Tiktoker supports farmers in selling: A win-win situation

Helping farmers sell products on their personal social media accounts, Tiktoker receives love from followers, making a significant contribution to the ethnic minority community. When it comes to social media accounts that support farmers in the highlands, Mai Tay Bac channel is a typical example. The channel owner is a woman with a strong mountain and forest character, but few people know that she is not from the Northwest. However, Pham Thi Phuong Mai is very knowledgeable about the mountains and forests, customs and practices of ethnic minorities in the highlands of Bat Xat (Lao Cai). Mai has made short videos to livestream selling agricultural products to people. The young girl also plans to build a clean agricultural model in the future associated with tourism development, helping people gradually develop the economy , eliminate hunger, reduce poverty and get rich on their homeland. Passionate about telling stories about the mountains and forests, Pham Thi Phuong Mai was born and raised in Hai Duong , graduated from Vietnam Studies, majoring in Tour Guide. Then she married a Northwestern man in Trinh Tuong commune, Bat Xat district (Lao Cai). Previously, Mai did volunteer work with her husband, helping people in the highlands with difficult circumstances. This job created conditions for her to travel to villages and meet people of different ethnic groups. “I realized that people in the highlands have a lot of delicious and clean agricultural products, but the people always work hard, grow good agricultural products but have no output. They always depend on and wait for traders to come and buy. When the harvest is good, the price drops, when the price is good, the harvest fails. Or people only bring agricultural products to traditional markets, sell to people in the area, the amount sold is very small. Meanwhile, I realized that people's demand for clean agricultural products is increasing," Mai said. In 2021, the 9X girl witnessed the scene of local people carrying ginseng from the fields to the main road, then traders did not come to buy, causing the ginseng to rot. In the end, the people were left empty-handed, a year of hard work without a single penny of income. That situation urged Phuong Mai to do something to bring local agricultural products to consumers across the country. From there, people in Bat Xat district will have a stable agricultural output, better income... With that determination, from November 2022, when the locality entered the ginseng harvest season, the Mai Tay Bac Tiktok channel and Mai Tay Bac Facebook Fanpage were born. Through her work, Mai reaches out to viewers across the country to promote agricultural products, the lives of local people, and at the same time introduces local agricultural products, sells agricultural products through the Mai Tay Bac Tiktok channel with 542,800 Followers and the Mai Tay Bac Facebook Fanpage with 98,000 Followers. Currently, Phuong Mai's Tiktok channel has reached more than 8.2 million likes, more than 542,800 followers. Every video she releases becomes a trend and attracts the attention of viewers. Most of them leave comments sharing that they feel satisfied with the footage of processing black pig, pickled water spinach... or simply introducing the cinnamon growing profession of ethnic people. Through that, they somewhat understand more about the life, cultural customs of Bat Xat people in particular and Lao Cai in general.

With a pretty face, bright white skin and a sincere, friendly, but very charming and touching way of speaking, Mai's self-made short videos have attracted a lot of viewers. With instructions on how to cook, on the philosophy of life, introducing local agricultural products, on the highland market... In particular, viewers can also "feast their eyes" on delicious dishes made by the channel owner himself such as: videos introducing wild honey, how to prepare black pig, pickled bamboo shoots, pickled water spinach, picking and eating wild fruits, young jackfruit stewed with meat, grilled fish with garlic and chili, or introducing the cinnamon growing profession of the people, videos about the sound of the mountains and forests with ethnic dishes... to help viewers visualize the beauty as well as the cultural customs of the people of the highlands of Lao Cai . In addition to farming and creating content, the girl from Hai Duong also proactively connects with cooperatives with OCOP products (the abbreviation of the phrase "One Commune One Product" means "Each commune has one product" - PV) to bring quality products to social networks to expand the consumption market. Not stopping there, Phuong Mai often participates in instructing local youth how to sell products online as well as making videos to promote products. She also spends time training people on basic filming and editing skills... Sharing about this issue, the 9X said that she herself does not have any secrets to making videos that attract viewers. She only focuses on authenticity, not embellishment and floweriness. "Every time I release a video, viewers support and order agricultural products. Since then, I have helped many households stabilize their economy," Phuong Mai said. Digital farmers Currently, wild honey, black pork fat, ginseng, vermicelli, and mustard seeds are the products that Mai sells year-round to consumers nationwide, along with local seasonal agricultural products. The videos selling agricultural products feature the simple beauty of the mountainous villages of Lao Cai. In addition to the daily work of farmers, there are many hardships and fatigue, but Mai always knows how to convey positive energy to viewers by telling engaging stories and always smiling, attracting millions of viewers. In addition, she also proactively cooperates with cooperatives with OCOP products to put products on social networks to enhance reputation, product quality, and expand the consumption market. Mai also often guides young people in the commune and district on how to sell online, make product promotion videos, and train people on basic filming and editing techniques, so that there will be more and more local sales channels, bringing agricultural products and local specialties to people across the country. “I don’t have any secret to attract people, but I appreciate honesty and simplicity, everything must be real, not colorful or ornate. I am fortunate to be loved, supported by the audience, who order agricultural products and have positive feedback. This job also creates more livelihoods for people, contributing to increasing income and stabilizing family economy,” Mai shared. In the future, Mai plans to expand the market and create her own brand for local agricultural products. At present, she and her people continue to grow local agricultural products, raise black pigs and black chickens to enrich the product source as well as meet the quantity of goods needed to supply the market.

PEACE OF MIND (VTC News)

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