Nearly all of the families that live within our community rely on the land as their main source of income. With the average income from working the land a meager 80 pounds / 100 euros / 150 US dollars a month for a family of four they find themselves still on the fringes of only just meeting the UN Development Goals for 2015 of ensuring all those living in poverty receive at least one US dollar per day per person.
Due to their monsoon climate the main crop farmed by all the local families is rice. Much of the work hasn't changed in years with the majority of the labour still being done by hand, although some of the luckier families do now have very simple tractors to aid their work. Fields are still ploughed pre-monsoon in the traditional way with the aid of livestock, primarily water buffalo. Rice is sown by hand and also harvested with hours of back-breaking labour. Cows and buffalo are also kept at most family residents with the years manure being annually dug out by hand to fertilise the fields.
In the last few years some of those families lucky enough to own extra land have been looking to cultivate a second crop to bring in an extra income. Areas of hillside scrub land not suitable for rice farming have been cleared and numerous small rubber tree plantations are steadily popping up.

With all this manual labour going on numerous opportunities exist for Fernthai Volunteer Foundation volunteers to pitch in and lend a hand either in the fields or at plantations. The work can be physical and strength sapping, especially in the Thai climate. None the less, for the locals, if they don't carry out this work year in, year out, many have no other source of income or food to rely on. We don't expect any of our volunteers to suddenly become hardened farmers, but by pitching in and showing willingness to help, you'll be amazed by the gratitude offered in return.