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Thai landfill turned into urban farm to feed poor during pandemic

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Rina Chandran, Thomson Reuters Foundation 

<p>CHIANG MAI — An urban farm developed on a former landfill site in northern Thailand boosted the food security and livelihoods of poor families during the coronavirus pandemic, and can be a model for unused spaces in other cities, urban experts said on Thursday.</p><p>The farm in Chiang Mai, about 700 km (435 miles) from the capital Bangkok, took shape during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus last year, when many of the city&#x27;s residents lost their tourism-dependent jobs.</p><p>Supawut Boonmahathanakorn, a community architect who works on housing solutions for Chiang Mai&#x27;s homeless and informal settlers, approached authorities with a plan to convert the unused landfill into an urban farm to support the poor.</p><div><strong>RELATED STORIES: </strong></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/08/13/19/hey-dreamers-its-time-we-go-back-to-the-farm">Hey dreamers, it’s time we go back to the farm</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/12/28/19/nature-discovery-park-home-to-hong-kongs-1st-urban-biodiversity-museum">Nature Discovery Park: Home to Hong Kong&#x27;s 1st urban biodiversity museum</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/04/17/20/unleash-your-inner-farmer-how-to-start-an-urban-garden-even-with-very-little-space">Unleash your inner farmer: How to start an urban garden even with very little space</a></li></ul><p>&quot;We had previously mapped the city&#x27;s unused spaces with an idea to plant trees to mitigate air pollution. The landfill, which had been used for 20 years, was one of those spaces,&quot; he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p><p>&quot;Poor families spend more than half their earnings on food, so when their incomes dried up, they were struggling to feed their families. This farm has been a lifeline for some of them,&quot; he said, pointing to neat rows of corn and morning glory.</p><p>Coronavirus lockdowns worldwide have pushed more city dwellers to grow fruit and vegetables in the backyards and terraces of their homes, and forced authorities to consider urban farming as a means to boost food security.</p><p>In Chiang Mai, after authorities approved the farm plan, an appeal on social media resulted in donations of plants, seedlings and manure from residents, Supawut said.</p><p>With diggers loaned by the city, Supawut and his team cleared some 5,700 tons of rubbish on the 4,800 square-meter (0.48 hectare) plot that lies next to a canal and a cemetery.</p><p>The land was levelled, and a rich topsoil added to offset the degraded soil. The farm opened to the community in June.</p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ivS-9aUbk5Y?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>About half a dozen homeless families, students from a public school and members of the public grow eggplant, corn, bananas, cassava, chilli, tomatoes, kale and herbs, Supawut said.</p><p>&quot;In cities, we have lost our connection with food production, but it is a vital skill,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Urban farms cannot feed an entire city, but they can improve nutrition and build greater self-sufficiency especially among vulnerable people. They are important during a pandemic - and even otherwise,&quot; he added.</p><div><strong>COME TOGETHER</strong></div><p>Urban agriculture can potentially produce as much as 180 million tonnes of food a year - or about 10% of the global output of pulses and vegetables, according to a 2018 study led by Arizona State University.</p><p>Rooftop farms, vertical gardens and allotments also help increase vegetation cover, which is key to limiting rising temperatures and lowering the risk of flooding in cities.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/10/02/20/urban-farming-sprouts-in-payatas-communities">Urban farming sprouts in Payatas communities</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/08/20/singapore-ramps-up-rooftop-farming-plans-as-virus-upends-supply-chains">Singapore ramps up rooftop farming plans as virus upends supply chains</a></li></ul><p>While land in cities is scarce and expensive, rooftops and spaces below expressways and viaducts can be repurposed, said landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom, who designed Asia&#x27;s largest urban rooftop farm in Bangkok.</p><p>&quot;We need imagination and greater flexibility in our laws to turn such spaces into urban farms,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;The Chiang Mai farm is a sandbox - it shows it can be done in even the most unlikely of spaces if the government and the community come together,&quot; she added.</p><p>For Ammi, a homeless indigenous Akha woman who has lived at the farm since July, the corn, melons and cabbage that she grows have fed her and her husband, and provided a small income.</p><p>&quot;It gives people like me an opportunity to be self-sufficient,&quot; she said. &quot;We need more such farms in the city.&quot; </p>

<p>An urban farm developed on a former landfill site in northern Thailand boosted the food security and livelihoods of poor families during the coronavirus pandemic, and can be a model for unused spaces in other cities, urban experts said on Thursday.</p>

An urban farm developed on a former landfill site in northern Thailand boosted the food security and livelihoods of poor families during the coronavirus pandemic, and can be a model for unused spaces in other cities, urban experts said on Thursday.

Thai landfill turned into urban farm to feed poor during pandemic

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Thai landfill turned into urban farm to feed poor during pandemic

Rina Chandran,

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Published January 07, 2021 08:46 PM PHT

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food security

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urban farming

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