The faded corn and cassava hills are now gradually clothed in the green color of macadamia and coffee; blue and red corrugated iron roofs follow one another, signaling a rising new vitality. The “green season” in Mường Mùn has begun, opening up hope for a brighter future.

Right from the merger, Mường Mùn was classified as a specially difficult, remote, and isolated commune of the province. The area is large, the population is scattered, and many villages are located tens of kilometers of steep pass roads away from the commune center. When the rainy season comes, landslides and cut-off traffic make travel for people as well as the administration and direction work of the authorities even more arduous. The lives of the people here still face many difficulties and deprivations; mainly depending on agriculture, with precarious incomes. Corn and cassava plants were barely enough to survive from day to day. Along with that are backward farming practices, lack of capital, and lack of techniques, causing poverty to cling to many villages for many generations. Therefore, in the early days of consolidation, the Mường Mùn commune authorities faced a “mountain of work.” Three residential areas with patched infrastructure. Amidst countless hardships, the party committee and authorities of Mường Mùn commune still determined: “No matter how hard it is, we must rise up.” Based on those challenges, Mường Mùn identified the priority task as restructuring the agricultural sector, opening up a more sustainable development direction. The commune authorities mobilized people to boldly convert from low-value crops to macadamia, coffee, and some fruit trees with high economic potential.

Arriving at Hỏm Hốc village, Mường Mùn commune, we easily recognized the changes visible on every hillside. Where there were barren corn fields before, now covered in the green color of macadamia and coffee - two crops chosen as key in the restructuring of the commune’s agricultural sector.

On the macadamia hill, Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Mường Mùn commune, shared: “Poor localities must innovate even more. Macadamia and coffee are sustainable directions, suitable for the climate and helping people have higher incomes.”

From that policy, the entire political system got involved, mobilizing, guiding, and supporting people to convert crops. To date, the commune has over 870ha of macadamia and over 360ha of coffee planted centrally, mainly in 2025, with some areas planted in 2023; distributed across 31/31 villages; creating a concentrated production zone. Macadamia trees planted in 2023 have started to bear fruit for the first harvest, bringing great joy to many households. Through each farming season, the barren hills are now gradually turning lush green, bringing expectations of a prosperous future.

Along with agricultural production, the face of Mường Mùn commune center is changing day by day. With the merger of 3 communes, the administrative center is located in Mường Mùn commune (old), where many new grocery stores have sprung up, and small services have been formed, bringing new vitality to the land still facing many hardships. Mường Mùn commune has issued 32 new business certificates, with a total capital of over VND 1.6 billion. To date, the commune has 20/31 villages achieving the title of cultural village (accounting for 64% of the total number of villages), reaching 111% of the 2025 plan; 19/31 villages have cultural houses (accounting for 61%).

Previously, rural infrastructure, especially regarding traffic, was the biggest bottleneck of Mường Mùn. However, in recent years, tens of kilometers of inter-village roads have been concreted and expanded; helping people travel more conveniently, especially in the rainy season. Thanks to the efforts of the authorities and people, to date, Mường Mùn has achieved nearly 16 new rural criteria, with per capita income reaching VND 33 million/year.

Walking on the concrete road just completed and put into use from the national target program capital, Tòng Thị Ly, from Mường 1 village, Mường Mùn commune, excitedly said: “In Mường 1 village, everyone is very happy; because after many years, the road full of gravel before has been replaced by a clean concrete surface. Rainy season or sunny season, people no longer worry.”

For the 2025 - 2030 term, Mường Mùn sets the goal of promoting economic structure shift, producing according to high-value linkage chains, and developing community tourism associated with indigenous culture; the commune aims to meet new rural standards by 2030. That is a long journey, still full of thorns, but with the efforts of the party committee, authorities, and people, that goal will increasingly be shortened.

On the concreted village roads, children play happily; on the hillsides, young macadamia gardens are green under the sun. Mường Mùn today is different from before - not only in the shape of infrastructure but also in faith, in the will to rise from hardships. Although there are still many cluttered deprivations, Mường Mùn is lighting up the green color of hope day by day, hour by hour!