Born in a poor coastal commune, Mr. Hanh completed his army obligation and came back his home village to continue agriculture production in 1985. In 1986, he got married to Mai Thi Ngan after which his family faced many difficulties due to unstable jobs. To earn a living, he had to work with the demands of local employers, exploiting shellfishes in mud flats, and participating in gold mining activities. However, the income he earned was not sufficient for his family’s daily expenses, and the jobs were high risk. He made a decision to change his family’s life. Hanh discussed a sustainable economic development plan with his wife. To begin his new career, his family borrowed capital to grow cows and domestic fowls.
In November 2008, MCD in cooperation with Xuan Thuy National Park and Corin-Asia and Giao Xuan and Giao An people’s committees, implemented a study tour for households who were interested in sustainable livelihood development, to successfully model “que” earth-worm raising in Vong La village (Dong Anh district, Ha Noi). . When visiting the model, Hanh thought of his family’s living conditions. He had several cows, which can provide enough waste to feed worms. Grown-up worms would be used to feed the poultry. This model could bring about economic effectiveness for his family and could contribute to environment protection because the waste thrown directly into the water cannel caused pollution. He decided to develop this model in Giao Xuan commune. With the support of 1 kg worm breeds from the project, he bought more 4kg. The total amount of worms and attached living mass was enough to cover a floor area of 4m sq. m in the pig house. In March of 2009, Hanh built a new 20-sq. m house designed for worm raising with the initial capital of VND 10,000,000. The worms are now used to feed the family’s ducks and chickens. Throughout his worm-raising, officers and consultants from MCD provided him with advice and techniques on how to take good care of the worms. They introduced him to households inside and outside the province to sell his worms as breeds. Based on his experience, Hanh also shares worm raising techniques with households who have a demand for this sustainable economic development.
“Since the beginning of this model in 2008, up to the end of 2010, in addition to the worms for feeding my family’s ducks and chickens, I had gained VND 20,000,000 ( USD 1000) from selling worm breeds to households inside and outside the province. The current amount of worms remaining in the raising house is about 700 kg. According to the current price of VND 50,000 per kg, it is worth VND 35,000,000” -Mr. Hanh
Talking about his family plans for the coming time, Mr. Hanh disclosed that he would invest VND 10 million to extend his worm raising area by 100 sq. m, and he would negotiate with households growing cows nearby about the stable provision of feed for the worms. Moreover, there have also been several potential markets for output market from pharmaceutical companies and aquaculture bosses. Hanh is very confident in worm raising as well as his family’s plans for the worn raising house extension. His family could become rich by doing this job.
“From economic results of this model, even though it’s not higher than many aquaculture models, it could help solve environmental pollution and contribute to sustainable development in the coastal commune. This model needs to be replicated.” said Mr. Nguyen Van Quan, Chairman of Giao Xuan’s farmer association when he was asked to evaluate Mr. Hanh ‘s “que” earth worm raising model.
Nguyen Van Tich
Director of Giao Xuan environment-friendly livelihoods extension club
When visiting the environment-friendly livelihoods extension club in Giao Xuan commune, Giao Thuy district, Nam Dinh province, you will have the chance to see some good examples of garden improvement and compost making from organic waste.
They are expanding in scale inside and outside the commune. A typical example is “que” earth-worm raising model in Mr. Nguyen Van Hanh’s family unit 16 in Xuan Hung village, Giao Xuan commune.