The Doi Tung project (which is the name of a small mountainous region near the “Golden Triangle” in the north of Thailand) was founded in 1987 by Her Royal Highness Rajawongse Disnadda Diskul and Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana of Thailand under the name of the “Mae Fah Luang Foundation”.

Since its creation the organization has successfully introduced and developed this integrated Sustainable Alternative Livelihood Development (SALD) model.

This SALD has three basic principles:

Human Development

The different projects develop the skills and talents of the local people. Providing them with training and techniques to complement traditional skills, the Doi Tung training centers maximize economies of scale and quality control to allow “cost savings” and competitive products.

Economic Development

Doi Tung empowers locals to become business savvy. With “business units in food, horticulture, tourism, and handicrafts; locals are being trained in everything from landscape design to coffee roasting”. Employees & partners are encouraged to set up their own enterprises. In less than 10 years, the ownership of some of the business units in Doi Tung will be transferred to the local community. The social enterprises are a balance of maximizing social returns on investment verses a financial one. About 1700 locals are employed and the project itself has been financially self-sustaining since 2002. The “Mae Fah Luang Foundation” has generated USD13 million in revenues in 2009 and it is planed that the Mae Fah Luang Foundation transfers the whole project back to the community by 2017”.

Environmental Development

“In 1988, the project area was subject to slash and burn agriculture, opium cultivation, and trafficking in humans and arms. It was a survival world where people lived in survival conditions.

With the Doi Tung project locals went from being opium growers to forestry workers, planting trees to earn legitimate incomes overnight. This quick hit helped develop their trust in the project.

Today, a new generation of local people manages their trash, recycles, and treats waste water. Local villagers understand the need to preserve the watershed to ensure sufficient water for consumption and agriculture. The local community is well aware of their responsibility for their impact on the environment.”

Business Model:

Coffee & Macadamia

To dissuade locals to process Opium, the project needed to come up with “high value” added products; the idea came to market “Arabica” coffee and macadamia nuts (the most expensive on the market).

The farms (coffee & macadamia, totalizing 58’272 hectares) as well as the two factories are located on the hills of Doi Tung.

Since the objective of the foundation is to make Doi Tung producers independent (basically own their own trees), the foundation uses the “micro-leasing” concept. The producer pays a rent for two years on the tree and then becomes the “owner”.

Then, Doi Tung buys the coffee and the macadamia nuts at a “fair-trade” price. Implying that the small producers are not impacted by the “market-fluctuations” of their commodities; in fact, Doi Tung calculates the buying price on the amount of “human labor” used and not on the “final consumer” price. The prices of Doi Tung’s products are thus more expensive and target wealthier people in the cities and other S.E. Asian countries (as well as tourists...).

In addition, the coffee beans harvested in the Doi Tung Area are sold through their own coffee shops - a concept initiated a couple of years ago and similar to Starbucks (branded “Doi Tung Coffee”). Fact is: Green beans fetch sell for USD 2 per Kilo; Roasted coffee sells for USD 10 per Kilo; if attractively branded and packaged you can expect USD 20 per Kilo and finally if you sell it in a coffee shop (the value of the same coffee shots) can go up to USD 100 or USD 500 in Europe. Doi Tung has now 22 stores in Thailand and is continuously expanding.

To compliment the coffee and nuts projects Doi Tung has trained locals to produce diverse handicrafts, textile products, flowers & paper products.

Social Impact:

Key successes of the Doi Tung Project

- Job creation and higher income generation through value added businesses

The Doi Tung project taken as a whole impacts about 11’000 people in 11 villages.

1700 are full-time employed (so 15 % of the entire population).

In 1989 the median income per inhabitant was 71 Euros.

In 2007 the median income per inhabitant was 714 Euros.

- Education

As the foundation has as target to give its “independence” to the project by 2017, education plays a key role. Locals are trained to manufacture higher value added products and scholarships are given to some young talents who can study until obtaining a PhD. One of the conditions to obtain this scholarship is that they come back to their community once they have finished their studies. In this way, Doi Tung is training the next generation of “leaders” who will guide the project.

Environmental Impact:

- Reforestation

The immediate positive impact of the project was the reforestation of the site which was damaged due to the “opium” farming. The project has successfully reforested about 2000 hectares of forest since 1989. Trees planted include the coffee & macadamia but also fruits for the local community to consume.

- Recycling

The community itself tries to recycle as much as possible. For instance, the crust of the macadamia nuts is reused to heat up the ceramic ovens and the oil is used

Sources used:

DoiTung Website:

http://www.doitung.org