Microcredit and poverty reduction: a case study of Microfinance Fund for Community Development in Northern Vietnam

Like other developing countries, microcredit in Vietnam has been recognized as an important credit source of the poor, who need capital but are normally by-passed by commercial banks. However, the provision of credit to the poor is challenged by the existing tradeoff between depth of outreach and financial sustainability. In this study, Principal Component Analysis and Propensity Score Matching were used to assess whether microcredit reaches the poor and its role in poverty reduction. The Microfinance Fund and Community Development (MFCD), a microfinance institution in Northern Vietnam was selected as a case study. The research has shown that microcredit successfully reaches the poor households as 67% of credit recipients belong to the last three bottom groups. The observed poverty targeting is consistent with the mission of the microfinance institution. In addition, the provision of microcredit has positive but statistically insignificant impact on household income and expenditure. This study suggests that unless access to additional resources should be made available to the poor, a small amount of credit alone could be insufficient to reduce poverty

Poverty targeting and income impact of subsidised credit on accessed households in the Northern Mountainous Region of Vietnam

This paper uses the data of 1338 rural households in the Northern Mountainous Region of Vietnam to examine the extent to which subsidised credit targets the poor and its impacts. Principal Component Analysis and Propensity Score Matching were used to evaluate the depth of outreach and the income impact of credit. To address the problem of model uncertainty, the approach of Bayesian Model Average applied to the probit model was used.Results showed that subsidised credit successfully targeted the poor households with 24.10% and 69.20% of clients falling into the poorest group and the three bottom groups respectively. Moreover, those who received subsidised credit make up 83% of ethnic minority households. These results indicate that governmental subsidies are necessary to reach the poor and low income households, who need capital but are normally bypassed by commercial banks.Analyses also showed that ethnicity and age of household heads, number of helpers, savings, as well as how affected households are by shocks were all factors that further explained the probability at which subsidised credit has been assessed. Furthermore, recipients obtained a 2.61% higher total income and a 5.93% higher farm income compared to non-recipients. However, these small magnitudes of effects are statistically insignificant at a 5% level. Although the subsidised credit is insufficient to significantly improve the income of the poor households, it possibly prevents these households of becoming even poorer

Integrated Cross Sections of the Photo-Neutron Reactions Induced on 197^{197}Au with 60 MeV\text{MeV} Bremsstrahlung

Abstract. Seven photo-neutron reactions 197Au(γ,xn)197-xAu (with x=1-7) produced by the bremsstrahlung end-point energy of 60 MeV were identified. In this work, we focus on the measurement of integrated sections. Experiments were carried out based on the activation method in combination with off-line gamma-ray spectrometric technique. The integrated cross sections of the investigated reactions were determined relative to that of the monitoring reaction 197Au(γ,n)196Au. To validate the experimental results, theoretical predictions were also made using the computer code TALYS 1.9. The current integrated cross-sections of the 197Au(γ,xn)197-xAu reactions with 60 MeV bremsstrahlung end point energy are measured for the first time

Application of satellite images and VNREDSAT-1 images in study on marine environment in Truong Sa region

The remote sensing images, including images of MODIS, VNREDSAT-1 and altimeter, are applied for researching marine environment with the different resolutions. On the basis of different time remote sensing images, we concentrated on the assessment of several characteristics including the SST, chlorophyll-a concentration and sea surface current at the different depths in different monsoons as well. With the large areas, we used the images of MODIS and altimeter. The detailed research area focuses on the Nam Yet island, and the images of VNREDSAT-1 are used. The analysis method of environmental parameters of SST and chlorophyll-a used the regression functions based on the single and combined bands to enhance the accuracy of the analysis result. The marine parameters collected at different depths in the latest field surveys on Truong Sa archipelago in the years of 2015 and 2018 are presented in this paper. On the basis of these parameters, we can analyse the relationships and compare the real field survey data and corresponding results interpreted from remote sensing images

Study on spatial distribution of coral reefs in Nam Yet island by using GIS and remote sensing techniques

Research and application of GIS and remote sensing techniques combined with field survey in coastal areas of Nam Yet island had been carried out to establish the distribution map of submarine habitats. Depth-invariant index was used to correct water column’s effects on spectral reflectance of each habitat. The results of satellite image classification showed that area with well-developed coral at great depths accounted for 12%, area with well-developed coral at small depths accounted for 9%, area with poorly-developed coral accounted for 13%, dead coral area accounted for 15% and area of sand, grit, pebbles and weathered coral accounted for 51%. The assessment after classification showed that the overall accuracy of the satellite image interpretation process was 94% and the kappa coefficient was 0.93

Research on marine environment and coral distribution on Nam Yet island using VNRedsat-1 and QuickBird images

Based on the processing of VNRedsat-1 and QuickBird images in the area of Truong Sa archipelago, the research results showed the efficiency of assessing marine environmental characteristics in surroundings of these islands. In this paper, we presented the research results on Nam Yet island and adjacent area. The marine parameters in this research include sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a concentration in the surface layer as well as in the deep layers of 20m and 40m, the distributions of the ground objects such as coral shelf, sand accumulation, coral reef combined with seagrass and seaweed. The accuracy of assessment of supervised and unsupervised classified results is approximate of 87.8%. The research results allowed assessing the environmental characteristics, warning of the risk of erosion and coastal line change in the study area

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Thinking beyond collateral in value chain lending: access to bank credit for smallholder Vietnamese bamboo and cinnamon farmers

Using case studies of the bamboo and cinnamon value chains in rural areas of northern Vietnam, this paper contributes to the existing literature by analyzing barriers and suggests conditions under which value chain lending would be an effective tool for improving smallholder farmers’ access to credit. A mixed method using both in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders and a two-stage Heckman model is employed to explain the existing credit gap. Findings show that in both chains, bank decision-making on lending is typically limited to individual chain actors instead of considering the whole chain. Commercial banks predominately use conventional lending approaches heavily dependent on collateral which typically results in a shortage of credit available to the chain actors. Value chain lending is constrained by weak chain linkages and limited ownership of private bank accounts. Drawing from these cases in Vietnam, the article concludes by arguing that status quo value chain lending in lower-income countries merits considerable rethinking. The lending approaches of banks require innovation to ‘think beyond collateral’ in improving chain cohesion. Multistakeholder partnerships are important for successful value chain lending. In addition, farmer-based unions have the potential to address issues of information asymmetry in the credit market