I. BACKGROUND
- Thailand's
economy has recently been changing from agricultural economy to
industrial economy, resulting in the income gap between agricultural and
nonagricultural sectors and different
life style of Thai people in rural and urban areas.
This shift in the nature of Thai economy not only affects the people
economically,
but also causes stress
to the young generation especially those with lower
education who do not
have many career choices. This induces deviation in living
condition that more people have been involved in drugs and have contacted
HIV/AIDS while farm work is gradually neglected.
- There is a large
number of Thai youth who have either not attended school or only
have lower education level especially those living in the rural areas (as shown
in table 1 ). The situation may rapidly worsen the
problem of drug abuse and
HIV/AIDS epidemic if
there is no measure considered.
Table 1. Education and work situation
of Thai youth aged 18 - 24
(percent) |
|
Urban |
rural |
Average |
Education |
|
No education |
1.6 |
2.4 |
2.2 |
|
Primary school |
33.6 |
54.6 |
50.7 |
|
Secondary school |
47.1 |
36.7 |
38.5 |
|
Higher than secondary school |
17.8 |
6.3 |
8.5 |
total |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
(number) |
(1,072,300) |
(4,900,500) |
(5,982,700) |
Work situation |
|
employed |
78.1 |
66.5 |
68.4 |
Source : The Office of National Statistics, 2000
- The
Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE) is a government organization under
the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. It is responsible for enhancing stable farm occupations and improve
the quality of rural life in both economic and social aspects for
farm and rural populations, and one of its function is farm youth development. lts
purposes on the young farmers extension are as follows :
1. Preparing farm youth to be leaders in agriculture
areas such as plant production, fisheries,
animal husbandry and agricultural product processing.
2. Developing new
generation of rural community leadership.
3. Assisting farm
youth to take part in community activities as
3.1 Being core
groups or centers of agricultural career network.
3.2 Creating income
generating activities in communities.
3.3 Preserving
natural resources and environment.
3.4 Protecting
community's right and interests.
- DOAE's work of
farm youth development is carried out by supporting the
activities of 4-H
clubs. 4-H is an international farm youth organization originated
in the USA and presently
implemented in about 80 countries world wide. The
first 4-H club in
Thailand started in 1953. The highest number of 4-H clubs
recorded was in 1993
when the number of clubs reached 6,640 clubs with a
total of 144,984 members (Farm Youth Sub-division,1999).
Each 4-H club
contains at least 7 members. The club structure consists of committees,
members and adviser(s). The committee for each club comprises a
President, Vice president, Secretary, Treasurer and Receptionist or Public
relation. The members
of a Thai 4-H club are farm youth ranging in age
between 10-35 years
old.
- The DOAE realizes
problems encountering agricultural sector and young
farmers, and exerts
various efforts to improve the situation. One of them is the
Project "Enhancement of Farm Youth Network for Agricultural Career"
where
the objectives of the
project are
5.1 To increase
productivity and work opportunity in the agricultural sector by
instigating training, exchange programs and workshop.
5.2 To introduce
farm youth to a wide range of agriculture related activities,
network and essential
knowledge to prepare them for self-development.
The elements of
the project include workshop, agricultural activity improvement, exchange visits, and training
programs. The project was funded US $ 10,555 by FAO.