Harmless Harvest and GIZ Thailand have been working together since June 2020 through the “Regenerative Coconuts Agriculture Project” (ReCAP) which supports farmers in Samut Sakorn, Samut Songkhram, Ratchburi and Nakornpathom provinces to grow aromatic coconuts beyond just organic. The focus of the project is to promote a sustainable way of farming, which restores soils, reverses its impact on climate change, and increases the resiliency of farmers.

On 11 October 2021, Mr. Benjamin Mand, CEO of Harmless Harvest and Mr. Reinhold Elges, Country Director of GIZ Thailand and Malaysia met for the first time to discuss the ongoing partnership and commitments towards supporting Thailand in being an exporter of high-value and sustainable food products. “Harmless Harvest promotes and employs regenerative agriculture in order to improve the livelihoods and quality of life for Thai farmers as they face the consequences of global warming. We chose to partner with GIZ for their long-term presence in Thailand and demonstrated expertise in supporting farmers with more sustainable farming methods.” Mr. Benjamin Mand, CEO Harmless Harvest said.

Thailand is already famous for being the food basket of Asia and for being home to exceptional tropical fruits. Combined efforts should now focus on making these products as environmentally friendly as possible. “We need truly sustainable agriculture and value chains for a healthier and decarbonised future. GIZ is excited to be working alongside a growing company, which places the environment and farmers at the core of its business.” Mr. Reinhold Elges, Country Director of GIZ Thailand and Malaysia added.

Next year, in 2022, 350 aromatic coconut farmers in central Thailand will be trained on regenerative organic agriculture. It is of importance to ReCAP that as many farmers as possible can learn about regenerative practices, so the learning materials will be open source, and everyone who is interested has access. Stay tuned!

To learn more about the project, click https://www.thai-german-cooperation.info/en_US/recap/