Bringing knowledge back to the countryside opens the way to sustainable poverty alleviation.

HAIPHONG: Leaving the city for the countryside, young man Bui Van Duy, Director of Au Viet Fam Cooperative, is determined to rise up and become wealthy on his homeland's soil.

Leaving a high-paying job to return to my hometown and start a business.

In the lush green gardens of the Au Viet Fam Cooperative, covering over 7 hectares in Phu Thai commune, Hai Phong city, various crops and flowers are grown, with many plants ready for harvest. We were greeted by Mr. Bui Van Duy, Director of the Au Viet Fam Cooperative. Not only was the large-scale, modern production space impressive, but it also clearly demonstrated a significant shift in the local people's mindset regarding agriculture and their approach to information, science, and technology.

Duy shared: "As a young person with many dreams and ambitions, after graduating with a degree in finance, I worked many jobs earning 15-20 million VND per month. Every time I returned to my hometown, I saw more and more fields being left fallow and unproductive because people were going away to work in factories and companies. Older people (over 60 years old) in the village were unemployed, and their families were in difficult circumstances, classified as poor households. Besides the income poverty, I also noticed another reality: people lacked information about the market, production techniques, and government support policies, leading to hesitation and reluctance to invest or change their farming models."

During my time studying and working in big cities, I realized that clean agricultural products, vegetables, and fruits are essential to people's lives. The demand is high, but in my hometown, people still produce in a fragmented way, lacking direction and information about market outlets. This prompted me to think about returning to my hometown, not only to develop clean agriculture but also to help people change their approach to information, raise awareness, and gradually escape poverty in a sustainable way.

Harvesting cucumbers at Au Viet Fam Cooperative. Photo: Pham Hoang.

Based on that idea, Mr. Duy invested in and established the Au Viet Fam Cooperative, with the project's goal of "strengthening the value chain of safe crops in the northern provinces" and creating jobs for the elderly to have stable incomes and escape poverty sustainably. In 2020, information from the local government of Kim Thanh district, Hai Duong province (formerly) encouraged people with the means to switch to concentrated agricultural models and grow clean agricultural products. The government committed to supporting the construction of greenhouses and net houses, assisting with fertilizers, and transferring scientific and technical knowledge to households in the initial period.

The project, which had been brewing for a while, became the driving force behind Duy and eight other family members establishing the Au Viet Fam Cooperative. Initially, the Au Viet Fam Cooperative rented 3,000 square meters of abandoned land from local residents to build greenhouses and cultivate clean agricultural products, receiving 120 million VND in government support for constructing the structures. Alongside investing in infrastructure, Duy focused on disseminating knowledge and providing technical guidance to members and local workers, helping everyone understand the production process, VietGAP and OCOP standards, as well as grasping market information.

Au Viet Fam Cooperative currently has over 7 hectares of cultivated land and 10,000 square meters of greenhouses and net houses. Photo: Pham Hoang.

Since its initial success, Au Viet Fam Cooperative has gradually expanded by purchasing and leasing land from local people. Its cultivated area now exceeds 7 hectares, with 10,000 square meters of greenhouses and net houses for growing various agricultural products: cantaloupe, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., year-round, depending on the season. In addition, Au Viet Fam Cooperative also grows apples, guavas, grapes, etc., outdoors, yielding high-quality products that have been recognized as OCOP 3-star and VietGap certified. Publicly disclosing information about production processes and product quality not only builds consumer trust but also helps farmers improve their business practices in a systematic and transparent manner.

The land rewards those who work hard.

Starting with just 3,000 square meters and diligent labor, Au Viet Fam Cooperative has grown into a lush, fruit-laden orchard of over 7 hectares, generating billions of dong in profit each year.

"To ensure stable and high-quality products for the market, we always uphold our integrity, guaranteeing the correct care, fertilization, and spraying of biological pesticides," Duy shared while giving us a tour of the greenhouses and net houses. It is known that the cooperative's agricultural products are currently sold through contracts with other cooperatives, supermarkets, and wholesale markets at stable prices, so there are no concerns about market access.

The Au Viet Fam cooperative has innovated by manually catching insects and bugs using sticky paper of various colors. Photo: Pham Hoang.

Inside the greenhouses and net houses, we were truly amazed by the innovative method used by Au Viet Fam Cooperative to manually catch insects by hanging sticky green and red papers in various attractive colors to lure them. As a result, the area is always clean, virtually eliminating all pests that cause diseases in crops. This is also a key factor contributing to the trust placed in Au Viet Fam Cooperative's agricultural products, ensuring they are always in high demand.

Therefore, with over 7 hectares of land planted with various agricultural products, the Au Viet Fam Cooperative annually produces more than enough products to meet market demand, generating profits of 400-500 million VND per year per hectare. This provides a stable income for its members and 10 regular workers (earning 6-8 million VND per person per month). The workers employed by the Au Viet Fam Cooperative are all 60 years old and above, due to the light nature of their work, which involves only pruning branches and picking fruit.

All workers at Au Viet Fam Cooperative are 60 years old or older, and 100% are local residents. Photo: Pham Hoang.

Ms. Tran Thi Lan (born in 1957), who works for the Au Viet Fam Cooperative, shared: "My family is in difficult circumstances, classified as a poor household. Due to our age and lack of stable employment, my husband and I only have income from over 2 acres of rice fields and raising a few chickens and ducks."

Since joining the Au Viet Fam Cooperative to care for plants and clean, Mrs. Lan has received a monthly salary of 8 million VND, which has transformed her family's life and lifted them out of poverty in the village. According to Mrs. Lan, the work at the cooperative is stable and provides opportunities for elderly people to earn extra income, bringing joy from labor as all the workers are farmers closely connected to the land and fields.

Au Viet Fam Cooperative grows many kinds of fruit trees. Photo: Pham Hoang.

Speaking with reporters, Ms. Tran Thi Xuan, Deputy Head of the Economic , Infrastructure and Urban Planning Department of Phu Thai commune, said: Previously, the former Kim Thanh district regularly promoted and encouraged people to implement economic transformation models to alleviate poverty. Specifically, the government would support each household that built a greenhouse of 500 square meters or more with a subsidy of 50,000 VND/square meter from the local budget. In addition, the former Hai Duong province provided a subsidy of 100,000 VND/square meter and regularly sent officials to provide guidance on science and technology. The intensified dissemination of information helped people understand the policies and confidently participate in new models.

The Au Viet Fam Cooperative is a prime example of local economic development, contributing to the creation of regular jobs for 10-12 workers with stable incomes of 6-8 million VND per month. Many workers from impoverished households have escaped poverty. Through the model of the Au Viet Fam Cooperative, Phu Thai commune has used it to promote and encourage other households to visit, learn, and follow suit.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/mang-tri-thuc-ve-que-mo-loi-thoat-ngheo-ben-vung-d788418.html