Ms. Sy Chan Vakongxiong is 44 years old, has five children and belongs to the ethnic group of the Hmong. She lives in Naseankham village, located in Xay district, Oudomxay province, Lao PDR with a population of 1,082 inhabitants from the ethnic group of the Hmong. |
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Sy Chan is an energetic woman who is very cheerful and laughs a lot. Until recently (June 2012), she was the head of the village Naseankham, an exceptional position for a Hmong woman. Before the year 2000, Sy Chan and her family used to mainly grow opium poppy and applied slash and burn practices. Her situation back then was very difficult and the income from opium poppy was very low and unstable due to the vulnerability of opium to climatic conditions. The village became one of two pilot villages for improved vegetable and fruit tree production. UNODC cooperates with the Thai Royal Project Foundation (RPF) and the Thai Highland Research and Development Institute (HRDI) to support the farmers with seedlings of improved fruit and vegetable varieties, technical assistance, study visits of farmers to Thailand and specialists from the RPF and HRDI who monitor the progress of the farmers. In addition, UNODC has built a water supply system for the village and a water storage tank to irrigate the fruit trees and vegetables. Sy Chan says that the assistance of UNODC and the Thai Royal Project Foundation has helped her a lot: "We received improved livelihoods through better plantation techniques and got the chance to conduct study visits to Thailand. That gave us the skill, knowledge and incentive to do many activities such as cultivating vegetables and fruit trees. The technicians now come every month to monitor the activities, give us lessons and teach us how to maintain the cultivations." Based on the technical training and material inputs provided by the project, Sy Chan now applies organic cultivation techniques and grows improved fruit and vegetable varieties such as mangos, grapes and different sorts of vegetables in her own greenhouse. This has helped her to increase her income, first to $3,500 (28 Mio. Kip) in 2008 and to approximately $6,500 (52 Mio. Kip) in 2011. Sy Chan and fifteen other organic fruit and vegetable farmers in Naseankham have formed a production group to exchange experience and promote their organic products. At the market of the provincial capital of Oudomxay, which is located at about 45 minutes distance from Naseankham, the organic fruits and vegetables which Sy Chan and the other farmers grow in greenhouses, meets a very high demand. Says Sy Chan: "The demand for organic vegetables and fruits on the markets is so high that we even cannot produce enough! The people really want the organic products." The improved technology and better income have had positive effects on her family's living conditions and food security situation. The success of the fruit and vegetable cultivation has attracted many more poor farmers in the village who are interested to grow vegetables and are seeking assistance from the UNODC project. Sy Chan has completely abandoned opium poppy cultivation. She is confident that she will be able to further improve the living conditions for her family through the growing of fruit and vegetable. According to UNODC opium poppy survey 2013, the Oudomxay Province is now free of opium poppy cultivation. |
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