Muong Ang district is known as the largest coffee granary in Dien Bien province. For many years, coffee trees have not only brought great economic value but also created jobs for thousands of ordinary workers.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong - one of the households with a large coffee growing area in Co San village (Ang Cang commune, Muong Ang district) - said that with about 20 hectares of Arabica coffee, each year it brings her family an income of about 2 billion VND.
According to Ms. Huong, Arabica coffee is very suitable for the soil and climate conditions in Muong Ang. After planting, after only 3 years, the coffee trees began to yield. After nearly 20 years of growing coffee, her family now has about 20 hectares, each year producing about 150 tons.
“Since 2021, coffee prices have always been high and relatively stable. It is only the beginning of the season, but units have purchased at prices ranging from 15,000 - 16,000 VND/kg. This makes coffee growers very excited and confident in sticking with this specialty crop,” Ms. Huong added.
The Arabica coffee plant requires a lot of care, and when harvesting, it must be pruned from the fruit, not picked all at once like Robusta coffee. Therefore, every harvest season, Ms. Huong's family must regularly hire 70-100 workers. In 2023 alone, the wages Ms. Huong's family paid to workers amounted to more than 450 million VND, and this year it is expected to increase to nearly 600 million VND.
Ms. Lo Thi Phieng - a resident of Co San village (Ang Cang commune) - said: "The wages from coffee harvesting help my family have a significant additional income. With the current harvesting price of 4,000 VND/kg, on average, a person can earn 300,000 - 400,000 VND per day."
Currently, the entire Muong Ang district has about 2,100 hectares of coffee, with an estimated output of about 2,500 tons of coffee beans, equivalent to about 13,000 tons of fresh coffee. If the average harvesting cost is 3,500 VND/kg of fresh fruit, the harvesting cost that coffee growers have to pay workers is over 45 billion VND. That does not include the care costs.
Mr. Dao Duy Thach - Head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Muong Ang district - said that in the first 9 months of 2024, the whole district created new jobs for 554 workers. In addition, the district also organized 18 vocational training courses on planting, caring for, processing coffee and preventing and treating diseases for livestock with 324 participants, most of whom were ethnic minorities.
According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son - Director of the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs of Dien Bien province, in the first 9 months of the year, the whole Dien Bien province created new jobs for 9,001 workers; recruited and trained 9,797 people.
Capital from the national employment fund and from the Social Policy Bank has contributed significantly to creating jobs for rural workers, especially ethnic minorities. Every year, tens of billions of VND have been disbursed to support vocational training and expand employment opportunities.
