The Impact of Participatory Development on Local Economic Development: The Case Study of E-San Gastronomy in Sakon Nakhon Province, Thailand
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Abstract
E-San Gastronomy is the gastronomic tourism initiated in Sakon Nakhon, a province in north-eastern Thailand, which aims to leverage the livelihood of local people by generating income from gastronomic tourism. This study set out to investigate the impact of participatory development on local economic development (henceforth LED) through Sakon Nakhon's E-San Gastronomy, Thailand. This case study also aimed to use local products and food as a tool to increase local people's income. The initiative aimed to establish a complete supply chain for food tourism in Sakon Nakhon, beginning with upstream activities and ending with downstream ones. The initiative involved various stakeholders from the political, public, and private sectors in planning and operating its activities through a participatory development approach. It was well established that participatory approaches are a solution to the previous failures in poverty targeting. However, the influence of participatory development on LED has remained unclear. This paper also discussed the case for using such an approach in Sakon Nakhon's E-San Gastronomy. Likewise, it was reported whether the approach could lead to the development of LED in the current province.
A total of 21 stakeholders were interviewed to gather information regarding the initiative’s operations and impacts. The participants were recruited from different workstreams by using the purposeful sampling method due to the requirement of the initiative’s knowledge and involvement. The interviews were analysed using a thematic approach. The study used qualitative analysis to gain insights into the initiative’s efficiency in implementing the participatory approach and its impact on LED in Sakon Nakhon.
The current study found that while the initiative takes a participatory approach, its effectiveness is questionable. In the same way, through knowledge generation and transfer processes, the initiative has had a significant impact on Sakon Nakhon.
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