Nongbok district Governor Mr Khanty Phothin is leading the way in community development and raising villagers’ living standards in this impoverished area of Savannakhet province.
Some villagers in remote areas still use buffaloes to plough their land before planting rice.
Mr Khanty has proved to be a model developer in the province, and has done much to bring change to Nongbok district and improve villagers’ living conditions.
He helps to build so-called ‘development families’ as part of the district’s efforts to realise the government’s aim of improving living standards nationwide so that Laos can graduate from the UN’s list of least developed countries by 2020.
Nongbok district is home to 47,529 people in 8,451 families, of whom 259 families still live below the poverty line, mostly in remote areas.
By creating ‘development villages’ Nongbok district is slowly moving families out of poverty and improving their living standards step by step.
Mr Khanty said district officials are trying to develop all 55 villages in the province. So far 13 have been declared development villages; this year 20 more villages will be so named, and next year it is planned that 18 villages will achieve this status. This will mean Nongbok can be declared a development district in 2014.
So far, 13 villages have been declared crime-free and 13 named models of good sanitation.
Mr Khanty is working to help villagers develop their animal husbandry and farming practices. He is encouraging poor families to raise more cattle and pigs, for their own consumption and to sell to local markets and neighbouring provinces.
Villagers are competing with each other to improve their living standards and make farming and animal rearing more productive. However, the use of new techniques and skills is essential to increase the quality and quantity of harvests.
Families are determined to change their living standards for the better so they can rise above poverty in line with government targets. They have learnt that they must sell their farm produce so they can earn an income from their crops.
The battle against poverty in Nongbok district focuses on farming, in particular the cultivation of rice, sweetcorn and a variety of vegetables.
But more funding is needed to improve infrastructure in the community, especially roads and irrigation systems.
Savannakhet provincial officials are seeking more resources to improve all districts in the province and are confident that funding from the government, international organisations and the private sector will help the province to reach poverty alleviation targets by 2015.
Officials are now working hard to improve the living standards of 4,667 families classified as poor out of a total 69,703 families in the province.
The Lao government defines poverty as not having enough food, lacking adequate clothing, not having permanent housing and lacking access to health, education and transportation services.
