Women in the Mekong Delta start-up to adapt to climate change

Photo caption — Sokfarm staff introduce how to massage coconut flowers to collect nectar. Photo: Thanh Hoa/VNA

Along with the increasing domestic and foreign consumption trend of preferring safe, environmentally friendly products, it has opened up great opportunities for women in the Mekong Delta to start businesses from models of sustainable adaptation to climate change, organic agriculture , circular agriculture, and green agriculture associated with local specialties.

Opportunities "bloom" from challenges

“To survive, we must adapt. From adaptation, many good and creative models have been formed and become symbols of the ability to adapt to nature and climate change of women in the Mekong Delta” - That is the comment of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuong Linh, Deputy Director of VCCI Mekong Delta.

Women in the Mekong Delta are increasingly asserting their initiative in finding solutions to adapt to climate change through entrepreneurship. They have become active subjects in changing production and business models to suit the new situation. Many women have proactively applied water-saving farming models, switching to more salt- and drought-resistant crops and livestock such as shrimp-rice models, growing lotus and vegetables on saline soil, etc.

With ingenuity and creativity, women in the Mekong Delta have transformed locally available products into value-added products, while contributing to preserving and promoting traditional culture such as: Products from coconut, bamboo, water hyacinth, palmyra palm, regional specialties (crab crab, coconut nectar, palm sugar...)...

A vivid proof is the tea product made from soursop (thorny). Previously, the old soursop variety could not withstand salty, alum soil, and the quality and yield of the fruit were not high... Farmers found a solution, taking the root of the custard apple tree (a wild tree, living in alum soil conditions, saline) to graft with soursop trees, producing high fruit yield and quality. That is how farmers respond to climate change. From soursop, many people, including Ms. Nguyen Kim Nhien (Director of Kim Nhien Soursop Tea Processing Company, Can Tho city), have built the Kim Nhien soursop tea brand, which has been certified with 4 stars by OCOP and is known by many people.

The Sokfarm branded coconut nectar product is also a start-up model that adapts to climate change. When drought and salinity occur, coconuts are affected in terms of yield and quality (fruits shrink and young fruits fall off). From her own concerns, Ms. Thach Thi Chal Thi, Director of Tra Vinh Farm Limited Liability Company (Sokfarm), Vinh Long province, chose to take nectar from coconut flowers to process a number of products (coconut nectar, coconut flower soy sauce, coconut flower sugar, etc.), increasing the value of coconuts by 3 times compared to selling coconuts to the market. That is also the way women start-ups join hands with coconut farmers to adapt and "live well" against the effects of weather, drought and salinity.

In recent years, startup competitions have named many startup models owned by women in the Mekong Delta. Typically, the startup model from traditional rattan and bamboo products was painstakingly built by Ms. Truong Thi Bach Thuy (Director of Thuy Tuyet Rattan and Bamboo Cooperative, Can Tho City); Ms. Chau Ngoc Dieu (General Director of Palmania Joint Stock Company, An Giang Province), the first female entrepreneur to bring palm sugar from An Giang "across the ocean" to international markets; or Ms. Thach Thi Chal Thi (Director of Tra Vinh Farm Limited Liability Company, Vinh Long Province) is famous for products made from coconut nectar under the Sokfarm brand, which not only "make waves" in the domestic market but are also present on European shelves...

“Everyone faces difficulties at the beginning of starting a business, but they try to find ways to overcome them. Only by doing will they know there is a chance of success, if they don’t do, there is no chance”, that is how Ms. Truong Thi Bach Thuy, Director of Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative in particular and women in the South in general, overcome difficulties to achieve “sweet fruits” on the path of starting a business.

Spreading the spirit of "green" entrepreneurship

Many conferences and seminars of different sizes and scopes all have the same affirmation that, through start-up activities, women play an important role in spreading the message of climate change adaptation and response solutions, encouraging the community to join in action...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh, President of the Women's Union of Can Tho City, emphasized that the entrepreneurial spirit has spread strongly in the women's community, creating a network of women helping each other to develop a sustainable economy. In particular, many entrepreneurial models are also associated with traditional products and local strengths such as local cuisine, clean agricultural production models, environmentally friendly organic agriculture, traditional products, craft villages, community tourism, etc., contributing to preserving cultural values while promoting rural economic development and building new rural areas.

“It can be said that successful startups not only create personal achievements for each woman but also make practical contributions to the overall development of the community,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh.

After the merger, the Ca Mau Provincial Women's Union currently has 327,000 members, accounting for 78.5% of women in the province. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thuy, Vice President of the Ca Mau Provincial Women's Union, said that through start-up activities and the development of collective economic models, many cooperatives and cooperative groups are now operating effectively, both creating jobs for members and creating jobs for many local female workers such as: Dam Doi crab cooperative, handicraft processing group, sewing, net weaving - mending, crab weaving, making fish cakes, drying, making fish sauce... bringing income for each local worker from 2.5 - 7 million VND/month.

Women are not only victims of climate change but also active agents, pioneers in finding and implementing solutions to respond, adapt and rise up; at the same time, improving material life, creating sustainable livelihoods for people in the context of climate change.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh once stated: “Women starting businesses and promoting local resources not only promote start-ups but also preserve traditional culture, create products and services that increase the value of local resources, minimize environmental impacts, and bring job opportunities to local communities.”

The resilience, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of women in the Mekong Delta not only help them overcome difficulties but also make important contributions to the sustainable development of this land in the context of increasingly severe climate change.

Lesson 3: Unique marks

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/phu-nu-dong-bang-song-cuu-long-khoi-nghiep-thich-ung-bien-doi-khi-haus-bai-2-co-hoi-tu-thach-thuc-20251008084901140.htm