Questions/Answers

The southern border provinces of Thailand (i.e. Songkhla, Satun, Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat) are where people are encountering extreme poverty due to the oversupply, low prices, difficulty in agricultural product delivery, and serious insurgency. As a result, these cause insufficiency of income, lack of governmental assistance, and instability of livelihood. However, with the abundance of indigenous fruit crops, such as mangosteens, coconuts, rambutans, longkongs, and mulberries along with a strong collaborative women community and folk wisdom, Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) sees opportunities to enhance the potential of women community by bringing science, technology and innovation (STI) application to aid fruit processing product. The initiative ultimately aims to foster job creation, self-sufficiency, good standard of living for family and community as well as alleviating mental conditions affected by unsafe situations. The initiative can also help resolve the excessive supply of fruits, improve product quality, and promote knowledge dissemination and technology transfer which are in accordance with TISTR’s four guiding principles: STI for bio-based research, area-based, appropriate technology, and total solution provider. Objectives of the project: • To create jobs to enhance the capability and potential of women community in the southern border provinces of Thailand so that they maintain their income security. That is, they shall be self-reliant and able to be sole breadwinners for their family and community sustainably • To advocate STI to create opportunities for the women community in the southern border provinces of Thailand through knowledge dissemination and technology transfer for the development of food and beverage product processing from indigenous fruits Goals of the project: • To promote sustainable job creation, job security, income sufficiency, good standard of living, sufficiency economy, inclusive engagement between villagers and governmental agencies, social cohesion, economic and environmental development, as well as eradicating poverty and violence in the areas

The initiative is linked to Category 1: Delivering inclusive and equitable services for all. The initiative framework emphasizes network integration, stakeholder harmonization, and job security for the women community in the southernmost provinces of Thailand who are affected by the serious insurgency. It increases equal access to appropriate and affordable technology application in adding value and processing indigenous fruits into food and beverage for women who are living in poverty. Hence, they are self-reliant and have sufficient income for their living. The initiative focuses on delivering citizen-centred services which can fulfill the specific needs of women and relieve poverty.

The initiative supports SDG Goal 2: Zero Hunger, Target 2.3: By 2030, it will have doubled the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, particularly women, indigenous people, family farmers, pastoralists, and fishers through secured and equal access to land, productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment. With the objective to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the food and beverage production process, the initiative has been executed through workshops including product shelf life extension, processing and packaging technology together with hygiene standards for food and beverage production, quality control, and market commercialization. As a result of the implementation, the women community can actually develop longkong juice, jam, and jelly and bring all products to be displayed and sold at the booth in the exhibition: One Tambon, One Product (OTOP) City together with the Community Development Department in order to generate income, create business opportunities and customer relationships for a micro-enterprise, and learn how to display the products for a commercial sale.

The initiative focuses on the integration of women community and local institutes to indicate collaborative activities which strengthen good relationships and networks as well as nurturing love, warmth, and unity within family and community. Economic Dimension: TISTR supports the women in product development, quality assurance, and market commercialization so that they can generate income for their families and stimulate the economy. Environmental dimension: The oversupplied and unsold fruits can be processed into food and beverage products while the waste from peels and seeds are developed into cosmetic products. Therefore, no waste is left from the processing.

The southernmost provinces are underdeveloped due to the dangerous rebellion and cultural differences making it difficult for governmental authorities and support to reach the areas. With the concept of leaving no one behind, the initiative is the concrete outcomes that bring together the collaboration of the women community, TISTR researchers, and other participating institutes, such as the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC), the Provincial Agriculture Office, Islamic Bank of Thailand, and the Community Development Department. In addition, it enhances efficiency and effectiveness in inclusive engagement and equitable public service delivery. Moreover, the initiative aims to help women and local farmers to have sufficient income for their living and instill the sufficiency economy philosophy introduced by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej so that they become self-reliant and sole breadwinners for their family. The initiative also helps resolve the slump in the price of indigenous fruit oversupply by food and beverage product processing and value addition. Not only promoting innovative public administration services and transparent governance, the initiative also fosters social cohesion, boosts up better mental conditions, and builds a resilient community.

The initiative supports gender equality and woman empowerment to have job, income security, and decent work. The women in the southern border provinces have the folk wisdom that has been passed down from generations. Nevertheless, they still lack opportunities to access updated knowledge, database, and STI. Hence, TISTR researchers disseminate knowledge and transfer technology necessary for potential improvement which builds up confidence and stability in livelihood. It also encourages self-sufficiency philosophy for women, especially housewives and widows who are affected by violent conflict in the areas.

The target group is women, housewives, and widows, who are affected by violence and insurgency in the southern border provinces (i.e. Songkhla, Satun, Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat). They assemble to produce local products with their folk wisdom. The women have learned to utilize STI to optimize their living stably and sustainably. All knowledge and technology are stored in the database, and can be transferred from generation to the next generation as well as being adapted by other villages as the best practices. The initiative has increased the number of employment—approximately 60 people per village. It additionally helps generate income and provides women the opportunity to enhance their potential. Therefore, the locals can develop a strong community in which they do not have to move and survive in downtowns. This would help reduce overcrowding in big cities too. The initiative significantly improves the standard of living, builds partnerships and networking, encourages self-sufficiency, fosters family, community, social development, and relieves sadness from the violence in the areas.

In 2012, the initiative was begun with the help to resolve the problem of fruit oversupply. TISTR researchers found that the women community affected by security threats wanted to have a secure job and generate family income. In 2013, TISTR researchers conducted a survey and studied the specific needs of women and technology transfer of indigenous fruit product processing in terms of product development and quality improvement. In 2014-2015, TISTR realized the necessity of job creation and income stability; therefore, the researchers arranged useful workshops and training courses on technology transfer of pre- and post-harvesting, food and beverage processing production from local fruits and packaging development for product shelf life extension. According to language, cultural and religious differences and safety conditions, TISTR researchers learned to adapt in the ways of dressing, language, and caution for safe travelling in order to build trust and harmony within the areas as well as to ensure the safety of themselves and the villagers. In 2016, TISTR collaboratively worked with the local networks, including the Provincial Agriculture Office of the Southern Border Provinces, the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC), and Islamic Bank of Thailand to determine entrepreneurship development activities, project models, and expected results in the areas as well as exchanging ideas and recommendations. In 2017, TISTR researchers strived to improve product quality by providing consultations on the standards of product adhering to the Ministry of Public Health regulations. Moreover, the women community learned how to merchandize the products through online marketing channels, established market opportunities by displaying products in trade fairs and exhibition booths, and participated in business matching and market commercialization. The project leader was assigned to monitor and evaluate the performance of the initiative closely by sending a report every three month to ensure the timeline of activities.

1. Unsafe areas According to the severe insurgency in the southernmost provinces, safety for every stakeholder is our priority that should be taken into account. Hence, the coordination among the local agencies played an important role in this project. The women community gave beneficial suggestions on suitable time for visitation and routing. The researchers also provided online training courses via Facebook Live and video conference. 2. Trust and credibility building According to the cultural differences, it was a challenge for TISTR researchers when visiting the provinces for the first time. Therefore, they complied with suggestions strictly regarding dressing and communication.

The innovation utilized in this initiative is the food and beverage processing innovation. It is usually known as appropriate technology which means that it is applicable and suitable to transform indigenous fruits through processing methods into food and beverage products in order to add value and resolve the oversupply of fruits. This technology is simple with a compatible design to match with machinery, equipment, and local raw materials as well as fulfilling the needs of users. The women community can apply it in the production line to obtain quality longkong juice, jam, and jelly.

The innovation is inspired by the previous successful stories - technology transfer of UHT coconut milk to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which was sold worldwide and resulted in positive business growth. Therefore, this technology can be duplicated and applied to similar cases depending on prominent local raw materials. It has a high possibility to achieve as product innovation as it can generate income for the women community in the southernmost provinces. Transferring technology and innovation to industries and community enterprises with a drive for economic, social and environmental utilization is one of TISTR’s missions.

The initiative of longkong product processing into juice, jam, and jelly in the southern border provinces has become the best practice. The technology and innovation for food and beverage product processing have been transferred and adapted to similar projects in the other regions of Thailand in order to resolve the excessive supply of indigenous fruit crops and set up reasonable prices to market value. Hence, the farmers can earn and generate enough income for their families. The projects are listed as follows: • Development of golden banana product processing into juice and dried banana in Kamphaeng Phet province • Development of rambutan product processing into preserved and dried rambutan in Surat Thani province • Development of agricultural product processing for value addition and preservation in the Eastern provinces (i.e. Chonburi, Rayong, Chanthaburi, and Trat) In addition, the Provincial Agriculture Office of the Southern Border Provinces has brought this best practice to apply to other community enterprises as follows: • Development of garcinia product processing into garcinia herb tea with honey favor in Yala province • Development of mushroom product processing in baked mushroom in Pattani province

The initiative has already been transferred and adapted to other parts of Thailand with the same goals to resolve the oversupply and a decrease in the price of indigenous fruit crops by transforming fruit crops into processed products and add value through packaging development, product commercialization, and market distribution channels. As a consequence, farmers and local people can have enough income for their families and develop a better standard of living. Moreover, the initiative fosters self-sufficiency philosophy, job creation and security, poverty alleviation, collaboration among villagers, governmental authorities and other stakeholders, and economic system stimulation. Apart from the development of banana, rambutan, coconut, and longkong product processing, there is a potential for transferability throughout the country and overseas where similar problems occurred. The knowledge dissemination, technology transfer, and innovation adaptability can be applied to other crops such as strawberries, mulberries, longkongs, mangoes, and mangosteens.

Human Resources: Eight TISTR researchers implemented this initiative. Their jobs are listed as follows: • Conducting a survey to understand the needs of the women community • Providing workshops and trainings on pre- and post-harvesting, product development, packaging development, and quality control to meet the standards • Monitoring and evaluating the project Financial Resources: The initiative has utilized the national budget funded by the government with the amount of 0.6 million baht per year for technology transfer and travelling cost to the communities. Knowledge Management: Knowledge about pre- and post-harvesting, product development, packaging development, and quality control

The determinants fostering the sustainability of the initiative in financial and institutional terms are summarized as follows: Financial Dimension: • Creating budget allocation manual for the women community in order to have a transparent and systematic money allocation • Developing the women community to be a bigger consolidated group of cooperatives with the right registration Policy Dimension: • Establish a learning centre for agricultural product processing in the form of shared production services with the accreditation of the GMP standard for the community so that the community enterprises can benefit from it and save fixed cost for a large scale of factory construction.

Yes

The initiative performance was evaluated quarterly according to the specified activity plan and timeline by the Monitoring and Evaluation Division, the internal unit of TISTR.

Evaluation Indicators: 1. Job creation for 60 people per village in Narathiwat province • 60 people hired in a pilot farm community enterprise • 60 people hired in a sufficiency economy village • 80 people hired in a coconut processing community enterprise 2. Two product development per year 3. Technology transfer training to 150 villagers Evaluation Tools: A project leader submitted a quarterly performance report from each community enterprise to the Monitoring and Evaluation Division, TISTR. The division then called to validate and follow up on the executed activities, generated income, increasing rate of employment to assess the anticipated impacts and risk management.

Findings from evaluation: • The women gained a better opportunity to expose potential improvement, leading them stability in livelihood and job security as well as mitigating the violent conflict. • The women community, comprised of women, widows, and housewives who are affected by the uncertain situations, has an average of 60 people employed per village. They are self-reliant and become sole breadwinners for their family. • An income grew approximately 100,000 baht from selling processed and value-added products in various exhibition booths such as OTOP City. The information from the project implementation and customers’ feedback, such as sales target and income, can be optimized in product development and quality improvement as well as an increase in the market distribution through online channels in order to enhance business competitiveness. The remarkable example is the coconut processing community enterprise in Narathiwat province. Apart from the coconut, the women developed dried longkong. TISTR together with the Community Development Department coordinated to bring the products to OTOP City exhibition booth, earning about 100,000 baht. Later, the women developed dried longkong with Budu flavour which reflects the unique, original flavour of the southern cuisine.

Five key stakeholders are involved in this project. The organization names and responsibilities are stated below: 1. Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) - Executing training courses on pre- and post-harvesting technology, food and beverage product processing from indigenous fruits and packaging development for product shelf life extension - Providing consultations on product standards in accordance with Ministry of Public Health regulations 2. The Provincial Agriculture Office of the Southern Border Provinces - Liaising with a community enterprise group, a farmer group and a woman group in the areas - Preparing raw materials and training venues 3. The Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) - Searching for the additional sources of budget 4. Islamic Bank of Thailand - Providing funding knowledge for a woman group if the production capacity increased 5. Community leaders include a village headman, the chief of sub-district administration organization and a leader of the women community - Holding meetings with relevant agencies - Encouraging inclusive engagement of villagers to utilize knowledge and technology transfer for efficient and effective product processing

TISTR follows the sufficiency economy philosophy proposed by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej for network collaboration and sustainable development. The sufficiency economy is a middle path for personal, family, corporate and national development based on moderation, reasonableness and social immunity which are in accordance with the 2030 Agenda – an action plan for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership with the principle of leaving no one behind. TISTR coordinates with the local networks, such as the Provincial Agriculture Office of the Southern Border Provinces, the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC), and Islamic Bank of Thailand and community leaders, in the following activities: 1. Defining the common project goals and objectives - Focusing on technology transfer and product commercialization. Nurturing the sufficiency economy philosophy and being the best practice for other contexts. 2. Specifying the particular needs of the women community 3. Constructing a project plan and thinking about target products, resource allocation, potential customers, workshops and training courses, and expected results 4. Implementing and executing activities 5. Monitoring and evaluating the project by holding online conferences and exchanging information due to security threats to ensure the timeline of activities. If there are any faults, the corrective actions should be done immediately.

The key lessons learned are as follows: • The transfer of appropriate technology and innovation in this project should be applicable and suitable for the indigenous fruits, recipients, basic skills, tools, equipment, and contexts so that the initiative can be adapted as the best practice in other contexts. • Teamwork and engagement by every stakeholder lead to successful project outcomes and sustainable development growth in the local community. • Transparency in internal management, including the procurement of raw materials, accounting, and revenue sharing enables the woman group to prevent corruption and wrongdoings. It supports the community to grow sustainably. TISTR would like to improve product standards in order to expand business opportunities. Therefore, the products can be sold and distributed throughout the country. With the infrastructures TISTR has and Food Innovation Service Plant (FISP) which has received the GMP standards, the products can be manufactured in a bigger lot for market expansion.