Development of System and Mechanism on Sustainable Consumption and Production for Community: A Case of Agricultural Production Management from Organic Farm to School Lunch

Abstract

The main objective of the Participatory Action Research (PAR) was to propose a development model of sustainable consumption and production, in terms of system and mechanism, in Bor Kaew Sub-district, Samoeng District, Chiang Mai Province. The questionnaires of crop production and situation were collected from 350 farmers and in-depth interviews the 30 leaders of farmer’ group who are interested in developing agricultural products and food to meet quality and safety standards. The instruments were developed by researchers with the reliability coefficient of 0.96. The data of consumer demand were collected through close-ended questionnaires from 144 parents, and in-depth interviews with 30 teachers and administrators, as well as focus group meetings, discussions and evaluation on their overall achievement through the activity based learning process. 

The result showed that; 1) The development of farmer’s capacity and productivity were high enough and able to produce local food products, as school requirement, especially rice, vegetables, fruits and eggs which can be produced in community. Therefore, local policy-makers should promote healthy food products from organic farm to school lunch, including local vegetables as raw material/ ingredients to school lunch menus in order to increase household income and local economy in long term. 2) Development of organic farming for student’s health and nutrition in school lunch system, can be learning resources in school and community and contribute to achieving food security as well. According to the concept of circular economy were implemented into production process in organic farm, such as organic wastes from farming has been used as a source of fertilizer, crop stalks, leaves and biological waste can be converted into fertilizers which are plenty of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and other nutrients and can reduce the raw material and production cost in long run. 3) A development model can be achieved through participatory learning and the key success factors of cooperation mechanisms between farmer group and school, supported by local government and other promotion agencies inside and outside area, especially agriculture promotion team, health promotion team and academic team to contribute more increasing productivity and enhancing sustainable production and consumption in their community.