Release number IFAD/28/07

Rome 28 May 2008– A new US$11.5 million development project in Cambodia will work with 22,600 rural households in the border provinces of Kratie, Preah Vihear and Ratanakiri to improve agricultural and land management practices.

Decades of war and internal strife have made Cambodia one of the world’s poorer countries. Cambodia’s gross national income was US$380 per capita in 2005. The three provinces that the project is targeting are among the poorest in the country. Many of the households have little or no land, and few livestock or other assets.

“This is the first project financed by IFAD that targets the poor, ethnic population living in remote areas of the country,” said Youqiong Wang, IFAD’s country programme manager for Cambodia. “The project will not only boost incomes, it will also lay foundations for sustainable social and economic development in the future.”

The Rural Livelihoods Improvement Project will be financed partly by a grant of US$9.5 million from IFAD. The grant agreement was signed today by Keat Chhon, Senior Minister at the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and Lennart Båge, President of IFAD.

The project will also receive funding from the Government of Cambodia and the United Nations Development Programme.

Special attention will be given to indigenous and ethnic minority households, and households headed by women. Women-headed households with young children are often the poorest in the villages. Since women play a major role in the social and economic life of rural communities, entire households benefit when women’s economic position becomes more secure.

Project activities will be geared towards the specific needs of each community. In Kratie, for instance, there is a major need to organize water-user groups to improve irrigation. The project will also look at introducing new crop varieties in the province, as well as improving on-farm water management and cultivation practices.

With this project, IFAD will have financed five projects in Cambodia for a total commitment of US$48.3 million.

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IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD develops and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 195 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, worth a total of US$6.7 billion. IFAD has invested US$3.1 billion, with cofinancing provided by partners including governments, project participants, multilateral and bilateral donors. These initiatives will help about 86 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.6 billion in 738 programmes and projects that have reached more than 307 million poor rural women and men. Governments and other financing sources in recipient countries, including project participants, contributed US$9.1 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors provided another US$7.1 billion in cofinancing.