In Thailand, nearly one in five people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. But climate change is impacting the seasons that farmers once relied on to sustain their livelihoods. Rainfall patterns have grown increasingly erratic, with prolonged dry seasons and more frequent floods disrupting crop cycles and yields. Some years, drought scorches the soil before plants can flower; in others, heavy rains submerge fields and sweep away harvests.
Across the central province of Phetchabun, however, a group of farmers are adapting to these shifting conditions and strengthening their resilience. Through the Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture (SCALA) programme – funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and implemented by UNDP and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) – they’re learning to apply climate-smart practices, share knowledge across communities, and use innovative tools (such as field record books to solar-powered irrigation) to safeguard their crops and sustain their way of life.
Sharing knowledge and good agriculture practices locally
Maize farmer Kritsana Thongpheng keeps detailed records of her fields and tracks sowing dates, rainfall patterns, pest outbreaks and harvest volumes. What began years ago as simple notetaking has become an essential tool for managing risks and understanding how climate variability affects her yields.
“In 2015, I lost twenty rai of corn to drought. In 2024, floods destroyed ten more,” she recalls. “But now, when the weather turns strange, I open my notebook and look back. I know what happened before and what I can do differently.” Read the full photo story here.