Transforming water hyacinth into handicrafts, escaping poverty

Through the introduction of the Women's Union of Co Do district, Can Tho city, the reporter for Vietnam Agriculture News started the day travelling to find the Craft Village Cooperative, where many Khmer women "practice" weaving water hyacinth baskets.

After waiting for about 30 minutes, Ms Son Thi Lang, Director of the Craft Village Cooperative in Thoi Hoa B hamlet, Co Do town, arrived with a shipment of goods purchased from cooperative members. Stowing the water hyacinth baskets in storage, Ms. Lang immediately began the story about the process of establishing the cooperative.

Originally a farmer with no stable career and failed livestock farming, Ms. Lang participated in a knitting training course organized by the Women's Union of Co Do Town for ethnic minority women. Being proficient in her craft and connecting with businesses to order products, Ms Lang decided to establish a Craft Village Cooperative with 3 main products: fermented glutinous rice, pickles and handicrafts woven from water hyacinth. Among them, products woven from water hyacinths have been recognized to meet 4-star OCOP standards in early 2023.

From here, the opportunity opened for Ms. Lang to become a "classroom" teacher teaching people how to knit water hyacinth products to hundreds of local women. This job requires perseverance and hard work in choosing water hyacinth materials, drying them, and preserving them. Knitting time also takes from 1 - 3 days, depending on the type of product.

In addition to Co Do town, the economic development movement from water hyacinth weaving has spread to many neighbouring communes, with 1 - 2 groups/commune. Therefore, Ms Lang's work also increased. In addition to providing vocational guidance to women, she is also responsible for purchasing products and transporting goods to businesses.

The students participating in vocational training classes are very special, there are aunts and uncles over 50 years old who take advantage of their leisure time to participate in vocational training to earn extra income. On average, every day a skilled worker can weave a set of 3 baskets, bringing in an income of VND 150,000.

Currently, the Craft Village Cooperative has 38 members participating in the water hyacinth weaving model, in addition, the cooperative has linked over 100 women throughout the district, supplying about 3,000 products/month to businesses.

To proactively source raw materials, Ms. Lang also encouraged students to take advantage of water hyacinths available on local rivers and canals, instead of having to buy them like before. At the same time, instruct everyone how to cut and dry them to ensure they keep the water hyacinth stems beautiful and not turn black.

In the early years of establishment, members of the Craft Village Cooperative were mostly poor or near-poor households and had to work far from home. Currently, in addition to agricultural production as their main job, women also earn VND 3.5 - 4 million/month by weaving water hyacinths.

In addition, through the Women's Support Fund, loan programs for poor and near-poor households, job creation... Women have access to many sources of support, have the conditions to invest in economic development, overcome difficulties, have a stable and prosperous life, and no longer have households in difficult situations.

Ms. Lang confided that in the early years, it was very difficult to mobilize women to learn the trade, the number of participants was not much, because they thought that this profession was not "profitable". However, good models spread quickly, and after a while, from wanting to have a job to make money, many women turn to passion and desire to stick with it for a long time. A person who goes to the model can guide the whole family to do the same, and the value will increase.

“The first year the class opened, only about 20 women participated. It gradually developed and income increased. Women's lives are also better. If you take advantage of your free time to work, your productivity will be high", Ms. Lang enthusiastically shared.

In addition to processed products for businesses, the Craft Village Cooperative also produces products such as hats, handbags, decorative lanterns, and flower vase covers... to supply markets inside and outside Can Tho City, creating diversity for water hyacinth weaving products.

Besides, the women also developed more water hyacinth melon and anthurium melon products. However, the method and scale of production are still spontaneous and small.

Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Tham, Deputy Head of the Mass Mobilization Committee of the Red Flag District Party Committee, assessed that the water hyacinth weaving model not only promotes the effectiveness of career transformation but also helps local women improve their lives.

Water hyacinth is a self-growing plant that does not require planting or care, and is especially well adapted to climate change conditions. In fact, in the Mekong Delta in general and Can Tho City in particular, water hyacinth grows strongly, obstructing the flow. From the economic value that water hyacinth brings, if infrastructure, science and technology are invested in production to increase product value, connect output for water hyacinth weaving products, and maximize exploitation, this plant will create a stable economic source for farmers.

Co Do district has over 30 thousand households, of which more than 7% are Khmer ethnic people, concentrated mainly in Thoi Xuan, Thoi Dong, Dong Thang communes and Co Do town. Most Khmer ethnic people lack productive land, and the rate of poor and near-poor households is still high.