137,415 people benefit from PRF-funded community development projects

A total of 137,415 people in 232 villages of six provinces have benefitted from community sub-projects financed by the Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry this year.
Head of the Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Dr Hatthachan Phimphanthavong, told Vientiane Times the sub-projects were rolled out in Savannakhet, Saravan, Attapeu, Xekong, Luang Namtha and Luang Prabang provinces.
In total, 236 sub-projects concerned 77 in the agriculture and forestry sector, 80 in public works and transport, five in the health sector, 58 in education and sports, and 66 involved clean water and sanitation.
So far, 219 projects have been completed and 17 are still ongoing.
Of these, 23 have been completed in Luang Namtha province while one is ongoing, while 54 projects have been completed in Luang Prabang province.
Savannakhet province has completed 58 projects and six are not yet finished, while Saravan province has completed 24 projects and eight are in process.
Xekong province has completed 31 projects and one is ongoing, while Attapeu province has completed 29 projects and one is not yet complete.
In addition, the Poverty Reduction Fund will focus on livelihood support and nutrition promotion in four target provinces this year.

Work will involve assistance with household vegetable gardens, fodder gardens, animal raising (poultry, pigs, fish, frogs) vaccine chain management, seedling nurseries, cattle pens, crop growing, fruit trees, non-timber forest products, improved rice varieties, and handicraft making.
The Fund will cooperate with other sectors to provide training on animal raising and crop-growing techniques, watershed management, natural resource management, use of biodiversity for pest management, vaccinations, processing, storage, identifying local and urban market links through agribusiness, and increasing financial assets and access to finance.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update May 14, 2021)