ASSESSING THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THREE PROJECT AREAS SUPPORTING WOMEN IN GREEN AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY MODELS

The project “Enabling women in central of Vietnam to improve their lives and protect the environment, natural resources by applying green and circular economy” is being implemented in three areas: Hòa Bắc Commune, Thọ Quang Ward (Đà Nẵng), and Tư Commune (Quảng Nam), each with distinct socio-economic contexts.

Based on a survey of 311 women, combined with qualitative research conducted by the Institute of Circular Economy Development (ICED), the current situation in these areas highlights clear potentials, challenges, and the need for tailored interventions to ensure sustainable development.

Precarious and Unsustainable Livelihoods

Thọ Quang Ward is not just an administrative unit, but also a major marine economic hub. It hosts Thọ Quang Fishing Port—one of the largest in the region—receiving tens of thousands of tons of seafood annually and generating a dynamic economic ecosystem. Most households rely on small-scale seafood processing, heavily dependent on traders and unstable supplies. Reported household incomes range from VND 5.5 million to 12.5 million per person per month.

Hòa Bắc Commune serves as an ecological buffer zone with a strategy to develop community-based tourism. However, residents face difficulties in transforming agricultural potential into sustainable economic value. Women’s incomes here come from multiple sources: agriculture (VND 3–4 million per person per month), tourism services (VND 5–7 million), and wage labor in Đà Nẵng’s industrial zones, which provides an important alternative source of income.

Tư Commune is a predominantly agricultural area with about 1,600 residents, over 90% of whom are Cơ Tu ethnic minorities. Of its 600–700 young people, around 300 men have migrated for jobs in factories and industrial zones elsewhere due to limited local employment opportunities. As a result, women are left to shoulder not only family care and childcare but also nearly all farming and fieldwork responsibilities.

The average household income in Tư Commune in 2024 remained low at about VND 48 million per year—equivalent to roughly VND 3 million per household per month. This presents a major challenge for improving living standards and reinvesting in production.

Consequently, financial satisfaction levels are low: only 11.2% of women in Tư reported being satisfied with their income, while in Hòa Bắc, 84% expressed dissatisfaction with their current livelihoods.

On a positive note, across all three areas, women hold decision-making power in both household and financial matters (100% reported participating in decision-making). However, this potential remains underutilized, as women must juggle domestic responsibilities with income generation, leaving limited capacity to fully engage in livelihood activities. In Tư Commune, this reality is even more pronounced given the high rate of male out-migration, leaving women as the sole household pillars.

Livelihood structures reflect a strong reliance on unstable income sources: in Thọ Quang and Hòa Bắc, over 50% of women depend on casual or wage labor, while in Tư Commune, 50.5% of women are engaged in small-scale agriculture, mainly acacia cultivation and livestock raising.

Limited Awareness of the Circular Economy

At the time of the survey, knowledge of the circular economy (CE) was extremely limited across the three areas: 0% in Tư, 1% in Hòa Bắc, and only 12.5% in Thọ Quang had even heard of the term. This knowledge gap highlights the urgent need for communication and training.

Nevertheless, positive habits such as thrift, reuse, and recycling are already embedded in daily life and cultural practices. This creates a valuable entry point, allowing communication on circular economy concepts to build upon existing practices rather than starting from zero—bridging everyday habits to structured knowledge and skills.

However, the application of circular techniques in production remains limited due to the lack of guidance, skills, and appropriate technology. For example, in Tư Commune, deer farming, black pig raising, and agricultural processing face high loss rates, low productivity, and limited post-harvest technologies such as drying, preservation, and packaging.

Major Barriers to Project Engagement

Each area faces unique challenges. In Thọ Quang, lack of trust is the main barrier preventing women from joining cooperatives or collective economic models (reported by 60.7% of women). In Hòa Bắc, neither agriculture nor community tourism currently provides stable employment opportunities for women. In Tư Commune, the absence of Land Use Right Certificates for 100% of households hinders both livelihood investment and access to credit.

A shared challenge is the digital divide: only 43.9% of women in Tư use smartphones, compared to 80% in Thọ Quang. This significantly limits access to information, training, and markets.

The analysis shows there is no “silver bullet” for change. In Hòa Bắc and Thọ Quang, human capital (education and skills) is the key to improving incomes. In Tư, building technological capacity is essential to add value to production. Regarding sustainable behavior, Tư needs to strengthen social capital (cooperation networks), Thọ Quang requires enhanced environmental awareness, while Hòa Bắc should integrate circular economy principles with agricultural livelihoods.

Towards Tailored, Sustainable Solutions

Baseline assessments across the three project areas reveal highly diverse conditions in terms of capacity, infrastructure, institutions, and socio-cultural context. Yet, all communities share a common strength: women possess strong intrinsic motivation, a desire to improve livelihoods, and existing circular practices rooted in cultural habits.

These findings provide the foundation for designing interventions that apply green and circular economy approaches tailored to each locality. Such interventions will not only be appropriate and feasible but also foster community ownership and future scaling-up.