In 2013, Van Long District Women's Association, Khanh Hoa Province, founded a production group making coconut flavored rice paper...
In 2013, Van Long District Women’s Association, Khanh Hoa Province, founded a production group making coconut flavored rice paper based on the production model of a member named Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, to increase income and thus improve living standards of needy rural women. After 3 years of operation, the group has developed stably, creating work opportunities for women during their idle time.
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| Making coconut flavored rice paper in Van Long Commune. |
In 2008, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, Head of the production group, learnt coconut flavored rice paper production experience from a small home business in Van Khanh Commune, Van Ninh District and then she accumulated capital to open her own business.
At first, she did not have many customers. The coconut flavored rice paper was sold at VND1,000-2,000/ sheet to sellers at markets and shops. Then, the business has gradually developed and attracted a stable number of customers. The business has become more convenient and productive, especially since the production group was established. More women are involved in the production. Sometimes, demand exceeds the supply, according to Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan.
Its workshop is currently located at Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan’s house, employing more than 25 regular workers in Van Long Commune. The production is completely manual from primary processing, cooking to packaging, meeting hygienic standards. 3,000 sheets of rice paper, selling at VND4,000-5,000 each, are made a day on average. The products are mainly consumed in Nha Trang, Cam Ranh, Ninh Hoa in Khanh Hoa and in Phu Yen Province.
The whole family of Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lien, Loc Tho Village, Van Long Commune used to depend completely on the income from a small field. Taking the extra job, she can earn an additional income of VND1.2-1.5 million/ month to cover daily expenses.
Thai Thi Hong Van, Chairperson of Van Long District Women’s Association says, the production group has created work for many local women during their idle time to increase their income, thus improving their living standards.
Hopefully, there will be more production models to create work for local women in their idle time, contributing to meeting criteria for new rural construction, in which income is taken into account.
Hoai Duy
Translated by N.T
