The “key” to a sustainable rural economy

Thanh Hoa TCVM staff consulted on the benefits and significance of "green credit" to Ms. Pham Thi Dung in Cam Thuy commune.

When "green capital" touches the fields

Having been a loyal customer of Thanh Hoa Microfinance Organization since 2017, and having gone through many loan cycles, Ms. Pham Thi Dung (54 years old, Dai Quang village, Cam Thuy commune) understands and feels very clearly the benefits and values that micro-loans bring to her family and the community.

She still remembers the feeling of the first time she signed the micro-loan application with a limit of 30 million VND. At that time, her family mainly worked in blacksmithing and small-scale trading of leaves and medicinal plants. With the loan capital, she boldly invested in expanding the scale, trading of leaves and medicinal plants and developing the acacia plantation model. Ms. Dung said: “The more I expand and delve into the field of medicinal plant development, the more I see its potential, advantages and significance, especially for mountainous areas. It not only creates sustainable livelihoods, helps people have more income from growing and exploiting medicinal plants, but also reduces pressure on forests, minimizes deforestation for farming land, prevents soil erosion, protects water resources, and protects our living environment”.

From those observations, after much consideration, she and her family decided to change direction, wholeheartedly investing in and developing a model of growing and exploiting medicinal plants in the direction of commodities. To have more financial "support", as soon as Thanh Hoa TCVM credit officers consulted and introduced green credit products, she did not hesitate to participate immediately. After much effort and struggle, her family has now built a medicinal plant growing model with an area of about 1 hectare, bringing quite good economic efficiency. The medicinal plants grown are mainly xạ đen, cà gai leo, giảo cổ lam, Xương ngưu... Her family's facility for processing teas from medicinal plants such as whole-leaf nam tea, herbal beauty tea... is quite large in the region, creating jobs for 20 regular workers with a salary of 4.5 - 6 million VND/person/month.

Not stopping there, she also actively propagated and mobilized many people around to take advantage of the forest land area to convert to growing medicinal plants. Up to now, the whole Dai Quang village has about 10 households growing and exploiting medicinal plants with a total area of about 10 hectares. Ms. Dung supports households with seedlings and consumes products. With this model, many households have an income of hundreds of millions of VND/year.

Currently, Ms. Dung has borrowed capital from Thanh Hoa Microfinance Organization for the 4th cycle. “What impressed me most is not only the simple and convenient loan form for customers, the enthusiastic and responsible attitude of the staff, but the organization also created conditions for me to participate in many training courses, coaching, consulting on choosing sustainable models, learning how to manage cash flow, and clean farming techniques, connecting with financial experts for in-depth support, and being sponsored with seed capital packages to continue developing my work. That is rare,” she said.

In Thanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa Microfinance Institution has pioneered the implementation of the "green credit" product. As of July 31, 2025, 481 customers have accessed the "green" capital flow of Thanh Hoa Microfinance Institution with convenient procedures, quick capital disbursement and continuous support from credit officers. The total amount of capital disbursed reached 21 billion VND. They not only received loans, but also accompanied in cultivating and nurturing a sustainable economic development model right from the first steps.

Green from capital, green to the future

More than just providing capital, the micro “green credit” product is a financial solution aimed at the harmonious development of economy - environment - people. This source of capital is aimed at customers who are households, small traders, micro enterprises applying clean agricultural models, renewable energy, smart waste management; individuals in difficult areas but have the desire to change their production and business thinking towards being friendly to nature, saving resources, reducing emissions...

"Green credit" is understood as a financial tool to promote projects and activities to protect and improve environmental quality, effectively use natural resources, respond to climate change, restore natural ecosystems, conserve nature and biodiversity... "Green credit" includes many forms and products such as: Green Loan, Green Bond; Environmental Preferential Credit; Recycling loan program; Green Investment Fund.

In fact, many localities have developed rapidly thanks to agricultural and aquatic activities, but only a few years later, the land has gradually become degraded, the living environment has become polluted, and diseases have spread... This requires rural economic development to be closely linked to environmentally friendly solutions. From these concerns, the "green credit" product of Thanh Hoa Microfinance Organization is designed with a number of fields and production activities that are prioritized for loans such as organic vegetable and fruit production, without the use of chemical pesticides; aquaculture according to a circular, high-tech model; using solar energy in drying agricultural products, pumping irrigation; raising livestock with biological products, without antibiotics; producing handicrafts from recycled materials, environmentally friendly...

The initial results of micro “green credit” are not in the statistics of outstanding loans and the number of borrowers, but in the change in people’s thinking, awareness and way of doing things to achieve positive changes, reap and contribute to creating sustainable values not only for themselves but also for the community and society. That can only be achieved when the lender understands the community, listens, shares risks and guides wholeheartedly as a companion. That is also the goal and mission that Thanh Hoa Microfinance Organization has been determined and persistent in for over 30 years.

Article and photos: Minh Anh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/chia-khoa-mo-loi-cho-kinh-te-nong-thon-ben-vung-258604.htm