Collaborative Partnership and New Farm Management for Solving Drought According to Different Geo-Social Environment in the Northeast of Thailand

Abstract

This article studied the collaborative partnership among governmental organisations, local farmer scholar leaders and farmers at the local level. Their collaborative partnership aimed to promote and strengthen grassroots participation through new farm management. The farmer families tried to cope with drought situation by learning and practising new skills at local farmer scholar leaders’ learning centres. They were supported by related external and internal organisations in order to manage their agricultural areas when confronted with drought and infertile soil. The physical aspect, rolling landscape and mostly sandy soil, combined with excessive water in the rainy season became conditions that heavily affected crops in the northeast of Thailand. This was regarded as a major agricultural problem within the region considered as the most poverty-stricken area of the country. Through learning and exchanging views among the farmers, from various geo-social environments, regarding their drought experiences and new farm management techniques, it was found that they had attained considerable success in improving their appropriate, self-reliant and environmentally friendly agricultural practices, guided by, and complied with, the principles and philosophy of sufficiency economy.