ABSTRACT
Ha Tinh Rural Development Project (HRDP) is considered a successful project in Vietnam as it not only helped many households in Ha Tinh province to escape from poverty, but also generated a number of innovative poverty reduction approaches that have been widely replicated by the government and donors in other provinces. For example, the project successfully introduced the new approach of community self-implementation of infrastructure schemes. Instead of subcontracting out the civil works to construction companies, the project enabled groups of poor households to sign implementation contracts with the Commune Development Board for the construction of small-scale roads and irrigation schemes. The project also prioritized the poorest households in the commune to get additional work under the schemes, such as land levelling or construction materials transportation. Therefore, the civil works not only raised the incomes of the poor, but also improved the sense of ownership and empowerment of local people, and the sustainable maintenance of infrastructures. Today, the approach of directly using community groups to implement civil works has been replicated by the National Poverty Reduction Programme in other provinces.
