Central heads to the farm
Central Group kicks off its Creating Shared Value (CSV) programme dubbed Central Tham with a pilot project that will see it taking “Sufficient Barn, Hen Keeping” funding to nine public schools in five provinces to promote learning about the sufficiency economy.
In partnership with Betagro, the company has funded the buildingnine barns costing more than Bt1.8 million in total or Bt200,000 each, includes materials, cages, troughs and utility systems, 100 hens and four months of food stock. The hens and food stock were purchased from Betagro in order to have antibiotic-free, hormone and accelerator-free hens and eggs. The company also provides staff for surveying and supervising construction. Betagro will provide the knowledge on hen-keeping and organise training workshops on operational systems and quality controls, which include how to feed and set up appropriate lighting systems. Health care and disease inspection is also provided at least once a month.
“The project aims to stimulate good hygiene, generate various sources of revenue from the model, and support sustainable self-reliance for teachers, students and the community,” says Pichai Chirathivat, executive director of Central Group
“This pilot phase will cover to two schools in Ranong, one in Phuket, one in Nakhon Si Thammarat, three in Krabi, and two in Trang, involving 2,000 students and 180 teachers in total.”
The project hopes that this model can further adapt to other fields such as vegetable farming, rice growing and fisheries. The company plans to expand the project to four more provinces including Saraburi, Chiang Mai, Utaradit and Ubon Ratchatani.
