FIGNAHB Project: Inauguration of Community Development Project at Tham village

On May 19th 2014, Dai Cuong Farmer Interest Group (FIG) begins the construction of irrigation canal at Tham village, Chau Cuong commune, Quy Hop district, Nghe An province. The 200-metre irrigation canal is funded by ADDA through “Strengthening Farmer Interest Groups among Ethnic Minorities in Nghe An” project, in collaboration with Nghe An Farmers' Union. According to the project proposal, the irrigation canal is expected to help enhance irrigation capacity for 7 hectares of fields of 20 households in the commune. 

Farmers at Tham village are constructing the irrigation canal together

This is one of core activities of the project in which each of 40 FIGs will be granted a lumpsum of 25 million Vietnamese dong. This activity aims to improve community’s infrastructure such as constructing village road, ditch, water tank, etc. Besides, through the construction of CDPs, the capacity of CDP management, implementation and monitoring of FIGs is also strengthened.

The FIG‘s leader, Ms. Le Thi Nga explained: "Our initial idea was to build a playground for children but after a village meeting, we decided to prioritize agricultural production. With the support of local facilitator, we wrote a project proposal including the total budget, the detailed budget estimate, the contributions of farmers and ADDA’s funding. The total budget of the construction is 75 million VND in which 25 million VND is funded by ADDA and the rest is contributed by FIGs’ members in the form of labor working days and 150.000 VND in contributions per household."

Ms Le Thi Nga, leader of Dai Cuong FIG

She emphasized that the irrigation canal not only helps in irrigating in dry season but also prevents floods from overflowing into houses in rainy season.

Nguyen Ngoc Hung/Ho Xuan Huong