1. General information
2. Objectives of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
1. Transformation of a previously derelict area (waste dump) into a multi-functional urban farm used by the public.
2. Enabling vulnerable communities to produce their own food thus lowering their food expenses, improving nutrition and building self-sufficiency and food security.
3. Foster engagement and develop a sense of ownership of the urban farm among local communities while also supporting social interaction between people in the city.
4. Creation of an urban farm learning centre.
5. Creation of an urban farm that is able to operate on its own, meaning that it can run without relying on outside funding or donation.
6. Creation of a multi-functional open green area. (Ref. 1,2,4,5,6)
To achieve the goal of a self-sustaining farm, three more sub-goals were defined.
1. Generate income for nearby low-income community members and for homeless people in the area.
2. Generate income from the selling of farm’s products for the management and maintenance of the farm. This part requires farm manager to help.
3. Distribute farm products to volunteers or anyone who participated in the planting and taking care of the vegetables. (Ref. 4)
2. Enabling vulnerable communities to produce their own food thus lowering their food expenses, improving nutrition and building self-sufficiency and food security.
3. Foster engagement and develop a sense of ownership of the urban farm among local communities while also supporting social interaction between people in the city.
4. Creation of an urban farm learning centre.
5. Creation of an urban farm that is able to operate on its own, meaning that it can run without relying on outside funding or donation.
6. Creation of a multi-functional open green area. (Ref. 1,2,4,5,6)
To achieve the goal of a self-sustaining farm, three more sub-goals were defined.
1. Generate income for nearby low-income community members and for homeless people in the area.
2. Generate income from the selling of farm’s products for the management and maintenance of the farm. This part requires farm manager to help.
3. Distribute farm products to volunteers or anyone who participated in the planting and taking care of the vegetables. (Ref. 4)
Quantitative targets
1. Produce 60,000 kg of food per year, which can feed around 300 households.
2. Create space that can accommodate 50 people per day (18,250 people/year). (Ref. 6)
2. Create space that can accommodate 50 people per day (18,250 people/year). (Ref. 6)
Monitoring indicators defined
1. The amount of vegetables and other products that are being produced.
2. The number of people visiting per day (on regular basis and during special events).
3. The number of people who are strongly involved in the operation of the farm (regularly come to plant and harvest vegetables and take care of the chickens).
4. The number of households that benefited from the farm (consume and earn money from the farm's products). (Ref. 1,2,4,5)
2. The number of people visiting per day (on regular basis and during special events).
3. The number of people who are strongly involved in the operation of the farm (regularly come to plant and harvest vegetables and take care of the chickens).
4. The number of households that benefited from the farm (consume and earn money from the farm's products). (Ref. 1,2,4,5)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Implementation activities
Land preparation stage:
1. Clearing of 5,700 tons of garbage.
2. Testing of the soil for contamination (e.g.: heavy metals and any other toxic substances). The result found contamination of several heavy metals.
3. Leveling of the site and bringing in new topsoil that consists of humus, biochar* and compost - approximately 50 cm. thick.
4. Building planting beds and filling them with a mixture of organic fertiliser and biochar - approximately 30cm. thick.
5. Construction of a well to extract underground water.
*Biochar is organic charcoal made by burning corncobs or rice straws. As the area is previously a dumping site for construction waste, the contamination of heavy metal can be expected. Biochar has been used to help improve soil quality by retaining soluble nutrients and remediating heavy metal pollution.
Land distribution for agricultural activities:
1. Creation of community gardens where short-lived vegetables (plants that need rotation/can be harvested in a short growing period) can be grown by low-income people in the nearby community. The vegetables from this area will be harvested and distributed to the community every week. If the products are more than needed, they can be sold but half of the earnings need to give back to the farm for internal management and buying new seeds and seedlings.
2. Creation of sharing gardens where long-lived vegetables or perennial plants are grown. Once they are grown, they can be harvested for a long period of time (such as lime, banana, mulberries, chilli, papaya). Vegetables in this area are grown by volunteers. Anyone can harvested in this area (for their own consumption) but under one condition which is they need to help watering and take care of the plants.
3. Creation of a chicken coop - Currently the farm has 100 chickens that can produce around 30-90 eggs per day. Eggs can be harvested by the farm’s management team for sell and people from nearby communities can also harvested for their own consumption and also for sell but half of the earnings need to give back to the farm.
Establishment of other facilities and activities:
1. Construction of a bamboo pavilion, as a multi-purpose area: a place for farmers-market, trainings, meetings and other activities and events.
2. Creation of a storage area
3. Organisation of events for people to come and work on the farm (growing plants, watering and take care of the plants, take care of the chickens).
4. Organisation of classes and workshops relating to farming.
5. Establishment of a coupon system - people who come to help watering and take care of the plants will receive a coupon that can be exchanged to any products in the farm.
(Ref. 1,2,7,8,10)
1. Clearing of 5,700 tons of garbage.
2. Testing of the soil for contamination (e.g.: heavy metals and any other toxic substances). The result found contamination of several heavy metals.
3. Leveling of the site and bringing in new topsoil that consists of humus, biochar* and compost - approximately 50 cm. thick.
4. Building planting beds and filling them with a mixture of organic fertiliser and biochar - approximately 30cm. thick.
5. Construction of a well to extract underground water.
*Biochar is organic charcoal made by burning corncobs or rice straws. As the area is previously a dumping site for construction waste, the contamination of heavy metal can be expected. Biochar has been used to help improve soil quality by retaining soluble nutrients and remediating heavy metal pollution.
Land distribution for agricultural activities:
1. Creation of community gardens where short-lived vegetables (plants that need rotation/can be harvested in a short growing period) can be grown by low-income people in the nearby community. The vegetables from this area will be harvested and distributed to the community every week. If the products are more than needed, they can be sold but half of the earnings need to give back to the farm for internal management and buying new seeds and seedlings.
2. Creation of sharing gardens where long-lived vegetables or perennial plants are grown. Once they are grown, they can be harvested for a long period of time (such as lime, banana, mulberries, chilli, papaya). Vegetables in this area are grown by volunteers. Anyone can harvested in this area (for their own consumption) but under one condition which is they need to help watering and take care of the plants.
3. Creation of a chicken coop - Currently the farm has 100 chickens that can produce around 30-90 eggs per day. Eggs can be harvested by the farm’s management team for sell and people from nearby communities can also harvested for their own consumption and also for sell but half of the earnings need to give back to the farm.
Establishment of other facilities and activities:
1. Construction of a bamboo pavilion, as a multi-purpose area: a place for farmers-market, trainings, meetings and other activities and events.
2. Creation of a storage area
3. Organisation of events for people to come and work on the farm (growing plants, watering and take care of the plants, take care of the chickens).
4. Organisation of classes and workshops relating to farming.
5. Establishment of a coupon system - people who come to help watering and take care of the plants will receive a coupon that can be exchanged to any products in the farm.
(Ref. 1,2,7,8,10)
3. NBS domains, ES and scale
4. Governance and financing
5. Innovation
Type of innovation
Please specify system innovation
The project is a unique approach to urban area development and management that was born out of a need - connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was initiated bottom up and in the end was able to create an ecosystem where representatives of the public, private and civic sectors came together for a joint cause: With the cooperation of civil society, the public sector, private sector and people in the community a food production focused project was implemented through the creation of a green space with opportunities for a better quality of life for people of marginalized communities along the Mae Kha Canal and the people of Chiang Mai who were hit the hardest by the pandemic (Ref. 6)
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
While we have no knowledge of other grass-root urban farming projects in Thailand, the founders of the Chiangmai Urban Farm were inspired by The Network Urban Farmer group in Singapore. In the densely populated governmental housing areas, there was no opportunity for socializing. Thus, the Singapore government has a social engineering policy that combines diversity and determines the proportion of how many Muslims and Chinese people live in a building, so people with mixed religions feel connected. There is a common area below each building to inspire social interactions through various activities. One of them is the cultivation of agricultural land resulting in the formation of urban farmer groups. Each block grows different produce and exchanges them with each other.
In the case of the Chiangmai Urban Farm, instead of a private company, a local community-focused architectural studio took the lead and initiated the bottom-up urban farm project where the government and the people cooperate to manage an urban garden to support financially vulnerable communities while also creating an open space that brings together people from different backgrounds. (Ref. 2)
In the case of the Chiangmai Urban Farm, instead of a private company, a local community-focused architectural studio took the lead and initiated the bottom-up urban farm project where the government and the people cooperate to manage an urban garden to support financially vulnerable communities while also creating an open space that brings together people from different backgrounds. (Ref. 2)
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
