Improving lives through water hyacinth

Kim Cooperative Bank in Long My district, Hau Giang Province, specializing in manufacturing products made from water hyacinth not only markets in some countries but also create jobs for over 500 employees, contribute to improving lives of the rural poor.

 

In 2009, Mr. Ho Van Ut found locally have a lot of water hyacinth, a source of abundant raw materials for the production of handicraft items, while many rural workers through vocational training knitting, but not for a job. From these conditions, he Arabia has decided to establish cooperative specializing in the production of handicrafts made from water hyacinth to make use of available materials and create jobs for people.

Mr. Ho Van Ut said: "The initial difficulties of the cooperative product design and consumer markets. Place I went to study some sample products and contact the company consumes, then Kien Truong Thinh company in Long an province has received product consumption of Cooperatives with the models launched by the company. gradually some traders also look to the cooperatives to sell in order big city ".

Most products made from water hyacinth made by cooperatives exported in foreign markets such as the United States, the Netherlands and some countries in Asia should make products people are laborers training on farming weaving villages of primary and vocational certificates. The cooperative currently has 15 members and is dedicated to working on product testing and delivery of 500 households make at home.

The cooperative's products are mainly cabinets, chairs, bags, boxes ... woven from dried water hyacinth with iron frame inside. Cooperative monthly delivery Kien Truong Thinh Company and the dealers and get the new model, the framework of communication products for the household. Raw materials are products that people hyacinth harvested from natural resources in rivers, canals or grow.

Cooperatives also have contracted consumption of nearly 200 households with water hyacinth as a source of raw materials for the product, in addition to selling hyacinth material for a number of places. Each month, cooperatives provide to the Company and traders around 40,000 to 50,000 kinds of products in the amount of nearly 500 million. Each household members and the household receives income from the 3-5 million / month. That's a small income for workers in rural areas.

Mr. Ho Van Ut share: Those who attend vocational training courses for rural laborers were weaving cooperative as the guidelines for receiving product samples and templates, material to work from home. So employees can actively farming, livestock products at home and knitting spare time.

Currently people working for the cooperative in most communes in Long My district, in which many households in poor communes as Permanent, Permanent A Soap version, and there are about 60 ethnic Khmer households receiving product to do at home. Most income from the processing of handicrafts items from water hyacinth has helped the lives of households with income stability and better than before. In addition, some families hyacinth plant operators or sold to cooperatives also have a steady source of income.

Cooperative Bank Kim existing buildings, the storage of materials, products and trucks to transport goods in the future should invest some additional machinery and equipment to improve our products, such as dried, government varnish ... to improve product quality and good price more. Source their products did not meet the huge demand of traders and company should Cooperative will continue to receive workers were trained on rural work.

According to Mr. Hong Xuan Binh, Head of the Department of Labor job training - Invalids and Social Affairs Hau Giang, Kim Cooperative Bank is one of the sources of high quality products, providing the market with large. In addition, the Cooperative has taken the initiative to contact center training local workers to get trained, contributing more jobs for rural labor.