– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Our lives,

our food,

our future.

They're all connected

and it all depends on

the health of the soil.

Oh, really good!

I am Rena Effendi

a National Geographic photographer.

I'm here in Thailand

to meet a multi-generational

rice and potato farmer,

persevering in the face

of escalating climate change.

Sawadee kha.

Learning about her past

and seeing how

she's protecting her livelihood.

You know, we say

what doesn't break you,

makes you stronger.

I think that's why

you're a very strong woman.

I was so moved by her resilience

and how hard she has worked

to give her children a better life.

I asked if she could

take me to the fields

so I could see the strength in action,

and even got a little bit

of a hands-on training.

Ah, I have to scoop it.

I need, I need practice

More, more time.

So what are some of the

new things you're doing

with the soil

to make sure the crops are so good?

Miss Wisa has learned

many new techniques that

have her working with the land

instead of against it.

She calls this integrated farming,

choosing crops that require less water,

rotating rice and potatoes

on the same field,

and tracking all aspects of her farm

to secure the strongest

yields year round.

So this is like the diary of the land.

So where did you get this new knowledge?

I met Ms. Wisa three years ago

at the community center.

She spoke and

we had like a chit chat.

At the time her farm had low yield.

She was very frustrated over the effects

of the climate change

and was seeking training.

GIZ, in partnership with PepsiCo,

has worked with Ms. Wisa

to adopt the whole farm approach.

She put a lot of effort

and learned a lot from the program.

Now when other farmers

have a problem,

they come to her and ask for advice.

They call her the Plant Doctor.

Dr. Wisa!

With that kind of referral

I was curious to see

how her learnings were

being implemented on her farm.

I always imagined the rice field

flooded with water.

How come this is different?

This is the Alternate Wetting

and Drying techniques.

Conventional farmer have the

perception that rice plants need

30 or 40 centimeters of water.

But, you see with this method,

rice plants need only five centimeters.

So less water is good for the climate

and it's also good for the farmer

because it's more economical.

That's it.

It's been inspiring to see how Ms. Wisa

and her community

have been finding success

with the Whole Farm Approach.

Your husband is working there, right?

You make him work hard?

Yes.

That's good.

Beautiful.

So you're not just the plant doctor,

you're the land doctor as well.

Miss Wisa has learned

how to thrive in the face

of climate change and generously

provided a role model

for her community

who's celebrating another

successful potato harvest.

Bravo! That's the way to do it.