The north eastern provinces of Thailand, in and around , are blessed with hard working people and abundant land for farming. Subsistence farming is the norm, but with only seasonal access to water, even that is out of reach for many farmers. The majority of farmers in this region can only plant during the 3 month rainy season when water is plentiful. During the dry season, their farms lay fallow forcing many farmers to find work elsewhere to provide food for their families. This once a year harvest cycle has deep impacts on individual families. With parents forced to travel to find work during the dry season, families are split up many months during the year. Farm children see that farming is not a reliable way to raise a family so they regularly migrate to the City to find work that will provide a steady paycheck. Often these children never return to farming thereby reducing Thailand's ability to engage its next generation in farming.
Opportunity
District 5330's Vocational Training Team visited the region and, during discussions with a local Water Foundation, discovered that the solution to the problem was originally discovered by the King of Thailand. He developed his New Theory in farming. As shown in the drawing, the "New Theory" includes a pond reservoir for each farm allowing that farmer to save and use water captured during the rainy season. The basin must be of a size that will provide enough water storage to allow farmers to farm throughout the year.
Change
Utilizing a pond based storage system gives farmers a new ability to plant year round but comes with new challenges with soils and insect management, crop rotation, and erosion control. In addition to additional crops, livestock, fish, and frogs all become viable commodities for farmers to bring to market. The Training Team is recommending that the Water Foundation work with local agricultural cooperatives and agricultural schools to design and implement various training programs that teach the new skills needed to better manage local farms that will have increased variety and agricultural capacity.
Partnerships
The grant will fund the creation of approximately 40 ponds at about USD 1,100 per pond. The Thailand Water Foundation in partnership with the civic authorities will select those farmers who embrace and practice the late King's New Theory of farming. Once the farmers are selected, the Municipality and the Water Foundation will work together to facilitate the excavation of the basins. The Municipal Officials, working in partnership with the Water Foundation and Rotary, will provide the heavy equipment needed to create the basins only charging the project the actual labor and fuel costs. The Foundation will partner with local cooperatives and agricultural schools to develop necessary curriculum to insure that the various training programs are provided to the farmers.
Impact
Creating the opportunity for farmers to farm year round changes their and their family's lives. Not only do they not have leave their homes for work in the City several months of each year, but they can connect with their children and train the next generation of farmers. The proposed training will help them understand the importance of managing their farms in an efficient and sustainable way to ensure that the added water storage will result in increased output and healthy crops for years to come. Local training in insect control and composting as an aid to crop fertilization could help farmers reach maximum output per farm
Providing adequate food to sustain their families is not the only benefit of year round farming. The Thai farmers will also be able to plant and grow marketable crops. In addition, the ponds themselves allow farmers to raise and sell frogs and a variety of fish to local markets thus increasing their disposable income. When one considers new agricultural markets and the ability to access those markets year round, one can easily envision a 50 to 60% increase in output per farm. Using any viable economic multiplier will quickly show that the money invested in the ponds will result in huge benefits to the farming families and the communities in which they live.
Completed
This project is "Completed". This means the project has been implemented and the report was accepted by The Rotary Foundation. The project will stay listed on this website as a testimony of the achievements of the project partners.
Project listed for the 2017-18 Rotary Year.
The TRF Grant application number is #1757902.
Proposed Financing
Existing Contributions Towards This Project
Date
Cash
DDF
Total
Hemet Sunset (5330)
28-Apr-17
$525
$1,000
$1,525
Thai Town, Los Angeles (5280)
24-May-17
$525
$0
$525
District 5300 DDF
1-Jul-17
-
$12,000
$12,000
District 5330 DDF
21-Aug-17
-
$1,500
$1,500
Indio (5330)
21-Aug-17
$105
$1,500
$1,605
Big Bear Lake (5330)
21-Aug-17
$105
$4,000
$4,105
Arlington (Riverside) (5330)
21-Aug-17
$2,100
$1,000
$3,100
Perris (5330)
29-Aug-17
$105
$922
$1,027
District 5280 DDF
7-Sep-17
-
$9,228
$9,228
Arlington (Sunrise) (5790)
27-Sep-17
$524
$0
$524
Amount Requested from The Rotary Foundation
$1,994
$31,150
$33,142
Total
$68,281
Note: as of July 1, 2015 there is a 5% additional support fee for cash contributions. This fee does not appear in the financials above because it does not apply if the funds are sent directly to the project account (without going through TRF, and therefore without Paul Harris credit). Clubs sending their cash contribution to TRF must be aware they will have to send an additional 5%.
Project Supporting Documents
There are no documents yet for this project. Go to the administration page to upload documents.
Project Photos
History Log Entries
28-Apr-17
System Entry
System Entry: Creation of project page.
24-May-17
System Entry
System Entry: Pledge of $500 by Tom Thepprasit of the Rotary Club of Thai Town, Los Angeles, District 5280.
1-Jul-17
System Entry
System Entry: Pledge of $12,000 DDF by Luciano Disylva of the Rotary Club of Valley rotary club, District 5300.
21-Aug-17
System Entry
System Entry: Pledge of $1,500 by Barbara Dreis of the Rotary Club of Indio, District 5330.
21-Aug-17
by Bob Duistermars
System Entry: Pledge of $100 with $1,500 DDF by Barb Dreis of the Rotary Club of Indio, District 5330.
21-Aug-17
by Bob Duistermars
System Entry: Pledge of $100 with $4,000 DDF by Keenan Warner of the Rotary Club of Big Bear Lake, District 5330.
21-Aug-17
by Bob Duistermars
System Entry: Pledge of $2,000 with $1,000 DDF by Mary Wheelis of the Rotary Club of Arlington (Riverside), District 5330.
29-Aug-17
by Bob Duistermars
System Entry: Pledge of $992 DDF by Mike Behrens of the Rotary Club of Perris, District 5330.
29-Aug-17
by Bob Duistermars
System Entry: Pledge of $100 with $992 DDF by Mike Behrens of the Rotary Club of Perris, District 5330.
7-Sep-17
by Bob Duistermars
System Entry: Pledge of $9,228 DDF by Tom Thepprasit of District 5280.
27-Sep-17
by Christopher McLucas
System Entry: Pledge of $278 by Christopher J Mclucas of the Rotary Club of Arlington (Sunrise), District 5790.
27-Sep-17
by Christopher McLucas
System Entry: Project is now "Fully Pledged".
2-Apr-18
by Bob Duistermars
This Grant has been submitted to RI. We are refining the grant and answering RI Questions concerning the Grant. This back and forth process will help us create a stronger grant.
22-May-18
by Bob Duistermars
System Entry: Application Sent to The Rotary Foundation through Member Access.
22-May-18
by Bob Duistermars
System Entry: Application approved by The Rotary Foundation.
31-Aug-18
by Bob Duistermars
Project has funded.
2-Mar-19
by Bob Duistermars
System Entry: Payment has been issued by The Rotary Foundation.
2-Dec-19
by Sam Kasemchai Nitiwanakun
System Entry: Final Report sent to The Rotary Foundation.
2-Dec-19
by Sam Kasemchai Nitiwanakun
System Entry: Final Report approved by The Rotary Foundation.
