In Mae Sot, Thailand, a border town where thousands of people migrate from Burma, work can be hard to come by, especially between planting and harvesting time in the large plantations. So a simple vegetable garden can mean everything.
After evaluating the needs of the community, JRS Mae Sot revamped its assistance project. Since last year, the team has been working with the local diocese to provide agricultural training and start-up materials to vulnerable families so they can feed themselves and earn a small income without depending on NGO financial support every month.
“In the past, if they wanted to start their own gardens, they would have to take loans from owners of larger Thai plantations for seeds and chemical fertilizer. By the end of the season they would owe so much money that they would have to give over most of their crop to pay back the loan,” said Jennifer Titmuss, JRS Mae Sot project director.
JRS Mae Sot has helped families begin rearing animals, basket weaving and other small businesses based on what the local community said would be a good source of income and the skills of the families. It has also helped a community-based organization provide sewing training for those seeking work in factories.
Now JRS is teaching people how to make their own fertilizers and grow vegetables suited to the local soil and environment. The people are also learning how to make organic topsoil from cow manure, pesticide from lemongrass, and how to plant crops such as corn, morning glory and pumpkins.
U Shwe, a Karen father of three, hopes that being able to make his own fertiliser and starting his garden again will mean that more of his crops will survive this season. He wants to be able to depend less on his ad hoc construction jobs, which he feels he is getting too old to do.
“There are more and more people who want to learn and understand how to use the organic pesticide and fertilizer because it cuts costs,” said Prasong, the agricultural trainer from the local diocese who learned organic methods of farming from his parents. “It feels good to see this knowledge spread amongst people.”
Rice fields cover the Mae Sot countryside, but more and more small gardens are beginning to appear in their midst, and it is these small gardens that are offering people a more than just income.
“This training isn’t just good for us, it’s good for our community, useful for the migrants,” said U Shwe. “We have knowledge now. We can do things ourselves.”
Read the JRS story here.
Top photo: Agricultural trainer Prasong (right) shows U Shwe how to grow pumpkins.