Stories: Children, Community, Future

Nhung recalls her memory to share her farming in early 2000 when she’s just moved in to live with her husband’s family.

“We had the same land ever since our parents did. At that time, we could grow only one rice crop per year, in half of the land while the other half must be used to grow soy bean or maize as we did not have any water. Everything depends much on the natural condition of the area.”

It was hard for the family of six to earn their living, with mainly income is from the rice farming, while the two young children need support for their education.

With enough irrigation, Nhung can farm on her land all the year round

“I did not remember anytime we had any money left and each time, when my oldest baby got sick, the whole family had to ask for help from friends and relatives.”

Things got better when they participated in farming models supported by ChildFund and the local government.

“Households in the villages now combine all the land we have in one area and by doing that, we can make use of the mechanical support. ChildFund supported us building four concrete canals which provide enough water for the whole fields to grow two crops per year. Not only our but many other families are still benefiting from these canals.”

After harvesting services provides more income for Nhung’s family

Over the years, Nhung and her husbands have managed to expand their farming and savings help them buy new machines to work in harvesting business for their neighbours.

“We make use of the rice and corn powder from our harvesting services to raise chickens and pigs in the backyard. They provide not only food for my children but also extra income for the families. I am so happy that we saw the opportunities and decided to invest in services.

Technical trainings also enhances the productivity of their farming.

“We used to use a lot of fertiliser in our farming but now, after learning about the right time of using that, we could save quite a lot of cost by reducing the amount and frequencies. Also, working with technical agriculture staff help us with information about new seeds which have proved their suitability and good yield.”

By June 2016, ChildFund has supported to build 3560 metres of concrete canal which provide water for 86 hectares of fields. Over 500 households have been benefitting from these canals.