Story and Photos: Building a Climate Resilient Potato Supply Chain Through a Whole-Farm Approach (RePSC) project / Agriculture and Food Cluster
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, PepsiCo Services Asia Limited and Pepsi Cola (Thai) Trading as well as governmental partners and local communities announced their joint achievement in implementing the Building a Climate Resilient Potato Supply Chain Through a Whole-Farm Approach (RePSC) project, leading to a strengthened public private partnership and livelihoods and capacity development among thousands of farmers particularly the female groups in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
Climate change poses a significant threat to global food security. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming of 1.5°C could reduce crop yields by up to 30% in some regions and expose an additional 250 million people to food insecurity by 2050. PepsiCo, a global leader in the food and beverage industry, sources from over 40,000 farmers across more than 60 countries. In light of the impact of climate change on food systems, the company aims to help reduce these effects and enhance farmers’ resilience. By 2030, PepsiCo aims to implement regenerative farming practices across 7 million acres of land. To achieve this, it is investing in climate-smart agriculture, supporting smallholder farmers, and sharing its expertise by partnering to make valuable resources more accessible.
Sudipto Mozumdar, General Manager of Indochina Foods and Chief Commercial Officer for Asia-Pacific PepsiCo, said during the opening session: “Climate change is threatening the livelihoods of farmers in Thailand at an increasing rate and affecting crop yields such as rice, green pea, maize and potato. Suitable areas for growing crops in Thailand could be reduced by up to 40%. Farmers are facing challenges of more extreme flooding, land and mud slides affecting their agricultural land, livelihoods and communities. Studies show that within the next 10 years climate changes forecast for Thailand could reduce potato productivity, increase risk of pests and diseases and increase costs of production. It is crucial for farmers to be prepared for climate resilience and adaptation. Without substantial efforts towards climate change adaptation, the livelihood of these smallholder farmers will be at risk”.
Implemented by GIZ Thailand, PepsiCo Services Asia Limited, and Pepsi Cola (Thai) Trading, with support from DeveloPPP, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives’ Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agricultural Extension and the Department of Rice, the RePSC project leverages a farmer-centered design to build multi-stakeholder and year-round solutions to accelerate adaptation and mitigation efforts while increasing market linkages and developing community adaptive capacity.
Crop-focused, whole-farm, community-centred and climate-smart agriculture are four key training activities that have been implemented in partnership with local and national governments, agronomic advisors, rotational crop off-takers and community groups in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai throughout the three-year period from 2021-2024.
Dr Nana Kuenkel, Agriculture and Food Cluster Coordinator, GIZ Thailand, said: “We provide a platform for stakeholders to play an active role in enhancing capacities among farmers by utilising digital tools and resources to improve farming management, production standards and competitiveness of Thailand’s agricultural sector.”
Results of the RePSC project implementation showed that over 2,000 farmers have improved their net farming income by adopting regenerative agricultural and climate resilient practices for example crop-rational farming, GPS land levelling and integrated pest management, soil, straw and water management, into over 13,000 rai land plots, leading to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 20%. Since one fourth of the project members are female members, a series of capacity building sessions has been introduced to ensure the important role of female farmers in the agricultural sector.
Peeraphan Korthong, Director-General, Department of Agricultural Extension, remarked: “In Thailand, we seek to build a food system that ensures food security, reduces environmental impact, and drives gender-inclusive growth in the agriculture sector. Our partnership with GIZ through development projects focuses on scaling climate smart and regenerative agriculture, and promoting a growth mindset that enables farmers to solve old problems and be ready to tackle new challenges.”
Speaking during a panel discussion on the topic, “The footprint of climate resilience farming on the ground and step forward: RePSC project remarkable outcome”, Wisa Lakkhampa, representative of RePSC female farmers groups in Chiang Rai shared her view on the community success to scale up farming management: “It is challenging for smallholders to work individually to be resilient while meeting the international market requirements. A series of training sessions, modules and the data management system introduced by the project enables farmers to work together as a group, broadening their knowledge and experience to strengthen our farming practices and group management to meet the market demand in the long run.”
The successful partnership to enhance smallholders’ capacities in building climate resilience in the integrated crop supply chain was highlighted during the project completion ceremony held at Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel. Up to 50 participants from PepsiCo Services Asia Limited, Pepsi Cola (Thai) Trading, GIZ, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives – led by the Department of Agriculture, Rice Department, Department of Agricultural Extension and Office of Agricultural Economics attended the session to celebrate the completion of project implementation and showcase the achievement of smallholder groups. ■
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