Year-round income from water hyacinth
In the days leading up to Tet, coming to the water hyacinth weaving village in Vinh Hoa Hung commune, An Giang province, the atmosphere is very bustling. Households are all busy receiving raw materials to weave products such as baskets, trays, trays... to deliver to cooperatives for export to sell to companies.
Ms. Phan Thi Nhao (59 years old) shared that doing this job is also much better, helping to earn extra income with her children. "After finishing housework, I weave, staying at home to work part-time without having to go to work far away, if I go, conditions will not allow it. At first, I sold water hyacinth as raw materials, then I participated in weaving, it's been more than ten years. But sisters gathering together to work and talk together feels fun, sisters uniting to help each other in village and neighborhood affection feel more attached," Ms. Nhao happily said.
Ms. Tran Thi Thu Ngan, Director of Thuan Phat Handicraft Cooperative, said: The Cooperative officially has 10 members, informally about 250 sisters, doing processing at home. Everyone comes to receive raw materials and frames for processing, then the Cooperative will arrange people to come and collect them. The items are sampled and knitted by the company under contract with the Cooperative in the style of fish bones, rice grains, apricot blossoms... depending on the order.
The cooperative pays the sisters according to each product, depending on the size, on average each sister makes from 3 million VND, if anyone has a lot of time to weave a lot, the wage will be higher.
Ms. Ngan said that with the weaving profession, people have additional monthly income and jobs all year round. The cooperative signed contracts with 4 companies in the provinces to buy goods for export abroad, and has now signed until June 2026.
Products exported can be in batches or in bulk, on average, the cooperative sells about 350-400 million VND/month, which is about 20,000-30,000 products.
The Cooperative plans to open more weaving teams in 2026, and sign more contracts with large companies so that not only our commune but also other communes can participate in weaving water hyacinth," Ms. Ngan shared.
Many poor households rise out of poverty
Ms. Vo Thi Lien (46 years old) shared: "My family has 4 children, I work as a weaver and grow more water hyacinth for sale. The extra income earned helps me buy rice, fish sauce, etc., which is much better. I mainly do this job, this job is done continuously, my wife and children can do it, I don't have to go to work far away. This Tet, having income from weaving water hyacinth, I also buy furniture in the house to be more fulfilled.
According to the An Giang Provincial Women's Union, the Kien Giang Provincial People's Committee (old) recognized this place as a traditional craft village, creating favorable conditions for cooperatives to develop more. The cooperative is also funded by VNHELP (USA) to build warehouses, purchase equipment, and support raw material growing areas.
Vice Chairman of An Giang Provincial Women's Union Nguyen Thi Quyen said: "Cooperatives have been and are operating effectively, and are trusted by cooperative members. In the early stages when the cooperative was first established, the number of poor and near-poor households was quite high. From the beginning of the term until now, the cooperative has helped 4 poor households escape poverty, 5 near-poor households become middle-class, and 15 households from middle-class to fairly well-off. With efforts to produce and rise out of poverty, households have built spacious houses, and each month have a stable income source.
To make activities to support women's economic development effective, every year, the Provincial Women's Union has directed the Women's Unions at all levels to review the needs and conditions of each group and target group of women, thereby developing support plans such as: propaganda and mobilization of women to apply technology and techniques to production and business; promoting the effectiveness of economic development models established by the Union; connecting and introducing safe and quality products for consumption; accessing preferential capital sources...
Water hyacinth weaving tools have stable orders all year round, creating jobs and additional income for idle rural workers. In addition to taking care of their families and doing farm work, they can weave water hyacinth to increase income and improve their lives.
The riverine countryside of An Giang province has now changed a lot thanks to water hyacinths drifting in the river.
