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Child labour
Potatoes and perseverance
With resources and training on cultivating high-quality organic potatoes, a cancer survivor and mother is planting the seeds of hope for her three children’s future.
Huong Ngai, Hanoi (ILO News) – The morning sun glints off the face of 45-year-old Dang Thi Thuy Hien as she tends to the leaves in her field. With practiced ease, she brushes aside layers of soil to reveal a cluster of potatoes – plump and healthy. “They should be ready to harvest in 2 to 3 weeks.” – Hien shares with excitement. To her, these spuds represent more than just a bountiful crop, they are a source of livelihood for her family.
In 2012, Hien was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I had two daughters then and really wanted a son, so I opted for traditional medicine initially, delaying chemotherapy to have my son in 2015.” Hien recounts. With Hien’s husband only finding the occasional work in construction and her not being able to work due to her illness, the family had been struggling over the years to provide for their three children and for Hien’s ongoing treatment.
It is precarious circumstances like that of Hien that often make it difficult for families to keep their children in school and they become at high risk of having to resort to child labour. In 2018, of the recorded*1 million 5 to 17 year olds engaged in child labour in Viet Nam, most were concentrated in rural areas and informal work in the agricultural sector.
To mitigate the child labour risk for Hien’s children, the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s ENHANCE** project has joined local authorities and the Hanoi Cooperative Alliance to support the family’s livelihood through organic potato farming.
Situated about 50 minutes from central Hanoi, Hien’s hometown Huong Ngai is an agricultural commune that is known for producing organic vegetables. In 2022, the commune’s potatoes were in the running to be upgraded in the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme - a national set of criteria for rating products. They were at OCOP – 3 stars aiming to achieve OCOP – 4 stars – which would give the Huong Ngai potatoes the opportunity to be further recognized and sold more widely at higher prices.
It is upon this setting that the ILO ENHANCE project, local authorities and the Hanoi Cooperative Alliance identified Hien’s family along with 10 other at-risk households to join in what has been dubbed “the 4-star OCOP potato journey”. Since September 2023, the 11 families have been allocated 55 poles (1 pole = roughly 360 square metres) of potato farming land and provided with technical and 90% financial support on potato cultivation, seeds and fertilizer. Throughout the journey, ILO and local authorities have also provided the farmers and the Huong Ngai cooperative with training on organic potato farming methods, household financial management as well as support Hương Ngải agriculture cooperative with the sales promotion of agricultural produce, the packaging design for the potatoes, the introduction of sample produce and the finding of suitable markets.
The first winter crop harvest day came on middle of January 2024. Hien along with other families stood cheerfully and proudly before rows and rows of potatoes unearthed. Hien’s family alone was able to harvest around 3 tonnes of potatoes from the 5 allocated poles of farming land. “We were very happy with the turnout of this first harvest. We have been able to grow huge potatoes, some weighing up to a kilo. And they sold out so quickly and at very good prices”, Hien shared. Adding to the joy, Huong Ngai potatoes were officially recognized as OCOP-4 stars in January 2024.
“This is great news because it means our potato production is now further recognized and of higher economic value.” – shared Nguyen Do Ban, Huong Ngai Cooperative chair. With the assistance facilitated from the project, the commune now has the foundations to continue developing sustainable organic potato production and provide families like that of Hien a more stable source of income.
Hien shares: “The income from the potatoes have been so helpful. I’m able to have that additional income to care for my kids’ schooling. I’m grateful to the project and cooperative for this support.” Hien along with 4 other families out the 11 have already reinvested part of the income from the winter crop into the next season of potato-farming.
With her children now 22, 17 and 9 years of age, still all in school, Hien is determined for her own potato journey to continue and be a success. Speaking of her hopes for the future, Hien shares: “I want my children to be able to finish school, to have the same opportunities as other kids, and to not to have to go to work earlier than they need to. While I can’t do much with my cancer, this potato farming has given me a chance.”
As the Government of Viet Nam continues its second national programme to reduce and eliminate child labour, the ILO will continue to support the implementation of targeted livelihood interventions across the country, with a view to scale up such models nationwide. The goal is to provide struggling families like Hien’s with sustainable alternatives to child labour, enabling them to put the education of their children first.
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*Viet Nam’s 2018 National Child Labour Survey ** The support is implemented by the US Department of Labor-funded ILO project, Enhancing National Capacity to Prevent and Reduce Child Labour in Viet Nam (ENHANCE), in partnership with the Ministry of Labour Invalids and Social Affairs.
