Tác động chiến lược giảm nghèo đối với dân tộc Khmer - Mekong Delta

IMPACTS OF POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES ON AN ETHNIC MINORITY: A CASE STUDY OF A KHMER FARMING VILLAGE IN THE MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM TRUONG NGOC THUY MASTER OF ARTS IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THE GRADUATE SCHOOL CHIANG MAI UNIVERSITY FEBRUARY 2012 IMPACTS OF POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES ON AN ETHNIC MINORITY: A CASE STUDY OF A KHMER FARMING VILLAGE IN THE MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM TRUONG NGOC THUY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THE GRADUATE SCHOOL CHIANG MAI UNIVERSITY FEBRUARY 2012 IMPACTS OF POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES ON AN ETHNIC MINORITY: A CASE STUDY OF A KHMER FARMING VILLAGE IN THE MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM TRUONG NGOC THUY THIS THESIS HAS BEEN APPROVED TO BE A PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT EXAMINING COMMITTEE THESIS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ………………………CHAIRPERSON ……………………………. Suriya Smutkupt Professor Dr. Yos Santasombat ………………………MEMBER ……………………………CO-ADVISOR Professor Dr. Yos Santasombat Dr.

Kwanchewan Buadaeng ………………………MEMBER Dr. Kwanchewan Buadaeng 8 February 2012 © Copyright by Chiang Mai University iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is my great pleasure to write a few words at the completion of this thesis thanking all those who have helped me during my studies at Chiang Mai University. I would first like to thank the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), for granting me a scholarship and allowing me to pursue my Master’s degree at Chiang Mai University. In addition, I must gratefully acknowledge the financial support given by The Graduate School for publishing an article in the International Academic Journal of Asian Social Science (Vol.5, 2012) entitled ‘Poverty Reduction Strategies in an Ethnic Minority Community: Multiple Definitions of Poverty among Khmer Villagers in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’.

I would like to express my deepest thanks and profound appreciation to my supervisor, Professor Dr. Yos Santasombat, for his critical suggestions, valuable comments and guidance on my research, plus Dr. Kwanchewan Buadaeng, my second advisor, for giving me valuable suggestions and comments in preparation for my fieldwork and thesis writing. I must also thank Mr.

Suriya Smutkupt, my external examiner, who was patient when carefully reading my work, and when giving me helpful insights and suggestions on my thesis. I cannot thank enough my mentor, Dr. Patrick Daly and the other professors at the Asia Research Institute of National University of Singapore for their support and enthusiasm regarding my research concerns during the 2.5 months I spent on my Asian Graduate Fellowship. I would also like to extend my greatest respect and appreciation to the professors at RCSD, Chiang Mai University - to Professor Dr.

Anan Ganjanapan, Dr. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, Assistant Professor Dr. Chusak Wittayapak, Dr. Santita Ganjanapan, Associate Professor Dr.

Jamaree Chiengthong, Dr. Pinkeaw Laungaramsri, Dr. Wasan Panyagaew, Ajarn Phrek Gypmantarisi and Ajarn Ekamon Gypmantasiri for their useful lectures and advice in the fields of anthropology and sociology. Also, I should thank the staff in the RCSD office, and in particular Ms.

Mutika Thungsuphuti, for their support and friendly responses to my queries. iv I owe a great deal to all the villagers of Le Tri commune, for their kindness and generosity, for providing me with invaluable local perspectives related to my research. For helping me during my fieldwork, I must also thank the local authorities at my research site, who provided me with relevant documents and shared their excellent thoughts with me. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to Mr.

Tran Thanh Binh, my employer, and all my colleagues of the Research Center for Rural Development (RCRD) at An Giang University, for sharing my workload and letting me concentrate on my studies. As well, thanks and love to all of my international classmates and Vietnamese friends, who shared their feelings, experiences and knowledge with me at Chiang Mai University. I save my last words of wholehearted gratitude for my parents and my younger brother, for all their love, sacrifices and encouragement during my studies, that motivated me to complete my time at Chiang Mai University. Truong Ngoc Thuy v Thesis Title Impacts of Poverty Reduction Strategies on an Ethnic Minority: A Case Study of a Khmer Farming Village in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam Author Ms.

Truong Ngoc Thuy Degree Master of Arts (Sustainable Development) Thesis Advisory Committee Prof. Yos Santasombat Advisor Dr. Kwanchewan Buadaeng Co-advisor ABSTRACT The Khmer people are one of four ethnic groups who live in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, and represent around 1.3 million of the country’s 86 million people. However, they account for a relatively large proportion of the poor when compared to other groups, with 53% of them considered to be living below the poverty line (General Census of Population and Housing, 2009).

Several national programs have been implemented in order to improve the lives of poor Khmer people; for example, in An Giang Province where 35% of the majority Khmer people are considered poor, agricultural development initiatives Program 1341 and provincial resolution number 252 have been in place since 2005, their objectives being agricultural modernization, house building, providing financial credit for husbandry activities and creating employment opportunities through the use of vocational training courses. The aims of this study are: (1) to understand the notion of poverty reduction from the perspectives of different 1 Program number 134: Decision number 134/2004/QD-TT, dated 20th July 2004. Provides poor ethnic groups in difficulty with land for building houses and offers them access to clean water. 2 Resolution number 25: As per 25/DA-UBND in 8th December 2008 at the An Giang provincial level, through resolution 74/2008/QD-TTg passed on 9th June 2008.

Here the Vietnamese government aims to provide occupational support for the ethnic minorities. vi actors, (2) to examine the marginalization experienced by poor Khmer people in the study area at the hands of national poverty reduction programs, and (3) to analyze the local people’s practices in terms of dealing with the impacts of government interventions. Based on field data collected in a Khmer farming village in An Giang Province, I argue that different social actors have multi-faceted definitions of poverty. The ethnic people define their own impoverished situation in terms of their economic, cultural and social positions, and in particular in relation to their level of landlessness.

Meanwhile development intellectuals state that that poverty among the ethnic minorities is due to a low level of education, which leads a lack of involvement in business activities, an inability to manage family finances and a reluctance to apply for official jobs. To the extent that the Khmer people in the study area suffer hardship, no matter what kind of situation they are in, state intervention may bring them both advantages and disadvantages. My research focuses on the unfavorable conditions the Khmer people have suffered during the above-mentioned projects’ implementation, due to exhaustion and injury caused by having to operate agricultural machinery and due to the uncertainty caused by the lack of employment opportunities available. Furthermore, these people have had only limited opportunity to participate in the local decision-making process and have received uneven levels of support from the projects, and have thus had to depend on external assistance.

Drawing upon household surveys as well as extensive interviews carried out during my field work project, here I analyze the local Khmer people as they struggle to cope with their life circumstances, and argue that they have been neither passive nor awaited government intervention but instead have changed, adapted and diversified their livelihood activities according to their own capacities. As part of this, social relations have been their most important capital asset in terms of helping to enhance livelihood security, yet, compared to the poor Vietnamese residents, the Khmers still seem even more excluded, more vulnerable and more insecure in terms of attempting to escape poverty. vii It is therefore important that poverty alleviation programs should be designed to cope with all types of poverty, and especially in times of difficulty, programs should be carefully designed so that they help the poor to mobilize their assets and avoid increased vulnerability. If planners are to offer appropriate assistance to poor people struggling for their survival, they must first acquire a better understanding of the lives of those they wish to assist, for it is clear from my case studies here that there are many types of poor, people, each with their specific problems and unique responses to them.

xi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments iii English Abstract v Thai Abstract viii Table of Contents xi List of Tables xv List of Figures xvi Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms xvii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem 2 1.3 Research Questions and Objectives 8 1.2 Fieldwork and Data Collection Methods 12 1.5 Theoretical Relevance and Literature Review 18 1.1 Discourse on Poverty Reduction Strategies in the Shifting 18 Contemporary Context 1.2 Problematizing Poverty as Development Discourse 21 1.2 Marginalization of the Ethnic Minority 24 1.3 Adaptation of Poverty Reduction Strategies as Everyday Practices 27 1.7 Thesis Organization 32 xii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page CHAPTER 2 HISTORICAL POVERTY CONTEXT AND THE IMPACT 34 OF NATIONAL POVERTY REDUCTION POLICIES ON THE KHMER ETHNIC MINORITY IN THE MEKONG DELTA 2.1 Historical and Cultural Poverty Context for the Khmer in the Mekong Delta 34 2.1 The Khmer Community in the Mekong Delta 35 2.3 Influence of Socio-political and Economic Policies on the Khmer 40 People in the Mekong Delta Prior to 1975 2.1 Pre-colonial Period 40 2.2 French Colonial Policies 41 2.3 American Colonial Policies 43 2.5 After Doi Moi 46 2.2 The Government Poverty Reduction Program and its Impacts on 47 the Khmer Community in An Giang Province in the Mekong Delta 2.1 Major Policies and Programs Addressing Poverty among the Khmer 48 Ethnic Group 2.2 Impacts of National Poverty Eradication Policies and Programs on 51 the Khmer Community 2.3 Summary 54 CHAPTER 3 THE MULTIPLE DEFINITIONS OF POVERTY AMONG 55 KHMER VILLAGERS IN LE TRI COMMUNITY 3.1 The Local Setting 55 3.1 Natural and Socio-economic Characteristics of Le Tri Commune 55 3.2 Meanings of Self-Generated Local Khmer Poverty 65 3.2 Economic Logic of Poverty 70 xiii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page 3.3 Cultural Logic of Poverty 75 3.3 Summary 82 CHAPTER 4 STATE INTERVENTION AND ACCESS TO SUPPORT 83 IN THE KHMER COMMUNITY 4.1 Implementation of the Poverty Alleviation Programs 83 4.1 Poverty Alleviation Programs in Le Tri Commune 83 4.2 Choosing Program Members 88 4. Marginalization of the Poor as Characteristic of Poverty 90 4.1 Risk of Agricultural Modernization for the Khmer Ethnic Group 91 4.2 Limited Participation in the Decision-making Process 95 4.3 Uneven Distribution of Support from the National 98 Poverty Reduction Programs 4.4 Uncertainty Finding a Job 101 4.5 Dependency on Outside Intervention 104 4.3 Summary 105 CHAPTER 5 ADAPTATION OF LIVELIHOOD PRACTICES 106 FOR POVERTY REDUCTION 5.1 Livelihood Diversification as a Discourse on Poverty 106 5.2 Adapting Social Relationships to Strengthen Livelihood Strategies 115 5.3 Changing Cultural Lifestyles in the Khmer Community 118 5.4 Summary 120 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION 122 6.1 The Poor Khmer: Perceptions and Poverty 122 6.3 Adaptive Strategies in Response to the Poverty Reduction Programs 129 6.4 Significance of the Study and Recommendations 131 xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page BIBLIOGRAPHY 133 CURRICULUM VITAE 144 xv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1.1 Number of Khmer People at the Study Sites – 2009 10 1.2 Number of Khmer and Kinh Respondents Selected for Discussion 16 Groups and In-depth Interviews 1.3 Sample Selected for Household Interviews 17 2.1 Distribution of Agricultural Land Prior to 1945 42 2.2 Access to Government Services in the Mekong Delta 53 3.1 Poor Khmer Households’ Income Generating Activities 59 and Income Ranking in Le Tri commune 3.2 Poverty Profile for the Khmer Population in An Giang Province 62 and Le Tri Commune (%) 3.3 Poverty Profile at the Research Site 63 3.4 Education Levels among Different Groups in Le Tri Commune 76 3.5 Different Household Groups and their Contribution to the Temple 78 4.