Banana leaf trading profession

(Baonghean)Crossing the Ta Lam dike, along the road leading to hamlet 12, Hung Long commune (Hung Nguyen), it is not difficult to see modified vehicles loaded with banana leaves.

Nowadays, banana leaves are ordered monthly by establishments making spring rolls, gio, banh chung, banh tet, so banana leaf traders here are busy all year round. Working for profit, with monthly orders, banana leaf traders seem to have no days off. The season of leaves is right at the end of the year, so the money they earn is enough for them to buy things for Tet and save for family expenses...

Mr. Hoang Trong Cat - Secretary of the Youth Union of Hung Long commune said: This is a spontaneous profession since 1980, when villagers scattered everywhere to find a living, when the Bamboo and Rattan Weaving Cooperative lost its market; in response to the need for banana leaves from cake wrapping craftsmen in Vinh City, at first there were only a few people carrying sickles and carrying poles to collect banana leaves around the village. Seeing that there was a source of income from banana leaves that were previously just thrown away or fed to cattle, many people "joined in", forming the banana leaf trading profession until now. Currently, Hung Long has over 20 households trading banana leaves. In the past, people carried their poles on foot or by bicycle, but now life is better, every household uses a motorbike with a modified vehicle attached to the back, which is both fast and can carry a lot. Most of the households doing the job have signed long-term contracts so they do not worry about "output".





Banana leaves are ordered monthly by establishments that make spring rolls, banh chung, and gio (Vietnamese ham) so workers do not have to worry about "output".

Mr. Nguyen Van Trung (in hamlet 12) said: The job of selling banana leaves sounds easy, but in reality it is very difficult and hard. All day long, we have to crawl deep into the garden full of trees, so mosquito bites, stepping on broken glass pieces, sharp thorns cutting our feet are common. And regardless of the cold and rainy weather, we have to wake up at 4 am to deliver the leaves to the city for people to make goods. It is said to be hard, but this job does not require much capital, with a million dong in our pockets and a sickle, my wife and I can collect 4-5 quintals of leaves every day, earning 350,000-400,000 VND/person; on cold and rainy days and during Tet, we earn 800,000-1,000,000 VND/person/day. In the near future, I will apply for land auctions from the commune to open a banana farm and raise livestock so that I can be proactive in the source of goods as well as provide food for livestock... ".

Mr. Pham Van Que - who has nearly 20 years of experience in the profession, said: The banana leaf trade is considered a side job but is the main source of income, helping many families stabilize their lives; a household of 2 people, if they work 25 days/month, will earn from 8,000,000 - 10,000,000 VND/person. And the worker must know how to estimate the number of leaves in the garden to pay the garden owner; each harvest after about 2 months, they will come back to buy more, if the garden owner agrees to sell. During the Tet month, the demand of the producers is higher than usual, while in the cold winter, banana leaves grow slowly, so the source of goods is difficult to find. Therefore, the area must be expanded not only in the district but also to Duc Tho, Huong Khe (Ha Tinh)... Many times, leaves are rare, there are not enough to buy, so we have to go to Thanh Chuong forest areas to cut wild banana leaves to have enough quantity of goods signed in the contract.

There are no statistics on how much total revenue the banana leaf purchasing business has brought to Hung Long commune in a year. But one thing that cannot be denied is that this business is bringing the people here a fairly stable source of income.

Ngoc Anh