2024.09.02

一支蘆筍，能把故鄉變成豐盛之地嗎？答案是Yes!

Can a single asparagus bring back the past glory of his hometown? The answer is Yes!

崙禾社企在董事長陳梧桐的帶領下，透過蘆筍種植與加工，提高農民收入，將家鄉從凋零危機中拯救出來。另也舉辦民俗體育競賽，凝聚人氣。經濟面與情感面雙管齊下，一步步實現農村創生的夢想。

崙禾社企在嘉義鼓勵農民種植蘆筍

Asparagus grown by LWSE and local farmers in Jiayi, Taiwan.

　　2021年創立的崙禾社企，企業使命是把溪口鄉這個全嘉義縣最小的鄉鎮，打造成經濟富裕、人心豐盛的社區。溪口鄉的美南村與美北村，不到五平方公里的面積，早期稱為「崙尾」，是崙禾社企董事長陳梧桐的故鄉。

　　「取名『崙禾』，是因為30-40年前，在崙尾這裡都是稻田，收成時節一到，稻禾迎風搖曳，那景象真的太美了！」陳梧桐說，小時候，每當庄頭農忙須要人手，一呼百應，大家都熱心捲起袖子幫忙，雖不富足卻很豐盛。他在10幾歲離家到台南求學，接著北上工作、到美國念書、在高雄創業；進入事業有成的中年，每次回到家鄉，卻明顯感受農村的貧窮、人口外流嚴重、人心也跟著疏離了。

    Founded in 2021, LW Social Enterprise's(LWSE) mission is to transform Xikou Township, the smallest township in Chiayi County, into a well-off community with pride, humanity and warmth. The areas of Meinan Village and Meibei Village in Xikou Township were once known as "Lunwei," the hometown of Chen Wutong, who founded LWSE to have Lunwei’s halcyon days be realized anew.

    “During the harvest season, the rice swayed beautifully in the wind!" exclaimed Chen Wutong as he recalled childhood memories of strolling around the rice paddies 30-40 years ago. In the good old days, whenever the village needed help during the busy farming seasons, everyone enthusiastically pitched in, and although not wealthy, the community was very embracing. He then left home in his teens to progress in Tainan, work in the north of Taiwan, study in the United States, and start a business in Kaohsiung. However, every time he returned to his hometown in adulthood, he felt the community was on the wane because of lower income and population outflow; people were growing apart in these once-great villages.

To restore the former glory, Chen Wutong established LW Social Enterprise in 2021, named after "Lunwei" and "Daohe”, meaning rice swaying in this little hometown. He reminisced, "The homophone of 'He' also means 'harmony.' I miss the old ways of life—harmony and unity, where people were close to each other and supportive. "

Chen is determined to bring back prosperity to his hometown but how? After decades of stagnation, the small and remotely located villages have become forgotten lands. Chen brought his entrepreneurship into play and identified his priorities: to stimulate the local economy, increase farmers' income, and encourage young people to return and stay. He chose "asparagus" as the savior of economy, a high-value crop that offers farmers a great return on investment.

崙禾社企董事長陳梧桐（右二）與農友在蘆筍田

Chen Wutong(second from the right) and farmers in an asparagus field.

    Lunwei belongs to Xikou Township, where nearly three-quarters of the land are rice fields. Rice prices are typically low because of cheap supplies from abroad and therefore cannot support daily living expenses. After discussing and collaborating with agricultural research institutes, experts, and local farmers, Chen discovered that under proper conditions, asparagus was very suitable for local cultivation. Thus, a series of rural transformation projects began.

    The first step LW Social Enterprise took was to bring in professional agriculturalists to teach local farmers how to grow asparagus. LW also established a dedicated marketing team to sell the produce, tapping into multiple sales channels for every specifications. Asparagus with a diameter of more than 1.5 cm, large and plump, is packaged into high-quality fresh gift boxes; while thinner and weaker asparaguses, still equally fresh and delicious, are sold to bento shops. The profit from this “market your own produce” strategy are much higher than traditional distribution channels where farmers are exploited by layers of distributors, therefore encouraging more farmers to embrace the new crop.

    After two years of efforts, the area of asparagus cultivation has spanned from Lunwei village to Xikou Township and further into the entire Chiayi region. Starting 2024, LWSE was able to begin contract farming with villagers, all the produce from farmers will be purchased and sold by LWSE. This reflects a stronger foothold of LWSE in the market: supplying five-star hotels and private celebrity kitchens.

崙禾社企示範如何採收蘆筍

LWSE demonstrate how to harvest asparagus.

    To ensure the sustainability of this newly developed asparagus economy, Chen Wutong's second task is to cultivate young agricultural talents. He collaborates with Xikou Junior High School in Chiayi, Minshyong vocational high school of Agriculture and Industrial High School, and Peigang Agricultural and Industrial High School, building asparagus greenhouses on campus. Students learn to grow asparagus, study which varieties are most suitable for the local environment, find out their different flavors and protect seed sources. The aim is to ensure that the revitalized rural economy has successors.

   Community care is LWSE’s third task. When LWSE initiated the rural revitalization project, the elderly population once left behind was not neglected. LWSE launched a twice-weekly meal delivery service and a weekly communal meal service for the elderly. In the small village of less than a thousand people, there are already more than ten regular volunteers who passionately deliver meals and lead muscle strength dances on communal meal days. Chen Wutong stated, "The elderly have become physically and mentally healthier. When the county mayor visited, they were keen to show off their dance moves. Seeing these seniors full of vitality and smiling brightly brings a sense of accomplishment and pride."

    While developing the first three projects, LW opened a fourth front: community building. The core idea was to preserve folk sports through the "LW Cup", ensuring the culture and tradition continues to be passed down while bringing a fun yet competitive edge to the community. The first "LW Cup of Folk Sports Competition" was held in 2023, inviting student-athletes from all over Taiwan to compete in Lunwei. Events included diabolo, top spinning, jump rope, lion dance, and shuttlecock kicking, all highly professional competitions. In particular, the shuttlecock kicking games held on a badminton court was comparable to Taiwan's world-renowned badminton competition, with the intensity palpable to the surrounding audience.

    To welcome guests from afar for the LW Cup, the entire village mobilized with both the elderly and the young eagerly helping. Due to its strong appeal and the encouraging success of its prior edition, the second LW Cup this year attracted even more participants from high schools, junior highs, and elementary schools from across Taiwan, including a cub scout team from Taipei. Not only did the county mayor of Chiayi come to support the event, but many local politicians, sensing the popularity, also showed up. Funnily enough, making the event even grander and livelier than local election campaigns.

第二屆崙禾盃民俗體育競賽，以「ㄍㄢ仔獅」舞獅表演在大雨中揭開序幕

2024 Lunhe Cup of Folk Sports unfolded with traditional lion dance performed by student athletes.

After successfully uniting the community with asparagus farming, LWSE began to consider its sustainability and ecological impact. Asparagus although high in economic value faces a drawback as selling it fresh limits the edible parts to the tender sections; the tough and more fibrous parts are thrown away. To ensure full use of every single bits of asparagus, LW Social Enterprise developed two health products with asparagus waste, "asparagus fiber jelly" and "asparagus protein drink,". These 2 products, combined with premium fresh asparagus, form gift boxes that have been well received by the market. To meet higher demand, LW is currently seeking a location for a primary processing plant locally.

   "First, we set up a production line here in the villages. If it scales up, going into an industrial zone might be a good idea. Step by step, we are creating value and reviving the rural economy. Hopefully the villagers’ income would improve to a level that outflowed young people would return with a sense of pride. That’s when community developing come into the picture, better income, social care, preserving folk traditions, etc. A sense of belonging would resonate across generations. We are just starting out, and there is still a lot of work to be done," said Chen Wutong.

在地蘆筍加工製成的機能保健食品

Asparagus Fiber Jelly and Asparagus Protein Drink made by locally grown asparagus.

The efforts of LW Social Enterprise were noticed by the National Development Fund, which sent a team to evaluate investment potentials. They assessed whether such a social enterprise, on top of being well-intentioned, is also capable of operating in a sustainable way. The National Development Fund decided to invest together with Taiwan Cooperative Bank under “the green channel”, a fast-track investment funding for startups. Even the notoriously strict Taipei Exchange invited LW to go public on its Emerging Stock Board.

Despite the recognition, Chen Wutong insists on moving forward steadily and not to dilute equity too much. He stated that LWSE as a social enterprise has a mission not to maximize revenue and profits but to fulfill social responsibility and create impacts influence while making profits. "The grand project of rural regeneration is ultimately different from corporate management. Although there are no fancy office buildings or factory production lines, our efforts in the community have accumulated a lot of momentum. Each event attracts more people, and this is how we can keep the community's vitality running," explained Chen Wutong.