STORY 1: Horticulture Training Increases Household Income

“We now have a stable income from our vegetable plot so we can buy more nutritious food for our children and save for their education,” said Ms. La Thi Nga (34) from Dong Ha Commune.

Ms. Nga continued: “Up until a few years ago, we relied on our vegetable crop to sustain our family but after several successive years of bad harvest we were forced to find an alternative livelihood as it was clear that the old seed that we were using was no longer suited to the harsh changes in weather we were seeing. We were in a very difficult situation and were forced to go out and pick wild fruit and vegetables in a nearby forest. As a result, my 15-year-old daughter, 12-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter rarely ate dairy or meat, and their meals often just consisted of rice with dry fish or salt. I worried so much as their health was deteriorating.

Story 1 La Thi Nga

Photo: “ActionAid’s horticulture programme has changed our lives,” said Nga as she shows us around her vegetable plot. 

Our situation changed when we were introduced to ActionAid. They provided training on crop production and gave us more resilient seed varieties so we could diversify our crop and grow vegetables like cabbage mixed with lettuce, pumpkin with maize and cucumber mixed with soybean. They also taught us to cover our garden with plastic nylon to keep the vegetables protected during winter. We started producing and using organic fertilizer also and this gave us incredible results. We harvest four times a year now and we have increased our earnings to 20,000,000 Dong (about 750 EUR) a year. We are very happy to have a steady income now and my children are very grateful for the improvement in their meals.”

Ms. Nga and her family is one of 20 households who participated in ActionAid’s Horticultural Programme which supports families to grow and harvest crops in reduced cycles and encourages the introduction of crops which can withstand harsh weather. Each household now harvests four times a year instead of one and as the crop is protected in the winter and fertilized with organic compost, their yield is higher and farmers are able to sell their produce to a wholesaler or directly in the market at a higher price than before. The programme has been a tremendous success and 100% of households who participated have doubled their income within 2 years. As a result, the programme has been expanded to encompass a further 40 households and it’s expected to benefit over 250 adults and children in Dong Ha Commune over the coming year.

STORY 2: Goat Rearing Programme Increases Income in Quan Ba

Located in a high and rocky mountain area, Tung Vai village is one of the poorest areas of Quan Ba. The land is dry and sloping, which makes it unfavorable for cultivation. Despite the hard work of local people, their income remains very low.

To assist in finding ways to improve livelihoods, ActionAid piloted a goat-raising project with 13 households. Each household was supported with a low interest loan of 4,000,000 VND (EUR 140) to buy the goats. Training was given to help them select suitable food for the goats, how to breed the goats, and how to deal with common diseases.

After one year, the offspring were sold earning each household an average of 8,000,000 VND (EUR 285). This project was so successful that another 40 households have now started raising goats too, using the interest paid back from the first group.

Lo Thi Kim (21), one of the members of the pilot goat-rearing programme describes her experience, “We borrowed a low interest loan from ActionAid and used it to buy 3 goats. We made stables for the goats as instructed and let them graze near our home.

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Photo: “Rearing goats bring us hope for our future,” says Mrs Kim pictured feeding the goat with her husband.

The goats grew quickly and after one year, we had 12 goats in total. By the end of this month we will have sold 7 for 8,000,000 VND (EUR 40 each). With this money I can now repair our dilapidated house and buy more food for the family.

I am now helping other people to start raising goats, by teaching them what I have learnt. I hope more and more households will seize the opportunity of benefitting from ActionAid’s work.”

STORY 3: A Fish Farming Project Increases Income for 15 Families

“We are among one of the poorest households in our village but we have been able to improve our situation this year after receiving an interest free loan from ActionAid – it has changed our lives,” explained Vang Thi My (45).

She continues; “I live with my husband and five daughters in a very old and decrepit house in the rural village of Dong Ha. Like many poor families here, every day we have to get up very early to work hard in the fields but our income is never enough to feed all of our children. It’s hard to know what to do sometimes to improve our situation. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter how hard we work- we just never have enough money for basic things. It’s heart-breaking. Our house for example is very old and is made from wood. I remember last year, before I got help from ActionAid, the tile roof was broken and it leaked when it rained. We had one very heavy rain last year that destroyed my daughters’ school books and we couldn’t afford to fix the leak, or replace their books. That particular moment nearly me on the verge of tears. As a parent you always try so hard for your children but then when you reach a point where you can’t provide them with even the basic things, well it’s difficult to keep going.

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There seemed to be no end to our struggle until one day ActionAid invited myself and 15 other parents to attend a training course on how to farm fish. After the course, each household received an interest free loan of VND 3,680,000 [EUR 130] to buy small fish to breed. We put these into the river and used a cage to block off a section. After a year of feeding them, my husband and I sold half of the fish in the market and made a profit of VND 10,000,000 [EUR 350]. We used that money to repair the roof this year and we also used the money to buy my daughters some new school books. I was so happy to see their little faces light up when I gave them their books. This semester they are doing very well at school. Thank you so much for helping to make this change in our lives.”

Among many other achievements this year, your child sponsorship has meant ActionAid could provide 15 families, like My’s, with an interest free loan. These families now have an additional stable income from fish farming to provide them with the means to ensure their children have a brighter future.  

STORY 4: The brocade traditional weaving model – Improving income for poorer households

In Quan Ba, the livelihood of local people is mainly rice and maize cultivation. However, due to harsh weather, the harvest is just enough food and some basic supplies. Annual income per household is only about €300. The minimum cost for school materials per child per year is about €40 and many households can’t afford it. As the result, about 8% children aged from 11 to 15 drop off school every year.

“Our family survive on a hectare of land. We worked all day in the field but we only earned about VND 9,000,000 (€320) per annum so sometimes it was not enough to buy foods for the 7 members of our family. I was sad when 2 out of my 5 children had to stay at home because we could not afford their books, uniforms or school materials. I thought of making extra income from our traditional weaving that I was taught when I was young but we did not have capital to start”, says Mrs. Quay (40)

In order to help people to make additional income in free time, in 2012 ActionAid has helped with non-interest funding for 17 people from ethnic communities in Quan Ba district to buy weaving looms and threads. A series of training courses on weaving skills and new patterns for products were provided. In addition, ActionAid in partnership with the cultural house of Quan Ba supported people to display products and sell to the tourists.

Mrs. Quay continues: “we are so happy to receive support from ActionAid, within 6 months many products were sold such as bags, scarves, wallets and clothes. Our annual income has increased from €320 to €395. We now have more income to buy books, clothes and school materials for our children to go to school. I will definitely encourage my relatives, friends and neighbours to join the brocade weaving model in order to have more income. Thank you very much for your help.”

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