In recent years, thanks to support from the government, social enterprises, and the resilience of the local community, many families in Bướt village have experienced significant positive changes. Previously, the residents relied primarily on agriculture, but now Bướt village has become a popular tourist destination, attracting more visitors who come to enjoy its pristine natural beauty. This transformation has led to the emergence of various tourism service models.

Boldly venturing into homestay tourism, Ms. Hà Thị Hiếm from Bướt village shared, “Since starting my tourism business, my family’s life has changed significantly. Our income is better compared to farming before. Each month, our finances are stable, allowing us to provide better education for our children. I hope my homestay model will expand further in the village, encouraging more families to start homestays and attract more tourists, leading to the development of our community.”

In addition to providing accommodation services, Ms. Hà Thị Hiếm also offers guests traditional local meals and sells unique agricultural products like rice, corn, sweet potatoes, and bamboo shoots as souvenirs. As a result, her revenue has been quite stable.

Her entrepreneurial model is currently thriving and attracting many other women to participate. However, not all women feel empowered to take action. Mr. Phạm Xuân Định, Deputy Head of the Culture Department of Vân Hồ district, emphasized, “To empower ethnic minority women to start businesses, it is crucial to create motivation for them to overcome barriers and gain confidence. The biggest challenge is whether they dare to dream and take action, and if they are willing to push themselves to grow. There are many opportunities for women to showcase their value and maximize their knowledge of local traditions, thereby promoting their culture to a wide audience, both domestically and internationally.”

Recently, Ms. Christine Hà, a visually impaired American-Vietnamese chef who won the title of MasterChef in the U.S., visited Bước village during her 12-day journey in Vietnam as a cultural ambassador. Her story has inspired local ethnic minority women. Ms. Hà Thị Uyên, a resident of Bước village, reflected, “Christine Hà’s story motivates women like us in the mountains to believe that we can earn money and be self-sufficient to develop our economy.”

Ms. Bàn Thị Kiều, President of the Women’s Union of Chiềng Yên commune, asserted that ethnic minority women are hardworking and resilient, but they are often constrained by family and societal norms. “As a member of the Women’s Union, I will continue to empower women in our area, encouraging them to grow together. Christine Hà’s sharing has inspired many ethnic minority women here, but the most important thing is for each woman to assert herself and demonstrate her capabilities,” Ms. Kiều stated.

Opportunities are always ahead. Many women in Bướt village, Chiềng Yên commune, Vân Hồ district, Sơn La province, and ethnic minority women in general, are seizing entrepreneurial opportunities in their localities, proving their capabilities, creating economic value for their families, and contributing to local economic development.

According to: VOV

Ethnic Minority Women Entrepreneurs: Challenges and Obstacles (vovworld.vn)

Change habits

Chieng Yen commune is famous for the stream winding around Buot village. For 20 years now, the “rules” have banned fishing, anyone who violates will be fined 20kg of rice. Ms. Vi Thi Theu remembers: “Ten years ago, when we were young people, we often went to the stream bank to enjoy the cool air at night. We also had the duty of guarding and watching to see if anyone stole fish. At that time, the commune leaders had the idea of ​​”keeping the fish stream for later tourism”. But 4 years ago, when there was a tourism project coming to the village, to us, “travel” was still something strange and distant.”

In 2019, the Mountainous Agriculture and Forestry Research Center – ADC, the Northwest Development Cooperation Center and TABA Social Enterprise cooperated to develop the Rau non-glutinous rice value chain through the project “Promoting equality”. world through improving economic efficiency of agricultural production and tourism development” (GREAT) in Van Ho district. The project focuses on women’s economic empowerment by increasing their participation and effectiveness in the production and trading of specialty rice.

Households in Phu Mau village study organic agricultural production – PHOTO: D.H.

That year, Buot village had two landmark events at the same time: restoring the native Rau rice variety – chemical-free farming and tourism with the companionship of the Northwest Development Cooperation Center.

Buot village is a particularly difficult village of Chieng Yen commune. More than 90% of the livelihoods of Thai, Dao, and Muong people depend on agriculture, but agricultural products are not consumed stably and prices are unstable, so their lives have remained difficult for many years. The day the project was announced to the people of Buot village, most people were curious but did not dare to go against years of farming habits.

Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen – Director of the Northwest Development Cooperation Center – has committed to purchasing agricultural products for farmers. But the beginning of the journey of organic production as well as building sustainable tourism is still fraught with difficulties. The first organic Rau rice production season in Buot village, some households had a favorable harvest, some households had a poor harvest, so people did not completely trust the commitment of the Muong female director.

Only when Rau rice is purchased at a price twice as high as regular rice, can people feel secure about the chemical-free agricultural path.

As the leader of the Hoa Buoi production group, in charge of 11 households, in the early days, Ms. Theu had to go to each house to mobilize people to participate in producing Rau rice according to the project’s standards. She confided: “At first it was very difficult. We received 16 training sessions, but the people did not have production experience so the productivity was not as high as in previous seasons.

In return, input costs are very low because self-produced organic fertilizers and self-made pesticides have higher resale prices, so overall, chemical-free production is more profitable. It took a year for people to agree.”

Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen remembers: “Our people had no concept of tourism, so we had to take care of the smallest things. When traveling, the first thing is to be clean. The Icelandic project officer and I, each with a bamboo tong, carried a bucket to pick up buffalo and cow dung from all over the village. Then we instructed people to clean the outbuildings; Explain to people that they are fried eggs, but the egg dishes used in tourism services must be different from the egg dishes used in the family…”.

“When the first tourists came to the village, people did not see the effectiveness of organic production yet, so they were discouraged and wanted to give up. We encourage again, it is very difficult for everyone to attract customers to their villages and relatives, but not trying will be a waste of everyone’s efforts. So everyone gathered their spirits to move on” – Ms. Theu shared.

The wife dared to speak up, the husband shared the work

It took a year to get used to chemical-free farming and then got caught up in the pandemic, so by 2021, the tourism activities of Buot villagers can really operate. Fortunately, the people’s agricultural products, even during the epidemic season, are still consumed by the Northwest Development Cooperation Center and TABA enterprise, so the lives of people in Buot village are more stable than other villages.

Buot village has formed 4 production groups including Hoa Buoi group, Green Tea group, Dong Xanh group and Suoi Ca group. After years of completely chemical-free production, many types of insects have now revived. “Shrimp is a species that cannot live in polluted water, but in the past 2 years, shrimp have returned, living and growing in flocks outside the ditches. Harvesting rice, harvesting vegetables, catching shrimp and fish have become one of the tourism products of Buot village. Having a source of clean food to supplement meals and serve tourism, people are very happy” – Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen was excited.

Ms. Vi Thi Theu is both the leader of the Hoa Buoi group, participating in the kitchen team, and in the performance team. Mr. Ha Van Khiem – her husband – is on the rowing team. Some other members of the village join the group to guide tourists… Every production group grows rice and green vegetables, no matter how much they produce, the Northwest Development Cooperation Center, TABA businesses and tourists consume absorb it all there.

Ms. Theu shared: “Before working in tourism and organic production, I sold groceries, farmed, and sold online, but I didn’t have access to the fields like now. There are not always many tourists, but organic products always bring high economic value to the family.” However, the greatest value that Ms. Theu received was that the voices between husband and wife in the family were balanced. She shared very truthfully: “In the past, no matter what my husband said, I didn’t “dare” to say it back. But since I had income from participating in kitchen groups and art groups, and was able to leave the commune and district to meet many people, I began to share with my husband. Our sisters even “dared” to say: “Today we will work in the kitchen to serve guests, and at night we will perform entertainment. If you are not busy, then do the housework for me.” Women can go out and have economic independence, so we women really have a voice in the family.”

Ms. Ha Thi Duyen – a member of the kitchen team and also a member of the Green Tea team – boasted that every day there are tourists, each kitchen woman is paid from 200,000-250,000 VND. She affirmed that it was the transformation of agricultural methods that helped women in Buot village achieve gender equality more than any propaganda. “In the past, when using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, most husbands were the ones who bought the medicine and fertilizer for their wives to fertilize and spray. Women have to shoulder the burden of housework, family care and almost all the heavy work in the fields. But when they switched to using pesticides from garlic and chili, the husbands took on the task of “producing” pesticides. When using organic fertilizer, both husband and wife look for buffalo and cow manure, bring straw and leaves to compost the product. Husbands do not feel secure letting their wives do all the work, so the couple shares and discusses work in the fields” – Ms. Duyen explained.

From the success of Buot village, with funding from the International Francophone Organization, the Northwest Development Cooperation Center began implementing organic farming in Phu Mau village. Currently, training activities on organic agriculture have been deployed to 31 member households. It is expected that green tea and organic red peanuts will be two typical products of Phu Mau village. Two businesses have committed to purchasing products for people.

According to: Ngoc Minh Tam / PNO

https://www.phunuonline.com.vn/lam-du-lich-cong-dong-phu-nu-da-dam-len-tieng-a1504280.html

Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen, female director of ethnic minorities, founder of the Northwest Development Cooperation Center and CEO of Social Enterprise Agritage Vietnam shares her startup story.

“Master Chef” Christine Ha spoke at the program.

On September 17-18, the Northwest Development Cooperation Center (TABA) coordinated with social enterprise Agritage Vietnam and the US Embassy to organize the program “Women’s startups: Challenges and opportunities”. conference in Vietnam and the United States” to discuss the role of gender in business as well as the challenges and opportunities when women are in charge.

The conference was organized with the goal of creating a space for female entrepreneurs and ethnic minority women to discuss opportunities and challenges in the process of developing their businesses. The program is inspired by the start-up story of Master Chef Christine Ha and Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen, an ethnic minority female director, founder of the Northwest Development Cooperation Center and CEO of Agritage Vietnam Social Enterprise.

Speaking at the program, Mr. Adam Brocks, Deputy Cultural Attaché, US Embassy in Hanoi, said that with the bilateral relationship being upgraded from a comprehensive partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership in During President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Vietnam, cultivating people-to-people relations was one of the key factors. “To expand cooperation as part of upgrading bilateral relations and for the benefit of the two peoples, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi is committed to promoting the rights of members of vulnerable populations. , including women and girls, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities”, Mr. Adam Brocks emphasized.

Sharing at the program, Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen said that she herself is also an ethnic minority in Hoa Binh. Since 2011, Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen and her colleagues began to realize their dream, creating an organization where ethnic minorities can speak up and where ethnic minorities support ethnic minorities. numbers grow together. That is why the Northwest Development Cooperation Center – TABA, a Vietnamese science and technology organization with the mission of accompanying women, was born. Over the past years, TABA center has accompanied more than 10,000 ethnic minority women to develop sustainable livelihoods based on community resources.

In 2015, Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen started a social enterprise and began her story, finding a way to bring agricultural products from people in the Northwest region to Hanoi by opening clean agricultural products stores.

“However, we realized that was not the root of the problem, that’s why in 2019, we returned to the villages and found the answer: in the villages, our contribution will more effective when women in villages have jobs and income right in the locality and heritage agricultural villages are born. Van Ho Agritage is the English name of the Heritage Agricultural Village model that Agritage Vietnam, the Van Ho district government and the people of Buot village commit to preserving and developing. The heritage agricultural village is located in Van Ho district, in order to preserve the indigenous knowledge in agricultural cultivation, the food and cultural characteristics of the Thai and Muong people, residents of the cultural area. valley living in Van Ho district, Son La province”, Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen shared.

From 2019 up to now, Agritage Van Ho has accompanied 58 Thai households in Ban Buot, Chieng Yen commune, Van Ho district, Son La province to convert agricultural farming models that use chemicals to organic farming. , building agricultural product brands and bringing high quality products to the market in Hanoi. Community tourism is also developed with many forms of experiences associated with culture and nature conservation. Up to now, an organic agricultural farming area meeting PGS standards has been formed with 12 hectares of rice and nuts. Dong Rung Cooperative was established and operated to welcome tourists visiting the village. Entrepreneurship for women associated with the orientation of developing sustainable livelihoods based on community internal resources has been implemented and shown specific results for farming households working in tourism and agriculture.

“Master chef” Christine Ha cooks with the help of her husband when she cannot be seen in a strange area. Her husband is Korean-American, so she shows off her talent in cooking Korean dishes in Buot village.

As an inspirational figure, Christine Ha is the first blind contestant to participate in the US “Master Chef” competition. Sharing at the conference, Christine Ha (Vietnamese name is Ha Huyen Tran) said she was born and raised in America, her parents are both Vietnamese. Christine Ha suffers from a rare disease that causes her to gradually lose her sight over time and eventually, completely lose her sight in 2007.

“Master chef” was inspired to cook by his mother. Her mother passed away when she was 14 years old, so the Vietnamese dishes that her mother used to cook for her family to enjoy are not only delicious dishes for her, but also a whole memory of her mother.

“When I lost my eyesight, I really missed the Vietnamese food my mother used to cook, and since then I have been trying to cook my own dishes. I have to rely on other senses when cooking such as taste, smell and touch,” said Christine Ha.

Within the framework of the program, “Master Chefs” Christine Ha demonstrated her skillful cooking skills using native ingredients such as ban pork, sticky rice, sticky corn… to prepare attractive dishes. .

“Master Chef” Christine Ha and her skillful cooking skills not only tell the story of overcoming her own challenges to become the champion of the world’s most prestigious cooking competition but also inspire people. Ethnic minorities, especially Thai and Muong ethnic women, pursue entrepreneurship for a better life for themselves and future generations.

According to: Thu Trang / News Newspaper
https://baotintuc.vn/van-hoa/vua-dau-bep-christine-ha-cung-phu-nu-ban-buot-sang-tao-mon-an-tu- nguyen-lieu-ban-dia-20230918221430909.htm

At the workshop, representatives from the Institute for Tourism Development Research – Vietnam National Tourism Administration; various departments of Van Ho district; representatives from businesses, community tourism villages, community tourism cooperatives, and household tourism operators in Van Ho, Moc Chau, and Mai Chau shared and discussed the role of protecting the natural landscape at community tourism sites.

The project will research existing community-based tourism models in ethnic minority regions and use an evidence-based approach to enhance the eco-tourism village model integrated with the conservation of natural landscape ecosystems in Van Ho district, Son La province.

The project is scheduled to run from January 2024 to December 2025, with a total funding of over 4.2 billion VND.

According to Cao Nguyen / Son La Radio and Television Station: Developing Ecotourism in Ethnic Minority Communities Linked to Landscape Conservation – Son La Radio and Television Station (sonlatv.vn)

For more interviews about the project, follow here (7’50s – 9’14s): Support for Ethnic Minorities in Tourism Development – Son La Radio and Television Station (sonlatv.vn)

Since the direction to convert all rice fields to organic farming, especially focusing on developing the specialty Rau rice, the lives of the people here have completely transformed. 

Meeting all five criteria of a Heritage Agricultural Village, Buot village actively preserves its fields and natural environment while expanding tourism development. This goes hand in hand with the continuous efforts of local authorities and residents to raise awareness about innovating economic production structures while preserving the cultural identity of the ethnic communities here. In less than five years, the lives of the people in Buot village have significantly improved, creating a high economic value chain from combining agriculture with tourism.

A project aimed at “Preserving Landscape Systems in Ecotourism Development for Ethnic Minority Communities in Vietnam”, funded by the Finnish Embassy and implemented by the Northwest Development Cooperation Center (TABA), is underway in Van Ho district.

A recent workshop brought together representatives from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s Institute for Tourism Development, various Van Ho district departments, and tourism stakeholders from Van Ho, Moc Chau, and Mai Chau. Discussions centered on the critical role of natural landscape preservation in community-based tourism destinations.

The project will research existing community-based tourism models in ethnic minority regions and employ an evidence-based approach to enhance ecotourism villages that integrate natural landscape and ecosystem conservation in Van Ho district, Son La province.

Spanning from January 2024 to December 2025, the project has a total budget exceeding 4.2 billion VND.

Additional information based on the provided links:

https://sonlatv.vn/phat-trien-du-lich-sinh-thai-trong-cong-dong-dan-toc-thieu-so-gan-voi-bao-ton-canh-quan-19947.html

Watch more about the project in (7’50s – 9’14s): 

Hỗ trợ dân tộc thiểu số phát triển du lịch – Đài Phát thanh và Truyền hình Sơn La (sonlatv.vn)