Heroes of the eco-agriculture movement

They don’t know each other but they have the same desire to stop farming methods that kills the land and pollute the air.

Tam's garden

The first clean farm produce village fair in Vietnam opened in December 2018. Visitors were attracted by a foreign man who introduced environment friendly products such as bamboo straws, bagasse-made food containers and areca spathe baskets.

Christopher Dunn knows every farmer in Hoi An. He has been helping local farmers run organic farms and sell products for them.

Nguyen Van Nhan, an agriculture engineer, the owner of Rom Vang Farm, also takes his farm produce to sell at the fair. He said such a village fair helps encourage safe farming methods less harmful to the soil and a tendency to respect the environment and protect it.

Tam’s firefly garden

With the desire of making safe meals for the community, Ho Thi Minh Tam grows vegetables and processes safe food for clients at her homestay in Da Lat. 

The idea of living green prompted the 25-year old girl to refuse a job with high pay of VND20 million in HCM City and go to Da Lat.

Tam bought a 600 square meter land plot in the city and built a house on an area of 80 square meters. The remaining area is used to grow roses, cherries and avocado trees in a natural way.

Tam named her homestay Firefly Garden. She uses tree trunks and fruit peels to fertilizer the soil and creates wastewater drainage routes so as not to cause pollution.

The call from CSA

Sitting on a 1,200 square meter land plot in Vinh Long province, Tran Minh Hien can see other farmers spraying pesticides and using inorganic fertilizers in their fields. 

Hien, 30, left Malaysia after resigning from his post at a university with income of $1,500 a month, with a plan to develop CSA (community supported agriculture) after having lunch with a colleague. 

In Vietnam, Hien has to spend time and effort to upgrade the soil. He is seeking support from scientists to implement his project and is trying to persuade other farmers to join forces with him.

Analysts note the strong rise of startups in organic agriculture recently and many of them have successfully called for capital.

Organic agriculture is encouraged in Vietnam.  A legal framework on supporting agricultural enterprises to shift to organic production has been set up.