculture extension activities, (4) Ethnicity of household head, and (5) Number of dependant in the household

Based on this study, five groups of solution were proposed to contributorily help households in study area escape from poverty, including (1) Increasing the land area of the household (2) Improved access information for households (3) Renovation of agricultural extension (4) Sustainable poverty reduction for ethnic minorities (5) Reducing the number

of dependants in the household These solutions can be used as valuable reference materials for determining policies of sustainable poverty-reduction for ethnic minority in Luong Thuong commune in particular and in Bac Kan province in general

Keywords: multdimensional poverty, poverty escape, poverty relapse

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The first person that I would appreciate is my advisor Dr Le Dinh Hai, whom without, the study could not have been possible, for orientating me to tackle tough issues in fieldwork as well as at school, for expanding my knowledge and fulfilling my skills For giving me uncountably helpful support and devoted guidance throughout the entire thesis researching process

I would also thank useful materials in Google that developed my understanding and background in statistical methods - a part of The Natural Resource Management sector Besides, I owe my friends and teachers in The Faculty of Forest Resources and Environmental Management for making a wonderful educating environment for me to study and thrive

My thesis would not be completed and perfect without the kindness of authorities and civilians in Luong Thuong commune, Na Ri district Data and information about agriculture, society, economy, and climate of the area were cumulated by their unrelenting support Additionally, I am also grateful to forest rangers in Kim Hy Natural Reserve and Nam Xuan Lac Natural Reserve whom I have received their copious instructions about problems relating to my thesis, ranging from knowledge of forestry to feasible sustainable agriculture, from field surveys and data collection in the locality

And finally, I want to deliver my gratitude to my family andcolleagues in Action for Wildlife Organization They are my greatest source of motivation and energy, as well

as the firmest foundation supporting me to pursuit my academic career

Ha Noi, September 2018

Nguyen Lan Huong

CONTENTS

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF FIGURES ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 2: STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 4

2.1 Goal 4

2.2 Specific objectives 4

CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEWS 5

3.1 Biophysical conditions 5

3.1.1 Geographic location and topography 5

3.1.2 Climate 7

3.1.3 Natural resources 8

3.2 Socio-economic conditions 8

3.2.1 Population 8

3.2.2 Economy 9

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODS 10

4.1 Research framework 10

4.2 Theoretical basis 11

4.2.1 Relevant concepts 11

4.2.2 Multidimensional poverty measurement indicators 14

4.2.3 Regulations and methods of identifying multidimensional poor households in Vietnam 15

4.3 Framework of potential factors affecting multidimensional poverty of the

households 18

4.3.1 Ethnicity 19

4.3.2 Gender of household head 20

4.3.3 Age of household head 21

4.3.4 Household size 21

4.3.5 Dependent 22

4.3.6 Education of household head 22

4.3.7 Land area 23

4.3.8 Occupation of household head 24

4.3.9 Agricultural extension 24

4.3.10 Households borrowed money from the bank 25

4.3.11 Access information 26

4.4 Data Collection method 26

4.5 Data analysis method 29

4.5.1 Descriptive Statistics 29

4.5.2 Comparative analysis 30

4.5.3 Binary Logistic Regression 30

CHAPTER 5: RESULT 35

5.1 Descriptive statistics on surveyed households 35

5.1.1 Ethnicity of household head 35

5.1.2 Gender of household head 36

5.1.3 Occupation of household head 37

5.1.4 Participation in agriculture extension activities 37

5.1.5 Households borrowed money from the bank 39

5.1.6 Ability to access information by households 39

5.1.7 Age of household head 41

5.1.8 Household size 42

5.1.9 Number of dependant in the household 42

5.1.10 Education of the household head 43

5.1.11 Average land area of the household 43

5.2 Factors influencing multidimensional poverty in Luong Thuong commune 44

CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION 47

6.1 Discussion 47

6.1.1 Land area of the households 47

6.2.2 Access to information for households 48

6.2.3 Agricultural extension 49

6.2.4 Ethnicity 49

6.2.5 Dependant 50

6.2 Proposed solutions 50

6.2.1 Increasing the land area of the households 50

6.2.2 Improving access to information for households 51

6.2.3 Renovation of agricultural extension 51

6.2.4 Sustainable poverty reduction for ethnic minorities 52

6.2.5 Reducing the number of dependants in the household 54

CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION 55

REFERENCES 56

APPENDIXES: PICTURES OF THE FIELD TRIP 59

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

DFID Department for International Development

ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

HDI Human Development Index

MPI Multidimensional Poverty Index

OPHI Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative

SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

UN United Nation

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

VND The ISO 4217 currency code for the Vietnamese Dong

WTO World Trade Organization

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 Levels of poor households, near-poor households and medium households

applicable during 2016-2020 17

Figure 4.4 The difference between Kinh and ethnic minority poverty widens 19

Figure 4.5 Description of a vicious poverty circle Source: Rao và Chopra (1991) 22

Table 4.2 Characteristics of surveyed households by criteria of capital-loan scale 25

Table 4.3 Sampling design in Na Ri district, Bac Kan province 27

Table 4.4 Time for field surveys 28

Table 4.5 Interpretation of variables in the Binary Logistic Regression 32

Table 5.1 Relationship between independent variables and household belongs to multidimentional group 35

Table 5.2 Description of quantitative variables 41

Figure 5.7 Percentage of dependency between poor households and non-poor households 42

Figure 5.8 Education level of household heads in Luong Thuong commune 43

Figure 5.9 Comparing the average area between poor households and non-poor households 44

Table 5.3 Model summary for factors influencing multidimensional poverty 45

Table 5.4 Determining importance of variables in Binary Logistic Regression model 46

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1 Map of study location 6

Figure 4.1 Research framework 10

Figure 4.2 The indicators of the Global MPI 15

Figure 4.3 Conceptual model for potential factors influence multidimensional poverty of households in Luong Thuong commune 18

Figure 5.1 Gender of household head 36

Figure 5.2 Occupation of household head 37

Figure 5.3 Participation in agriculture extension activities 38

Figure 5.4 Households borrowed money from the bank 39

Figure 5.5 Percentage of ability to access information by households 40

Figure 5.6 Percentage of ability to access information by households between poor households and non-poor households 41

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Poverty is a paradoxical state Recognizable in the field for any sensitive observer who travels in remote rural areas and urban slums and meets marginalized people in a given society, poverty still remains a challenge to conceptual formalization and to measurement that is consistent with such formalization The analysis of poverty is multidisciplinary It goes from ethics to economics, from political science to human biology, and any type of measurement rests on mathematics (Louis-Marie Asselin, 2009) [17]

In order to comprehensively assess household poverty, household poverty studies should be considered and analyzed according to different criteria Thus, in addition to traditional research methods, the assessment of household poverty is based not only on the common criteria of income and expenditure, but also on the level of "multidimensional poverty" through the social aspects of residential life with the gaps that they may face such

as social security, education, health, housing, social security, and security

Because of that, in recent years, the Multidimensional Poverty Index has been used

by scientists around the world as a tool to identify poor households and, on that basis, proposes solutions to reduce poverty

At present, nearly 2 billion people in Vietnam still live in poverty, lacking basic education, nutrition, and health Poverty is one of the major barriers to the equalization of human, community and national development Poor people often have no access to social services such as employment, education, healthcare, information and so on That makes them less likely to escape poverty

In order to successfully implement the hunger eradication and poverty alleviation, the government has implemented a number of concrete policies and programs of action, as well as in-depth studies on the causes of poverty Since then, solutions to poverty reduction have also been explored by experts and scientists In Vietnam, multidimensional poverty studies are not well developed and multidimensional poverty approaches are beginning to

The rate of poor household is considered highest in Vietnam In the past few years

of conducting the program of poverty reduction, with a tireless effort of departments, authorities, stakeholders and provincial residents, the affairs of reducing poverty have acquired some certain achievements The rate of poor household reduced from 32.13% in

2011 down to 11.63% (reduce averagely 4.10% per year) The rate of near-poor households reduced from 16.93% in 2011 down to 7.91% (reduce averagely 1.80% per year) [3] This is a considerable effort of authorities of the executive committee (of party hierarchy), The Vietnamese Fatherland Front, departments, organizations, incorporations

in the conduction of poverty reduction

However, the poverty-escaping households are not really sustainable, the risk of poverty is still high, the number of poor households is large, the conduction of poverty reduction meets increasingly more difficult The reduction rate of poor household is low, the rate of trained laborers is small, there are still unemployed people Scientific application into practice is still limited Investment and construction progress of infrastructure in difficult communes is still inadequate, the rate of disbursement is still low The conduction of poverty reduction and hunger elimination (by the national target program of districts and cities) most concentrated on assisting directly plants and pets, fertilizer supplies, buying machines or equipment, building farming cages, improving ponds for the poor and near-poor households but lacking building marked model to expand the scale

re-The study aims to identify the main factor influencing multidimensional poverty of households and propose solutions to overcome poverty in Luong Thuong commune, Na Ri district, Binh Phuoc province The findings of this study, therefore, provide implications for developing solutions in the strategy of sustainable poverty reduction in the study area

In that context, I decided to conduct the project “Factors influencing multidimensional

poverty of households in Luong Thuong commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan province, Vietnam”.

CHAPTER 2: STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

 To review potential factors that affect multidimensional poverty of households

 To identify the factors that significantly affect multidimensional poverty of households in the study area

 To propose soulutions to reduce multidimensional poverty of households in the study area

CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEWS

- The East borders on Lang San commune

- The South borders on Lang San, An Tinh and Kim Hy commune

- The West borders on Kim Hy commune

- The North borders on Thuan Mang and Thuong Quan commune

Figure 3.1 Map of study location

 Topography

Luong Thuong is the commune that Bac Giang River flows across and the national road 279 is lengthened across roughly 7 km, dividing the communal topography into 2 distinct parts: One stone-mountainous half belongs to Kim Hy Natural Reserve, one other half borders forested hill which accounts for 70% of the total natural area In general, the soil in Luong Thuong commune is infertile, low at humus quantity Soil for paddy field has thin cultivation layers Forested land owns medium surface layer, suitable for forestry trees The commune‟s topography is mainly highly mountainous with fairly large paddy fields along Bac Giang River and ravines There are a number of interleaving creeks with

an average height of 300 – 700 m

3.1.2 Climate

Luong Thuong commune is located within the tropical belt of the monsoon Southeast region In this location, there is a clear climate differentiation by seasons The tropical monsoon climate is combined with topographical differentiation by height The climatic regime is divided into 2 distinct seasons: rainy hot season lasts from April to October, dry season lasts from November to the March of the next month

The annual average temperature is about 21oC, reaching the highest with 37oC, falling down to the lowest with 5oC [31] The yearly average temperature is 1,084 mm, the rainfall reaches the highest in May, June, and July (averagely from 186.2 mm/month to 242.0 mm/month), the rainfall is lowest in November and December The total of average sunny hours per year is 1,483.0 hours, reaching the highest in June, July and August with averagely 185 hours, falling down to the lowest in January with averagely 61 hours

The average moist is approximately 82%, reaching the least in February and March with 785 mm, reaching up to the highest in August and September with 87% The yearly

average amount of evaporating is 840 mm, reaching the highest in April with 77 m and falling down to the least in February with 65.4 mm

In terms of wind and storm: Luong Thuong is a mountainous commune covered by high mountain ranges so the wind direction is uncertain The local place is also affected by the Northeast climate so affected by Northeast and Southwest wind

Generally, climate and weather in the commune are relatively appropriate for daily life and agriculture-forestry production of the local people However, the commune is influenced by rocky mountain so it is foggy and drizzling in the winter In dry season, there

is drought In rainy season, due to high terrain and steep slope, it rains heavily, leading to flooding, erosion, a landslide in hill and mountain range

There are 5 ethnic groups: Tay, Nung, Kinh, H‟Mong, and Dzao Besides Kinh language, Tay and H‟Mong are the 2 languages mainly used The inhabitants of Luong Thuong commune live in five villages: Khuoi Noc, Na Lang, Vang Khit, Pan Xa, and Ban Giang

At present, there are still 175 poor households, accounting for 37,7%; Near-poor households are 89 ones, accounting for 19,18% (2017)

In general, the fluctuation of the population in Luong Thuong commune in the past few years was not considerable Mostly due to agriculture production, the number of immigrants and emigrants are not very fluctuating

 Forestry: The forest coverage reaches 75% roughly, 12-15 ha of forest area is expanded every year for production serving

 Commerce and service: there are 30 households trading on commercial service, food, and drink service

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODS

4.1 Research framework

Figure 4.1 represents the whole process of doing the analysis work:

Figure 4.1 Research framework

 Step 1: Theory base is the theoretical foundation to lead to the issues to be studied Theory base for multidimensional poverty of households includes concepts related

to multidimensional poverty, multidimensional poverty measurement indicators, and regulations for identifying multidimensional poor of households in Vietnam

 Step 2: The framing of factors affecting household poverty is an important part

of this study From identifying potential factors that affect poverty, we can assess the multidimensional poverty of households in the locality

 Step 3: Data collection method and data analysis method are crucial aspects of any type of study Inaccurate data collection and data analysis can affect the final results of

a study and eventually lead to invalid results

 Step 4: Analysis of regression models is an important step to present the results

of the study In this step, the regression analysis demonstrates the factors that will directly affect the multidimensional poverty of households and which factors do not affect household multidimensional poverty

 Step 5: The study aims to identify the main factor influencing multidimensional poverty of households and propose solutions to overcome poverty in the study area Therefore, the development of solutions in the sustainable poverty reduction strategy is the last step in research framework

4.2 Theoretical basis

4.2.1 Relevant concepts

 Poverty concept

There is no single concept of poverty There is no perfect way to measure poverty

It is possible, however, to define poverty as a condition in which a part of the population does not enjoy and satisfy the basic needs of the person whose social needs are recognized according to the level of socio-economic development, associations and local customs or criteria of a country (as defined by ESCAP) "Poverty is a lack of opportunity to participate

in community development processes," said Abapia Sen, who won the Nobel economics prize in 1998

The conference against poverty in the Asia-Pacific organized by ESCAP in Bankok, Thai Lan in September, 1993 gave a definition that: “Poverty is the state in which part of residents cannot be satisfied with basic human demands that are admitted by society, dependent on economic-social development, local cultures and tradition [5]” Besides, the poverty is also defined to be the situation in which part of residents lives under the average living standard of community This definition has a connection to social

inequality issue [6] The average living standard is different amongst countries, regions, etc, so understanding of poverty just has relative meaning, cannot be applied for all cases

According to UN, poverty is minimum lac of ability to participate effectively in social activities Poverty is lack of food, clothes, study condition, medical service, production land, job and access to credit Poverty is also the shortage of safety and rights in which individuals, households and communities are in the risk of being eliminated Poverty

is the risk of getting violence, living out of the social margin or in bad conditons that the poor can not assess clean water and clean sanitary construction (UN, June 2018, being passed by leaders of organizations)

 Multidimensional poverty concept

Since the socialization of mankind takes place in possession of material goods, the separation of the rich and the poor has begun For a long time, however, we often talked about poverty as a part of the population, whose average income was less than $ 1 a day in the 1990s; is now less than $ 2 per day per person per World Bank standard [7] Thus, it is clear that we have only looked at the numbers that have inadvertently forgotten the causes

of poverty, in which the most important is perhaps the “inequality” and the “power gap” between individuals and between groups of people in society

Based on this point of view, the concept of “multidimensional poverty” has emerged, in which poverty is defined not simply as hunger, lack of food, or lack of living conditions and other living conditions Social barriers and other factors prevent individuals

or communities from accessing resources, information and services Poverty is not just an individual They are the factors that inhibit the individual from accessing resources or do not know and can not find solutions for themselves to get out of the existing poverty

Multidimensional poverty is based not only on income but also on issues related to education, culture, health, living standards, vulnerability, lack of right to speak and small arms

The OPHI: “M ultidimensional poverty is made up of several factors that constitute poor people’s experience of deprivation – such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standard, lack of income (as one of several factors considered), disempowerment, poor quality of work and threat from violence” [19]

Traditionally economists and policy analysts have focussed on money-metric measures of poverty, based on the assumption that a person‟s material standard of living largely determines their well-being The poor are then defined or identified as those with a material standard of living as measured by income or expenditure below a certain level - the so-called poverty line (see Atkinson, 1987, 1989 and Ravallion, 1992) Practical problems, largely associated with the difficulty of accurately quantifying income or expenditure, have recently led to the exploration of alternative, non-monetary, proxies for household welfare Prominent amongst these is the use of household asset indexes i.e an aggregate measure of the access to, and ownership of, a specified list of household attributes (Filmer and Pritchett, 1998; Montgomery et al, 1999; Sahn and Stifel, 2000) (DFID) [20]

The above definition indicated agreement amongst nations, philosophists, and learners that: Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon and viewed as a shortage of basic human demands [8] The definition and measurement of poverty are subject to debate and controversy The level of poverty found at any one time in any one country is critically dependent upon assumptions concerning the choice of welfare indicator (whether to use household income or expenditure), the choice over how to take differences in households‟ sizes and compositions into account, and the choice of the appropriate poverty line to use

It is increasingly recognized that poverty measures based on household income or expenditure reflect a static concept, offering only a limited picture of household well-being Recognition that monetary measures fail to capture other important dimensions such

as community resources, social relations, culture, personal security, and the natural environment Poverty is often determined by one-way measures, such as income but no indicator can capture many of the dimensions of poverty

In Vietnam, the concept of multi-dimensional poverty is new This approach is to develop a set of multidimensional poverty criteria with a more comprehensive view of the present picture of poverty At the same time, it will help relevant agencies to work out practical policies aimed at reducing poverty more thoroughly and sustainably.Accordingly, the poor are divided into many ages, according to the multidimensional poverty lines they are facing so that the state and the organizations focus on removing, providing practical, non-duplicative and more effective poverty reduction

4.2.2 Multidimensional poverty measurement indicators

Multidimensional poverty is not only manifested in the lack of food and lack of money, but also reflected in the living standards of the people Since 1997, UNDP has used the HDI to measure people's living standards, including three factors: life expectancy, education and income Since 2010, the UN has adopted a new approach to measuring poverty in a more comprehensive way, including monetary and non-monetary elements It called Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) which was created by Sabrina Alkire and Maria Emma Santor (two experts from OPHI) The MPI covers directly the need, vulnerability to health effects, education and essential services (such as clean water, sanitation and energy) In some countries, day sources are provided at no cost or at a very low cost while others exceed the level of the worker's income The MPI measures the poverty of OPHI in three dimensions and 10 indicators as shown in Figure 4.2 [34]

The Global MPI has three dimensions and 10 indicators, which are shown in the box below Each dimension is equally weighted, each indicator within a dimension is also equally weighted, and these weights are shown in brackets within the diagram Poor households are missing at least 30% of the above indicators Details of the indicators can

be found at the back of this briefing

Figure 4.2 The indicators of the Global MPI

4.2.3 Regulations and methods of identifying multidimensional poor households in

Vietnam

Pursuant to the National Assembly's Resolution No 76/2014/QH13 of June 24,

2014, on accelerated achievement of the sustainable poverty reduction goal by 2020 In performance of the tasks assigned by the Government in Resolution No 79/NQ-CP of November 4, 2015, on the Government‟s October 2015 regular meeting At the proposal of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Prime Minister promulgates multidimensional poverty levels applicable during 2016-2020 [33]

Based on review by assessment methods, grading property, collecting the information about the characteristics and living conditions of the household to income estimation and determine the level of lack of access to basic social services of poor households and near-poor households In short, norms for multidimensional poverty

measuring applicable during 2016-2020 includes income norms and norms on deprivation

of access to basic social services

For income norm, poverty level is VND 700,000 / person / month and VND 900,000 / person / month in rural and urban areas, respectively; and near-poverty level is VND 1,000,000 / person / month and VND 1,300,000 / person / month in rural and urban areas, respectively

For Norms on deprivation of access to basic social services, basic social services (5 services) consists of health; education; housing; clean water and sanitation; and information Additionally, indicators measuring die level of deprivation of access to basic social services (10 indicators) are access to medical services; health insurance; education level of adults; school attendance of children; housing quality; average housing area per capita; residential water sources; hygienic latrines and toilets; telecom services; and assets

to serve information access

(1) Poor households

In rural areas: is the one that satisfies either of the two following norms:

- Having a monthly per capita income of VND 700,000 or lower;

- Having a monthly per capita income of between over VND 700,000 and VND 1,000,000 and deprived of at least 3 indicators measuring deprivation of access to basic social services

In urban areas: is the one that satisfies either of the two following norms:

- Having a monthly per capita income of VND 900,000 or lower;

- Having a monthly per capita income of between over VND 900,000 and VND 1,300,000 and deprived of at least 3 indicators measuring deprivation of access to basic social services

(2) Near-poor households

- In rural areas: is the one that has a monthly per capita income of between over VND 700,000 and VND 1,000,000 and is deprived of less than 3 indicators measuring deprivation of access to basic social services;

- In urban areas: is the one that has a monthly per capita income of between over VND 900,000 and VND 1,300,000 and is deprived of less than 3 indicators measuring deprivation of access to basic social services

Deprived of at least 3 indicators

measuring deprivation of access to

basic social services

VND 900,000 - VND 1,300,000 Deprived of at least 3 indicators measuring deprivation of access to basic social services

Near-poor

household

VND 700,000 - VND 1,000,000

Deprived of less than 3 indicators

measuring deprivation of access to

basic social services

VND 900,000 - VND 1,300,000 Deprived of less than 3 indicators measuring deprivation of access to basic social services

Medium

household VND 1,000,000 - VND 1,500,000 VND 1,300,000 - VND 1,950,000

4.3 Framework of potential factors affecting multidimensional poverty of the households

In the past, the identification of poor households in Vietnam was done by one-way measurement by determining the average monthly income per capita of the household However, the measurement mentioned above has shown many inadequacies including the average income per capita per month is not consistent with the socio-economic status of the country; households are not poor in income but lack other aspects such as health care, education, access to information, etc Thus, according to the Decision of the Government

of Vietnam on the issuance of the multidimensional approach adopted in 2016-2020, multidimensional approach measures have been adopted In addition to the income estimated through household characteristics, an account is taken of access to basic social services

Learning on the theoretical and practical basis of the previous researches and specific condition of the study site (Luong Thuong commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan province), it is possible to identify potentials factors influencing on multidimensionally poverty state of the local households, including 11 factors (Figure 4.3)

Figure 4.3 Conceptual model for potential factors influence multidimensional

poverty of households in Luong Thuong commune

4.3.1 Ethnicity

There is a considerable improvement in living standard of Vietnam population in the last decade While 58% of populations lived in the poverty and hunger in 1993, that number fell down to 20% in 2004 The figure 4.4 shows that Kinh and Chinese make faster progress than ethnic minority

Despite effort and concern from the Government, 61% of ethnic minority still live

in poverty and hunger in 2004, whereas only 14% of Kinh and Chinese live in the same condition The figure also illustrates an increase in well-being distance between ethnic majorities and minorities, leading to the state that ethnic minorities account for 39% of the poor (despite only accounting for 14% of the total Vietnam population) This means ethnic minority rate is twice as large as the poor rate in 2011 If this tendency remains unchanged, this figure shows that the poverty in the next years will be a national problem [21] Ethnic minorities are a predominantly rural population, dependent on agricultural incomes to a far greater extent than their Kinh counterparts

Figure 4.4 The difference between Kinh and ethnic minority poverty widens

Additionally, another study (Ha Le, 2015) [22] analyses in five dimensions including health, education, insurance, and social support, living condition, and social participation The result shows that multidimensional poverty has decreased slightly during

020406080100

Poverty

rate (%)

Poverty trend in Vietnam by ethnicity 1993-2004

Ethnic minorities Kinh/ Hoa

the 2010-2012 period There is a large difference between multidimensional poverty and expenditure/income-based poverty While Northern Mountain is the poorest region in terms of income or expenditure, Mekong River Delta is the poorest region in terms of multidimensional poverty The decomposition analysis shows that the ethnic minority group has a small proportion of population but contributes largely to the national multidimensional poverty In Vietnam, there are studies on the impact of ethnic composition on the poverty of households in general and ethnic minority households in particular For example, Le Dinh Hai is the author of the article "Solutions to overcome poverty for minority households in Binh Phuoc province" (2017) [9]; and Nguyen Quoc Nghi et al (2011) on factors affecting income of Khmer households consists of household size, educational level of household head, age of household head, agricultural production activities and policy approach [10]

4.3.2 Gender of household head

Most of the empirical multidimensional poverty-related papers use household as an analytical unit, which means that the multidimensional household poverty is equivalent to multidimensional poverty of all individuals in the household This assumption, nonetheless, overlooks important within household features and ignores the intra-household inequalities Besides, by definition, households containing both a female and a male cannot contribute to a gender gap, so gender diff erentials cannot be estimated However, the Sustainable Development Goals have put special emphasis on gender equality amongst their targets; therefore, new measures able to capture the gender diff erences are needed For example, in Nicaragua, the gender diff erential in inequality is larger than 10% (2017), and it suggests that multidimensional poor women are living in very intense poverty when compared with multidimensional poor men [23] Furthermore, when information on employment, domestic work, and social protection is considered in

the analysis, the gender gaps become more substantial, and women are more likely to be

poor than men

4.3.3 Age of household head

The age of laborers affects muchly on labor quality as well as labor way Especially

in the countryside, the young labor source is necessary due to their good health and because jobs in the countryside are mostly heavy Head of the household leads the family and makes all decisions Therefore, the age of household head affects on livelihood selection of the household The average age of laborers in a household is 32 years old [11] With this age structure, the heads of household certainly gain more experiences in livelihood management and selection of family, and the laborers of household in this period make more creative in working and own good health This is an appropriate age for laborers to gain income for a family

4.3.4 Household size

To some social extents, poor households are often lowly-qualified for knowledge and have lots of children Therefore, they can not afford to meet medical demands and reconcile for children‟s study, leading to illiteracy Illiteracy results in poverty of knowledge and awareness on family planning, so they often give birth to lots of babies In detailed, there is a remarkable differentiation in the number of people in a family between re-poor households and poverty-escaping households On average, a family in re-poor households has up to 4.93 people per household, whereas there are 4.43 people per household in a family of poverty-escaping households [9]

With respect to economic view, poor household often gains low income, leading to low savings and limited investments As a consequence, they are unable to invest in intensive farming so achieving low productivity, gaining low income Continuously, the

circle of poverty and anger release poor households from poverty and then let them return

Continuously stimulating and encouraging the woman to participate in community activities, especially Woman‟s Union to enable them to exchange and learn knowledge about reproductive health, family planning, educating children and create family economy For instance, one research shows a clear difference in the number of dependent people The survey results illustrated that there is averagely 2.46 dependent people per re-poor household, whereas that number fell down to only 1.81 ones per poverty-escaping household [9]

4.3.6 Education of household head

Education level affects strongly on many aspects: the absorption of scientific

Highly educated people will be sensitive to market changes, which will help them make good plans in their business to generate income for the family The low level of education

of the household head is likely to cause their households to become poor For example, according to inventory and investigative results of factors that affect on poverty of farming households in Quang Ninh, Quang Binh province, educational level of poor households is much lower than other households The average educational level of a head of a poor household is reaching grade 5th That of other households is reaching grade 8th (2006) The differentiation of educational level between poor and rich households does not have a tied connection poverty state It is very necessary to enhance the educational levels for countryside households, especially the poor ones This will enable households to get an access to the new technical level, to analyze the market information, then applying for production to release themselves from poverty [13]

4.3.7 Land area

Land area is the main means of agricultural production Agricultural land area plays

an enormous role in household income If the household has no productive land or less productive land, it is likely to generate low incomes

In terms of production land area on average, re-poor households are educated, propagated and encouraged to reduce transferring or mortgaging land Instead, those poor households owning little production land and get lack of investment capitals should connect together to accumulate capitals into a land fund (if the land issue is close) to produce together and escape poverty sustainably In the condition of being unable to increase the area of agricultural production land, they can transfer agriculture labor to industry and commerce or service labor to increase the area of productive land per capita

In addition, it is essential to be concerned about the method of intensive farming to foster

productivity, aiming at increasing the yield per area unit and enhance the effectiveness of agricultural land use

4.3.8 Occupation of household head

Occupation of household head also influences profoundly on probability of poverty-escaping Those households having other income sources in addition to agriculture has higher potentials of escaping poverty Assuming the initial probability of escaping poverty is 20% if other factors remain unchanged, those households having other jobs besides agriculture has an increased probability of 48.12% The agriculture plays an important role in residential life However, due to limited intensive farming land, there are averagely more than 600 m2 per person only in poverty-escaping households The old-aged production makes output yield totally dependent on natural conditions [14]

4.3.9 Agricultural extension

The function of agricultural extension is increasingly indispensable in fostering agriculture knowledge for farmers in Vietnam The worldwide experiences show that development and investment in agricultural extension is the most effective way in governmental resource investment in agriculture In the fastened conditions of WTO, more investments and assurance for agricultural extension system, to the best of the ability and efficiency, is an appropriate affection policy to facilitate the farmers (2012) [15] According to the traditional model in the world, the national agricultural extension system

is the connection between the new technology-provisioning source and the farmers Extension services provide human capital–enhancing inputs, including information flows that can improve rural welfare an important outcome long recognized in the development dialogue (Leonard 1977; Garforth 1982; Jarrett 1985; Feder, Just, and Zilberman 1986; Roberts 1989) That interest continues in contemporary dialogue, as evident in the workshop on public extension services convened by the World Bank, the U.S Agency for

International Development, and the Neuchatel Group to review recent approaches to revitalizing extension services (World Bank 2002) [16]

4.3.10 Households borrowed money from the bank

A capital scale is the key condition for farming households to expand production scale, well-exploiting resources such as labor and land Normally, farming households gain

a low salary Nevertheless, those households who knows how to take advantage of outside capital source will raise more capital and take more chances to improve production The data in the research shows 100% of near-poor households take a loan lower than VND 50 million, in which wealthy household have a loan over VND 100 million, accounting for 72.7% [16] These mean wealthier households pay attention to invest loan in expanding production and trading

Table 4.2 Characteristics of surveyed households by criteria of capital-loan scale

(Source: Calculated from inventory data in 2015)

household

Good household

Quantity % Quantity % Quantity % Quantity %

4.3.11 Access information

Access information are the most effective information tool It is quickest, most accurate, and secure In particular, access information is convenient for all areas of social life including politics, economics, culture, society, and national security It meets the needs

of exchanging and receiving information in production and business activities, social management and human life [17]

In addition, access information is an important factor in promoting socio-economic development Production is increasingly highly socialized As a result, the greater the demand for information exchange, transmission, and retrieval of information from economic agents Therefore, the development of access information has the effect of boosting economic growth, transforming the social and economic structure in the direction

of progress, raising productivity and efficiency in rural agriculture, industry, social services such as education and training, healthcare This improves the quality of life in developing regions, enhances regional cultural identity and promotes industrialization and modernization [18]

4.4 Data Collection method

Data Collection includes processes of collecting and evaluating relevant information from various sources to find solutions for research problem, test the hypothesis and measure the outcomes [26]

 Sampling design

- Population: Luong Thuong commune has 5 villages

- Sampling method: First of all, the sample size was required to have enough quantity for the analysis Basing on five independent factors of the conceptual model, the multiple regression analysis required sample size at least (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007): 50 + (8×m)

= 50 + (8×11) = 138 with m is the number of independent variables in the Binary Logistic Regression model Thus, in this study, to more specific, we have sample size should be 150 because the number of independent factors is eleven (Table 4.3) In order for the Binary Logistics Regression model to run, we should select 50% of poor multidimensional households and 50% of Non-poor multidimensional households

In this study, 150 households were selected for survey according to the criteria in Figure 4.3 Na Ri district has 21 communes and an internal town with a population of 38,833 people (2010)[27] Luong Thuong commune (464 households) has been selected to conduct the interview (2017) Then within 150 households, the household ranking was equally separated as 75 poor multidimensional households and 75 Non-poor multidimensional households The interview design was followed by a stratified random sampling approach The attributes of the selected households are summarized in Table 4.3

Table 4.3 Sampling design in Na Ri district, Bac Kan province

Group interview

Village

Total Ban

Giang Pan Xa

Vang Khit

Na Lang

Khuoi Noc

 Secondary data collection

The data for that question was obtained from official government records, academic publication of different agencies such as the Communal People Committee of Bac Kan and Communal People Committee of Luong Thuong and Vietnam Bureau of Statistics