The SUCCESS project team, Maastricht University, SCF and TEI, visited urban farms in Songkhla

4 March 2020
On the 4th of March 2020, the SUCCESS project team from Maastricht University, Songkhla Community Foundation (SCF) and Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) visited ‘Urban Farming’ sites. The initiative of urban farming, led by SCF, began during the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network project (ACCCRN, led by Dr Pakamas and her team at TEI) to support urban communities to grow vegetables, herbs and fruit, through training and capacity building. K. Charkrit and his team at SCF and local networks, have developed a local food production system linking to consumers such as hospitals and local markets. Through engagement of SCF, urban farming and networks of farmers and consumers continue to grow. Increasing local farming in the urban region of Hat Yai is addressing food security and healthy eating challenges faced by urban communities, creating more green space to mitigate climate impacts, and generating addition income for small holders and landowners. In addition, a number of urban farming locations have become learning and training sites demonstrating different farming approaches for students, youth groups and local communities.
 
On the same day in the afternoon, SCF and TEI visited and met with the urban poor community in Songkhla, consisting of several communities residing in informal settlements in Sub-district Boryang. The meeting with community leaders, who were all women, provided a great opportunity for SUCCESS project team, led by Dr Pakamas, to learn and understand the implications of urban economic and infrastructure development, social vulnerability and socio-economic challenges faced by the urban poor and marginalised community groups. In addition, SCF also introduced SUCCESS project and invited the women to join by setting up a Working Group to participate in training and learning activities.