(STI) to Create Opportunities for Women Community in the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand
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Application of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to Create Opportunities for Women Community in the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand Evaluation Report By Monitoring and Evaluation Division Corporate Strategic Planning Office Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) Introduction 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 Conceptual framework 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. Alignment with the 2030 Agenda 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. Relevance to Leaving No One Behind 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. Target Group 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 supports gender equality and woman empowerment. The women in the southern border provinces have the local wisdom that has been passed down from generations. Nevertheless, they are still lack of opportunities to access updated knowledge, database and STI. Hence, TISTR researchers disseminate knowledge and transfer technology necessary for potential improvement which 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. Project Outputs 1. Job creation for 60 people per village in Narathiwat province 2. Two product development per year 3. Technology transfer training to 150 villagers 4. Local networking in the southern border provinces 5. A learning centre of sustainable agricultural product development 6. The initiative can be applied to other villagers as the best practice in vegetable and fruit processing technology Project Resources Allocation 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 Project Implementation 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