IWCA Vietnam promotes coffee eco-tourism to empower women economically. Their tours in Son La, Vietnam allow female coffee farmers to serve as guides, sharing their culture and livelihood. Tourists help pick coffee, learn processing, and try local food. This provides farmers supplemental income of $20-40 per day, compared to $8-10 normally. The summary highlights Ms. Dan, a 35 year old guide passionate about coffee growing since age 8 who enjoys educating tourists in her native Tai Dam community.

1. PROMOTING COFFEE
ECO-TOURISM IN
VIETNAM
Ngoc Anh Dao Ph.D.
President, IWCA Vietnam

2. Coffee Eco-tour in Vietnam's
northwest
1. IWCA Vietnam
2. Why coffee eco-tour?
3. Coffee eco-tour's program
4. Support the women
5. Meet Ms. Dan
2/3/20XX 2

3. Introduction
IWCA Vietnam was established as a non-profit social enterprise
and a chapter of IWCA Global on October 1, 2019. We promote
possibilities for women and empower them economically through
sustainable and social-engaged projects, focus on improving the
livelihood of women in all sectors of Vietnam coffee industry
towards the sustainability and act as an effective facilitator of new
opportunities for women in the coffee industry. Since the
beginning, we have directly supported 140 ethnic minority coffee
farmers in Son La and continuously seek to expand our
membership network. We understand the importance of equitable
involvement for women and men in the coffee industry in Vietnam.
We strive to connect women with the resources to improve their
livelihoods and access to opportunities. We want to get their
voices heard.
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4. Our Strategic Objectives
Promote members’
coffee, positioning it in
the international market
in order to create better
commercial
opportunities
Promote equal access to
resources and benefit
from women’s work
products
Promote sustainable development
in each of their communities
through environmentally-friendly,
economically-feasible and
socially- acceptable initiatives
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Promote knowledge
creation and personal
development among
members to improve their
business opportunities

5. Our Coffee
Eco-tour
Region: Son La City, Northwest of Vietnam

6. The reasons behind our eco -coffee tour
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There’s ONLY ONE
harvest season in
the year where
farmers can earn
good income
Female coffee
farmers do not
have a regular
stable income
during the year
Coffee lovers
increasingly
want to have
farm-to-cup
experience
Son La coffee is
not widely
known in
Vietnam and the
world

7. Our coffee eco-tour goals
Create an
opportunity for
the female coffee
farmers to:
• Earn extra
income for their
families
• Share with
knowledge
about their
ethnic culture
and work
Raise the
awareness
among coffee
lovers about the
lives of female
coffee farmers
as well as coffee
farming practices
Promote Son La
coffee in the
Vietnam's coffee
map and also the
world's coffee
map
Encourage
the female
coffee
farmers and
their next
generations
to continue
engaging in
and
committing to
their coffee
farms

8. What we offer
FEMALE COFFEE FARMERS
AS LOCAL TOUR GUIDES
Female coffee farmers are trained to
accompany the tourists to explore the
coffee farms as well as the livelihood
of coffee farmers.
A DAY AS A COFFEE
FARMER
Tourists will have a chance to
experience a day picking coffee
cherries and do other manual works
as a farmer. Furthermore, they are
enabled to visit the coffee processing
area in the cooperative as well as
learn the basic of coffee processing.
EXPERIENCE THE ETHNIC
LOCAL CULTURE
Female coffee farmers are acting as
hosts to the tourists: they will offer
traditional food and tell their life
stories. Tourists will have a chance to
see and feel the local lifestyle
through the lens of coffee farmers.
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9. 9
SƠN LA
Visit the coffee farm and
learn to pick the ripe cherries
under the instruction of a
local tour guide
Day 1
Enjoy Tai Dam ethnic
traditional meal in a stilt
house
Visit the coffee processing
site and learn the basics
Day 2
Taste local food in a local
diner and visit local markets
Enjoy your local coffee cup
End of the journey
Pack your bag and get ready for the coffee
journey to Son La

10. How much can we support a female farmer
as a local tour guide?
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- Working time: 1-2 days in total
with a few breaks during the
day.
- Common earning: ~500,000 (1
day tour guide service) –
1,000,000 VND/day (incl.
Offering 1 Tai Dam ethnic meal)
(est. $20 -$40)
- Working time: From early
morning till late afternoon.
During the harvesting season,
taking a short nap right at the
farm on the foliage is
common.
- Common earning: 200,000 –
250,000 VND/day (est. $8 -
$10)
COMMON EARNING FROM FARM
WORKS
EXTRA EARNING FROM A
COFFEE TOUR

11. Meet Ms. Quàng Thị Dân – our local tour guide in Tai Dam ethnic community. She
is 35 years old, living with her husband and her 16 year-old son in a Tai Dam
traditional stilt house built with wooden palettes.
She loves coffee and she has been dedicated to coffee farming since she was 8
years old. She inherited the farm and coffee growing techniques from her family.
Therefore she is definitely an expert to talk about the local coffee. She could fluently
explain everything related to coffee growing techniques adapted to local conditions.
She is also an amazing chef! She offers tourists a Tai Dam ethnic traditional meal
with local food that you have never eaten before. The tourists are always amazed
by her cooking skill and love to see her again!
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“Thanks to IWCA Vietnam, I have a chance to
welcome the tourists from all over the world
and develop myself in a new interesting role –
a local tour guide. I find myself motivated and
I am eager to share about our lives here in Son
La, how we take care of our coffee trees and
how we live in our Thai ethnic community.
It’s a wonderful exchange of thoughts and
knowledge besides earning an extra income. It’s
my honor to be your host.”
Meet one of our local tour guide

12. Thank You!
Ngoc Anh Dao, Ph.D.
President, IWCA Vietnam
Email: ngocanh@detechcoffee.com
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