Marketing And Development Of Eco- Agriculture Products For Local Citizens (Inhabitants)

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

The output for eco-agriculture products from local farming areas is a significant problem for farmers, and for indigenous people in particular. Farmers are people who directly grow and cultivate eco-agricultural products. At times the farmers aspire their products to be better developed and more productive, be more valuable in the market, and they wish they can sell their products directly to the consumer. With the same problem, Caritas Da Lat has accompanied a number of places in Lam Dong province with the goal of “developing products when raw materials are available, orienting and choosing the right business model for the community, and to develop a proper production marketing strategy”.

The SLEP 2 (Sanpham Learning Exchange Platform) training program hosted by Caritas Da Lat took place in 4 days from March 12 to 15, 2021 at the headquarters of Caritas Vietnam Social Charity Department (319 National Highway 13, Thu Duc , Ho Chi Minh City), with the theme "Marketing and development of ecological agricultural products".

Co-organizing with NTFP Vietnam (under the Southern Institute of Ecology), the BSA (Business Study and Assistance center) was in charge of the teaching role.

Of the trainees, there were nearly 40 outstanding participants representing the communities with the products:

1. The vegetable group Iem Goh Churu - Tu Tra commune, Don Duong district;
2. Ohmi Koho coffee group at Dinh Trang Hoa - Di Linh district;
3. Da Nhar forest food group in Da Teh with products of forest rope tea, green tea;
4. Cereal group in Da Tong; community group in Dung K'no with wild honey products and brocade fabrics;
5. Community group in NTFP network with forest reishi mushroom products, orangutan seeds;
6. Caritas Phan Thiet group with dried bamboo shoots, beans, and artichoke jam.

There are also groups that have some ideas for making eco products such as Loc Tan community group, Da Nhinh youth group, Binh Thuan community group, Raglai - Ninh Thuan community group.

After the warm-up, introductions and opening moments, Ms. Maria Goretti Dinh Thi Hong Phuc - Deputy Director of Caritas Da Lat opening statement was:

“This program is organised from the needs of the local people. In the 2-year series of forums for community groups that already have products or have product orientation, now it's time for inhabitants to want to know how to market, introduce their products and develop more productions. For that reason, Caritas Da Lat organised this training session for SLEP communities in connection with the NTFP network, so it has expanded the training to many members from other provinces. Hopefully after the training, everyone here can achieve their expectations, know how to market, develop their own eco (logical) products and learn more from other communities.”

On the morning of March 12, at the headquarters of the Social Charity Committee - Caritas Vietnam, we were excited for the first session with the topic "product development with raw materials" led by the expert Ms. Dam Sao Mai. Ms. Mai made an impression on the class when she said: "From the name, each person has a very unique feature, deep(bold or rich) national identity of the Central Highlands". We listened to the lecturers, and were inspired with our own ideas, interests, passions and strengths before thinking about our products. Moreover, we were free to contribute our dreams and hear about the dreams of others anonymously. The course made us more curious and also motivated us to try to develop in the journey to make dreams come true.

The next morning, we were able to pay a visit to the Happi Vegi organic vegetable models in Tan Binh district and Can Gio water coconut honey model in Can Gio district, Quang Thanh gotu kola powder model in Cu Chi district - Ho Chi Minh City. . Here we met a very amiable, friendly and enthusiastic garden owner who shared information about organic farming, their efforts, advantages and disadvantages of businesses in the process of starting a business…, and many more other concerns in organic farming. In addition, we had the opportunity to share the current organic way of doing things, with teachers who listened carefully and gave us suggestions and supplements so we can improve.

On the third day, our whole group continued to move to visit the "kind green market" at 135A Pasteur, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. With the guidance of Ms. Vu Kim Anh, Deputy Director of BSA, we confidently explored information on many items in the market. The most featured products in the market are the local products of a group that has succeeded in the startup program, and the group is starting to work towards the production of clean, safe and natural food. The best thing about this market was that people use degradable plastic bags. The products here mostly had designs, logos, brands, beautiful and eye-catching layouts, professional marketing. I thought to myself: maybe the products of our community would also be represented in the market at some point in the future.

In the afternoon of the same day, we continued the theory session with the topic "Orientation and selection of a suitable community business model". Through the lesson, Mr. Ngo Dinh Dung helped us better understand how to orient a business model in accordance with the available potential in the locality, how to increase the value of products through its uses, how to design packaging more attractive to customers. After the lesson, the seeds brought from the communities were displayed, prayed over, and exchanged and shared. The hope is that the seeds continue to multiply and develop, each of us here chose the seeds that we wanted to plant at home for the community.

On the last day, we met Mr. Nguyen Dong Trieu, a teacher full of fresh energy and enthusiasm with the topic "Building product marketing strategies". Our class was very passionate and filled with laughter in solving problems without being confined (limited) within the framework of the document. We were free to speak and raise any opinions, problems, questions and answers, and product stories. We were completely captivated by his teaching style, from the issues he raised, both the stories and our very indigenous culture embedded in the product.

At the end of the 4-day learning journey, with the presence of the honourable Caritas Vietnam Director, the participating groups shared their thanks, handshakes, and hugs that left so many emotions in each person’s hearts. Hopefully, the plans and wishes that we had come up with will be implemented, so that the community's products will become more valuable. That was also the desire of each individual as well as of community groups and would be shared with each other in the next forum scheduled to be deployed in September 2021 with the theme "Community Enterprise".

Ka Huyen