Comparative Study of Assessment of Agricultural Governance Sustainability: A Case Study of Maize and Integrated Farming in Mae Chaem District, Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

As of today, Thailand have established national sustainable development strategies and related sustainability reporting, as evidenced by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In business operations, there is an increasing user demand for practical tools to support decision-making processes regarding the use of sustainability tool. In the northern part of Thailand, deforestation caused by non-sustainable agricultural consumption and production leads to trade barriers. This results in non-tariff barriers to trade in global livestock supply chain. Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems (SAFA) is a holistic global framework for the assessment of sustainability along food and agriculture value chains proposed by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In this paper, SAFA is used for assessing sustainability in only governance dimension from all dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social, economic and governance issues). Case Study of maize and integrated farming in Mae Chaem District, Chiang Mai Province is presented. The result shows that the level of agricultural governance sustainability in case study of maize and integrated farming in Mae Chaem District, Chiang Mai Province is highly depended on the readiness of enterprise. The large enterprises normally operate clear governance activity with document and system resulting in high score of governance sustainability. However, the small enterprises rarely operate that system because of limited knowledge and budget. The recommendation is that central government should provides knowledge and tool to support agricultural governance sustainability in Thailand.