THAILAND – The Market Oriented Smallholder Value Chain (MSVC) programme, one of the largest sustainable rice projects in Thailand, is close to completion and has successfully helped 19,000 Thai smallholder farmers increase their net income by more than 20% and reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from farming by 21%.
MSVC is a collaboration between Olam Agri, German development cooperation Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and Thai government authority Thailand Rice Department.
The partners cooperate within the framework of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (BMZ) programme develoPPP, a funding instrument for sustainable company initiatives.
The role of smallholders in underpinning the Thai economy through exported and domestic product and supporting their 70 percent of the population without government welfare emphasizes an ever growing need to prioritize smallholder farmer development.
In line with our purpose to transform agriculture for a more sustainable future, we are actively working with GIZ and the Thai Rice Department on the ground to help improve the lives of smallholder rice farmers and make the rice supply chain more resilient and environmentally sustainable
The programme, which started in 2016 with 77 farmers, aimed primarily at improving the lives of resource-poor rice farmers in the Northeastern provinces of Ubon Ratchathani and Surin in Thailand and increase the production of sustainable and high-quality rice from these regions.
“In line with our purpose to transform agriculture for a more sustainable future, we are actively working with GIZ and the Thai Rice Department on the ground to help improve the lives of smallholder rice farmers and make the rice supply chain more resilient and environmentally sustainable,” said Paul Nicholson, Vice President for Rice Research and Sustainability, Olam Agri.
The programme exceeded expectations by enrolling 20% (3,000 farmers) more farmers than originally planned and had the additional benefit of improving the inclusion of women farmers who make up 60% of participating farmers.
In addition to a 21% reduction in GHG emissions, the programme has also improved water quality by 14%.
Thanks to MSVC, food producers and retailers in Europe, the U.S. and around the world will have access to more than 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of rice that has been cultivated sustainably, to the highest food international safety standards and that can be traced back to the thriving farmer communities in Thailand.
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