Collaboration on Soil and Water Conservation Using Vetiver Grass

Abstract

A study on the “Collaboration on Soil and Water Conservation Using Vetiver Grass” focuses on the following objectives: 1) To study the process leading to the collaboration on soil and water conservation using vetiver grass. 2) To study the results of the collaboration on soil and water conservation using vetiver grass. 3) To propose approaches to advance the development of the collaboration on soil and water conservation using vetiver grass by means of the following research tools: the researcher and conducted structured, in-depth interviews with participatory observation and non-participatory observation. The data was collected from 40 key informants which are: Chaipattana foundation, Office of the Royal development projects board, PTT public company limited, and farmers who took part in the soil and water conservation by using vetiver grass and formed a Vetiver network. The study found that in order to ensure effectiveness of soil and water conservation by using vertiver grass, there should be a well-developed process in creating the collaboration, as well as having the following important factors involved; policy making, planning, communication/interpretation, building of trust and follow-up evaluation. The results were divided into three areas: “the economy”, for strengthening incomes, “the social development”, for creating knowledge, providing source of education and influencing innovation; and “the environment”, for maintaining soil fertility, providing clean source of water and preventing soil erosion. All of which led to these findings that although the government held full authority in the administration and management, as well as having adequate budget, there are yet to be appropriate ways in allocating the resources that could advance the soil and water conservation using vetiver grass. Therefore, the reliability on private sectors and civil society participation is utmost necessary in developing soil and water conservation using vetiver grass. But the government was unable to put effective control over the administration and management of this collaboration and unable to pass down to citizens and farmer. Thus, it requires the collaboration from all sectors in the process of developing a good collaboration as a whole. The proposed recommendations are: 1) for government sectors to establish a policy on soil and water conservation by using vetiver grass as the main agenda for all relevant departments, 2) for any relevant authorities to show support and promote the collaboration between citizens on soil and water conservation by using vetiver grass and for this to widely spread across all regions, 3) The approaches and implementation of the collaboration in conservation of soil and water by using vetiver grass should be conducted in a bottom-up fashion and 4) The citizens should be empowered and enabled to take part in monitoring the follow up evaluation of the following project.