Women in Quynh Luu raise funds from abandoned farmland.

With the 2024 spring rice harvest just ending, Ms. Tran Thi Hoa, Head of the Women's Association in Thuan Yen village, Quynh Ngoc commune, said that the association's fund has just been supplemented with 3 tons of rice, which will be converted into money to help and support members in difficult circumstances and encourage poor students to strive for academic excellence.

Ms. Hoa also stated that Thuan Yen village is a purely agricultural village, formed by merging three former villages: villages 3, 4, and 5. Currently, Thuan Yen village has 320 households with 1,410 inhabitants, whose main occupations are agricultural production, construction, and small-scale trading. There are still 10 poor households and many households facing difficult circumstances, illness, and misfortune.

Realizing that the women's association's regular operating fund could not rely solely on the monthly contributions of 20,000 VND from members as stipulated, the women in the association's executive committee boldly proposed to the Party branch committee, the commune's Women's Association, and the local government to lend them additional abandoned land and land in difficult-to-cultivate locations to implement the "Abandoned Land for Fundraising" model. On these plots of land, the women cultivate rice and seasonal crops to generate funds for their activities.

The "Fundraising from abandoned land" model has been effectively implemented by the Women's Association of Thuan Yen village, utilizing 8.5 sao (approximately 0.85 hectares) of cultivated land and 7.5 sao (approximately 0.75 hectares) belonging to elderly households or families who have moved away from the area. Each year, the association harvests and sells rice to raise tens of millions of dong, providing loan capital for women to develop their businesses. Specifically, in the first half of 2024, using funds from selling rice grown on abandoned land, the Women's Association of Thuan Yen village donated a livelihood model worth 4.8 million dong to each of 16 members; and gave 500,000 dong to each of 8 orphaned children. They also provided support and encouragement to one child joining the army, 12 children admitted to universities and colleges, and 4 children who achieved excellent academic results at various levels, totaling over 4 million dong.

Ms. Tran Thi Dung, President of the Women's Union of Quynh Ngoc commune, said: "In recent years, the fundraising activities to support the regular activities of the Women's Union of Quynh Ngoc commune in general, and the Women's Union branch of Thuan Yen village in particular, have become increasingly effective. From 2020 to the present, the model has developed more strongly in Quynh Ngoc, attracting many branches and members to participate."

To date, the total area implementing the model throughout the commune is nearly 2 hectares, with an average annual rice yield of about 3.5 quintals per sao (approximately 350 kg per 1000 square meters). Ms. Dung added that, recognizing the effectiveness of the model of raising funds from abandoned fields, in 2023 the branches enthusiastically expanded fundraising methods by taking on additional work on irrigation in the fields. 100% of members participated with 400 man-days of labor, earning over 40 million VND.

From taking over abandoned farmland to increase annual agricultural production, 3 out of 5 Women's Associations in Quynh Ngoc commune have now implemented this model, creating a fund of approximately 100 million VND. Besides visiting and encouraging those who are sick and supporting education, the "abandoned land fund" also provides interest-free loans to 35 members from poor and disadvantaged households to buy chicken and pig breeds for livestock farming, developing their economy and sustainably alleviating poverty.

Besides Quynh Ngoc commune, many other communes in Quynh Luu district have also effectively implemented the "Abandoned land for fundraising" model. The land reclaimed by women's associations is mainly used for rice cultivation, with some hamlets also growing green vegetables, such as in Quynh Bang commune.

“With a reclaimed vegetable garden of about 0.1 hectares, we plant seasonal vegetables, and with the installation of automatic irrigation systems, the vegetables are guaranteed to grow well. Each harvest season, the women's shared vegetable garden brings in over 10 million VND. In addition, our branch also collects and sells waste to raise money, and by combining various fundraising sources, the Women's Association of Quynh Bang commune sponsors nearly 20 orphaned children with particularly difficult circumstances each year, giving them the opportunity to continue their education,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai, President of the Women's Association of Quynh Bang commune.

Or, as in Quynh Hung commune, the "Abandoned Fields for Fundraising" model has been implemented for over 5 years, generating a considerable amount of funds, approximately 15 million VND per rice harvest, significantly contributing to activities supporting members' economic development, charitable work, and promoting education and talent.

According to Tran Thi Ha, Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Quynh Luu District, the "Fundraising from Abandoned Land" model is being implemented by branches in communes with large areas of abandoned land, such as Quynh Hung, Quynh Giang, Quynh My, Quynh Ba, and Quynh Bang, creating a valuable source of funding that helps the branches carry out many meaningful activities and spread the movement at the grassroots level. In 2024 alone, from the beginning of the year until now, the branches implementing the "Fundraising from Abandoned Land" model have collected over 150 million VND from harvesting spring rice on nearly 10 hectares. In addition, the women in these branches have also raised tens of millions of VND from harvesting vegetables on poor-quality, abandoned fields and from undertaking the dredging of irrigation canals in the fields.