VIETNAM – Women farmers turn medicinal plants into livelihoods

In Cu Nam commune in Quang Binh Province, Nguyen Thi Giang, Director of the Cu Nam Medicinal Plants Production and Agricultural Business Cooperative, has become a driving force for change in her community. Giang’s vision was simple but powerful: create sustainable livelihoods for women farmers so they would no longer have to leave their families behind in search of work.

“Women here often do not have stable jobs or stable incomes,” she explains. “Many have to leave their hometowns and move to big cities to earn money for their children’s education. Some even go abroad for years, leaving their young children with grandparents.”

Life for farmers in central Vietnam is far from easy. The region frequently experiences droughts and floods, making traditional farming difficult and unreliable. With guidance from the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VNFU) and support from APFP-FO4A, Giang and cooperative members began transforming their approach to agriculture.

Instead of relying on conventional crops, they shifted to cultivating local medicinal plants, which are already well adapted to the local soil and climate, and have strong market demand. At the same time, they introduced cleaner and more sustainable farming practices.

“Because the farmers’ plots are scattered and small, it is difficult to obtain organic certification,” Giang explains. “So we adopted nature-friendly cultivation methods and guided farmers to follow clean farming techniques to ensure safe raw materials.”

With improved farming techniques and a new production strategy, the cooperative members gradually turned previously barren land into thriving green fields of medicinal plants. The cooperative also established raw material areas, allowing farmers to harvest in larger quantities rather than small, scattered batches.

Instead of selling raw materials directly to traders, the harvest is now processed at the cooperative’s medicinal tea production workshop. Through APFP-FO4A support, the cooperative received key equipment, including a raw material mixer and a tea-bag packaging machine, enabling them to build a more efficient and integrated production line.

The Asia-Pacific Farmers’ Program (APFP) – Farmers’ Organizations for Asia (FO4A) is implemented by the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC), with funding from the European Union (EU) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The program aims to strengthen the capacities of farmers’ organizations to provide economic services, advocate for enabling policies, and promote sustainable livelihoods for small-scale family farmers across Asia.

“With this tea packaging machine, only one worker can do the work that used to require nine or ten people packing tea by hand,” Giang says. “In the past, mixing and processing tea manually was exhausting and harmful to health. Now women can handle lighter tasks with automatic machines. It saves a lot of labor and allows us to produce 30 to 40 kilograms per day.”

The new equipment has not only improved productivity but also improved the quality of life. Members no longer need to work late hours to meet orders. Instead, they can complete their work during regular hours and spend more time with their families.

After more than two years of receiving technical guidance and equipment support from APFP-FO4A, the women of the Cu Nam Medicinal Plants Cooperative have achieved remarkable progress. Many members who once migrated for work now earn stable monthly incomes close to home.
The cooperative itself has grown steadily, expanding to 10 official members and 42 associate members, creating new opportunities for women farmers in the community.

For members like Duong Thi Lien Huong, the change has been life-changing.
“Working here, I now have a regular job every month and can increase my family’s income. Our lives have improved.”