IMPACT INVESTING – We can’t heal the planet in isolation, but in and thru community
We are beginning social impact ventures. Thru crowd fund and other sources of social capital to address social and environmental issues in Thailand and SE Asia. These issues center around rural poor farmers, families and communities. We address food security and community resilience. We will address the rising impacts of climate change thru small farm design changes using (Flood proofing, Drought proofing, Organic food growing, lower small farm costs, accessing local organic markets, increasing farmer incomes and thus community empowerment). We also educate the next generation of young farmers and youth in schools learning recycling, healthy diet/food and environmental stewardship using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
We will use start-up companies and other social entrepreneur methods to develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues in Thailand and SE Asia.
ENTREPRENEUR SOCIAL INNOVATION
Using “new ideas”, creative thinking and technology to enhance or create added value, new goods or services improving the quality of life of marginalized groups and communities. It involves the deliberate application of information, imagination, initiative and new technology in deriving greater value from resources, create higher value products or services. It includes alliance creation, joint venturing, education, the empowering of the producer and the creation of added value for the buyer. These ideas must be replicate-able and scale-able.
Agri-preneurs can revive smallholder agriculture
In Thailand, small family farms make up over 70% of farming effort and also the largest group among Thailand’s poor. Their food and nutritional security, and poverty alleviation pose an opportunity in Permaculture and social entrepreneurship. Lowering costs and increasing farm productivity by using new technology, new small farm designs and building community resilience is the way for the 21st century. This requires appropriate technology dissemination, new modern design farm systems to equip them with modern practices in both types of activities, new underutilized crops, new technology, from flood proofing, drought proofing, agri-drone use, soil management and small and big data analysis. These technologies are available and no/low cost and our mission is to disseminate them in Thailand and Asia.
Promoting community micro-entrepreneur based agricultural advisory services improves the lives of smallholding families through increased farm productivity. To date the neither the public extension system nor the market itself has been able to reach the millions of smallholders in remote areas. Their low self-efficacy, the lack of belief of outsiders in their capability, and ignorance of public extension workers about their specific needs are some of the reasons for this sorry state. It is small wonder then that the productivity of most of the farm and off-farm activities varies to less than 50-65% of the national average. We cannot ignore this if we are to ensure small farmer well-being and meet global food demand. New Permaculture farm design models have to be developed for these unreached small farm families to gain access to right information, right knowledge and right skills to optimize productivity of their livelihoods and lives.