Polyculture,autonomy, and community: the pursuit of sustainability in a northern Thai farming village

A growing body of literature tracks small farmers worldwide engaging in new, proactive forms of ecologically oriented mobilization in a quest for community sustainability. We present the case of a group of farmers in northern Thailand who have converted from high-input, export-focused commodity crop production to organic vegetable polyculture systems. We analyse their motivations and the effects these changes have had on their households and community and find similarities with other small-scale agrarian communities reclaiming peasant modes of farming. The farmers of Mae Ta are primarily driven by an increased aversion to the cycles of debt, poor health, and restricted autonomy that accompany industrialized production. Those who have transitioned to organic polyculture have largely rid themselves of cyclical debt and persistent health maladies, feel more empowered and satisfied in their farming systems, and speak of broader impacts on the overall community.