At the P4G Summit recently held in Hanoi, medicinal products such as: Golden turmeric starch pills soaked in honey, kudzu powder, golden turmeric starch, black turmeric starch, Polygonum multiflorum honey pills... of Yen Son Medicinal Production and Consumption Cooperative, Tam Diep city, Ninh Binh province, with Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa as Deputy Director, were honored to participate in the Creative Startup Exhibition. Yen Son Medicinal Production and Consumption Cooperative is also the only unit among the units and enterprises participating in the exhibition to be listed in the Magazine serving the P4G Summit.

The full name of the P4G Conference is the Partnership for Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G) Summit.

The 4th P4G Summit will be held in Vietnam from April 16-17, 2025, with the theme "Sustainable green transformation, people-centered", including a Green Growth Exhibition, a high-level discussion on the Summit's theme, a Business Dialogue and 5 Ministerial-level discussions, focusing on the areas of resource mobilization, food system transformation, innovative solutions, human resource training and efficient and sustainable energy transition.

In the context of sustainable development and green transformation being an inevitable trend and a strategic choice of countries, being present at the P4G Summit is an opportunity for the products of Yen Son medicinal production and consumption cooperative in particular, and OCOP products of enterprises in Ninh Binh province and Vietnam in general to be present in countries around the world.

In particular, for female entrepreneurs like Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa, being present at the event has opened up opportunities, confidence, and strength for women entrepreneurs; spreading the entrepreneurial spirit, "dare to think, dare to do" to women members in the community. This honor also contributes to helping the business community in Vietnam affirm its strong commitments in implementing the United Nations' sustainable development goals, promoting green and sustainable transformation strategies at the national, regional and global levels.

Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa and products of Yen Son Medicinal Herbs Production and Consumption Cooperative participated in the Creative Startup Exhibition and P4G Summit.

Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa - Deputy Director of Yen Son Medicinal Herbs Production and Consumption Cooperative, Tam Diep City is also the owner of the Project "Sustainable Green Medicinal Herbs Development" selected by the Ninh Binh Provincial Women's Union to participate in the "Women's Startup, Innovation and Green Transformation" Contest in 2024 organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union and won the Encouragement Prize.

Entrepreneurial journey from turmeric garden

Graduated from university with a major in Biology and a passion for medicinal herbs, Ms. Hoa always wants to find easy-to-grow medicinal herbs to increase income for herself and local women. She is also always worried because there are many fake medicinal herbs floating on the market, potentially causing many negative impacts on public health. That is the motivation for her to be determined to research good products, contributing to protecting, caring for, and improving the health of users.

Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa said: I myself am a local who has been professionally trained and experienced in Bach Ma National Forest (Hue), Cuc Phuong Forest (Ninh Binh) ..., I realized the potential of organic medicinal herbs. That is the reason I implemented the project "Developing sustainable green medicinal herbs" and one of the main contents of the project is to focus on contributing to enhancing the role and position of women in participating in economic development.

Ms. Hoa has mobilized people, especially rural women, to take advantage of their wild garden land, boldly change the crop structure, clear weeds and old fruit trees that do not generate income to improve the land for growing medicinal plants, mainly turmeric.

Through the pilot project, the local medicinal plant growing project has helped increase employment and income for middle-aged and elderly women (aged 50-70 - those who are not qualified to work as factory workers). By participating in the cooperative, women are trained in advanced and scientific farming techniques to apply in their home gardens, bringing high economic efficiency.

Since joining the cooperative, we have learned how to produce without chemicals, ensuring health. We also know how to apply mechanization and modern machinery in production. Therefore, the work is less difficult, and we have higher income."

Ms. Le Thi Dang (member of Yen Son medicinal herbs production and consumption cooperative)

Currently, the cooperative’s turmeric products have achieved 3-star and 4-star OCOP certification and won the Golden Product Cup for Vietnam Agriculture. In addition, the cooperative also has other products such as: Solanum procumbens pills, Polygonum multiflorum, arrowroot powder, etc. that are well received by the market.

The cooperative also creates regular jobs for 10 female workers, over 50 seasonal workers and creates indirect jobs for thousands of women through online sales channels. The cooperative has also signed a contract to export products to the UK, opening up opportunities for Yen Son medicinal herbs to expand.

Accompanying women entrepreneurs

On her journey, Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa said that, along with her own efforts and the joint efforts of the members of the cooperative, she always received support from all levels of the Women's Union in Ninh Binh province.

The local Women's Union has supported training, loans, technology transfer, created conditions for me to visit advanced models, introduce and promote products, participate in product displays at fairs, exhibitions, conferences, seminars in and outside the province as well as participate in many competitions organized by the Women's Union.

From the activities supporting women to start businesses of the Women's Union at all levels in the province, Ms. Hoa and many other women have boldly and confidently started businesses and creative businesses on different scales, helping women develop the economy, create jobs, improve their lives, and gradually enhance their roles and positions.

Implementing the project "Supporting women to start a business in the period of 2017-2025" (Project 939), the Ninh Binh Provincial Women's Union has directed local Union organizations to proactively develop plans based on the actual situation and effectively integrate them into annual activities, programs and movements.

In 2024, the province will have nearly 300 women starting and successfully starting businesses. From many innovative and creative start-up ideas, the Women's Union at all levels has coordinated and supported the establishment of 8 new cooperatives and 1 cooperative managed by women. Activities to support women starting businesses are also associated with the province's OCOP program with many highly appreciated products and commodities. In 2024, the Women's Union at all levels has built 19 OCOP products, of which 3 products are recognized as 3-star OCOP.

The secret to going far

As one of the typical cooperatives of Tam Diep city and Ninh Binh province, Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa and the members of the cooperative have always made efforts every day.

Ms. Hoa shared: "The cooperative has proactively built a closed production and processing process from planting, caring, researching and producing products from medicinal plants into a sustainable value chain in local agriculture. We have developed the land area for planting in many districts of Ninh Binh province. In planting technology, we do not use chemicals or pesticides; we completely use organic substances. Therefore, the quality of turmeric, cassava or Solanum procumbens all grow well, with high productivity; not only increasing income for farmers but also protecting the environment and health of workers".

By joining the cooperative, women are trained in advanced and scientific farming techniques to apply in their home gardens, bringing high economic efficiency.

To create trust for consumers, the cooperative is interested in building a brand, along with improving product quality. The electronic stamp set to trace the origin of the product ensures information transparency. When customers check the QR code, all stages from selecting plant varieties to planting, caring, harvesting, processing finished products and packaging, and bringing them to market will appear.

In addition, Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa is always flexible, seizing opportunities from the e-commerce market. "We started approaching the online sales market in 2019. That was also the time when the first product of the cooperative, turmeric starch, was certified as an OCOP product. At that time, we started to set up a website, fanpage on social networks Facebook, Zalo, Youtube channel... to post articles promoting the product. The provincial departments and branches supported and created conditions for us to participate in groups and forums on social networks dedicated to OCOP-certified products. There, we were able to approach many individuals and businesses that later became product distribution partners.

To date, over 70% of the cooperative's goods are sold through online sales channels. Currently, the cooperative's products are available on most e-commerce platforms familiar to domestic consumers such as Shopee, Lazada, etc. The prerequisite for success in the e-commerce market is customer trust. To gain that trust, producers need to ensure product quality and good preservation so that when delivered to customers, the products are still guaranteed," Ms. Hoa revealed.

Taking small but steady steps, the sweet fruit that Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa and the Yen Son medicinal herb production and consumption cooperative have achieved is proof of the efforts, daring to think and dare to do of women in the start-up movement.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/phat-trien-duoc-lieu-xanh-dua-san-pham-viet-vuon-ra-the-gioi-20250419150649186.htm