A meeting to evaluate the She Thrives project in Buôn Hồ District. Cargill and CARE have announced a one-year extension of the “She Thrives” programme to continue support for women and minorities in Đắk Lắk Province. — Photo courtesy of Cargill
Cargill and CARE have announced a one-year extension of the “She Thrives" programme, piloted in Đắk Lắk’s Buôn Hồ District in 2022, to continue support for women and minorities there.
Cargill’s contribution of US$200,000 for the programme's extension through August 2025 will continue to benefit the 15,000 people who have taken part in the programme over the past two years.
With Cargill and CARE in partnership with the Community Development Centre and the People’s Committee of Buôn Hồ District, the programme launched in 2022 has significantly improved the livelihoods of rural smallholders, particularly women and ethnic minorities in the region.
The programme has conducted training sessions in farming techniques, financial management and group management skills, and provided seed funding, breeding stocks, feed and veterinary medicine to farmers in the region.
So far, 250 farmers (190 women) reported increased income as a result of these initiatives and the additional production scale of chicken, indigenous pigs, goats and collective selling, with goats and coffee currently yielding the highest monthly income in last two years.
Programme participants have used their additional income to buy more livestock and renovate animal shelters to further increase the scale of production as well as support their children’s education and health care.
Additionally, the programme has focused on improving women’s and ethnic minorities’ access to resources such as financial inclusion and women’s leadership.
In the pilot phase, the She Thrives project established 21 Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLAs) groups with 275 members (211 women) who received seed funding and saved as much as $12,914.
The extended programme will continue to support these VSLA groups.
“Our first collaboration with CARE in Việt Nam through the She Thrives programme has seen proven results. We aim to continue advancing interventions that enable project participants to become more self-reliant, with stronger access to markets and integrated into national programmes. The extended phase will deepen support for women and ethnic minority communities, ensuring sustainable development and economic resilience in the region,” said Nguyễn Bá Luân, country president of Cargill in Vietnam. — VNS