Government-promoted commercialization of agriculture was pushing Thailand’s farmers into a downward spiral.  Increasing cash outlays for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, destruction of natural soil fertility as a result of heavy chemical application and soil erosion, and water shortages due to extensive deforestation had left nearly every rural family with debilitating debts.  Never having had to deal with this situation before led to a widespread sense of desperation.  But in 1988, when a development project helped farmers to critically examine the causes of their predicament, a shared understanding of the scenario which had entrapped them in a seemingly irreversible quagmire emerged.  On the basis of this understanding, farmers charted a strategy to restore their environment, economy and communities – a strategy which eventually enabled communities to reclaim control over their lives, and reverse decades of ecological, economic and social degradation.

Farming system and livelihood diversification through integrated farming based on agroforestry, home processing of agricultural products and cottage industries, combined with communal forest management, empowered villagers to re-capture control of their lives through community-based sustainable resource management.  The management systems drew upon traditional technical know-how in order to optimize the sustainable use and conservation of local resources -- both natural and human.  Formerly discouraged and often distraught farmers were exhilarated by their own ability to rehabilitate their lives, their communities and their resources.