The first impact study of the Thanh Hoa supply chain development project investigated the introduction of supply chain interventions in bamboo processing on household income and poverty levels. It also evaluated the direct impacts of the project on the rapid, recent transformation of the sector, which has seen a significant acceleration of production, employment, and export levels.
Results show a strong correlation between provincial participation in the project and increases in per capita income and poverty reduction. The study, published in March 2008, observed 187,000 people involved in bamboo production and processing from the launch of the project in 2004 to 2006, in three of the poorest districts in Thanh Hoa province. Findings show that within two years of the start of the pilot, per capita incomes grew more rapidly for households with bamboo income and were more than twice the level of those without. Consequently, the incidence of poverty in bamboo income households was two-thirds less frequent. Findings included landless households participating through synergies (i.e., hire-in farm labor, and jobs in bamboo processing, trading and marketing) that have come through the expansion of the sector.
The study estimates that job generation increased 29% over the two-year period. With ongoing improvements in efficiency and competitiveness in the sector, expectations are positive that growth in incomes and number of wage-paying jobs will continue to expand – bolstered by the establishment of new-product sub-sectors, the forging of links with traders outside the province, and increasing regional and global demand.
The study also confirmed that bamboo farmers benefited most in terms of poverty alleviation. Demand from the processing sector has driven up the price of high-grade bamboo stock 30% to 40% since January 2006, and pushed bamboo cultivation to second-most important livelihood of households surveyed, following rice. The subsequent development of a network of traders and collectors that now expedites the supply of stock to workshops has significantly contributed to the expansion of employment and income generation. This directly impacts provincial poverty levels, as study results show a substantial portion of workers in processing to be young (often unmarried) women, with 83% of all employees coming from the province’s ethnic minority groups.
The impact study was conducted by Prosperity Initiative (a former Oxfam Hong Kong project, now fully independent), together with MPDF. Further results measurement efforts will also attempt to take stock of secondary and indirect effect on the province and local economy (i.e., the ‘multiplier effect’).
