Supporting Women in Northern Vietnam
Mar 11, 2020
Ly Thị Kieu comes from the Dao ethnic minority in Northern Vietnam. She has been a cassia farmer for many years and had been depending on several middlemen in the past to sell her cassia. Being far away from the main trading town meant she was often shortchanged on prices and never imagined getting premiums of high quality and sustainably sourced products.
When the Olam Spices agriculture team introduced the organic project to her, she was a bit skeptical. However, after learning more about the program and discussing the benefits, she eventually joined us. In the past year, she has attended several training programs conducted by our field staff that focused on organic farming practices and crop development.
The Olam Spices team took an active role in helping her with the technical requirements of crop documentation. With support from our team, Ms. Kieu has been able to transition smoothly into an organic agricultural project and in the process, increase her income.
As of August 2020, she has sold about 100MT of fresh organic cassia to Olam and has received a good premium for her produce. This increased income has helped give her family a much better living standard. Now that she is comfortable working with us, she plans to increase her planting area for the Olam Organic Project in 2021. Ms. Kieu also hopes to share the benefits of the project with other farmers, especially women, to have a better life like her.
