Polyculture, autonomy, and community: the pursuit of sustainability in a northern Thai farming village

ABSTRACT

A growing body of literature tracks small farmers worldwide engaging in new, proactive forms of ecologically oriented mobilization in a quest for community sustainability. We present the case of a group of farmers in northern Thailand who have converted from high-input, export-focused commodity crop production to organic vegetable polyculture systems. We analyse their motivations and the effects these changes have had on their households and community and find similarities with other small-scale agrarian communities reclaiming peasant modes of farming. The farmers of Mae Ta are primarily driven by an increased aversion to the cycles of debt, poor health, and restricted autonomy that accompany industrialized production. Those who have transitioned to organic polyculture have largely rid themselves of cyclical debt and persistent health maladies, feel more empowered and satisfied in their farming systems, and speak of broader impacts on the overall community.

KEYWORDS:

• Autonomy
• new peasantries
• polyculture
• repeasantization
• Thailand

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for introducing us to the Mae Ta community and, especially, the residents of Mae Ta for sharing their stories.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Erin Plews-Ogan http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4998-9625

Matt J. Mariola http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3936-8852

Notes

1. In line with the broader field of agrarian studies, we use the term ‘peasant’ throughout the paper. The word has political connotations implying a class position, and can be construed broadly as denoting small-scale, family-centered, farming-dependent agriculturalists. See Bernstein and Byres (2001).

2. We use the term ‘organic’ to describe the cultivation practices of respondents who self-identify as organic farmers. Although over 100 farmers in Mae Ta produce certified organic mixed products under ACT Organic Standards (IFOAM), EU Regulation 2092/91, or Canadian organic standards, others self-identify as organic producers but have not pursued certification (Green Net, 2010). This broader conceptualization of organic forms a key part of our Discussion section.

3. The only exception we are aware of is Limnirankul, Onprapai, and Gypmantasiri (2014), published in Thai.

4. One US dollar was approximately 30 Thai baht at the time of the research.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Henry J. Copeland Fund for Independent Study at the College of Wooster.