Work together with farmers and avoid poverty

Taking us to an apricot orchard in Thu Duc City (HCMC), Mr. Nguyen Phuong Tung said that thanks to preferential interest rate loans and interest-free loans from the Ward Farmers Association, his family has been able to sustainably grow crops. Have helped. Recognized as escaping poverty.

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His house is in Linh Dong Ward, but Mr. Tung has to go to Tam Phu Ward (Thu Duc City) to rent land for an apricot orchard. He has done the same work with his father since childhood. But due to irregular weather the crop suddenly fell, the cotton did not bloom during Tet time, then people took back the land they had lent and had to sell it, causing the whole family to struggle and fall into poverty.

Thanks to the credit of the Ward Farmers Association, he borrowed 20 million VND to buy fertilizer for garden care. Apart from growing it himself, Mr Tung’s garden also takes care of apricot blossoms for families for a few days after Tet. “With a small capital, 80% of the apricot trees in my garden are cared for and nurtured for customers. Thanks to that loan, I hope in the short and long term that my life will be full of apricot flowers. Kind of bright, Mr Tung smiled.

The most pleasant days to grow apricots are mid-December. Sometimes they have to hire 20 seasonal workers to pluck the leaves so that they can bloom at Tet time. Tung stays in the garden almost the whole day. In addition to helping with the housework, his wife also takes advantage of the extra garden to prune branches and rake hay.

These days, the couple has had to hire extra pickers because it is a leap year and not apricot blossom season, making the job of care more difficult. “It largely depends on the weather, but I also make careful calculations because if the cultivation is not done right, if the plant does not bloom in time for Tet, it will be considered a loss of the whole year’s hard work,” Mr Tung said. Said.

Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Quy Phuong, chairperson of the Farmers’ Association of Linh Dong Ward (Thu Duc City), said that in addition to Mr. Tung’s family, there were many other families who had received loans to escape poverty. “Farmers’ union support is only partly because it is each household’s production and business efforts that helps them escape poverty and live better lives” – Ms. Phuong said.

9/10 branches no longer have poor members

Nguyen Thanh Xuan, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers Association, said that in 2019, the association had 728 branches with 441 households and about 2,750 poor and near-poor members by the standards of Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, the City Farmers Association chose the project to “mentor and support 10 branches to create points where there are no poor member families according to city standards to replicate”.

The branches have surveyed members’ needs in this area to find support solutions with the motto “Using the power of people to care for people”. So far, 81/83 families who are members of the above 10 branches have escaped poverty due to the efforts and willpower of upliftment of the families. The Ho Chi Minh City Sustainable Poverty Reduction Committee evaluated the results and found that 9/10 association branches had completed the work of supporting farmer members to escape poverty.

From the results of this project, in 2020 the Farmers’ Union of Thu Duc City and Districts, Districts and Ward 28 (Binh Thanh District) replicated this project with 119 branches in 68 wards and communities with poor and near-poor households. The support campaign continued in the city. Till date, 261/354 farmer member families have received assistance from the above branches to do business and escape from poverty.

The family of farmer Nguyen Kim Thanh (Binh My Commune, Quy Chi District), one of the families escaping poverty since 2019, said that thanks to the support of the Commune Farmers Association, they received 50 million VND to expand their dairy. Were able to borrow. cluster. The life of the entire family has become more stable. Mr. Than’s wife is a textile worker. When your children go to college, the Commune Farmers Association enables them to borrow money to go to school and gives them a health insurance card.

“My family has escaped poverty for many years. My husband and I have worked hard to support our children’s education so that they have jobs and a more stable life in the future,” Mr Thanh said.

To Van Tay, chairman of the farmers’ association of Binh My commune (Cầu Chi District), said the associations have offered to help difficult farmer member households access loans with preferential interest rates. Additionally, support the transfer of science and technology, agricultural techniques, support quality plants and animals, support vocational training, take care of social security, provide scholarships and holiday gifts. During Tet, build or repair charity houses for families.

Farmer unions also coordinate with local authorities at all levels to support poor and near-poor households by developing specific roadmaps and solutions suitable for each household’s actual conditions.