Context

Rice is an integral part of Thai identity and the backbone of rural livelihoods, with over five million households engaged in rice farming. As a major global rice exporter, Thailand plays a crucial role in food security. At the same time, rice cultivation carries along significant climate challenges, accounting for 51 per cent of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Thailand. These emissions largely result from methane from flooded paddy fields, inefficient fertiliser use, and mismanaged biomass residues. Another issue are extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, which increasingly threaten yields and accordingly farmer livelihoods.

Objective

Smallholder rice farming in Thailand has adopted climate-smart technologies and practices, resulting in lower GHG emissions and more climate resilient production.

Approach

The project is active in 21 provinces across Thailand. Its approach includes:

• Empowering farmers  to adopt climate-smart practices that enhance productivity, increase incomes, and improve food security despite the challenges posed by climate change;
• Scaling-up farmer-support services to expand access to climate-smart technologies and the necessary financial products;
• Improving conditions to enhance institutional as well as market mechanisms for climate-smart rice farming beyond the duration of the project.