Nong Tran Hien, a Nung ethnic minority born in 1979 in Trai Hong village, Hong Ky commune is one of the typical examples of good economic development. Thanks to a large area of forestry land, since 2014, his family has focused on raising chickens, honeybees and commercial goats, earning an income of more than 500 million VND (20,485 USD) per year. 

Roads in La Xa hamlet, Dong Vuong commune are cemented.

Not only enriching his family, as Vice Chairman of the communal Farmers' Union, Hien has actively helped other people to boost production, and have extra jobs and income.

The Hong Ky Honey and Commercial Goat Production Cooperative was established in 2019 and is managed by Hien. It has linked with nine households to expand livestock production, supplying 6,500-7,000 commercial goats to the market each year. In particular, Hien provides seeds, feed and vaccines, and is responsible for purchasing products of the cooperative. 

The goat farming model of Nong Tran Hien in Trai Hong village, Hong Ky commune.

He said: "If the market is stable, he can earn 700,000-800,000 VND (32.8 USD) from each goat after three months of raising. In this area, many households raise 150-200 goats per batch, earning more than 300 million VND (12,320 USD) in profit in some years”.

Currently, Hong Ky commune has nearly 1,000 farmer union members, most of whom are ethnic minorities. Now about 430 members have an annual income of 200 million VND or more, and many households even earn billions of Vietnamese dong each year thanks to livestock farming combined with afforestation. There are no poor farmers in the commune.

Yen The is a mountainous district with 14 ethnic groups, including six main groups including Nung, Tay, Cao Lan (San Chay), Dao, San Diu and Muong, with a total of more than 34,000 people, accounting for 33.5 percent of the district's population. Ethnic minorities live evenly in communes and townships. Some communes house a large number of ethnic minorities such as Hong Ky, Dong Vuong, Canh Nau, Tien Thang and Dong Tien.

The district has 14 ethnic minority inhabited and mountainous communes, and 24 extremely difficult villages and hamlets. Recently, Party committees and authorities at all levels have focused on implementing the national target programme on socio-economic development in ethnic minority inhabited and mountainous areas with a total budget for the 2021-2025 period reaching about 149 billion VND (6.12 million USD). This is a large programme with many projects, sub-projects, and components. 

Singing Cao Lan folk songs in Ven village, Xuan Luong commune.

After two years of implementation, nearly 1,000 households in the area have been supported with housing, jobs, hygienic water, and production development with a total cost of nearly 30 billion VND.

Many essential infrastructure facilities serving production and life in ethnic minority inhabited and mountainous areas have been built and put into use, creating leverage to help local people escape poverty, contributing to bringing the poverty rate in the district to only 3.76 percent now.

Traditional fire dance festival of Pa Then ethnic group recognised as national heritage

The People’s Committee of Lam Binh District, Tuyen Quang Province, held a ceremony on September 26 to receive a certificate recognising the traditional fire dance festival of the local Pa Then ethnic group as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Bac Giang preserves folk songs of Dao ethnic people

BAC GIANG - Dao ethnic folk songs (also known as Pa Du or Pao Dung) were formed a long time ago and have become the spiritual food of the Dao Thanh Phan ethnic people in Son Dong district. The simple and sweet lyrics of the people contain a faith in and aspirations for a better future.

Vietnam always takes care of and ensures rights of ethnic groups

For many years, Vietnam has been a consistently active and responsible member of the international community, while seriously implementing the contents of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Vietnam successfully defended the National Report on the implementation of the CERD four times, thereby affirming achievements in human rights work in general and ensuring the rights of ethnic minority people in particular.

Cultural festival of ethnic minorities to be held for the first time

The first-ever cultural festival of ethnic minorities with a population of fewer than 10,000 people, themed "Preserving and promoting the cultural identities of small ethnic groups," will take place in Lai Chau province, from October 6 to 8.

Vibrant activities at ethnic village in Hanoi throughout August

A series of activities are taking place at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in Hanoi’s outlying district of Son Tay throughout August to introduce the culture, customs and traditions of ethnic groups to visitors, as part of celebrations for the 78th anniversary of August Revolution (August 19).