70 Year KSL, 70 Sufficiency Program
30 Nov 2015
Khon Kaen Sugar Industry PCL is an organization that has been growing with local communities for many years. It has created a project to celebrate its 70th Anniversary since 2012 under the name “70 Year KSL, 70 Sufficiency Programs.” The project aims to spread the knowledge from His Majesty the King’s Sufficiency Economy Principles to communities through various activities so that the principles maybe adopted and used on a regular basis. The company supports the opening of the Sufficiency Economy Learning Centers for employees, local communities, temples, schools, and other interested persons so that they may gain first-hand knowledge and experience on how the principles can be used in everyday life. The goal for these activities is to create a sustainable environment where both the business and its local communities can grow prosperously together in the future.
Khon Kaen Sugar Industry PCL has successfully created 70 Sufficiency Economy Learning Centers (SELC) for the communities located around its five different factories scattered across Thailand. The operating budget for the “70 Year KSL, 70 Sufficiency Programs” is 9.8 million THB and a total of 1,700 persons (1,000 KSL employees and 700 are local community members), attending a training about Sufficiency Economy principles and practices. It is estimated that there are more than 10,000 people who benefit from this program.
The training at the learning centers focused on land management using new agricultural theory that promotes the maximization of agricultural yields from a given plot of land using organic methods. A farmer who owns a plot of land can learn to divide it into different sections in order to farm sugar cane and rice and grow his/her own food such as herbs, vegetables, and raise farm animals such as chicken, pigs, frogs and fish. The goal is for the farmers to be able to lead a sustainable life and be self-sufficient based on the products grown and made on his/her land and able to earn extra income for the family by selling any additional products. At the learning center, lessons on simple accounting are taught so that farmers can learn to manage their money well. Additionally, farmers can learn to make their own household products such as soap, vinegar, charcoal, cleaning solutions and more using products available from his/her land.
In the future, the company anticipates that each learning centers will be self-sufficient by reinvesting seed money from income generated from selling products made by using the provided knowledge and skills to fund new endeavors. The company will continue to share knowledge and give support and funding to ensure that each center can manage its operation independently.
