Consequently, an increasing number of typical examples of getting rich right in their homeland have emerged, contributing to creating sustainable livelihoods and spreading the aspiration to rise across the community.

When visiting Hỏm Hốc village in Mường Mùn commune and mentioning Lò Văn Giót, everyone knows a diligent farmer who always takes the lead in household economic development movements. With the determination to enrich himself right in his homeland, Lò Văn Giót and his family step-by-step built an integrated economic model heading toward the “garden-pond-barn” method. From an initial fish pond area of 3,000m², he dug two new ponds to proactively secure breeding stocks, raising the total water surface area to approximately 7,000m² to both nurse fingerlings and raise commercial fish. The revenue from aquaculture helped his family’s economy prosper, creating conditions to invest in barns and expand into raising chickens, ducks, and reproductive cows. Currently, the family maintains five reproductive cows, over 200 poultry, and 7,000m² of fish ponds.

In 2021, implementing the commune’s crop restructuring policy, Lò Văn Giót’s family was among the first in Mường Mùn commune to convert 2.5ha of low-efficiency corn and cassava land into fruit trees like longan and pomelo, intercropped with coffee and macadamia. Thanks to applying science and technology into production, his family’s integrated economic model brings a stable income of over VND 300 million each year. Realizing that crop restructuring yields high economic efficiency, in 2026, his family continued to convert nearly 6ha of cassava land to cultivate coffee and macadamia.

Lò Văn Giót shared: “To upgrade income, one must boldly alter production mindsets, selecting crops that suit local climate and soil conditions alongside market demands.”

The proactive spirit and daring attitude of Lò Văn Giót have become a driving force for many households in the village to boldly restructure their crops. To date, the entire Mường Mùn commune has developed around 870ha of macadamia and 505ha of coffee, with several areas starting to yield harvests, contributing to upgrading incomes for local citizens.

Là Văn Chanh, a resident of Pha Nàng village in Tuần Giáo commune, was one of the first people to boldly bring macadamia plants to local hillsides. Back in 2013, when he decided to plant 300 macadamia trees, many people remained highly skeptical about the efficiency of this crop. Là Văn Chanh himself could not help but feel anxious because this was a novel crop with a long basic construction period and an unclear output market.

Persistently binding himself to the new plant, he continuously learned care techniques and step-by-step affirmed the efficiency of macadamia on his homeland. Currently, his family’s macadamia garden has yielded harvests, averaging over 4 tons of fresh fruit annually and bringing a revenue of over VND 100 million, which represents an economic value multiple times higher than past corn cultivation.

The success of Là Văn Chanh has created the motivation for numerous households in Pha Nàng village and neighboring localities to boldly switch their crops, developing macadamia along a sustainable path. The hillsides that previously only cultivated corn and cassava are now greened by macadamia and coffee plants, opening up expectations for a new direction in the local economy.

Driven by the aspiration to rise through their own labor, the family of Quàng Thị Dương, residing in group 1 of Na Son commune, selected the development of large livestock husbandry combined with industrial crop cultivation. Starting with just a few cows initially, Quàng Thị Dương’s family has now expanded the cattle herd to over 10 heads, while concurrently investing in 3ha of coffee and macadamia, establishing a stable income source for the family.

Quàng Thị Dương stated: “Previously, our family’s income relied mainly on corn and rice cultivation, so the efficiency was modest. In recent years, as the locality disseminated and guided the restructuring of crops and livestock, my family boldly invested in developing reproductive cow husbandry while expanding coffee and macadamia areas. Despite lingering difficulties, our family’s life has step-by-step become more stable, allowing us to care for our children’s education and continue investing in production development.”

Lush green gardens of macadamia, coffee, and fruit trees alongside steadily growing livestock herds stand as vivid testaments to the transformations in the highlands of Điện Biên today. With diligent working hands and new production mindsets, local citizens are step-by-step turning difficult lands into prosperous villages, enriching themselves right in their own homeland.