Social Return on Investment of Chiang Mai’s Urban Pesticide-free Vegetable Production System Development Project

The Center for Agricultural Resource Systems Research at the Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University initiated a project for producing pesticide-free vegetable in the urban agro-ecosystem of Chiang Mai, aiming to serve as a model for promoting pesticide-free vegetable production in urban areas, aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). The project funded by the Program Management Unit on Area Based Development (PMU A) for a one-year duration starting from May 2021 and ended in April 2022. This study investigates the Social Return on Investment (SROI) of the project. The analysis aims to elucidates the project’s multifaceted outcomes and offer valuable insights for policymakers to encourage investments in safe vegetable production within urban domains. The SROI evaluation demonstrated the project’s success in achieving economic, social, and environmental objectives, particularly in establishing a sustainable source of safe food through a community of pesticide-free vegetable producers in urban areas. This initiative fostered community interaction, economic development, and improved health through pesticide-free vegetable consumption, showcasing a potential model for green urban communities. Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project yielded significant benefits over ten years period, with a net present value of $66,831 and an SROI of 2.99, indicating that every $1 invested generated a social return of $2.99 – a favorable rate for agricultural projects. The project’s success underscores the importance of continued support from the Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, or relevant research funding agencies to sustain such impactful endeavors.