Bamboo and rattan weaving village "half-dead, half-alive"

(Baonghean) - While bamboo and rattan export enterprises are lacking products and have to accept cutting orders, many bamboo and rattan craft villages in the province are "living half-life" and workers are not interested in the profession.

Bored with job because of low income

Coming to Dong Phu export MTD craft village, Khanh Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) when people are in the off-season. When mentioning MTD craft here, Ms. Phan Thi Oanh - Head of the craft village, shared: During the off-season, MTD craftsmen have to do other jobs, only I spend a lot of time during the day doing the job. The craft village is really fading away, the workforce is getting fewer and fewer.

Ms. Phan Thi Oanh - Head of Dong Phu Bamboo and Rattan Export Craft Village, Khanh Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh) still sticks to the profession. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Coming to Mrs. Oanh's house, in the corner of the garden is a long-unused silk-weaving machine. Having just finished a lantern, Mrs. Oanh added: When the MTD craft village was recognized (in 2009), there were 120 households doing the craft, but now there are only 14 households following the profession. The current MTD workers are mainly elderly people with limited health, so the products often do not meet the requirements and the output is low. The reason is that in recent years, many companies, garment factories, brick and tile factories... have appeared in the area, the young labor force, who had low income from the MTD craft, left to work as workers for companies, leaving the elderly to stick with the MTD craft.

Regarding income from the MTD profession, Ms. Oanh said: 10 kg of raw bamboo is supplied by Duc Phong Company Limited at the price of 55,000 VND, 1 person can weave 5 lamps in 2 days, the company receives 200,000 VND, which means 1 working day is only more than 50,000 VND; the average income of the craft village is currently only 1.5 million VND/person/month. Meanwhile, freelance workers in the locality also earn 200,000 VND/day. Another problem is that the local government has not really paid attention to the craft village. Ms. Oanh said that if the State does not have a policy to support the profession, the risk of losing the MTD profession is very high.

The current situation in Dong Phu Export MTD Craft Village is also the common situation for many MTD craft villages in the whole province today.

Need a "midwife"

Mr. Thai Dai Phong - Director of Duc Phong Company Limited said: The demand for MTD products of the company is quite large, with a potential export market. Currently, the company is exporting MTD products directly to countries such as: England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, America, Japan and Korea... The main products are lamps, trays, gift boxes, packaging boxes.

Duc Phong Company Limited currently has 16 craft villages producing goods for the company, but with only 350 workers, unable to meet the export demand according to orders, so the company had to accept to terminate contracts in some markets. Mr. Thai Dai Phong also acknowledged that the income of workers in craft villages is low. The reason is that the majority of workers are mainly elderly women, working in a patchwork manner, with low labor productivity and insignificant production time.

The splitting machine used for weaving in Dong Phu Bamboo and Rattan Craft Village (Khanh Thanh - Yen Thanh) has not been used for a long time. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Faced with the current situation of MTD craft villages being "stillborn", Duc Phong Company Limited said: Regarding the raw material area, currently craft villages in the province mainly use bamboo and linden materials in Quy Chau and Que Phong districts. The total area of ​​bamboo and linden is about 29,000 hectares, enough to supply craft villages for production during the year. However, the raw material processing stage still lacks synchronous machinery. In order for MTD craft to develop, local authorities and all levels of industry need to urgently organize the consolidation of craft villages, provide new training, and improve the skills of workers in craft villages.

To focus on solving the current difficulties of MTD craft villages, the practical viewpoint is to improve the skills of workers, plan raw material areas, focus on quality, design, labeling, and invest in technology. Strengthen the participation of local authorities and the coordinating role of organizations at all levels in implementing planning and career development plans.

Localities need to pay attention to directing the proactive establishment of cooperatives, cooperatives and enterprises in craft villages to act as "midwives" for craft villages.

Xuan Hoang