organic agriculture were delivered to the local farmers in the targeted area. III. ACHIEVEMENTS AND LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE PROJECT 1. Improvement of socio-economic benefits This project has provided a number of socio-economic benefits to the 11 targeted villages. For instance, the construction of the pellet compost centre (Figure 1) at the commune level has urged farmers to produce more compost, granular compost and other organic fertilizers and pesticide. It helps farmers to reduce the expense of buying chemical fertilizer or pesticide compare to before implementing this project (Figure 2). Moreover, the beneficiary including women-headed families could have more chance to attend workshops and training to increase adaptive capacities to cope with climate constraints occurring in their area (Figure 3). However, Figure 4 shows that the average amount of chemical used by farmers after project implementation is slightly increased compare to when the project started. According to the interview with the beneficiary, this is because some farmers extend their farmland and they could not produce enough amount of compost to apply in their farmland. Because of this reason, they have to purchase chemical fertilizer to use together with compost to secure their crops yield. In terms of average annual incomes as shown in Figure 5, before implementing the project in 2011, farmers could earn 920 USD and 560 USD per year from agricultural activities and non-agricultural activities, respectively, whereas after terminating the project in 2016, the farmers could be able to earn their average annual incomes up to 1,190 USD and 1,430 USD per year from agricultural Fig.1 Farmers monthly meeting and discussion at Pellet Compost Centre at Samroung Commune Fig.2 Average amount of compost used by farmers before and after project implementation Total number of farmers = 550 Fig.3 Number and gender of farmers associated in the project and non-agricultural activities, respectively. This change is a result from various agricultural activities that were generated from the project. Additionally, the income is increased due to good agricultural practices which produce high crop yields, decrease expenses for agro- chemical products. Moreover, the cyclic use of 316 Proceedings of the International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
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