Cao Lan woman turns hilly land into money

On the barren, abandoned garden land, now a large fruit growing area 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 person, changed her life from poverty to wealth. Ms. Tam hopes that in the near future, the fruit trees in her garden will reach out to the world.

No courage, no escape from poverty

Under the scorching summer sun of June, Ms. Dam Thi Tam is still diligently taking care of her garden, cherishing each bunch of fruit, fertilizing and watering each tree. It is this land that has helped her, from a poor ethnic minority woman, become a "garage owner" with a good income from longan, lychee, eucalyptus trees...

From a poor ethnic minority woman, Ms. Tam became a "warehouse owner" with a good income from longan, lychee, eucalyptus trees...

A few years ago, her family's economy, like many other households in Luc Nam, depended mainly on income from lychee trees. But for many years, lychee sales were slow, prices continuously dropped, making the already precarious economy even more precarious. After taking care of the crop all year long and harvesting it, she was sad and cried.

She thought that she could not depend on lychee trees, she needed to make the land generate income all year round. She began to think about planting lychee, longan, eucalyptus, intercropping and crop rotation. But the problem that troubled her the most was "where to get the capital?" while she herself had to worry about today and tomorrow.

In Luc Son area, 98% of the population is Cao Lan ethnic group like her, they have no way to improve their lives. She herself is a simple woman, dependent on the land, has not experienced life, does not have a progressive way of thinking,...

In Luc Son land, 98% of the population is Cao Lan ethnic group.

After many days of struggling, finally a "light at the end of the tunnel" opened before her eyes, which was the policy capital supported by the Commune Women's Union to help women do business and escape poverty.

When she first thought about borrowing money, she was very confused. What if she couldn't pay it back when the deadline came? Then who knows, if the harvest failed, she would lose everything and be in debt. But in the end, she understood that if she didn't change and wasn't bold enough to do business, she would never escape poverty, let alone become rich.

Garden business not just gardening

In 2019, with the encouragement and support of the Women's Union of Luc Son commune, she boldly borrowed 100 million VND from the policy bank to improve the land, buy fertilizers, buy seedlings, take care of the garden, buy agricultural equipment to make "the land generate money". She diligently participated in local training courses to gain more skills in agricultural economics and then applied them to growing eucalyptus, lychee, longan, etc.

Luc Son Commune Women's Union always encourages, motivates and creates conditions to help members borrow capital for economic development.

After 5 years of hard work, her family's eucalyptus, longan, and lychee garden has brought in the income she had built up.

Ms. Tam shared: "Before knowing about social policy capital, my family faced many difficulties. My family only worked in the fields and only got a little rice, not enough to eat, let alone enough to be full. But after getting a loan to do business, I was able to get rich, have a more comfortable life, and my children were better cared for. In the future, I want to borrow more capital to expand my economic model."

Ms. Dam Thi Tam also decided to do gardening business, not just gardening. In the future, she will continue to learn to build a brand and quality for her family's longan and lychee products. And she still pursues the dream that her family's longan and lychee will have the opportunity to be exported and reach out to the world.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Luc Son commune (middle)

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Luc Son commune, in the past, to cover bare land and hills, local authorities had to step up propaganda work to the people and ethnic minorities about the effectiveness of afforestation. Now, due to the effectiveness of afforestation, especially the "real people, real work" models like Ms. Dam Thi Tam's family, the afforestation movement in the commune has spread widely. Afforestation and fruit tree planting have become the main occupation and have really helped the Cao Lan ethnic people to escape poverty and become rich.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang also said that the Women's Union at all levels always creates conditions and supports people to borrow capital for economic development. The loan process is also very suitable for people, with simple and uncomplicated procedures.

Promoting organic agricultural production and circular agriculture is the orientation of Bac Giang province. This shows that Luc Nam farmers are doing very well in this production direction towards organic products to meet the increasing demands of the domestic and export markets.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/nguoi-phu-nu-cao-lan-bien-dat-doi-thanh-tien-20240616095931012.htm