However, access to this land, as well as cultivation productivity is still limited. A key to raising the livelihood of ethnic people is enhancing forest land management.
A recent report by the Institute of Labour Scienceand Social Affairs reveals that nearly half of ethnic people, who depend mainly on agriculture and forests for their livelihood, live in poverty. Poor management, ineffective use of forest land, and lack of formal access to it are some of the reasons.
"My family has only 0.5 ha of forest land for cultivation; we mainly grow cassava. It is not enough to provide for my family. I want more land so I can cultivate other agricultural products." - Ho Thi Con, Truong Son Commune, Quang Ninh Dist., Quang Ninh Province.
Over the past years, the government has issued policies to support ethnic people. As of 2016, more than 1.5 million hectares of forest land under government management have been distributed to ethnic people.
"We will continue to distribute forest land under communal authorities’ management to households that are able to use the land effectively. Ethnic people may not be directly involved in the policy-making process, but through their participation in programmes, we can know what their needs are." - Quach Dai Ninh, Deputy Director, Department of Forestry Development, Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VAF).
With financial support of more than EUR 650,000 from the EU, the project “Promoting Land Rights for Ethnic Minority People in Vietnam” will be carried out from 2016 to 2018 in the provinces of Lao Cai, Lang Son, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and Kon Tum.
"The approach of this project is to work with ethnic minority groups on access to land rights, firstly to help them raise their voice and their concerns to the authority and have access to land and access to forest land in particular." - Thomas Anthony Corrie, Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam.
With support from the government and the EU, eight million people from ethnic groups are expected to enjoy improved livelihoods from the project.
