At an altitude of 1,200m to 1,800m above sea level, this place has a cool climate year-round, suitable for the growth conditions of medicinal plants under the forest canopy and long-term industrial crops.

Previously, the main livelihood of the people was cultivation and animal husbandry. With high mountainous terrain, growing rice and corn was mainly done in a single crop season, depending on the topographic location and water source for planting. From 2023 to the present, in villages such as Ten Hon, Há Dùa, Huổi Anh, Xá Tự, and Thẳm Nặm, the one-crop rice fields on upland patches have been gradually replaced by lush green patches of coffee and macadamia, bringing high economic value.

Ten Hon village in Quài Tở commune, is a disadvantaged one with over 130 households and 686 people; of which, there are 75 poor households and 10 near-poor households. One of the main reasons for poverty here is the inefficient crop structure, low productivity, and one-crop upland rice farming that is just enough to meet the consumption needs of the households.

Mùa A Pó, Secretary of the Party Cell in Ten Hon village, stated that Ten Hon consists mostly of poor households; the main livelihood of the people here is primarily growing one-crop plants and medicinal plants. The village has over 30ha of cardamom under the forest canopy; this is an important source of income to stabilize life, but developing and expanding the cardamom area is very difficult because this plant can only be grown under the forest canopy. From 2023 to the present, people in the village have gradually transformed the crop structure towards increasing the area of long-term industrial crops to replace the old, inefficient areas of rice, corn, and cassava. The village has over 100ha of coffee and macadamia; this area is mainly newly planted. A few households that planted coffee early have started to produce fruit and harvest; the total area is about over 2ha. Due to high economic efficiency, all households in the village are learning and following suit. In addition to the old area, according to data registered for developing long-term industrial crops under the National Target Program for poverty reduction in Ten Hon, it is intended that in 2025 - 2026, over 130 households in Ten Hon will convert and expand about 52ha of macadamia and 62ha of coffee.

As the first household to plant coffee in Ten Hon village, Mùa A Của said: “Rice can only be grown for one crop per year; each crop yields a few dozen bags of paddy, just enough to meet the family’s eating needs. In 2022, with the encouragement of the party committee and local authorities, I boldly planted over 1ha of coffee. By 2025, the coffee started bearing fruit for the first harvest, and the family sold it for over VND 100 million; the efficiency is many times higher than one-crop rice. This year, the family intends to convert and plant an additional 2ha of coffee and macadamia for economic development.”

One of the proofs of the change in awareness and crop structure transformation here is perhaps the daily consumption habits of the people in the 5 villages. At grocery stores in Ten Hon, previously the main items were spices, confectionery, and fruits, but almost no rice was sold. The reason was that the people were still heavily influenced by the ideology of self-sufficiency, especially with daily consumer goods like rice and vegetables…

Mùa Dúa Vả, a grocery store owner in Ten Hon village, shared: “It is different now; people have all switched to growing long-term industrial crops, which provide high economic efficiency. Before, in Ten Hon village, the household growing the most one-crop rice only collected about 20 bags of paddy per year, not enough for the family to eat; therefore, many households switched to planting other crops to sell for money to buy rice. My family imported more rice to sell starting from 2024; this is an essential item that has been selling well recently. Supplying rice for all 5 villages: Ten Hon, Há Dùa, Huổi Anh, Xá Tự, and Thẳm Nặm. Each time I import from 15 - 25 bags, about nearly 1 ton of rice, it sells out in less than a month.”

It can be seen that boldly abandoning one-crop rice and inefficient short-term plants to grow long-term industrial crops not only brings higher income but also opens up new opportunities for stable and sustainable economic development for the people here. Transforming crop structure, exploiting and promoting available strengths, and changing thinking and farming practices will gradually shape the future, push back poverty, and create wealth on their own homeland.