Recently, Vietnam Challenge Fund (VCF) and its partners jointly organised the workshop "The participation of ethnic minorities in the Shan tea value chain in Ha Giang province" in Hanoi. The project, funded by the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment has summed up the business process which has brought benefits to the poor in Ha Giang and opportunities to develop highlands tea sustainably.
During the past 15 years, the demand for tea in the world has increased by 2.4 percent/year. Vietnam's tea production has increased significantly with the first rank in productivity achievement (1.5 tons/ha), higher than China or Indonesia. Vietnam has also increased its international market share from 1.4 percent to 4 percent, a growth milestone which can be compared with China.
According to the report, the project "Participation of farmers and ethnic minorities in Shan Tuyet tea value chain Ha Giang province" has gained great results: nearly 760 households were trained to plant tea, 300 hectares of tea were newly planted…Mr Buddhika Samarasinghe, Team leader of the consulting team for the project "Improving market efficiency for the poor, Phase 2" stressed: "The results achieved from the project are very impressive. A nursery of 400,000 seedlings is established and more than 600,000 seedlings have been allocated to the participating farmers.” The project has helped protect the Shan tea in the mountains of Vietnam and set up model nursery for sample tea. There are currently 300 poor households in Ha Giang that are trained and divided into groups to purchase tea. In the future, there will be more than 460 poor households from 11 villages of Cao Bo commune to be trained in organic tea cultivation. The tea area covers about 740 ha. This is probably one of the biggest certified organic tea projects in the Southeast Asia in terms of household participation and farming area.
Representative of Vietnam Challenge Fund unveiled that the Shan tea project implemented by Hung Cuong Company Limited has a total project budget of about US$575,000 with support from the Vietnam Challenge Fund. A portion of this budget is invested in building a new green tea processing factory and upgrading the current black tea processing ones. The effect can be even larger if the production model is replicated by the other tea companies in mountainous areas and Northern midlands.
In addition, the project had a positive impact on the farmers who are mostly ethnic minorities, especially women, living in remote areas of Ha Giang province. They rely on tea production to generate 50 percent of household income. In 2011 alone, about 740 tonnes of tea leaves were purchased from farmers participating in the project, with a total value of around VND 5 billion, which help raise the household’s income by 130 percent.
As revealed by Mr Dao Viet Dung, Senior Public Sector Management of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the project has demonstrated that this business model is feasible in terms of trade with good potential for replication in the high mountains.
Mr Nguyen Thanh Hung, Chairman of the Member Council, Director of Hung Cuong Co., Ltd. said the project has brought many practical effects to ethnic minorities as well as helped underpin socio-economic development in the mountainous disadvantaged areas, contributing to the generation of stable income and job, and protection of the natural environment. Notably, Shan tea value chain has increased dramatically, from US$3-4 /kg to US$6 - 10 /kg.
According to VCF, the project showed that ethnic minorities living in remote areas can plant other agricultural products. And if these products are properly processed, they may be exported to many foreign markets, thereby dramatically contributing to income improvement.
Regarding the difficulties in the development of projects and enhancement of tea productivity in the highland, experts state that the biggest obstacles in doing business with the poor lies in modest awareness, backward means of production, high dependence and spontaneous thinking and action. In addition, tea farmers lay little focus on intensive farming. A large portion of tea area across the country is covered by small leaf highland tea with low quality and often degenerated.
However, Vietnam Tea Association states that Vietnam is in the period of integration, which will present more opportunities for the country to receive help and support from other countries and organizations around the world. The nation needs to take advantage of all these opportunity to underpin economic development, not only for enhancement of tea productivity but also other products. He also forecasts that by 2020, total industry output will reach 250,000 tonnes (up 43 percent). The average export unit price in 2020 will reach US$1.99/kg and domestic output will be 50,000 tonnes. These will be positive results for the entire tea industry and the highlands in particular.
Thu Ha
Vietnamese
