The 'path' to get out of poverty for women in the border village in Ky Son

Keng Du is the farthest border commune in Ky Son district, more than 70 km from Muong Xen town. The roads are far away, so whenever people need to shop or trade goods, they have to travel a long distance. Because of this, economic development becomes even more difficult. In recent years, the road from Muong Xen district town to the center of the remote commune of Keng Du has been invested in quite favorably, encouraging people to actively produce.

The family of Ms. Moong Thi Hien (born in 1993) is one of the poor households in Keng Du commune. Ms. Hien, her husband, 2 young children and elderly parents live in Huoi Phuon 2 village.

Ms. Hien's husband is currently a contract officer working at the Forest Protection Management Board. Ms. Hien does not have a stable job, so for many years the family's situation has been difficult. In addition to taking care of her elderly parents who are no longer able to work, and taking care of her husband's younger brother who is studying at university, the economic burden has weighed even more heavily on the shoulders of Ms. Hien and her husband.

Not giving up in the face of difficulties, with the encouragement and support of the District and Commune Women's Union, Ms. Moong Thi Hien boldly borrowed 20 million VND from the bank to invest in buying livestock breeds.

Ms. Vu Thi Huyen - Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Ky Son district said that initially, Ms. Moong Thi Hien used 20 million VND to buy 2 cows for raising. After more than 1 year of the cows giving birth and selling the calves, Ms. Hien used the "profit" to buy more pigs and chickens to raise.

Gradually, with diligence and hard work in finding food sources to take care of the chickens, pigs, and cows to grow healthy and reproduce well, bringing Ms. Hien's family a source of income that not only improves their lives, but also buys 2-4 more bird's nests of fish per year to diversify their livestock.

After a period of experimenting with raising cows, chickens, fish, and pigs, Ms. Hien realized that chickens are animals that adapt well to local conditions, providing higher and more stable economic value, so she decided to focus on raising chickens and expanding the scale. She invested in buying more incubators, reinforced the barns, and installed electric lights for lighting and heating.

Thanks to that, from a few dozen chickens, in less than a year, Ms. Hien's family's flock now has about 400 chickens of all "ages", selling both meat chickens, eggs and hatching chicks to maintain a regular flock of 200 - 300 chickens.

The leader of Keng Du commune said that almost every household here raises chickens, but only on a small scale, mainly to serve the needs of the family, rarely does a household invest in raising large quantities for goods like the family of Ms. Moong Thi Hien. In addition to raising livestock, she and her husband also grow many fruit trees such as grapefruit, guava, jackfruit and raise and grow mainly organically with green food sources available locally. Therefore, livestock products from chickens and pigs of Ms. Hien's household are trusted by consumers, almost not enough to sell right in the village and in the commune.

With determination, dynamism, and boldness, from a poor household, now Ms. Moong Thi Hien's family has enough food and savings to take care of her two children, her elderly parents, and her younger brother's education. At the same time, they have also renovated their house to be more spacious, bought a motorbike, and other household items.

“Every year I save an additional 20-50 million VND to continue investing in economic development. At the end of 2023, I plan to write an application to leave the poor household,” Moong Thi Hien happily said.

Ms. Vu Thi Huyen - Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Ky Son district said that currently in Ky Son district, many women have boldly risen up to develop the economy, borrowing capital to invest in barns, houses, trees, breeds, raw materials according to the requirements of each model. In addition, the association organizations have also actively supported, initially there were 18 models that promoted positive effects. For example, the models: Ms. Ly Y Dia's household raised over 100 black chickens in Muong Long 1 village, Muong Long commune; Ms. Ven Thi Nhun's household raised breeding cows and fattening cows in Pha Khao village, Pha Danh commune; Ms. Va Y Do's household built a farm to raise 25 buffaloes and cows, earning over 70 million VND/year in Huoi Vieng village, Dooc May commune; Mrs. Moong Me Chuan's household raises 25 buffaloes and cows, 15 black pigs, earning 70 million VND/year in Huoi Cang I village, Bac Ly commune...