Public policy to support young farmers in Thailand

Abstract

In newly industrialised countries in Asia, programmes to support the establishment of young farmers are still emerging. This in particularly true in Thailand, despite the declared importance of supporting young farmers in national development strategies. The aim of the present study was to analyse policy tools to help young people start farming in Thailand. First, we reviewed existing policy tools in Thailand and in other countries. Based on this review, a series of workshops were held with young rural people and young farmers in Thailand to assess the most promising policy tools. During the workshops, participants discussed a set of 22 policy tools designed to support access to land, capital and markets, capacity-building and making farming a more attractive profession. The workshop participants thought almost all the proposed policy tools would be useful but gave priority to subsidies to start farming and to secure land leases. Reversing the current, very rapid decrease in the number of young farmers in Thailand will require ambitious programmes, which could not only focus on helping young people who are already interested in farming but also appeal to a broader public by making farming more attractive.