KLDF integrated agriculture: building a sustainable lifestyle

 We have a team of two hilltribe staff, both with agricultural training, who work with local villages in three areas: household cost reduction projects, income generation projects, and water/sanitation projects.

We offer villages a menu of projects to participate in; some of which increase food self-sufficiency (growing vegetables, installing dry-season water supplies, breeding fish, improving rice yields), and some provide a supplemental income through cash crops (tea, coffee, corn, pineapple, banana leaf, Jatropha tree) or pig husbandry. In all cases, we provide training and ongoing support. We have also provided access to water for irrigation and drinking in areas where these were not previously available in sufficient quantities.

With the success of the pig husbandry project KLDF has started a family sponsorship initiative to allow the project to expand to more villages and benefit more families.

We are now working with 21 villages (Akha, Karen and Lahu) in the Mae Yao and Huay Chompoo subdistricts (close to Chiang Rai City), involving around 400 families.

We are also developing the leadership capacity of two individuals (one man and one woman) from each village to lead the projects. The village project leaders receive a small allowance each month to compensate for the time taken by the project, and attend a monthly meeting with all the other village project leaders to allow mutual problems to be discussed as well as study visits to villages with exceptionally well run projects.

We gratefully acknowledge past funding contributions by the Canadian Embassy's Canada Fund, and private donors as well as current funding help through Friends of Thailand and Global Giving in addition to continuted private donor support. KLDF founder Paul Hancock will continue to fund the salaries of the staff and past projects as we seek funding for new projects and new villages.

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