Ubon Yoowah

Ubon Yoowah is building an alliance between rural farmers and urban consumers to fundamentally reform the contract farming system in Thailand. Through introducing regulatory oversight and standards for food safety by working with contract farmers, he is improving the health and well-being of producers and consumers across the country.

Millions of small-scale farmers produce food under contract for less than ten companies who virtually determine the conditions of farming in Thailand. This process, known as contract farming, involves the production of food for companies based on terms and prices set in a contract, in this case a contract written by the purchasing company. Ubon has established the national Contract Farmers Network as a mechanism to redefine contract farming as an equal partnership between companies and the farmers who sell to these companies. The network has generated unprecedented information exchange among contract farmers across production lines: poultry, hog, caged fish, sugar cane, and corn. Ubon has encouraged contract farmers, previously fearful of their buying companies, to reveal hazards of contract farming to other farmers as well as consumers, resulting in collaboration between contract farmers, consumers, legal, and health professionals. Ubon is setting up a regulatory system to ensure fair contracts, with representation from contract farmers. He is also working with contract farmers, health professionals, and consumer advocates to set standards for food safety, by eliminating the use of hazardous agrochemicals and raising the quality standards of other farm inputs. As a long-term alternative for contract farmers, Ubon has established Safe Food Markets that encourage diversified organic production, enabling contract farmers to establish alternative supply chains and independent farms, toward full economic citizenship. Unlike previous attempts to improve farming conditions in Thailand, Ubon’s work tackles the majority of food producers in the contract farming system and is improving the health of both producers and consumers across Thailand.

The system of food production is dominated by a few vertically-integrated companies in Thailand. These companies own every stage of production—from breeding, animal feed, drugs and vitamins, fattening farms, to the market for processed meat. Two of these companies control 50 percent of Thailand’s market share for pork, and six control 80 percent of the market share for poultry. With overwhelming domination of the food supply, these companies have significant influence over regulatory mechanisms. For instance, Thailand’s largest producer of chicken and animal feed, Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), successfully lobbied the Thai government in 2003 to allow tax-free import of all animal feed grown in Southeast Asian countries. CPF owns most animal feed production farms in Southeast Asia.

Contract farming is the engine behind large-scale food production in a country dominated by small-scale farmers. Two decades ago, 99.7 percent of poultry producers in Thailand were small-scale farmers who raised chickens for household consumption and sold their surplus to local markets. Today, 98 percent of poultry producers are still small-scale farmers, but 70 percent of poultry is produced for vertically-integrated companies, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. The contract farming system has grown in Thailand, completely unregulated. In most cases, contract farmers are at considerable disadvantage compared to what the buyers are entitled to in the agreement. Farmers must make irredeemable investments, such as buildings, equipment, and any additional facilities the buying company may request in the future. Farmers must also purchase all farm input from the buying company, and often receive low-quality products at higher than market prices. In return, companies guarantee to purchase farm products at a buying price lower than market prices, and reserve the right to not purchase farm products in the event that the market price drops below the buying price. These farming contracts are often made verbally, through trusted local dealers. In some cases, companies keep the only copy of the written contract.

Small-scale contract farmers have no leverage against the companies. To convert a subsistence farm into a large-scale production facility, an average hog farmer must invest 1.4 million baht (over US$46,000). The farmer must borrow as many as fourteen different types of loans, using his land title as a loan guarantee. Due to the high prices of farm inputs and the low buying price of farmgate hogs, the average farmer with 5,000 hogs will earn only 5,000 baht (US$166) each month in net income. This minimal earning does not provide enough of a financial cushion for the farmer to survive unexpected risks, such as diseases and rising prices of farm inputs. As a result, the majority of contract farmers run their farms at a constant loss. In one district, some 500 farming households lost their land titles to contract farming of sugar cane. An increasing number of farmers are becoming laborers on their own land.

These companies also supply agrochemicals, which the companies require contract farmers to use. The agrochemical industry is another industry that remains largely unregulated. Despite having a national Hazardous Substances Control ureau, this regulatory body has had a reputation for favoring the agrochemical industry. In 2009 the bureau revised its list of hazardous substances and made international news. The bureau not only removed twenty-two chemicals widely accepted as hazardous, but also added to the list of hazardous substances thirteen herbal agents used in organic pesticides and in food, such as neam, lemongrass, chili and ginger. Thailand is in the process of renewing permits for 1,148 agrochemicals, while only 164 agrochemicals are permitted in the European Union. Many agrochemicals approved for use in Thailand have long been banned in other countries, due to proven adverse health impact. A 2011 study by the Office of Occupational Health and the Environment found that the use of agrochemicals caused 54 percent of Thai farmers to have abnormal blood cells, linked with an unusually high rate of cancer among Thai farmers. Also in 2011, the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards revealed that a sample survey of the Thai market found 20 percent of vegetable and fruit with pesticide residue beyond the maximum residue limit.

In an age where a drastically small number of companies dictate the farming conditions for farmers who have virtually become laborers on their own land, Ubon is setting up regulatory oversight, standards for food safety, and long-term alternatives for contract farmers, to improve the health and well-being of Thai farmers and consumers.

Ubon has created unprecedented information exchange among contract farmers of different production industries. After years of informal partnership, Ubon founded the first Network of Contract Farmers in 2009, in collaboration with hog, poultry, caged fish, corn and sugar cane grower groups across the country. To date, total active membership is approximately 300 contract farms in northern and northeastern Thailand, the major farming regions. In addition to the visible membership, there is an even larger group of members who share information and ideas behind the scenes, because they still fear repercussions from their buying companies.

Ubon is working to redefine the farmer’s role in the contract farming system, where buyers and farmers can be equal partners who jointly invest money, land, labor, and environmental resources. He is encouraging contract farmers to first share their stories, adding to a valuable pool of information for identifying the problems and potential solutions. He is using the method of farmer-led research, to explore the financial, health, and environmental risks of contract farms, while enlisting the collaboration of urban professionals. He works with journalists and new media producers to publish revealing interviews with contract farmers in newspapers, online YouTube videos, and short films, in order to reach the attention of urban consumers and policy officials. Recently, an investigative news series was published in major newspapers and attracted the response of consumers, the Department of Food and Drug Administration, as well as major companies including CPF, the largest agribusiness in Thailand. Ubon’s work led to the first negotiation between a contract farmer and CPF, resulting in the company’s offer to compensate for the farmer’s losses of 1 million baht (US$33,000). The significance of this negotiation is not the amount of compensation, but the principle behind compensation: that contract farming is a joint venture composed of equal partnership by the farmer and the buying company.

Beyond individual negotiations, Ubon is working through the Contract Farmers Network to introduce a regulatory mechanism for contract agreements. He is currently negotiating with national government officials to set up the Farmer’s Rights Protection Center in every rural municipality, comprising representatives from local and regional government, legal experts, and farmers. This regulatory committee will draft agreements between farmers and buying companies, while ensuring that farmers are well-informed and can negotiate for fair terms. A national committee is also being formed to regulate contract farming, with representation from contract farmers, agribusinesses, independent academics, and government officials.

Due to Ubon’s efforts, contract farmers have participated in unprecedented collaboration with urban professionals and consumers. Together with health experts and consumer rights advocates, contract farmers are working to set food safety standards. They are calling for a hold on the renewal process for four agricultural chemicals, now banned in other countries due to excessive health risks. In addition, they are working with the Network of Concerned Lawyers and Network of Concerned Doctors to assist contract farmers in analyzing the unfair financial and health risks burdened upon small-scale farmers in contract agreements. The Contract Farmers Network is also beginning to negotiate with buying companies for strict quality standards on farm inputs. Ubon is also working through mainstream and new media channels to raise consumer awareness about “unjust and unsafe food” that comes from the contract farming system.

Ubon is focused on creating alternatives for contract farmers. He is setting up new markets and supply chains to attract contract farmers by linking them with the Alternative Agriculture Network and its membership of 6,000 organic farmers. Ubon established Safe Food Markets in major cities across north and northeastern Thailand, as a pilot model to create incentives for contract farmers to grow organic food and diversify their production to meet local customer demands. Safe Food Markets are located in front of public hospitals, with a regular following of health-conscious consumers. These markets have begun to receive support from provincial Chambers of Commerce and local governments. Contract farmers are beginning to recognize these local supply chains as a more remunerative and healthful option. More contract farmers are beginning to diversify their production to sell at Safe Food Markets, and in late 2011, Ubon helped a former contract farmer set up the first large-scale independent and organic hog farm in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

Thai agribusinesses are extending contract farming practices to neighboring countries including Laos and Cambodia, in which a handful of powerful companies are profiting from a similar lack of oversight mechanisms. Ubon’s work is already inspiring sugar cane farmer groups to form networks and undertake similar reform of their contract farming system. Ubon has also begun to set up a regional network of contract farmers in Southeast Asia.

Ubon was raised in a farming household of six children in the rural northeast. His father passed away when he was eight years old, and Ubon worked his way through two technical colleges obtaining degrees in agriculture and animal husbandry. During his student years in Bangkok, he became acquainted with other students who convinced him that poverty was not a natural condition, but a result of unfair trade practices. Ubon realized his family was poor not because they were lazy or because their farms had low productivity. He began to notice the vicious cycle faced by farmers, including his extended family—relying on loans for purchasing seeds and chemical inputs to produce cash crops at unpredictable market prices, causing farmers to fall deeper into debt.

In the mid 1980s, Ubon joined on an intergovernmental development initiative in northeastern Thailand, and discovered that public officials had no understanding or interest in farmers’ needs. The project claimed to improve farmers’ livelihood, but instead officials chased villagers’ cattle out of the forest and razed down the forest to grow eucalyptus trees, which dried up the village’s underground water supply.

In 1995 Ubon co-founded the Alternative Agriculture Network to restore economic sustainability and food security for farmers in the northeast, deemed the poorest of Thai farmers. Ubon presented his idea of restricting the use of agrochemicals and excesses of unfair trade practices to the network, but received no enthusiastic response. He patiently built the membership to 6,000 organic farmers, during a period of intensified urban migration due to Thailand’s economic boom. He experimented with setting up “green shops” to sell organic food to health-conscious consumers in urban areas, but lacked sufficient clientele. Since mid 2000, however, Ubon has observed his Safe Food Markets taking off, and recognized that it was time to launch his idea of building an alliance between farmers and consumers, in the form of the Contract Farmers Network. In Ubon’s view, organic farms are like “heavenly islands in a tumultuous sea.” He will continue to explore ways to improve the lives of mainstream farmers.