1. VIETNAM
Enabling poor rural people
to overcome poverty
Programme for Improving Market
Participation of the Poor (IMPP)
Tra Vinh
Programme Rationale
Tra Vinh province is located in the Mekong Delta, four hours by road to Ho Chi Minh City. The
land is heavily dissected by rivers and channels, making communication and transport by
road difficult, some communes can only be reached by boat. Considered one of the poorest
provinces in the Delta, 33% of the households are classified as poor and landlessness is a
serious problem.
The Khmer ethnic minority group account for over 30% of the population and are found in
about half the communes. Historically, they were marginalized – due to high levels of illiteracy
and differing social values.
Programme Objectives
The goal of the programme is a sustainable improvement to the incomes of poor rural people
in Tra Vinh. The project objective aims to improve the participation of the rural poor people
in a range of markets. Therefore the project focuses on a systematic removal of barriers that
prevent rural poor from market participation.
Programme Area and Target Group
Seven districts and 30 communes have been selected in Tra Vinh for inclusion in the
programme, covering 300,000 people. The main target groups are: (a) food insecure
households below the poverty line; (b) vulnerable households above the poverty line; and (c)
International relatively better off households with secure food production and above average assets.
Fund for
Agricultural
Development IFAD VIETNAM >> IMPP Tra Vinh >> 1

2. Programme Strategy
Enabling poor rural people IMPP builds on the experience and approach of the DFID/ADB-funded programme, Making
to overcome poverty Markets Work Better for the Poor (M4P). This focuses on understanding markets and how the
poor interact with them. IMPP promotes the following strategy:
• Supporting commune, district and provincial authorities in local development planning.
• Strengthening agricultural and non-agricultural producers in their organization and
effectiveness as a sustainable collective economy.
• Promoting small scale producers toward market-oriented agriculture along with other actors of
respective value chains.
• Strengthening market linkages and business development services (BDS).
• Contributing to improving the provision of relevant job skill training especially for poor
unemployed people based on job skill requirements by the private sector in the province.
• Fostering the local investment climate through facilitating public private dialogues.
Programme Components
(i) Commune Markets Opportunities Support
(ii) Job/Enterprise Facilitation and Market Development
(iii) Enterprise Financing
(iv) Project Management
Programme Cost and Financing
The overall programme costs in Tra Vinh province are expected to be at USD 18 million.
This investment is funded from: an IFAD loan; a grant from the Federal Republic of Germany
and a government contribution estimated to be about 10% of programme costs.
Benefits and Impact
Poor rural people will benefit from newly created jobs and enhanced access to markets. The
programme would raise rural incomes for: (i) those who remain in farming, but intensify; (ii)
those who develop their own micro/household enterprises in rural areas; (iii) those who find
permanent jobs and become employees; and (iv) local entrepreneurs investing in employment-
creating SMEs.
Contact details
Atsuko Toda
Country Programme Manager
Asia and Pacific Division
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Unit 304, UN Apartment Building
2E Van Phuc, Kim Ma Str, Ha Noi, Vietnam
Tel: 0084- (4) 3823 7231; Fax: + 84 (4) 3823 3819
Email: at.toda@ifad.org
Skype: atsuko.toda
Website: www.ifad.org.vn
International
Fund for
Agricultural
Development IFAD VIETNAM >> IMPP Tra Vinh >> 2