Home Gardening: $n/a
In 2000, TBBC began supporting an innovative project known as the Community Agriculture and Nutrition (CAN) project. CAN aims to improve the variety and nutritional value of food available to refugees presently living in the Thailand-Burma border camps, while also developing strategies that will one day help refugees grow their food when they are able to safely return to Burma. Utilising resources accessible in the camps and working with limited access to land and water, CAN teaches participants how to improve their diets by growing foods in home gardens.

The types of techniques taught include harvesting seeds, the use of banana fiber pots for seed germination, composting, growing crops in bamboo baskets or food supply containers, contour farming, grafting and the use of natural pesticides. The home gardening skills learned through CAN provide skills that the refugees will be able to use well into the future.

Working with other organisations concerned with food security and skills training, TBBC provides CAN Basic Training, Agricultural Vocational Training, and demonstrations on the use of bio gas. In addition to the training provided through CAN, the project’s workers offer technical assistance through in-home follow-up with trainees.

In the refugee camp environment, home gardens must be clearly marked and protected from animals, such as chickens and pigs that can damage crops. Fencing can also be used by those who are raising animals to prevent them from wandering around the camps and causing damage to others’ gardens. TBBC also distributes fencing to households and to teams of community members tending collective gardens. TBBC’s goal is to provide the needed fencing to each of the camps along the border, with an average of 20-30m given to each household with a garden.

With an annual gift of only $n/a your gift will provide one family with the tools and the training to ensure long term food security through home gardening.

Vegetable Seeds and Tree Seedlings: $n/a
TBBC distributes vegetable seeds and tree seedlings to the refugees so that they can grow vegetables and trees themselves to supplement the basic food basket. To ensure sustainability and maximise disease resistance, the vegetable seeds chosen are indigenous to the region and are grown in local villages in Thailand. They are selected for their nutritional value. Presently, seeds for 23 species of plants are provided to seven camps and to three Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) sites. These include cabbage, tomato, cucumber, eggplant, carrot, sweet potato and an assorted variety of indigenous herbs and spices and are available to all camp residents who wish to produce their own food in home gardens.

Edible tree distribution began in 2004, after TBBC conducted an analysis of the harvest potential, nutritional profile, cultural familiarity and ease of cultivation for different species. Seven species of edible trees, including papaya, oranges and mango are now distributed, providing a means of producing food that compensates for the limited ability to grow many other types of crops given space restrictions in the camp environment. Tens of thousands of seedlings have already been distributed.

TBBC’s goal is to continue providing seeds and seedlings for home gardens and promoting edible trees as a space effective means of meeting nutritional needs. At $n/a, your annual gift will ensure that a refugee family has vegetables and fruit to augment their diet.

Read more about Thailand Burma Border Consortium’s Food Security Programs.