Dong Nai (VNA) – A 41-year-old woman from the M’nong ethnic group in the southern province of Dong Nai has helped turn local cashew nuts into globally exported products while promoting sustainable, eco-friendly farming and improving the livelihood of ethnic minority communities.
Thi Khui, a resident of Tho Son commune, Dong Nai province (formerly Dong Nai commune, Binh Phuoc province), has become a shining example of determination and innovation.
Growing up in a farming family, Khui has long dreamed of bringing prosperity to her homeland through its traditional farm products. In 2022, she founded the Bu Lach Organic Cashew Cooperative.
She said her goal is to produce clean, safe products that could help her family and local farmers build a stable and sustainable livelihood. Most of her cooperative members are from ethnic minority households.
With strong support from local authorities, Khui persuaded 165 farming households to adopt organic cultivation practices. The cooperative now oversees a raw material area of 1,000 hectares, establishing a solid foundation for large-scale organic production.
The cooperative strictly follows international standards in organic farming, focusing on soil improvement, biological fertilisers, and eco-friendly pest control to ensure high-quality export products. Khui herself regularly attends technical training sessions to update farming knowledge and share it with other members.
To improve processing capacity, she invested over 200 million VND (approximately 7,600 USD) to install a biological coffee drying system that can handle 10-15 tonnes of fresh beans per day. This innovation reduces production time, enhances product quality, and creates stable jobs for 10-15 local ethnic workers.
Beyond cashew and coffee, Khui recently launched a pilot project to grow “nhip” - forest vegetables under the shade of cashew trees. The crop, native to local forests, helps retain soil moisture, improve land fertility, and provides extra income for 20 farming families participating in the model.
Farmer Dieu Ma Rut, a long-time cooperative member, said that before, he relied on traditional farming with unstable yields. Thanks to the cooperative’s organic methods, his family’s income is now stable.
“Khui always supports and guides us wholeheartedly,” Rut said.
Under her leadership, the cooperative has built supply chains linking farmers with major export companies such as Taghet Vietnam, LAFOOCO Long An, Intersnack Vietnam, Marubeni Vietnam, and Ha Mỵ JSC. These partnerships have ensured stable export markets in Europe and Japan, confirming the reputation of Vietnamese organic cashews abroad.
Khui is also known for her compassion and community spirit. She regularly assists poor households with seeds, fertilisers, and farming tools, mobilises partners to donate gifts and fuel support, and contributes to charity activities, poverty-reduction funds, and local security programmes.
Nguyen Van Nghia, Chairman of the Tho Son commune Farmers’ Association, said that Khui has been an exemplary cooperative leader who strictly follows Party guidelines and State policies, continuously learns new techniques, and actively helps disadvantaged families.
“With her leadership, the Bu Lach Organic Cashew Cooperative has become a model for clean production and ethnic minority empowerment,” he said./.
