LOCATION: Northeast Thailand
ESTABLISHED: 2019
With agricultural supply chains increasingly dominated by large corporations and entrenched special interests, a group of farmers in the Northeast is seeking to buck the system and protect the health of farmers and consumers alike by promoting, in particular, alternative rice varieties. The Thai–Isan Farmers cooperative has launched a sustainable farming model that centers on preserving traditional farming techniques and a community seed bank that aims to restore and preserve agricultural biodiversity. Its members also use alternative marketing strategies and producer networks to sell their chemical-free produce and value-added products.
Farming in Thailand’s Northeast, or Isan, is often framed in terms of struggle. Poor irrigation, droughts and floods, infertile soil, labor shortages, price fluctuations and high production costs all feed into its image as a region where farming is especially challenging.
But while the images of Isan as an arid land full of hardships might not be entirely unwarranted—agricultural output there does lag behind the rest of the country—its food culture is far from barren. Across the region, many people working in these tough conditions are reaping the benefits. Positive developments range from the opening of high-end restaurants that promote biodiversity by using only seasonal local produce, to the emergence of organic farming cooperatives that operate independently of mainstream corporate or contract farming. Among the most prominent examples of the latter is Thai–Isan Farmers, a regional network of 15 like-minded
“Having our own seeds, our own land,
our own habitat is the way towards our
own food security.”
Kaenkhamkla Philanoi
Founder of Thai–Isan Farmers
THAILAND’S BCG TRANSFORMATION : 40 Case Studies on the Bio-Circular-Green Strategy and the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy In Action” page 160-165
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