Ethnic minority women (EMW) and people with disabilities (PwD) are vital contributors to the economic development of Northwest Vietnam, including Son La and Lao Cai. They bring experience and capabilities, as well as an underutilised workforce that can advance business innovations and growth. However, in these provinces, both EMW and PwD continue to face deeply embedded social norms, stigma, and informal power structures that discriminate and restrict their meaningful participation in sectors that have great potential, including bamboo shoots and tourism sectors. Despite positive national trends, EMW and PwD contend with significant structural barriers, including language obstacles and limited access to capital.

For EMW, a critical challenge remains the unequal domestic burden; GREAT research indicates that 54% of farmers believe housework is solely a woman’s responsibility, with women performing 75% of all care work. This significantly limits their available time for income-generating activities and professional development. Furthermore, while 86% of women discuss production investments with their spouses, men still hold the final decision-making power in 75% of cases. These dynamics hinder women from ascending to leadership roles or higher-value positions within local cooperatives. For PwD, economic participation is further obstructed by pervasive social prejudice and a lack of inclusive business practices such as adjusting accommodations. In the bamboo shoot industry, the absence of appropriate assistive tools limits productivity and increases health and safety risks for workers with disabilities. Similarly, in the tourism sector, PwD are often excluded from “visible” roles due to employer and customer misunderstandings regarding their professional competence. Recruitment channels frequently rely on informal networks, which systematically exclude PwD who have limited social connections.

Overcoming these behavioral and systemic obstacles is an urgent priority for true empowerment, and it is important to weave inclusive practices directly into existing local systems. Market system changes needed include addressing: how cooperatives are managed to reflect the needs and priorities of their dominate female workforce; how business employers and customers perceive and engage with EMW and PwD; how community leaders advocate and model for inclusion; how households – male partners, carers, and family members – enable conditions at home for their wives and PwD members to participate in markets; and EMW and PwD own, capabilities, sense of self belief and confidence. The Behaviour Change for Inclusive Markets (BC4IM) project under GREAT directly addresses these areas of social norm changing to develop gender equitable, disability and socially inclusive (GEDSI) markets and empowered participation for EMW and PwD.