Ethnic minority young women rise up to escape poverty in Ha Giang

As one of the poorest and most disadvantaged districts of Ha Giang province, the socio -economic life of Xin Man and Hoang Su Phi has gradually changed thanks to the acumen, dynamism and spirit of overcoming poverty of ethnic minority youth.

The project "Enhancing economic empowerment for ethnic minority youth" funded by Plan International Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Plan Japan, is being implemented in 8 project communes including: Tan Tien, Po Lo, Ban Luoc, Chien Pho, Tu Nhan communes (Hoang Su Phi district and Nan Ma, Ta Nhiu, Nam Dan (Xin Man district) Ha Giang province from 2021.

The project, through providing training courses related to agriculture , livestock and entrepreneurship, aims to equip young people with skills and knowledge to help them increase their income, mainly young people aged 16-30 from poor households, households in particularly difficult circumstances, households with disabled people, children, women, etc.

Effective economic models

In Nan Ma commune (Xin Man district, Ha Giang), the life of the family of Ms. Chang Thi Ngoc, 30 years old, Nung ethnic group has gradually improved thanks to her determination to find a way to escape poverty.

Ms. Chang Thi Ngoc shares with project staff about her family's goat farming situation. (Photo: Le An)

Previously, Ngoc and her husband went to big cities to work as construction workers. However, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, they were unemployed and had to return to their hometown, becoming unemployed.

Registering to participate in "Strengthening the empowerment of ethnic minority youth to develop livelihoods" from August 2022, Ms. Ngoc was given a breeding goat. After that, she decided to sell household items to buy 2 more goats and successfully bred them.

Ngoc’s herd of goats is now preparing for its third litter, bringing the total number of goats to nine. She said each goat sells for about 3 million VND, bringing hope of improving her family’s life in the near future.

Ms. Ngoc shared that the cost of raising goats does not require capital to buy food because they are allowed to graze naturally, and the goats rarely get sick so they almost do not have to spend money on medicine. In addition, she still follows the tradition of growing rice, raising and breeding black pigs to increase income.

Similarly, Ms. Chang Thi Cham, 30 years old, a Nung ethnic in Ta Nhiu commune, Xin Man district, has also tried to escape poverty by making black pork sausage in the highlands.

Ms. Cham said that since participating in the project to develop livelihoods for young people in the district, she has been trained, supported in processing methods, and supported with machinery and equipment to make finished ham products with local brands.

Overcoming initial difficulties, she gradually turned black pork ham into a source of income for herself and her family.

In addition to making ham, Ms. Cham also participates in a model of growing green vegetables in the garden, gradually applying organic methods to bring clean food to improve her family's life.

Ms. Chang Thi Cham introduces her family's black pork leg product. (Photo: Le An)

Delighted with the fruits of her labor, she said she recently joined social networks to introduce her “homemade” products to connect, share experiences and introduce them to more people.

Not only in Xin Man district, in Chien Pho commune, Hoang Su Phi district, after finishing high school, the young girl Nung Thi Don, born in 2002, a Nung ethnic, went to study hairdressing in Hanoi under the project "Enhancing economic empowerment for ethnic minority youth" of Plan International Vietnam.

In addition to developing local careers, Don also actively shares future career orientation as well as preventing child marriage and incestuous marriage for students, contributing to eliminating backward customs, pushing back poverty and building modern new countryside and civilized farmers.

With the motto of starting a business from simple, familiar things, the "3S Broom" model was born from the efforts of women in Hoang Su Phi district (Ha Giang) and members, women...

From the project's support fund, the Women's Union of Hoang Su Phi district and the Women's Union of Tan Tien commune gathered 20 women members with difficult circumstances, researched and decided to choose to make broom products from sticky rice straw to start a business.

The model was deployed in Tan Tien commune with the name 3S Broom Production Facility - inspired by the campaign to build a family of "5 no 3 clean" launched by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union, the products the women make are suitable for the 3 clean criteria.

Ms. Nong Thi Bo - President of the Women's Union of Tan Tien commune said that to implement this model, the Union visited each member household, analyzed and convinced them to join the cooperative.

Up to now, the production facility has been put into operation, the women have become skilled, have been instructed, promoted and sold on electronic websites.

3S broom production facility of women in Tan Tien commune, Hoang Su Phi district. (Photo: Le An)

Currently, 3S broom products have initially reached the market in the province and some other provinces and cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Dak Lak, Thai Nguyen, Hoa Binh, Hanoi..., but there are still difficulties in accessing the market and finding output for the product.

In the coming time, the women here will aim to produce more types of artistic and decorative brooms to increase product prices, target tourists, and sell on e-commerce platforms.

Organizational and local support

Xin Man and Hoang Su Phi are both poor mountainous border districts, located in the Northwest of Ha Giang province, with quite complex terrain, steep slopes, and very difficult transportation.

Ms. Vu Thi Hoa, Vice Chairman of Xin Man District People's Committee, Head of the Plan Project Management Board of Xin Man District, said that the district's economic conditions are still very difficult, the multidimensional poverty rate is still high, accounting for 58.82%, (of which poor households account for 44.91%; near-poor households account for 13.91%) with an average income per capita of 33 million VND/person/year (according to 2023 data).

According to Ms. Vu Thi Hoa, with the attention and support of Plan Organization, the implementation of activities and projects has brought high efficiency, especially projects supporting education and children, youth startups...

The District People's Committee has directed the departments to coordinate the implementation of the projects in accordance with the set goals and plans. The district fully implements its commitments to the sponsors, especially the commitment to arrange the implementation of the district's counterpart funds, with the view of closely coordinating the project management and using the Plan's investment capital effectively.

Young girl Nung Thi Don in Chien Pho commune, Hoang Su Phi district shares her experience in future career orientation as well as preventing child marriage and incestuous marriage with students. (Photo: Le An)

In Hoang Su Phi, Mr. Hoang Duc Tan, Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, Head of the Plan Project Management Board in the locality, said that after 3 years of implementing the project, the results were better than expected, especially in raising awareness for ethnic minority youth and achieving gender equality in society.

In the coming time, the People's Committee of Hoang Su Phi district will integrate economic development among ethnic minority youth with the National target program for further project development.

He also suggested that Plan continue to have projects to support the district in the issue of youth entrepreneurship; coordinate to open training courses, vocational training suitable for the market, ensuring the needs of young people, thereby improving thinking, awareness, creating highlights for young people to study together.

It can be seen that the effectiveness of the Project "Enhancing economic empowerment for ethnic minority youth" has helped beneficiaries improve their knowledge, change techniques in livestock breeding, cultivation, financial management, gender equality, environment and especially increase income for young people participating in the project.

Sharing about the results of the Project after three years, Mr. Duong Van Tuy - Director of Ha Giang region, Plan International in Vietnam said that since the Project was implemented, the project has organized hundreds of training classes on livelihood, green skills, marketing skills, financial and accounting skills, gender equality, youth club operation, and food processing classes.

The project also focuses on organizing dialogues between youth and local authorities; organizing village and commune-level sharing sessions on promoting gender equality; a number of food processing models have been integrated into local economic development policies...

Ethnic minority young women at the Community Learning Center in Nan Ma Commune, Xin Man District. (Photo: Le An)

Mr. Kieu Minh Thang - an officer of Plan International Vietnam, in charge of the Youth Entrepreneurship Project in Xin Man district, also emphasized the role of the Community Learning Centers being built in the highlands of Ha Giang.

In Nan Ma commune, this learning center, although just completed and put into use since the beginning of 2024, has become an attractive destination for local people, especially young people in the commune who often come to read books on knowledge about farming, animal husbandry, knowledge about gender, marriage and family; learn how to use computers, information technology, social networks to promote and sell local specialties on the internet.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nu-thanh-nien-dan-toc-thieu-so-vuon-len-thoat-ngheo-o-ha-giang-269601.html