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ePaper created 2015-12-01, 11:33:23 | version 1.43.00
11akzente 3/15 TEXT AND PHOTOS Sascha Zastiral Brought together by an international volunteer programme, financial experts from Deutsche Bank are supporting rice farmers. SHARING KNOWLEDGE IN THAILAND O n a normal working day, Sven Sievers would be sitting in his office in Ham- burg around this time. He would be on a conference call with colleagues or perhaps meeting representatives of his key accounts in his role as an account manager at Deutsche Bank. Instead, he is sitting in an air-condi- tioned minibus driving through the province of Ubon Ratchathani in north-eastern Thai- land. The view from the window in the early morning light is dominated by the dry and dusty landscape of harvested rice fields. The region, which is situated in the triangle be- tween Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, is one of the country’s poorest. The contrast be- tween it and Thailand’s ultramodern capital city Bangkok, with its giant shopping centres and skyscrapers, could not be greater: most people in the villages here are rice farmers who live in simple wooden huts. The major- ity of vehicles on the roads are mopeds or pick-up trucks. Sven Sievers (55) has short, greying hair and is wearing a black jacket despite the heat. He has all the qualities of a good customer advisor: he is calm, unassuming and has an aura of expertise. He is accompanied by Karolis Verseckas, a 26-year-old analyst from Lithuania. Verseckas normally works in cred- it financing for the Spanish market at Deutsche Bank in London. He exudes a youthful enthusiasm when he talks about his specialist area. Sievers and Verseckas are in Thailand for four weeks to offer advice in a voluntary ca- pacity on a supraregional rice initiative launched at the start of 2015. Here in Ubon Ratchathani, they plan to meet rice farmers and representatives of local authorities. Just one bad harvest can put livelihoods at risk The initiative aims to improve the livelihoods of rice farmers. It therefore teaches farmers in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Viet Nam about topics such as better cultivation methods and marketing opportunities. For most farmers in Thailand, the rice harvest generates less than the country’s minimum wage of around EUR 8 per day. Just one bad harvest can easily see them slip below the poverty line. The supraregional rice initiative is part of the German Food Partnership, which was founded in 2012 under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co- operation and Development. The Partnership consists of German companies and associa- tions wishing to combine their own interests with development objectives. Working with local actors, they are looking to create stable processes in developing countries and emerg- ing economies, from cultivation and process- » ing to trade and consumption. The Partner- ship is coordinated by GIZ. The minibus arrives in Mueang Det and stops in front of the municipal rice centre, a state institution which offers advice and sup- port for rice farmers, of which there are thou- sands throughout Thailand. Mueang Det could also be one of the centres of the supra regional rice initiative, which will offer farm- ers training in a number of areas in future, in- cluding irrigation methods, plant protection, bookkeeping and market theory. Around three dozen farmers have turned up to talk to Sievers and Verseckas. The pro- ceedings are formal, as is typical in Thailand. The farmers – mostly men in their fifties – are already sitting in four rows when the visitors arrive. Sievers, Verseckas and the GIZ em- ployees take their seats at a long table. The group also includes representatives of the rice wholesaler Olam, a group headquartered in Singapore which could become a partner of the new initiative and buy an agreed quantity of rice from participating farmers. Sievers stands up, takes the microphone and asks: ‘How does financing work here? Where do you get your loans? And do you usually get what you need?’ The group speak- er answers Sievers’ questions on behalf of the farmers. Normally, he explains, farmers bor- row money from the agricultural bank or from their cooperative bank. However, he says, the interest on these loans is quite high and the farmers often do not receive the full amount. He hopes to get better access to cred- it. Sievers nods. Theory and practice: Sven Sievers (left) and Karo- lis Verseckas gain an insight into the work of rice farmers. In the office in Bangkok, they are striving to develop a financing model for farmers.