Part 3: The Party’s will aligns with the People’s aspirations

Leading by example to translate policies into action

Following rainfall, the garden of Thào Văn Xiêng, Secretary of the Ta Pao village Party Cell in Mường Mùn commune, is covered in lush greenery. Macadamia rows planted in 2023 have spread their canopies, interspersed with newly rooted coffee plants. To Xiêng, this garden serves not only as household livelihood, but as a practical demonstration model for villagers to observe real efficacy and follow suit.

Party Cell Secretary Thào Văn Xiêng shared that having held various grassroots posts, he understands customary production habits alongside local hesitations when transitioning to unfamiliar crops. Consequently, when the commune introduced policies to convert low-efficiency cultivation plots into coffee and macadamia, he and fellow Party members actively mobilized family members to pioneer planting the new crops. Each year, his household planted several hundred additional trees, currently reaching over 700 macadamia trees and 12,500 coffee trees. Direct investment and day-to-day tending provided him with concrete insight into challenges concerning capital, seed supply, cultivation techniques, and cropping calendars, allowing him to guide villagers with grounded, practical advice.

Also in Ta Pao, Party member Quàng Văn Vượng, a prestigious figure in the village, planted over 2.5ha comprising 8,100 coffee plants and 600 macadamia trees. Realizing that muddy access paths to the production zone impeded transport of seedlings and fertilizers, he took the lead in mobilizing households to build an access track to the hillsides. Each household contributed VND 200,000 for materials and provided direct labor for construction. Through the combined efforts of 85 households, in April 2026, a concrete roadway measuring 700m in length and 1m in width was completed, with the village planning an additional 500m extension in September. Although modest in size, the road directly resolved transport bottlenecks, facilitating routine crop care, material transit, and cultivation zone expansion.

Building upon the model demonstrated by Party Cell Secretary Thào Văn Xiêng, the Ta Pao village Party Cell reached consensus to issue a thematic resolution, assigning Party members to oversee specific household groups. Under this mechanism, each Party member is responsible for conducting outreach, delivering technical instructions, and monitoring planting and tending processes. Whenever issues arise on the plots, residents know exactly which cadre is assigned to assist them. To date, all households in Ta Pao village have participated in planting coffee and macadamia, bringing the poverty tally down to 29 households. Crop restructuring policies no longer remain confined to meeting halls; they are clearly visible across upland plots and embedded in the annual production plans of every household.

The vanguard spirit of cadres and Party members was equally demonstrated in Nà Bủng commune. According to Trần Đình Nhuận, Secretary of the Nà Bủng commune Party Committee, in 2026 the province assigned the commune a quota of 10ha for key crops; the locality proactively registered an additional 29ha and completed the entire plan. Alongside areas mobilized by commune authorities, local residents independently planted approximately 100ha of various crops, marking a distinct shift in public awareness and production demand.

Commune Party Committee Secretary Trần Đình Nhuận independently cultivated 3ha, establishing a coffee-intercropped macadamia model. Combining tree varieties with differing growth cycles and market values optimizes land utilization and disperses risks, creating a practical basis to evaluate economic performance prior to mobilizing community replication.

Across localities, especially remote border areas such as Ta Pao or Nà Bủng, persuasive power does not stem from abstract appeals. When cadres and Party members directly commit capital and labor, enduring production hurdles alongside the people, farmers gain solid evidence upon which to make decisions. Initial demonstration plots enable localities to identify suitable varieties, make necessary technical adjustments, and determine sustainable operational scales.

Not chasing after acreage alone

Initial grassroots outcomes demonstrate that agricultural restructuring orientations under Resolution 11 throughout the province, centered on macadamia and coffee, represent a sound strategic pathway. Concretizing the resolution, in March 2026, the provincial People’s Committee issued Plan No.1850/KH-UBND on new plantings of coffee and macadamia and piloting low-altitude economic development models. For 2026 alone, Điện Biên set a development target of 12,000ha for coffee and macadamia, assigning specific quotas to each locality grounded in local climate, soil characteristics, land reserves, infrastructure, and production management capacity.

Mường Ảng, Quài Tở, Mường Mùn, Pú Nhung, Chiềng Sinh, and Xa Dung represent communes oriented toward large-scale coffee development. For macadamia, key zones are concentrated in communes such as Na Son, Mường Luân, Mường Nhà, Tuần Giáo, Quài Tở, Mường Mùn, Pú Nhung, Chiềng Sinh, Sín Thầu, and Mường Nhé, with remaining areas developing at scales tailored to actual local conditions.

Lê Xuân Cảnh, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, affirmed that the overarching principle directed from the province to the grassroots is that acreage expansion must proceed hand in hand with production reorganization. Planting materials must undergo rigorous quality control; technical processes must be applied uniformly; and production zones must be progressively digitized, granted cultivation codes, and integrated with traceability systems. Enterprises and cooperatives need to participate throughout each stage, from initial investment and technical training to procurement and industrial processing.

Lê Xuân Cảnh emphasized that new planting acreage cannot serve as the sole evaluation metric. Trees must match the specific conditions of each locality, thrive with vigor, and secure reliable market off-take. Every raw material production zone requires integrated calculations covering transport logistics, irrigation water, preliminary processing, refining facilities, and consumer markets.

In Búng Lao, beyond the provincial allocation of nearly 770ha of newly planted coffee and macadamia in 2026, local residents independently planted an additional 400ha, raising total newly planted coffee to 800ha. Facing this reality, the commune assigned specialized technical staff to visit each village to guide residents on seed selection, soil preparation, planting, and standardized crop care. Trương Hồng Bách, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Búng Lao commune, stated that while proactive acreage expansion among the people is a positive signal, the commune does not pursue acreage expansion at all costs; rather, the primary requirement remains ensuring that new planting aligns strictly with quality benchmarks and designated zoning plans.