News in Brief:
– IFAD and Cambodia are collaborating to boost small-scale agriculture, focusing on inclusive growth and resilience amidst pandemic challenges.
– Investments target infrastructure, value chain development, and market access, empowering rural communities and aligning with Cambodia’s post-COVID recovery efforts.
An ongoing collaboration between the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Cambodia is set to bolster small-scale agriculture and uplift local farmers. Led by Donal Brown, Associate Vice-President of IFAD’s Programme Management Department, the delegation recently engaged with key officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Aun Pornmoniroth, to strategise investments aimed at fostering inclusive and sustainable agricultural growth in rural areas.
Despite notable strides in poverty reduction over the past decades, Cambodia faces a resurgence of poverty, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly vulnerable are rural families, especially small-scale farmers, constituting three-fourths of the nation’s 6.8 million farmers. These farmers encounter challenges in meeting the scale and quality standards demanded by both export and domestic markets, often resorting to non-farm wage labor to supplement their incomes.
Brown emphasised IFAD’s commitment to empowering Cambodia’s small-scale farmers, recognising their resilience as pivotal to economic growth. IFAD prioritises investments in infrastructure, value chain development, irrigation, market access, and financial inclusion to provide essential support to these farmers.
Programmatic approach and on-ground impact
IFAD adopts a programmatic approach in Cambodia, facilitating an overarching vision of change implemented by various stakeholders, including governmental bodies and local communities. Visits to project sites in Takeo and Kampot provinces showcased initiatives such as vegetable producer groups and poultry farming, alongside innovative techniques like net-houses and open field irrigation to enhance productivity. Notable examples include completed rural road sub-projects, enhancing market connectivity.
Meetings with government officials and project partners underscored the importance of collaboration in addressing Cambodia’s agricultural challenges. IFAD’s longstanding partnership with Cambodia, dating back to the late 1990s, aligns with the government’s post-COVID recovery efforts and Agriculture Development Policy, emphasising support for small-scale farmers and value chain enhancement.
Since 1996, IFAD has invested over US$1 billion in Cambodia, benefiting more than 1.56 million households. These investments have been instrumental in catalysing rural development and fostering resilience amidst evolving socio-economic landscapes.
