Bankruptcy due to ferret farming.

(Baonghean)Visiting Tru Son commune, Do Luong district in recent days, we were deeply saddened by the plight of the farmers. Many families participating in Doan Viet Chau's black velvet ferret breeding model are in a desperate situation. The ferrets have been past their marketable age for over four months now, and Mr. Chau has yet to send anyone to collect them.

Following a local's recommendation, we visited Mr. Phan Van Hoa in Hamlet 12, the household with the largest number of mink breeders in the commune. Mr. Hoa was unloading straw to sell. When we asked about mink farming, he wiped the sweat from his cheeks and said, "I thought I'd get rich from minks, but it turns out I've gone bankrupt because of them. I sold my buffalo to buy minks. Now that I don't have buffalo, I'll sell the straw too." He went inside and showed us all the company's promotional videos, mink breeding guides, and signed contracts, then continued, "Mr. Choi (Mr. Nguyen Van Choi – the representative of the model in the Central region) is an acquaintance, who would have thought… But I saw on TV, in the program 'Farmers Getting Rich,' they praised this farming, so I didn't hesitate to sell my buffalo and borrow money from the bank to invest." Mr. Hoa registered to buy 20 pairs of breeding minks, each pair costing 4 million dong, totaling 80 million dong. Because they were "acquaintances," he only paid 50 million VND upfront, with the remaining 30 million VND to be deducted gradually when he sells the ferret babies.

According to the contract, Mr. Chau would purchase baby minks weighing 4.6-4.7 taels (approximately 37.75 grams) at a price of 1 million VND per animal. Every litter of minks, including the number of offspring and the number that died, had to be reported to the representative for inventory management. Any household selling mink babies on the open market would have their contract terminated. Recognizing that raising minks wasn't too difficult, and that they reproduced very quickly—each mother mink could give birth 4 to 5 times a year, sometimes with 6-7 offspring per litter—meaning they could recoup their investment in less than a year, raising black minks became a hope for a better life for many poor households.

Raising black mink was once Mr. Hoa's dream of getting rich.



The livestock farming contracts were full of ambiguities, with signatures only and no seals.

Thanks to his hard work, diligence, and willingness to learn, Mr. Hoa mastered the techniques, resulting in a healthy and thriving mink herd. Before Tet (Lunar New Year), his family sold two batches of minks, earning 19 million dong after deducting transportation costs. However, for over four months since then, he hasn't sold a single mink. Therefore, his family is currently losing 31 million dong. Currently, his family has about 150 commercial minks, but attempts to contact Mr. Chau using his usual contact number are unsuccessful. Selling them on the market would only fetch 150-200 thousand dong per mink, resulting in a significant loss. Their two plots of land, previously unsuitable for growing anything other than fodder grass for feeding the minks, now rely solely on their four plots of leased rice paddies. But they lack buffaloes for plowing. The family's finances are in a dire straits. His wife is distraught and considering going to work as a domestic helper in Saigon. With tears welling up in her eyes, she said, "Working as a maid earns me a few million dong a month, but staying at home would mean starving. The debts are piling up, and the money for my children's education and bank interest is driving me crazy."

While not exactly "dizzy" from raising ferrets, Mr. Nguyen Huu Ba in Hamlet 7 (Tru Son Commune, Do Luong District) is in a difficult situation. He's been raising ferrets for five months and hasn't sold a single one. The money spent on cornmeal and the hard work of caring for them have all gone to waste. Mr. Ba and four other households in the commune are relatives of Mr. Nguyen Van Choi, so they received financial assistance for breeding ferrets. Mr. Ba received five pairs of breeding ferrets without having to pay anything yet, intending to pay gradually when he sells the offspring. All his excitement and hope have now vanished, replaced by a weary, disheartened shake of the head when we asked about his ferret herd.

Currently, in Tru Son commune, there are 8 households participating in the "Doan Viet Chau Black Velvet Mink Farming Model". However, this model is not part of the local socio-economic development plan, but is based on personal relationships between the households and the "project" owner, who then signed contracts. After the press exposed the multi-level marketing scheme, even though they knew they had been "scammed," the mink farmers still waited and hoped to get their capital back. They waited and waited, but there was no news.

According to Mr. Hoa's account, he called Mr. Choi but only received the nonchalant reply: "Ask Mr. Chau." Mr. Hoa took a bus to Vinh City, found Mr. Nguyen Van Choi at house number 58, Dinh Van Chat Street, Dong Vinh Ward, and asked him to help him contact Mr. Chau to discuss the matter. On April 2nd, Mr. Hoa, along with two other mink farmers, Dang Van Toan and Nguyen Thi Xuan, went to Hanoi as arranged by Mr. Chau. Mr. Hoa added: "Only when I got there did I realize that many people from the South and North were also deceived, even officials and civil servants, not just farmers. For them, a few tens of millions of dong is normal, but for farmers, it's their entire fortune."

Mr. Doan Viet Chau explained that the reason he couldn't come to buy the minks on time was due to the impact of the global and domestic economic crisis, which had caused some difficulties in his business. Mr. Chau promised to buy all the minks currently held by the people at a price of 500,000 VND per animal (half the price stated in the contract), as a way of helping each other during this difficult time. Most of the people who came agreed to this solution, as they only needed to recover their capital and were no longer interested in buying the minks. Mr. Hoa even explained his impoverished circumstances, having sold his buffalo to buy minks, and now that the harvest season was approaching, he had no buffalo for plowing and asked Mr. Chau for an advance of 20 million VND to buy a buffalo. Mr. Chau agreed and promised to send the money next week, as he currently didn't have cash. However, nearly a month has passed since meeting Mr. Chau, and he hasn't sent the money, nor has anyone come to buy the minks. His dream of getting rich has now vanished into thin air.

Before parting ways, Mr. Hoa asserted, "If Mr. Chau doesn't return the capital after some time, we will file a lawsuit!" But who knows how long they'll have to wait?

Text and photos: Nguyen Le