For us, the 2-hour ride behind Ms. Ngoc's motorbike into the forest to visit the cooperative's raw material area was an interesting experience like the story of her entrepreneurial journey. On the winding dirt road, with a deep abyss on one side and a steep cliff on the other, with sections of road just wide enough for a motorbike wheel to pass, Director of the Na Pai Women's Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc shared: "On sunny days, you can ride a motorbike, but on rainy days, you have to walk for nearly half a day to get there. Every day I travel on this road, so I always wonder what I can do to get rich from each hill, each tree, each stream here". From here, the entrepreneurial idea of ​​this determined Tay ethnic woman began to take shape.

Ms. Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc, Director of Na Pai Village Women's Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative

Journey to bring products to market

"On the path to starting a business, I have always received the companionship and support of the Women's Union at all levels. I especially appreciate the training courses on entrepreneurship and starting a business organized by the Union at all levels. Through these activities, I have access to a lot of business knowledge, and have been guided by lecturers on how to define goals, build plans, calculate costs, do business accounting, and manage cooperatives."

Ms. Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc , Director of Na Pai Village Women's Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative

Born into a farming family with many siblings, Ngoc got married in 2013. At that time, her family mainly farmed and raised livestock, but on a small scale with low income. In 2017, during a visit to learn about livestock farming in a neighboring province, she learned about the model of raising ducks in streams and had the idea of ​​starting a business from livestock farming. In 2018, she discussed with her husband using the savings to buy 100 ducklings to raise. However, due to lack of experience in large-scale farming, the flock of ducks became sick and nearly half of them died. "At that time, many people discouraged me: Women should stay at home to take care of children, do farming, and do not need to do business or start a business. But I saw that getting rich does not distinguish between men and women. I longed to rise up, to assert myself and try to develop the economy from the resources of my hometown. So I began to determine the goals I needed to pursue to have a clear development direction. Realizing my limitations as well as those of many other women in the village were lack of knowledge, skills, and not having many social relationships to be able to go the long way, I began to learn and gain experience from effective livestock models. Wherever there were training classes, I proactively participated, especially the science and technology transfer classes organized by the district's functional agencies. I also went online to learn about good models, from which I applied them in developing the family economy," Ms. Ngoc recalled.

Members of the Na Pai Village Women's Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative with star anise products

Thanks to her efforts, Ms. Bich Ngoc's duck farming model has gradually developed. Realizing the potential of local agricultural products and medicinal herbs, she has boldly built a value chain of star anise and anise medicinal herbs. Excitedly introducing to us the vast raw material area, Ms. Ngoc said: "Lang Son star anise has a much stronger aroma than other places, this is the plant that brings the main source of income for many families here. But only growing star anise and harvesting flowers twice a year is a waste of resources. Therefore, I had the idea of ​​growing many other types of trees such as macadamia, green tea... under the star anise canopy, to have more income".

"By participating in the startup project with Ms. Ngoc and the Na Pai Village Women's Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative, I not only have a stable source of income but also have the opportunity to interact and connect with many other women. Thanks to that, I have more knowledge and am more active."

Ms. Ta Thi Hang , Nung ethnic, member of Na Pai Village Women's Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative

With the desire to help poor women in the locality escape poverty, in 2023, Ms. Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc established the Na Pai Village Women's Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative. This is the first cooperative managed by women in Binh Gia district. The cooperative's strength is the production of agricultural and forestry products, especially afforestation and livestock raising using local resources.

Not stopping there, keeping up with the digital age, the women in the cooperative have proactively learned and applied technology in branding and sales. Currently, the cooperative has a fanpage, a Tiktok channel... Since then, the cooperative's products such as grapes, black jelly, wild boar meat, wild boar, star anise... have become well-known and are available on e-commerce platforms. "Those star anise petals are so tiny, but customers have already placed orders for export to Asian and European markets. The cooperative has created outlets for local agricultural products, created jobs and stable incomes for ethnic minority women here," said Ms. Ngoc.

"Growing up" through startup competitions

As a dynamic woman who dares to think and dares to do, Ms. Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc is also known by many people as an impressive face in women's startup competitions. Many of her projects have been awarded prizes. In 2022, at the "Innovative Startup" competition organized by the Department of Science and Technology of Lang Son province, Ms. Bich Ngoc's topic "Raising green-necked ducks in streams associated with local livelihoods" won the Encouragement Prize. In 2023, the project "Building a value chain of star anise and medicinal herbs under the canopy of star anise forests from indigenous resources associated with the livelihoods of ethnic minority women in Tan Van commune, Binh Gia district, Lang Son province" won the Encouragement Prize in the "Women's Startup" competition with the theme "Women's startups, promoting indigenous resources" in the Northern region. Ms. Bich Ngoc also surpassed more than 500 contestants to win second prize in the contest "When women are in charge" organized by Vietnam Television.

Women of Tan Van commune participate in the "Women's creative start-up and green transformation" contest in 2024

"During my participation in the 2024 "Women's Creative Startup and Green Transformation" Competition organized by the Vietnam Women's Union, I always received encouragement, guidance, and companionship from Ms. Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc. Thanks to that, I gained more confidence and presented the project "Raising microbial herbal chickens under the canopy of anise trees" in the best way. My project was awarded the Special Prize of the 2024 Northern Region Women's Startup Competition".

Ms. Ly Thi Nga (Lang Son province)

"I participate in competitions not to win prizes but to learn knowledge about agriculture, business and digital skills, and then apply them in promoting products and consuming agricultural products for people. Through these competitions, I feel myself "growing up" and becoming more confident in the entrepreneurial path I am pursuing," Ngoc confided. Also from the lessons learned from the competitions, Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc has devoted all her heart to guiding and supporting ethnic minority women in Lang Son to start businesses and participate in women's entrepreneurial competitions organized by the Women's Union at all levels.

By constantly striving to improve, Ms. Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc is inspiring many local ethnic minority women to overcome difficulties and gender stereotypes to enhance their economic power.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/khoi-nghiep-giup-phu-nu-vuot-qua-chinh-minh-20250409145827492.htm