Final Report
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Japan International Cooperation Agency Office of the Permanent Secretary and Agricultural Land Reform Office, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, The Kingdom of Thailand DEVELOPMENT STUDY ON PLANNING AND CAPACITY BUILDING FOR NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE RURAL AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTH THAILAND FINAL REPORT December 2007 SANYU CONSULTANTS INC. RD JR 7 - 44 PREFACE In response to a request from the Government of Thailand, the Government of Japan decided to conduct a study, the Development Study on Planning and Capacity Building for Natural Resources Management and Sustainable Rural and Agricultural Development in the North Thailand, and entrusted the study to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). JICA selected and dispatched a study team headed by Mr. Takanori TAKATSUKA of Sanyu Consultants Inc. between September 2004 and December 2007. The team held discussions with the officials concerned of the Government of Thailand and conducted field surveys at the study area. Upon returning to Japan, the team conducted further studies and prepared this final report. I hope that this report will contribute to the promotion of the project proposed therein and to the enhancement of friendly relationship between our two countries. Finally, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the officials concerned of the Government of Thailand for their close cooperation extended to the study. December 2007 MATSUMOTO Ariyuki Vice-President Japan International Cooperation Agency December 2007 Mr. MATSUMOTO Ariyuki Vice-president Japan International Cooperation Agency Tokyo, Japan Letter of Transmittal Dear, Mr. MATSUMOTO, We are pleased to submit herewith the Final Report on the Development Study on Planning and Capacity Building for Natural Resources Management and Sustainable Rural and Agricultural Development in the North Thailand. This Report was prepared with the advices and suggestions of the authorities concerned of the Government of Japan and your Agency. Also included were comments made by the steering committee chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC), and the related organizations and local people during the technical discussions on the draft final report which were held at Bangkok and Phrae province in October 2007. The super goal of this Study is to realize proper management of natural resources and to improve livelihood of the rural population through sustainable agriculture and thus to contribute to poverty eradication in the North Thailand. The Study has been conducted in partnership with and by guidance from the Office of the Permanent Secretary and the Agricultural Land Reform Office, MOAC, and incorporated the views of the beneficiaries and other stakeholders such as Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, relevant organizations and local government. The process of this Study centered on the following which themselves were the objectives of the Study: 1) To formulate the Master Programs in order to implement sustainable rural and agricultural development mainly in Land Reform Areas (LRAs) with people in the local community and related organization, promoting proper management of natural resources, 2) To implement pilot projects in the course of the Study mainly for capacity building of Thai counterpart personnel, related organizations and communities concerned, and 3) To carry out technology transfer to the counterparts personnel and related organizations through on-the-job training in the course of the Study. To attain the above objectives, this Study was carried out in a phasing manner divided into three; namely, Phase I dealing with inventory survey and selection of four provinces for preparation of the draft Master Programs (M/Ps), and Phase II which was to prepare the draft M/Ps for the LRAs in the selected provinces and select the pilot project areas through situation analysis and participatory survey, and Phase III which was to implement the pilot projects and finalize the Master Programs based on the lessons learned from its implementation. The Phase I started in September 2004, and the Study itself completed in December 2007 upon presenting this Final Report. We wish to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to your Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant authorities of the Government of Japan. We also wish to express our deep gratitude to MOAC, the counterpart agency, in the Government of Thailand for the close cooperation and assistances extended to us during our investigation and study. Very truly yours, TAKATSUKA Takanori Team Leader of the Study Team PART- I MASTER PROGRAM EXECUTIVE SAMMARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1.1 Background The forest area in Thailand is classified into three zoning areas, namely, conservation area (C zone) administratively under the Royal Forestry Department, agricultural area (A zone) and economic forest area (E zone). In compliance with the zoning, Agricultural Land Reform Office (hereinafter referred to “ALRO”), under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) distributes lands to landless farmers in the A zone and some areas of the E zone, but no distribution is allowed in the C zone. Some farmers often immigrate into conservation forests to earn cash income due to unclear boundary lines of zonings and no strict control management systems. Many people who live adjacent to forest area face with difficult agricultural conditions caused by hilly or undulating lands. They cannot help utilize natural resources in the forests to generate incomes, implying that lack of income sources is the major cause of intrusion into conservation forests. Under the conditions, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) dispatched as requested by Thai Government a Study Team in October 2004 to perform the study. ALRO and Agricultural Technology and Sustainable Agriculture Policy Division (hereinafter referred to “ATSAP”) of Office of the Permanent Secretary (OPS), MOAC are the counterpart (C/P) agencies for the subject Study. 1.2 Objectives The objectives of the Study are : - To formulate the Master Programs (M/Ps) in order to implement sustainable rural and agricultural development mainly in Land Reform Area (LRA) with people in the local community and related organization, promoting proper management of natural resources - To implement pilot project(s) in the course of the Study mainly for capacity building of Thai counterpart personnel, related organizations and communities concerned - To carry out technology transfer to the counterpart personnel and related organizations through on-the-job training in the course of the Study. 1.3 Structure of the Study The Study consists of three phases such as: Phase I: Inventory Survey - Inventory survey on natural resources and socio-economic situation for the 17 provinces in the North Thailand - Identification of issues on natural resources management and sustainable rural and agricultural development - Selection of four provinces for preparation of the draft M/P I FINAL REPORT (PARTⅠ: MASTER PROGRAM) Phase II: Formulation of Draft Master Program (M/P) - Preparation of the draft M/P for the LRAs in the four provinces - Preparation of the draft monitoring guideline for natural resources management - Selection of pilot project areas for Phase III Phase III: Implementation of Pilot Projects - Implementation of the pilot projects - Monitoring and evaluation on the implementation progress of the pilot projects - Completion of the M/P and the guideline based on the lessons learned from the pilot projects implementation 1.4 The Study Area The Study Area of the Phase I (Inventory survey) covered all the 17 provinces in the North Thailand. For the Phase II (Formulation of the draft Master Program), it covered the LRAs in the selected 4 provinces in the North Thailand. Pilot project areas including 7 tampons were selected from the LRAs of the 4 provinces for the Phase III (Implementation of the pilot projects). 2. PRESENT SITUATIONS OF THE NORTH THAILAND 2.1 Natural Resources In the northern part of the region, the topographical feature is mountainous, hence, plains are scattered between the mountains. Daen Laos and Luang Phra Bang Mountain Ranges separate the country from the Union of Myanmar and the Democratic People’s Republic of Laos. In the western part of the region, Thanon Thongchai Mountain Range lies from the north to the south. Plain areas with paddy cropping stretch over the southern part of the region. Headwaters of several major rivers are in these mountain ranges. There are seven major river basins in the region, namely Ping, Wang, Yom, Nan, Khong, Salawin and Kok. Three of them (Khong, Salawin and Kok) are international rivers, which covers some areas in Laos and Myanmar. According to the statistics (2000), the largest actual forest area is in Chiang Mai (nearly 16,000 sq. km.), followed by Tak (13,500 sq. km.) and Mae Hong Son (11,500 sq. km.). Nan and Lampang also have a relatively large forest area each (about 9,000 sq. km.), followed by Uttaradit, Phrae and Chiang Rai, in the range of 4,500 - 5,500 sq. km. The six provinces of Phayao, Lamphun, Kamphaeng Phet, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok and Uthai Thani, have smaller areas, from 2,100 to 3,900 sq. km. The smallest areas of forest are again in the two provinces of Phichit and Nakhon Sawan (only 10 and 900 sq. km. respectively). 2.2 Socio-economic and Rural Conditions According to the statistics on labor forces, a half of the labor force (51.6%) is engaged in an agriculture sector in the North Thailand. In Mae Hong Son, a remote and mountainous province, 83.1 % of labor forces work in the agriculture sector, although the total labor force size is the smallest. II EXECUTIVE SAMMARY On the other hand, in Lamphun and Chiang Mai, share of the agriculture sector is relatively low, 36.5 % and 35.9 %, respectively. The average per capita GPP of the North Thailand (39,402 Baht) is only a half of the national average (78,783 Baht). From the statistics, the average monthly household income in the North Thailand is calculated as 9,530 Baht, which is much lower than the national average, 13,736 Baht.