Rural, agricultural SMEs are amongst the most vulnerable during periods of economic stress. They are also experiencing greater inequality. Although a third of laborers are in agriculture, they earn a tenth of GDP. During the spread of Covid-19, agricultural exports tumbled further impacting this sector. Meanwhile, low income drives the rural-urban migration of youths, causing agricultural communities to age rapidly. New Economy Academy (NEA) believes that for rural, agricultural SMEs, education is a path to empowerment, socio-economic equality, financial security and better social outcomes. NEA has created webinars so it can continue to educate agricultural SMEs at the grassroots level. The webinars are hosted by national experts on exports, technology and business and are free. The “Young Exporter from Local to Global” (YELG) webinars have 450 participants. Small-group coaching sessions (for 120 select participants) are also held to give individual coaching to SMEs. Participants learned about business, operational and export strategies, as well as documentation, logistics, and international law. The “Smart Farmer - Knowledge Transfer for Online Global Markets” (Smart Farmer) webinars have 203 participants, with a focus on an education session and speaker-audience engagement. Topics include export procedures, online markets, export logistics and online payment.

https://nea.ditp.go.th/

• Thailand

• The poor
• Remote and rural communities
• Primary beneficiaries are SMEs and agricultural entrepreneurs, mainly in remote Northeastern provinces.

Currently, NEA is slated to use the YELG and Smart Farmer structure and webinar model to for its other seminars. Other seminars are completely offline. Using the webinar model, NEA aims to adapt them into hybrid online-offline classroom environments. For instance, a series of traditional offline seminars targeting medium and larger enterprises will soon be adapted into hybrid learning environments, allowing more participants and greater impact. This is possible due to the penetration of smartphones and smart devices within Thailand, relatively widespread cellular internet connectivity throughout Thailand and NEA’s deep reach within communities as government agencies. The popularity of social media channels, which are an important part of raising awareness and educating participants, also play an important role. The NEA believes the webinar model can be replicated in other sectors, regions and across other agencies as well, in particular for grassroots efforts. Thanks to the webinars’ online nature, they are relatively scaleable, accessible and low-cost. The model is content-agnostic, allowing it to be replicable across a range of diverse topics.

The YELG and Smart Farmer programs are supported by the Thailand government, popular among target groups and are essential in further developing other webinar programs within NEA. They are already scheduled to recur annually. As a result, the NEA believes the webinars have longevity. Firstly, the webinars’ objectives are in line with the primary goals of government ministries and agencies that fund NEA. For instance, one of the Ministry of Commerce’s stated missions is to develop and advance the economy at the grassroots level and agricultural exports. The International Trade Department is tasked with boosting international trade. Second, NEA’s seminars are widely attended, well-regarded and are popular amongst target groups. On average, 12,000 participants take part in NEA agriculture-focused seminars annually, from across the country. The seminars have broad support from its participants. Over 97% of participants of the Smart Farmer program (prior to Covid) expressed satisfaction with the overall structure of the seminars, with 100% expressing a desire to attend future seminars. The YELG and Smart Farmer webinars also offer insights and best practices for younger NEA programs, making them essential models for other NEA training activities in the future. As more seminars turn to the webinar model, the Smart Farmer and YELG webinars are likely to play an important role in developing NEA’s educational efforts even further.

Within our project, we offer webinars to educate agricultural SMEs at the grassroots level. Since they are amongst the most vulnerable during periods of economic stress, such as Covid-19 health crisis, and they are experiencing greater inequality, it is of crucial importance that they have access to education, which we believe is a path to empowerment, socio-economic equality, financial security and better social outcomes.