Project Description

Purpose statement: Our business provides victims of domestic abuse sustainable means of livelihoods to gain financial independence to leave their households.

Social issue: Our ethnographic shows that the soil type, the landscape, and the climate in Chế Cu Nha Ward, Mù Cang Chải District, Yên Bái Province limits the development of crops and livestock. Opportunities for non-agricultural labor are pr Meanwhile the majority of Mông women in the locale relies on agricultural activities on the land plot belonging to their families, especially their in-laws if they are married. Yet while a Mông woman wants to divorce her husband due to abuse, the Mông culture forbids a woman from divorcing or having private property if she divorces without family’s approval. The limits of financial independence as well as the lack of support from families and communities are the major obstacles for abused Mông women to leave their husbands and in-laws, especially for women with children. Although at the locale the Vietnamese Women’s Union provides support for education in marriage and family making, currently there is not yet a social organization that provides means of livelihoods for Mông women who need to get divorced to take actions for their safety and wellbeing.

Social solution: Our fieldwork study and examination of available scientific research show that konyakku (củ nưa in Vietnamese) is a commonly available type of corm in Chế Cu Nha, is easy to cultivate all year round, and contains high nutrients. Moreover, it is also an ingredient with significant applicability in food production, suitable for products such as flour, cellophane noodles, noodles, and cakes. These products are popular in the domestic market of Japan and China. Vietnam itself also imports from these two markets as well as circulates konjac-based products that are manufactured from An Giang Province of South Vietnam. This proves that konjac-based products have the potentials to develop in the Vietnamese market. Our business aims to provide a mean of livelihoods for Mông women who need to divorce in Chế Cu Nha ward through a self-run farm which cultivates konjact coms sand manufactures konjac-based food products. Our business recruits Mông women who are in need of financial independence for divorce to work as the major cultivation force, to receive professional training and to enjoy their salaries as the main source of income. Collected konjac coms will be processed into products such as noodles and cakes to be sold as a Chế Cu Nha local specialty nationwide. Moreover, the profits of food-based products will be extracted as financial aid for Mông women after divorce.