CULTIVATING SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS IN CHIANG MAI

The Chiang Mai Mushroom House is part of the Wildflower Home in northern Thailand, a safe hostel for mothers and children in crisis situations. Each house is a farm in miniature, where mushrooms are cultivated, grown and harvested, and then sold in the local markets, providing a nutritious food source and a sustainable source of income for the Wildflower Home and its inhabitants.

Since 2017, AKP has funded and supported the construction of two mushroom houses with a total of 10,000 mushroom-spawn bags to grow mushrooms. The project improves the lives of the vulnerable women who seek refuge here by offering the opportunity to learn mushroom farming and business skills, all while living in a safe space.

“When my sister first invited me here, I didn’t know anything,” says Khun Naa, a resident of Wildflower Home. “But now that I am living here I’m happy. I have been taught how to be a strong woman and to take care of my children.”

Women at the Wildflower Home are given shelter and stability while being taught valuable lessons in craft, cooking, languages and business alongside mushroom farming. The goal is that women leave the home with the skills to manage their lives and the experience to run a business that can earn them a regular income.