On barren, abandoned land, now transformed into a large fruit orchard in Luc Son commune (Vinh Ninh village, Luc Son commune, Luc Nam district, Bac Giang province), Ms. Dam Thi Tam (born in 1980), a Cao Lan ethnic minority woman, has turned her life from poverty to wealth. Ms. Tam hopes that in the not-too-distant future, the fruits from her orchard will reach the global market .
Without boldness, one cannot escape poverty.
Under the scorching June summer sun, Ms. Dam Thi Tam diligently tends to her orchard, nurturing each cluster of fruit, fertilizing, and watering each tree. This very land has transformed her from a poor ethnic minority woman into a successful "agricultural owner" earning a considerable income from her longan, lychee, and eucalyptus trees.
From a poor woman from an ethnic minority group, Ms. Tam has become a successful "warehouse owner" earning a decent income from longan, lychee, eucalyptus trees, and other crops.
A few years ago, her family's economy , like many households in Luc Nam, depended primarily on income from lychee trees. But for many years, lychees didn't sell well, and prices continuously dropped, making an already precarious economy even more unstable. After a year of tending the trees, she earned no profit at harvest, and she was heartbroken.
She thought that she couldn't just rely on the lychee trees; she needed to make the land generate income year-round. She began to nurture the idea of planting lychees, longan, eucalyptus, and other crops for intercropping and crop rotation. But the biggest problem that troubled her was "where would the capital come from?" while she herself had to worry about making ends meet.
In the Luc Son region, 98% of the population are Cao Lan ethnic people like her, and they have no way to improve their lives. She herself is a simple woman, dependent on the land, untouched by the harsh realities of life, and lacking progressive thinking…
In the Luc Son region, 98% of the population are Cao Lan ethnic people.
After days of deliberation, a "light at the end of the tunnel" finally appeared before her: policy-based capital provided by the Women's Union of the commune to support women in economic activities and escape poverty.
When she first started thinking about borrowing money, she was very apprehensive. What if she couldn't repay the loan on time? And what if the harvest failed, leaving her with nothing and even more debt? But in the end, she understood that if she didn't change, if she didn't boldly engage in economic activities, she would never escape poverty, let alone become rich.
It's about running a garden business, not just gardening.
In 2019, encouraged and supported by the Women's Union of Luc Son commune, she boldly borrowed 100 million VND from the policy bank to improve the land, buy fertilizers, seedlings, care for her hillside garden, and purchase agricultural equipment to make the land generate income. She diligently participated in local training courses to gain more skills in agricultural economics, which she then applied to planting eucalyptus, lychee, longan, etc.
The Women's Union of Luc Son commune always encourages, motivates, and creates conditions to help its members borrow capital for economic development.
After five years of hard work, her family's eucalyptus, longan, and lychee orchards have finally yielded the income they had worked so hard to earn.
Ms. Tam shared: "Before knowing about social policy loans, my family faced many difficulties. Farming alone yielded only a small amount of rice, barely enough to eat, let alone have enough to eat. But after receiving loans for economic development, I have been able to improve my life, become wealthier, and provide better care for my children. In the future, I want to borrow more capital to expand my business model."
Ms. Dam Thi Tam has also decided to focus on gardening as a business venture, not just gardening. In the future, she will continue to learn and build a brand and quality for her family's longan and lychee products. And she still pursues her dream that her family's longan and lychee will have the opportunity to be exported and reach the global market.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, President of the Women's Union of Luc Son commune (in the middle)
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Luc Son commune, in the past, to reforest barren land and hills, local authorities had to intensify propaganda efforts among the people and ethnic minorities about the effectiveness of reforestation. Now, due to the effectiveness of reforestation, especially through "real people, real actions" models like the family of Ms. Dam Thi Tam, the reforestation movement in the commune has spread widely. Reforestation and fruit tree planting have become the main occupation and have truly helped the Cao Lan ethnic minority people rise out of poverty and become wealthy.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang also stated that the Women's Union at all levels always creates favorable conditions and supports people in borrowing capital for economic activities. The loan application process is also very suitable for the people, with simple and straightforward procedures.
Promoting organic and circular agriculture is a key direction for Bac Giang province. This shows that farmers in Luc Nam are doing very well in this production direction, aiming for organic products that meet the increasingly high demands of the domestic and export markets.
Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/nguoi-phu-nu-cao-lan-bien-dat-doi-thanh-tien-20240616095931012.htm
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