VZCZCXRO6740
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT
DE RUEHHM #0045/01 0121229
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121229Z JAN 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1979
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 1441
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0001
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2144

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000045 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC FOR 4431 (MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO) 
ROME FOR USUN ROME 
USDA/ FAS/OCBD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON EAGR SOCI PREL VM
SUBJECT: FOOD FOR EDUCATION BENEFITS ETHNIC MINORITIES IN QUANG NGAI 
 
REF: 05 HANOI 2723 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000045  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  Consul General visited schools in rural Quang Ngai 
Province participating in the Red Cross school feeding 
program funded under the Dole-McGovern Act. USDA's Food for 
Education program reaches a large number of poor ethnic 
minority children and their families in rural Quang Ngai 
and has sharply cut malnutrition and improved school 
attendance and performance.  Vietnam is not slated to 
receive any further Title II funding and this successful 
program will not be continued.  Mission urges continuation 
of limited Food for Education funding to reach Vietnam's 
poorest and most disadvantaged ethnic minority children. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2.  Consul General visited three schools in the rural Ba To 
district of Quang Ngai Province December 11-12 accompanied 
by Hanoi-based American Red Cross and provincial Vietnamese 
Red Cross officials.  School officials were positive about 
the benefits of the school feeding program and stressed the 
need for more funding in order to continue the project. 
 
MALNUTRITION DROPS BY HALF, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE UP 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3. The first phase of this project was funded in 2003 by a 
grant of USD 9 million in monetized commodities from the 
USDA Food for Education Program.  In Phase One, the Red 
Cross provided hygiene training for students and hygiene 
and nutrition training for families.  In addition to a 
school snack, beneficiaries received a monthly allocation 
of corn soy blend (CSB), cooking oil and sugar. In less 
than one year, malnutrition in the student population was 
cut from 43 percent to 18 percent.  According to school 
officials, an additional benefit to the program was 
increased school attendance.  Teachers stated that they saw 
improvements in students' overall heath and education 
levels as well as fewer students falling asleep in class. 
 
¶4. Phase Two of the project was funded by a grant of USD 
5.2 million in monetized commodities.  This phase began in 
September 2006 after a gap of six months from the end of 
Phase One.  Phase Two does not include distributions of CSB 
or other take-home items.  As a result, nutrition results 
are unlikely to be as strong.  The program provides a daily 
snack of soy milk and a biscuit as well as further hygiene 
training.  Phase Two has broader coverage with 27 schools 
and 9,795 beneficiaries.  Quang Ngai Red Cross and People's 
Committee officials stressed their interest in continuing 
the program into a third phase, including a school lunch 
program. 
 
ETHNIC MINORITIES PRIMARY BENEFICIARIES OF PROGRAM 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5.  Quang Ngai Province in Central Coastal Vietnam is a 
poor and isolated area consisting of a flat coastal lowland 
area populated by ethnic Vietnamese (Kinh) and a 
mountainous upland area populated by ethnic minority 
people.  Ba To district is rugged and is populated by Hre 
people engaged in rice cultivation in small (500 m2) 
terraced plots.  Many families raise buffalo or cows.  The 
Hre also hunt and gather forest products.  Per capita GDP 
in Quang Ngai is USD 336, but in Ba To district the average 
per capita income is only USD 200 (well below Vietnam's 
national 2006 estimated figure of USD 728).  Quang Ngai is 
slated to become a center of heavy industry.  The Dung Quat 
industrial zone is attracting a number of heavy industrial 
projects centered on Vietnam's sole refinery which is well 
on its way to opening in 2009.  The ability of ethnic 
minorities to participate in the province's development 
will be largely dependent on education.  USDA's programs 
have increased school attendance and performance and had a 
significant impact on childhood nutrition in one of the 
countries poorest and most underserved regions. 
 
¶6.  The central coastal provinces are relatively free of 
the ethnic tensions, separatism or religious controversy 
found in the Central Highlands provinces to the west. 
Ethnic minority people continue to live in their 
traditional areas; have strong ties to land, and are 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000045  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
engaged in small scale agriculture in addition to 
exploiting the forest.  Land is generally too poor to have 
attracted ethnic Kinh in-migration and cash crops such as 
coffee or pepper are not seen. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6.  McGovern-Dole Food for Education funds have reached a 
large number of beneficiaries at very modest cost in Quang 
Ngai Province and have a major impact on nutrition and 
education for disadvantaged ethnic minority children. 
Ideally, provincial government would fund this program 
itself given the national priority on poverty reduction and 
the demonstrated effectiveness of school feeding and 
hygiene efforts.  However, this will not happen soon. 
Quang Ngai is focused on infrastructure development and as 
long as resources are tight, the ethnic Kinh are likely to 
remain the first priority for social spending by the 
province.  When funding runs out for Phase Two, these 
programs will end since Vietnam is not slated to receive 
any USDA Title II funding in the future.  Ambassador and 
Consul General again urge that USDA continue at least a 
modest level of funding for these high impact programs. 
WINNICK