Organic Tea Farming Project Benefits Poor Households in North Vietnam

The Shan tea project has brought substantial benefits to 760 poor ethnic households in the northern province of Ha Giang, said experts at a workshop held in Hanoi today. Economist Buddhika Samarasinghe, from the Making Markets Work Better for the Poor, Phase 2 project, said that under the Shan tea project, 760 households from 11 villages were trained in applying organic farming procedures and practices. In 2011, around 740 tons of tea were sold by participating farmers at a total price of VND5 billion ($240,000). The Shan tea project, implemented by Hung Cuong Trading Company in partnership with SNV, the Netherlands Development Organization, aims to establish collective farmer groups to enhance the quality of raw tea leaves and boost the productivity of tea bushes through the creation of a commercial nursery. The total project budget was over $575,000, with the Vietnam Challenge Fund contributing over $215,000. The project also received funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Economist Nguyen Thi Ngoc Minh from DFID said that the project has significantly improved the lives of poor ethnic households in Ha Giang province, particularly women. Dang Thi Niep, a farmer participating in the project, said that her seven-person family had an annual income of VND68 million ($3,264), of which VND48 million ($2,304) came from growing tea. Expert Dao Viet Dung from the ADB said the success of the project has proven that this business model is commercially viable and has great potential for replication in other regions and with other agricultural products, such as ginger. (nhandan.org.vn May 10)