1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Bangkok
Region
Asia
Native title of the NBS intervention
สวนผักคนเมืองกรุงเทพ
Short description of the intervention
Due to the growing population density and extreme climate events in Bangkok, Thailand, food security has become a more and more pressing issue for urban people. As a response, the Bangkok City Farm project was launched in 2010 by the Food and Nutrition Programme of the National Health Promotion Foundation. Implemented in collaboration with the Sustainable Agriculture Foundation Thailand (SAFT), the project aims to encourage and enable people in urban areas to grow their own food. The project offers financial support to anyone who wishes to start their own urban agricultural project, as well as training courses, access to food markets and knowledge sharing platforms. The implementation sites of the farms varies from private house gardens, community gardens, areas in informal settlements, school gardens and institutional green areas (such as hospitals and factories).(Ref. 1,2) The Bangkok City Farm's role in promoting food self-reliance and food security grew further during the COVID-19. As a result of the pandemic, many people in Bangkok - especially from underprivileged communities lost their jobs and their livelihood and access to sufficient and health food was threatened. Thus, as part of the project, green areas on vacant sites of the city were also created to support the out-of-work people with enabling them for self cultivation of their food. (Ref.6) As of 2022, there are 165 farms in Bangkok created through the project. Given the success and importance of the project, the project was scaled up into a nation-wide initiative called ‘Thai City Farm’. 'Thai City Farm' expanded the network to five other cities in Thailand. (Ref. 1,2)
Address

Bangkok
Thailand

Total area
1568000000.00m²
NBS area
130000.00m²
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2010
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2010
Present stage of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
1. Increase food security in the urban area
- Increase people’s ability to produce their own food, and become self-reliant.
- Encourage people to grow their own food and start agricultural activities on small- to medium-sized urban spaces.
2. Increase food safety in urban area
- Increase area that can produce safe food for the city.
- Support different types of agricultural activities.
3. Promote urban farming policy and increase accessibility to high quality food for everyone along with the development of locals' economic and social interactions.
- Share and promote knowledge about sustainable and organic farming practices.
- Create a farming network and encourage social interaction between people in the community.
4. Increase urban green area and promote urban biodiversity.
5. Support vulnerable groups, especially low income groups.
6. Improve people's connection to nature that supports their physical and mental health.

(Ref.1,2,3,4)
Quantitative targets
During Covid (2019-2020), the project focused on helping vulnerable communities with specific targets:
1. As there are a lot of abandon areas scattered around the city, the project aimed to turn those areas into urban farms. In the first phase they targeted on 19 communities, especially in informal settlements.
2. These urban farms were expected to produce food for 40-60 people per month.
3. Included the organisation of farming workshop for 49 communities.

(Ref.2,5,7,8)
Monitoring indicators defined
1. The number of participants who join the Bangkok City Farm project (receive funding).
2. The number of people who join urban farming workshop or class.
3. The amount of agricultural product being produced per year from partner farms.
4. The number of people who joined City Farm Market.

(Ref.2,3,4)
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Implementation activities
There are three main types of agricultural activities of the Bangkok City Farm project:
1. Subsistence-oriented urban farming practices
- Creating community garden as edible social space and as self-sufficiency economic practice among community members and workers.
2. Leisure and recreation-oriented
- Creating community and institutional gardens as healthy and enjoyable learning space. They can also act as new playground for kids.
3. Market oriented practice
- Promoting alternative market and create space for product exchange.

All implementation activities are listed below.

1. Establishment of 9 learning centres throughout Bangkok and the provision of 20 agricultural learning programs.
2. Provision of financial support for people, community and any institutions that wish to start their own urban farming project.
3. Promotion of ‘land sharing’ concept and maximise the usage of urban area. This includes the encouragement of people in the same community or within the same institution to share a plot of land or area and grow vegetables together. The project also connects people who wish to share their land with people who interested in farming but lack of land. This led to the establishment of school gardens, hospital gardens, roof gardens on office building and farming in abandoned area.
4. Introduction of other benefits that the garden can offer such as healing garden and vegetable garden for kids.
5. Establishment of the City Farm Market which is a space for food distribution and farmer network. People within Bangkok City Farm network and other organic farming networks can sell and distribute their product directly to customers.
6. Organisation of various activities and events throughout the year for people to exchange knowledge and experience relating to urban farming. teach or discuss includes how to prepare the soil and grow vegetables, how to make organic fertiliser and food waste management.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the project also started supporting vulnerable communities. There are several actions being taken.
1. As there are a lot of abandon areas scattered around the city, the project aimed to turn those areas into urban farms. In the first phase they targeted on 19 communities, especially in informal settlements.
2. These urban farms were expected to produce food for 40-60 people per month.
3. Farming workshops were organized for 49 communities.

(Ref. 1,2,3,4)
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Community gardens and allotments
Allotments
Community gardens
Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Green playgrounds and school grounds
Institutional green space
Nature on buildings (external)
Green roofs
Please specify "other Climate change adaptation activity"
Increase food security to help people become more resilient to climate change induced food shortage (e.g. floods)
Please specify the number of plots or allotment gardens
unknown
Vegetation Type
Please specify other amenities offered by the NBS
City Farm Market and Network where people can sell and buy organic food and products from their garden. (Ref.3,5)
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Cultural services
Recreation
Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)
Physical and experiential interactions with plants and animals
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Beneficiaries
Governance
Non-government actors
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The main coordinator and manager of the project is Thailand Sustainable Agriculture Foundation (NGO).
The project is funded by The Food and Nutrition Programme of the National Health Promotion Foundation.
Other project partners: Media Center for Development Foundation, Urban Farming Centre, Green Market Networks, Slum Dwellers Networks, Informal Labour Networks, green food corporations, social enterprises, social activists, community-based organisations.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and some district offices also support the project by allowing several groups of people to use public land to grow vegetable, offer small funding, equipment and materials such as soil and natural fertilisers.

For the scaling up of the project to nation-wide initiative, local authorities and municipalities in other cities take part in the initiative by offering land, holding events and workshops, and provide necessary equipment. Currently, apart from Bangkok Metropolitan Region, other cities that joined Thai City Farm initiative includes Chiangmai, Hat Yai, Phatthalung, Chonburi and Khorat.

(Ref. 1,2,3,9)
Key actors - initiating organization
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
National government
Local government/municipality
District/neighbourhood association
Citizens or community group
Researchers/university
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Social enterprise
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
The project was partly a response to King Bhumibol Adulyadej' s idea of low-input farming in an urban context. The 'New Theory' of farming promoted by the King Rama: The king: ‘growing diversity food in limited areas; explicit concern f or ecological balance, self-sufficiency and self-reliance. (Ref 1)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
No
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Please specify other vegetation type
Various types of edible plants from small vegetables to fruit trees. (Ref.6)
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
With the scaling up of the Bangkok City Farm into the Thai City Farm project created the network for the urban vegetable garden projects. (Ref 1)
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Bangkok City Farm project is funded by the public entity of the Food and Nutrition Programme of the National Health Promotion Foundation. (Ref. 1)
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Financing
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
The Sustainable Agriculture Foundation Thailand (SAFT) receives approximately 185 000 EUR (1 EUR= 37 baht) annually by the government, through the Health Promotion Agency for the Bangkok City Farm project itself. The program therefore provides financial support of around 1320 EUR per farming project. (Ref. 1)
Source(s) of funding
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Please specify social innovation
The Bangkok City Farm project has many innovations.
Economic: One of its uniqueness lies in its quite high cost / benefit ratio, high level of efficiency, capacity to raise urban agriculture profile on the city and national agenda and strengthening urban farmers resilience in cases of floods or COVID, facilitating their access to nutritious food. (Ref 1)
Governance: Another quite unique aspect of City Farm Program relates to the promotion of multiple types of urban agriculture and their combination within Bangkok.
Another unique aspect of the program lies in its capacity to increase food resilience of the most deprived and to act as a food safety network in crisis situations, such as dramatic floods that regularly hit the city, or in case of health pandemics like COVID.
Cultural: Increases people’s ability to produce their own food, and become self-reliant. Shares and promotes knowledge about sustainable and organic farming practices.

The combination of the aspects made the Bangkok City Farm outstanding in a city where urban dwellers lost connection with nature, and forgot the art of cultivation and gardening.

Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Warangkanang, leader of the Bangkok City Farm project said that in 2010, the urban vegetable gardening project was a very new thing in Thai society at that time. (Ref 1,3, 9)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
With the scaling up of the Bangkok City Farm project, the original approach and governance practice was introduced to new communities in other 35 provinces such as Chinang Mai. (Ref. 1,3)
Impacts, benefits
Description of environmental benefits
Improved soil quality/Conversion of degraded soil: The project promotes chemical free organic farming and the creation and use of natural compost. These contributed to the improvement of soil in the previously derelict and wastelands. (Ref. 5)
Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development/ Increased green space area: As part of the project, new green areas were created on wasteland areas, school and hospital premises, larger public areas, private space and on rooftops, thus increasing the total green area coverage in the city (Ref. 5)
Increased number of species/Reduced loss of biodiversity: Through its ten years’ existence, the program contributed to Bangkok's urban biodiversity as at least 80 different edible plants are cultivated through the program. Species such as lemon, ginger, ylang ylang, turmeric, basil, acacia, bananas, and seasonal fruits along with perennial vegetables, shrubs, flowering plants. (Ref 1, 3, 6)

(Ref. 1,2,3,4)
Description of economic benefits
- With the project, as of 2023 there are 165 vegetable gardens in Bangkok producing for personal purposes and for selling.
- With the establishment of the City Farm Market is a space for food distribution and farmer network. People within Bangkok City Farm network and other organic farming networks can sell and distribute their product directly to customers.
- With the cultivation of vegetables and thus becoming more self-reliant food-wise, low income communities can save money and improve their economic status. The production of vegetables can also be a source of income for these people. (Ref. 5)
Description of social and cultural benefits
Social justice and cohesion:
Increased access to green space: - With the transformation of abandoned and derelict areas into green gardens and the creation of gardens on public and private lands, people's access to green areas increased. (Ref. 1,2,5)
With the project, as of 2023 there are 165 vegetable gardens in Bangkok producing for personal purposes and for selling. (Ref.5)

Improved social cohesion/ Increased visibility for marginalized groups: The project supports low income communities as well as underprivileged groups, people physical difficulties, the elderly, children, and migrant workers in the community soilanybody who is interested in learning about cultivation and starting urban farming. (Ref. 1,5)
Increased opportunities for social interaction/Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces: With the applied ‘land sharing’ concept the project maximises the usage of urban area. This includes the encouragement of people in the same community or within the same institution to share a plot of land or area and grow vegetables together. The project also connects people who wish to share their land with people who interested in farming but are lack of land. This led to the establishment of school gardens, hospital gardens, roof gardens on office building and farming in abandoned area.

Increased opportunities for social interaction:
- Connected to this, in order to enter the program and become and urban farmer it a concrete farming area in the city, at least 10 people have to come together and apply as a group. This critetia is a basis for social interaction and cohesion building through nature and organic agriculture. This group develops into a community over time. (Ref. 4)
- Once established, each vegetable garden within the Bangkok City Farm is run by the community of people who came together to create the garden. (Ref.5)

Increased access to healthy/affordable food/Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
- In the vegetable gardens, only organic farming practices allowed without the application of chemicals. This, and the farming activity itself increases locals access to healthy and affordable food. (Ref. 5)
- It also makes people become consumers who support organic products and are producers as well. (Ref.5)

Recreation and social interaction:
- The vegetable gardens offer a place for recreation and connecting with a wide network of people. (Ref. 5)


Education:
- The 9 learning centres throughout Bangkok established through the project offer 20 agricultural learning programs that develop concepts and techniques that help people turn to grow food and become self-reliant in food in the city. Through workshops and training, the program created a set of knowledge in agriculture, cultivation and focus on the importance of not using chemicals among the urban dwellers. Specific training areas are mushroom cultivation, laying hens, catfish farming, product processing, composting soil (Ref. 5,6)
- Besides workshops, the program offers forum for discussion and idea sharing on the role of agriculture and food production as part of urban development where civil organisations, city planners and academia can come together. (Ref. 5)
Type of reported impacts
Indicators
- Number of learning centers created as part of the project
- Number of vegetable gardens and urban farming areas created as part of the Bangkok City Farm project.
- Size of the transformed land within Bangkok into green urban farming areas.
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
The Bangkok City Farm's role in promoting food self-reliance and food security grew during the COVID-19. As a result of the pandemic, many people in Bangkok - especially from underprivileged communities lost their jobs and their livelihood and access to sufficient and health food was threatened. Thus, as part of the project, green areas on vacant sites of the city were created to support these out-of-work people with enabling them for self cultivation of their food. (Ref.6)
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
Yes
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
Yes
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Documents relevant to the intervention
Attachment Size
Bangkok City Farm Case study (Ref.1) (1.55 MB) 1.55 MB
List of references
1. Bangladesh Institute of Planners (2021), BangkokCity Farm Program: promoting urban agriculture through networks, Available at https://fscluster.org/sites/default/files/documents/food_system_planning_case_study_2_bangkok_promoting_urban_agriculture_through_networks_150321.pdf (Accessed 04-04-2023)
2. Thai City Farm (No date), สวนผักคนเมือง, Available at https://thaicityfarm.com/farmmap/about/ (Accessed 04-04-2023)
3. Thai City Farm (No date), About me, Available at https://thaicityfarm.com/about-me/ (Accessed 04-04-2023)
4. Baanlaesuan (2022), คุยกับ “โครงการสวนผักคนเมือง” ที่ปรึกษาให้เราเริ่มต้นลงมือปลูกผักทานเองได้, Available at https://www.baanlaesuan.com/215880/ideas/garden-ideas/saf-thailand (Accessed 05-04-2023)
5. Maneger Online (2022), ปลูกเอง-กินได้ ‘วรางคนางค์ นิ้มหัตถา’ สรรค์สร้าง ‘สวนผักคนเมือง’ ข้ามผ่านทุกวิกฤติเพราะพึ่งตนเอง, Available at https://mgronline.com/onlinesection/detail/9650000038708 (Accessed 05-04-2023)
6. Thai Post(2021), เนรมิต'สวนผักในเมืองกรุง'เพื่อสร้างอาหารคน กทม., Available at https://www.thaipost.net/main/detail/106153 (Accessed 05-04-2023)
7. Bangkok Post (2020), New-wave urban farming, https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/1926852/new-wave-urban-farming (Accessed 05-04-2023)
8. Isara news(2021), เปลี่ยนที่รกร้างชุมชนเมืองเป็น'สวนผัก' สร้างงาน-รายได้เสริม สู้โควิด, Available at https://www.isranews.org/article/isranews-scoop/103378-isranews-farm.html (Accessed 06-04-2023)
9. Maneger Online (2021), “สวนผักคนเมือง” แหล่งอาหารชุมชนช่วงวิกฤตโควิด-19, Available at https://mgronline.com/politics/detail/9640000055577 (Accessed 13-04-2023)
Comments and notes
Additional insights
environmental impact/benefit
- Increase urban green space
- Increase biodiversity in urban area
- Mitigate heat in urban area
- Better food waste management

Social impact/benefit
- Increase social interaction between people in the community

Economic impact/benefit
- Organic market
- Potential job creation
- Lower food expenses

Cost/funding
- Granted 7million baht annually by the government, through the Health Promotion Agency.

(Ref.1,2,3,4)
Public Images
Image
Bangkok City Farm
Bangkok City Farm
Ref.5
Image
Bangkok City Farm
Bangkok City Farm
Ref.5
Image
Bangkok City Farm - Roof garden
Bangkok City Farm - Roof garden
Ref.3