The government of Luxembourg, through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has provided more than nine billion kip (US$1.2 million) to develop communities and improve living standards in Phongsaly province.

The grant assistance will be used to implement the Lao-UNODC-Luxembourg Phongsaly Alternative Livelihood and Food Security project.

President of the Lao National Commission on Drug Control and Supervision Mr Soubanh Srithirath and UNODC representative Mr Leik Boonwaat signed the agreement in Vientiane yesterday.

According to a report from UNODC, the two-year project will support the implementation of the Comprehensive National Drug Control Master Plan for 2009-2013, the 7th National Social Economic Development Plan for 2011-2015, and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The main purpose of the project is to build on the achievements of the first phase by extending the project to 16 new villages and consolidating former project activities in Khua, May and Samphan districts.

The project supplies former opium farmers with a sustainable, alternative crop and provides drug treatment for addicts to improve the livelihoods of those who were involved in producing or using opium.

The project will help reduce the poverty of 13,120 people in 46 villages in the three districts.

About 100 hectares of opium poppy crops still remain in Phongsaly province. The grant assistance from Luxembourg will play an important role in eradicating cultivation and providing work for local people by supplying alternative crops including cardamom, rubber and vegetables, said provincial Deputy Governor Mr Thongset Saenvong.

Improving infrastructure, especially roads and bridges, is also critical for the development of the province and improving villagers’ living standards, he added.