Inclusive Sustainable Rice Landscapes in Thailand

Objectives

To transform the Thai rice value chain for environmental sustainability by upscaling the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) Standard through an Integrated Landscape Management approach.

Other

Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.

Target Groups

The ISRL project is foreseen to have multiple positive socio-economic impacts on farmers and local communities. For farmers, the project emphasizes the importance of livelihoods and enabling transition to sustainable production practices. Sustainable production practices, namely implementation of the SRP Standard, are supported through the project’s financial mechanism which initiates a Revolving Fund to incentivize service providers to provide ISRL services and contribute to service provider livelihood. The creation of this new market equates to new forms of employment, and BAAC green loans enable service providers to invest in new equipment and technologies to provide these services in the long-term. Furthermore, green bonds are envisioned to further incentivize farmers to transition to sustainable production practices by rewarding successful implementation of the SRP Standard, whilst also in and generating environmental benefits at landscape level such as reforestation and forest protection. In addition, emphasis on agro-forestry and crop diversification in the highland HCVFs and sub-optimal rice systems (referred to above), will have positive impact on farmer livelihood by enabling farmers to produce additional crops for additional income despite off-seasons or degraded agricultural lands. Given a gender mainstreaming plan and the GEF Core Indicator 11, the project will engage with at least 40% female beneficiaries to promote inclusion in transitioning to sustainable rice value chains and other on-farm and off-farm work such as agroforestry. Women will be supported to take positions of authority within the project governance structure and a gender consultant will prepare project gender mainstreaming and monitoring guidelines to ensure the representation and participation of women during project implementation. Gender equality, social issues and needs relevant for the project were studied as part of the project development process through desk study, consultative meetings with major stakeholders including Women Organic Rice Farmers Groups and other community-based groups. The objectives of the gender assessment were to assess the current situation regarding gender equality, and to identify gender equality, capacity building and gender accountability activities for inclusion in the project activities and budget. The results of the Gender Assessment are included and presented in detail in the project Gender Mainstreaming Plan (ProDoc, Appendix 16).Social sustainability (which includes the gender dimensions), and consequently the durability of the uptake and impacts of the proposed management models, will be promoted through the application of a sustainable livelihoods approach, with a focus on integrating sustainably managed rice and “diversification” alternatives into diverse farm economies and farming systems that will allow farm families to satisfy their multiple livelihood needs (including nutritious food and cash income) in a sustainable, resilient and low-risk way. The definition of such socially sustainable options will be supported through the application of the Farmer Field School model under the New Farming Theory, which emphasizes farm diversification and participatory problem analysis and farmer-based experimentation and technology validation. The project will contribute to national and provincial/landscape level socio-economic benefits, which will include: Sustained livelihoods for people dependent on the sustainable use and management of land resources (soil, water, biodiversity): The project will pay special attention to assessing the impacts of land degradation on vulnerable groups (women, indigenous peoples) and identifying sustainable gender sensitive solutions. Socio-economic sustainability will be a pre-requisite to achieve environmental sustainability of the project, which focuses on landscape planning/management and implementation/financing of sustainable rice production (SRP Standard) and sustainable management of other crops. The ISRL project leverages ongoing governmental projects for environmental and forest conservation and management, as well as those focusing on farming (Mega Farms, Flood Retention, etc.) and livelihoods (OTOP, Diversification of Farmer Income, etc.). To ensure environmental sustainability, it is key to focus on farmer livelihood to effectively address forest encroachment, monoculture production (rather to incentivize production diversification), as well as unsustainable farming practices and related land degradation (ie: overuse of fertilizer and pesticide inputs leading to water contamination). The environmental impacts of the project, namely preservation of forests and contribution to reforestation/forest patrol, as well as the reduction in harmful farm practices which have off-farm impact on the surrounding landscape (through SRP Standard implementation), will be institutionalized through policy reform and integration.