การพัฒนาต้นแบบการเลี้ยงสัตว์เคี้ยวเอื้องขนาดเล็กของเกษตรกรรายย่อยเพื่อพัฒนาเกษตรกรสู่การเป็นสมาร์ทฟาร์มเมอร์

Title

Development of Instructional prototype of small ruminant production in small- holder farms to enhance farmers toward being smart farmers

Keywords

Nan,Food Production System,Food Safety,Food Security,Sustainability,Social Enterprise,Co-Creation,Sheep,Goat

Abstract

This project was aimed

1. to develop small-holder farmers to have a knowledge and practical skills for goat-sheep farming .
2. to develop the model to support an introducing of new livestock in the community, e.g. genetics, feeding management, herd health management and technical support for farmers goat-sheep raising .
3. to develop a learning model and innovative idea in goat-sheep farming in Nan province
4. to develop potential and strengthen Goat-Sheep Farmer Network in Nan Province.

The progress has been made in the first six months of the project (May to November 2020), including the establishment of a group of 58 farmers in 10 subdistricts from 7 districts and a group of 18 leaders (innovators) of each subdistrict. The three conferences/workshops and onside regular visits were carried out to educate farmers, government officials, and related operators in regard to rearing, breeding management, herd health management, roughage management, agricultural products processing and young smart farmer development. Moreover, about 50 workshops in subgroups were performed. The supporting services program was created and provided to reach the goal of producing quality sheep and goat products, including the study of the value chain of sheep farming in Nan Province, creating a network of cooperation with government agencies, Subdistrict Administrative Organization, Subdivision (Section) of Livestock Promotion, Department of Livestock Development (DLD) officers, academic sector, small entrepreneurs, and goat-sheep farmers. Up to now, a total of 36 male and female high genetic value goats were distributed to 6 leading farms. Overall, it was found that the initial operation was successful and the farmers had good hopes and responses. Regarding the analysis of the operation process, it was found that the process of in-depth approach to create a Village Profile in conjunction with the actual access to the small group of willing farmers to clarify the operation of this project are capable of assess the actual availability of target groups or innovation communities. This makes it possible to cancel some existing groups and modify new target groups that are actually ready to operate. In operating an innovation community, a policy of establishment of an innovative community at only the subdistrict level may not be suitable for raising new livestock in this area. Goat and sheep farmers are found to be grouped in many forms. Some groups are groups of farmers in the village. Some groups are group of goat farmers whose members live in several villages within the subdistrict. And some groups of farmers are recruited from many villages in several districts. In addition, regarding the process of understanding and working with farmers, it was found that the subgroup meeting/workshop focusing on farmers as the center (user-centric) and development of the farmers leaders (community innovators), who can lead the meeting and be the key coordinator in the area are proved to develop potential and strengthen the network of small-holder sheep and goat farms. The development of mobility networks of goats and sheep farmers at Nan Province makes all sectors understand their roles through organizing the forums to exchange ideas from various sectors including farmers, farmers’ leaders, government agencies and educational institutions. Next, work has been planned with all sectors in a way to understand and plan work together as a co-creation. The joint workshop with all sectors is one of the most important mechanisms in the development and driving of “Change”. Lastly, according to the project management, the project team has adopted the “Agile” concept and the “Scrum” framework. However, in the first place, this new concept of work is not yet understood, especially by the research assistants in the sub team. But when this framework has been applied for a period of time, all project members are adapted and more understood this concept, resulted in the implementation of the project is smoother and can be adjusted to work with specific farmers in different groups with faster actions and more efficient. Moreover, the research team focused on group management and follow-up plan, continuing the workshop in subgroup and all sectors meeting, establishment of networking/partners through the network administration board by selecting the farmers’ leaders as community innovators, monitoring the following operations of the innovators in their communities, encouraging the exchange of knowledge between the sectors, performing the experiment to define the suitable roughage management model especially in the dry season, developing Nan’s goat and sheep meat products that meet the needs of local communities and markets, and developing the capabilities of farmers and forming community enterprises. The present project, if successful, will be a learning model for application in other areas. It also impacts the income for farmers and influence the intention of farmers and entrepreneurs who want to enter the small ruminant industry. The outcome of this project is to enhance the self-learning, self-organized and management by creating the local community innovators leading to sustainable development in rural. The farmers in Nan will have a new career path through goat production. This of course will increase their per se income. To be a sustainable, we arrive to convince the young smart farmers to follow up this program by supporting academic and research knowledges in order to be a good entrepreneurship in the near future. Keywords: Goat, Sheep, Learning model, Innovation, Community, Young smart farmer.