Pepper farming is one of the main income sources of people in Gio An commune, Gio Linh district, Quang Tri province. During the consecutive floods from October to November 2020, many households suffered heavy losses due to the inundation of pepper plants, deciduous trees, and root rot. For households with disabilities, the burden is even greater.
Pepper trees wilting and defoliating due to inundation
Mrs Nguyen Thi Tho from An Nha village, a member of the Club for People with Disabilities (PwD) in Gio An commune having a son with a disability shared a concern in the post-flood damage assessment: “There are more than two hundred roots in my garden but now more than half of them has been spoiled. The harvest brought in was up to 5 to 6 quintals a few years ago but I cannot tell if it could be up to 2 quintals this harvest time”.
Households receiving fund to help recover livelihoods
On 11 and 12 March 2021, within the framework of the project “Recovery support for the flood affected households having PwD/CwDs in Gio Linh district, central Vietnam” (VM071) funded by Caritas Australia, the Centre for Development Sustainable Rural Development (SRD) has handed over the first half of funding to help recover livelihoods, tidy up gardens and cattle sheds to 56 households having PwDs and CwDs that heavily suffered from natural disasters in 2020 in the two communes of Gio An and Gio Chau, Gio Linh district. Mrs Tho's family is one of 28 households recipients shared: “With this support, we will add some more money to restore the pepper garden. After today, I will buy four cubic meters of manure to fertilize the rootstocks that are still recoverable and in the next rainy season, I will fertilize the soil and plant new trees.”
Households receiving fund to help recover livelihoods
“April showers bring May flowers”, it is hoped that the project support accompanied by the self-reliance of the households, the pepper garden of Mrs Tho's and other households in the project communes of Gio Linh district will once again grow green all over the land.
Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD)
No.31, Alley 19 Kim Dong Street, Hoang Mai District, Ha Noi
Phone: +84 24 3943 6676/78 | Fax: +84 24 3943 6449
