September 21, 2009
The handover ceremony for the successful conclusion of the project to Provide Food by the Cultivation of Catfish in Concrete Ponds was held by the Wiangkham Fagranuan Community Business Development Center in Wiangham, Khon Kaen province, on 17th September 2009. Mr. Kyoji KOMACHI, Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand, Mr. Payat Chanprasert, Vice-Governor of Khon Kaen province and other guests participated. They made congratulatory speeches at the ceremony.
There are a lot of farmers in this area who make their living from producing rice and sugar cane. However, they can not produce rice twice a year due to the condition of the land and the climate. Since there are no big factories in this area, they do not have opportunities to get an income from other sectors. Poverty in this area is quite serious compared with other areas. Many people are suffering from the burden of debt and reducing everyday costs is one solution to their problems.
Against this background, the Wiangkham Fagranuan Community Business Development Center collects funds from local people in order to jointly purchase young catfish and breed them for their own consumption. Any remaining catfish are sold to other people in the area, thus generating some income for the group members. The group applied to the Japanese government for funds to construct three ponds for the cultivation of catfish. The Japanese government decided to support this project to the amount of 898,600 Baht.
The Japanese government expects that this support will enable local people to raise catfish more cheaply than going to the local market, to provide food and earn revenue to improve their standard of living and to strengthen the community.
Through the GGP scheme, the Japanese government continues its support for the people and the communities of Thailand at the grass roots level.
