Lazy garden bio-innovation as a resilience-building strategy in the uplands of Northern Thailand

Date

2010

Authors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, TH

Abstract

Lazy gardens are a bio‐innovation of Karen farmers living in an upland valley in northern Thailand. The lazy garden approach is to use an available plot of land – usually, but not always, located in upland secondary forests or old swidden fallows – to cultivate a garden of vegetables, trees and other crops in a multi‐strata and spatially complex layout without using expensive chemical inputs. The innovation builds on technical expertise in traditional practices of planting in and managing fallows in swidden cultivation systems. It is supported by social practices of sharing plant materials and cultural teachings about working with natural processes. Lazy gardens are typically part of a composite farming system that often includes paddy and may also include upland rice fields. Within the study area lazy gardens are owned by both better‐off and poorer‐households. Having sufficient land and labor was a more important considerations then wealth. Farmers have lazy gardens to help build resilience of their households to failures of cash crops, commodity market shocks, both as a source of food for direct consumption and as a source of supplementary income. Lazy gardens appear to improve livelihood security of poor households while having a low impact on the environment and thus represent a potentially important bio‐innovation.

Description

In preparation for submission to the journal Agriculture and Human Values

Keywords

PHILIPPINES, BIOFERTILIZERS, INNOVATION, ADOPTION, LAZY GARDEN, THAILAND, FARMING SYSTEMS, LIVELIHOODS

Citation

DOI