First ravaged by the Indo-China War and then by the war of “comrades and brothers”, it is hardly surprising that, out of 174 countries, Cambodia ranks 137th on the Human Development Index and that its gross national product per capita is the world’s 22nd lowest. The war resulted in some 360 000 refugees and 1 800 000 landless and internally displaced persons. Even now, there is the risk that even more lives and limbs will be lost to land mines – there are still approximately 4-6 million land mines in Cambodia, or about one for every person in the rural areas.

But land mines are not the only difficulty that rural people face: only 30% of them have access to safe drinking water, 19% to adequate sanitation and 50% to health services. About 4 million people, or almost 40% of the population, live below the poverty threshold. While these harsh conditions may seem to be the natural result of such a brutal past, they are not just accepted passively – not by IFAD or its partners, and most certainly not by the country’s men and women. In six of Cambodia’s most disadvantaged provinces, IFAD is supporting two government projects that aim at improving the lives of tens of thousands of rural poor families that scrape by on less than USD 112 a year.

The Agricultural Development Support Project to Seila and the Community-Based Rural Development Project in Kampong Thom and Kampot (CBRDP) seek to bring roads and water to the rural poor and to improve the ability of families to access healthcare and send their children to school. Since women face more hardships than men do, and play a key role in ensuring the well-being of their families, both projects place particular importance on empowering women and on improving their ability both to produce food and to earn an income.

Through the Seila project and CBRDP, IFAD aims to use a community-based approach to help rural poor people to improve their quality of their lives. Major project activities are designed to promote the sustainable use of improved agricultural and livestock technologies and the establishment of rural savings and loan facilities.

Project areas at a glance

Agricultural Development Support Project to Seila

Area – The project area comprises the four Provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat and Siem Reap.

Description – The project area may be seen as a “bowl” that is open to the southeast with Tonle Sap Lake in the centre (bottom). It is bordered by flat lowlands, hills interspersed with broad flat valleys and forested hills reaching back to the Thai border in the north and west and to neighbouring provinces in the south and east. There are three seasons: a cool dry season from November to January; a hot dry season from February to April; and a wet season from May to October.

Population – 2.5 million (83% rural)

Agriculture – Most of the cultivated land in the project area is made up of hydromorphic soils suitable for rice production. Rice is by far the most important crop. Nearly all families have pigs or poultry that scavenge for food, and 80-85% of them own one or more draught animals. In the dry season, farmers may fish, harvest sugar palm, collect forest produce or seek other employment. In the wet season, those with little land may seek employment on larger holdings. Other crops include mung bean and sweet potato. The rivers, streams and rice paddies are fished and constitute the main sources of protein for most of the population. Permanently inundated, the Tonle Sap Lake is a highly productive fisheries resource covering about 2 700 km.

Problems in agriculture – Existing irrigated perimeters comprise about 50 000 ha but only a small part of the area is really productive. Inadequate land levelling, bunding and drainage and poor crop husbandry mean that farmers do not make best use of the generally adequate rainfall. Farmers have little access to land, draught animals and other productive resources and there is a shortage of improved technology, extension services and capital to invest in better technology.

Extra challenge – Minefields cover 2.6% of the project area, thereby hampering agricultural development.

Project areas at a glance

Community-Based Rural Development Project in Kampong Thom and Kampot

Area – The project area comprises the two Provinces of Kampong Thom and Kampot.

Description – The project area consists of flat alluvial lands, lowlands, old river courses, alluvial valleys and flood plains with hilly-to-mountainous terrain on the western and northeastern boundaries in Kampot and Kampong Thom, respectively. The humid southwest monsoon brings rainfall from June to October, while the dry northeast monsoon brings dry and slightly cooler conditions from November to April.

Population – 1.10 million; 91% are rural.

Agriculture – The main crop is rainfed rice paddy; crops other than paddy account for less than 10% of the cultivated area. These include pepper, cashew, mango, coconut, sugar palm and vegetables. Also well suited to the area are mung beans, soybeans, sesame, sweet potato and several other short-term crops. Many families keep livestock.

Problems in agriculture – In September, there is often a period of lower or, indeed, no rainfall, which has an adverse effect on rice production — particularly on the lighter soils. Rural poor households have insufficient access to land and draught animals and, in general, there is a shortage of labour for farming. There is an urgent need for training, access to improved production technology and capital for investment.

Extra challenge – The poor also lack access to support services, safe drinking water, social services and title to the land they farm. It may be appropriate to rehabilitate the Malek (1 000 ha) and Boeng Nimol (350 ha) schemes. As land values increase with the expectation of irrigation, there is a risk that some beneficiaries may lose access to their land because they lack title to it.

Project profiles

Agricultural Development Support Project to Seila

Seila, a Cambodian word, evokes the image of a foundation stone that represents the solidity of both the Government’s decentralization programme and the Seila project itself. Following its launching of the programme in 1996, the Government has been involved in helping the rural poor to bring about solid, lasting improvements to their lives. IFAD began financing the Agricultural Development Support Project to Seila in 2000.

“I believe that beneficiaries are quite satisfied with what we are doing …. We are concerned about the sustainability of the project. We concern ourselves with real participation, not only in implementation but also in the monitoring and impact processes. This sort of participation would be very useful for those of us who work with communities to get the feedback to redesign the existing and design the coming agricultural project …. So we are trying on-the-job training to learn how to work together, to involve all the actors in the same design and implementation processes, and to ensure transparency and accountability ….”

Mr Moni Darabat Ung
Deputy National Project Coordinator, Seila Project

Total project cost: USD 11.55 million

IFAD funding: USD 8.60 million on highly concessional terms over a period
of 40 years

Cofinanciers: United Nations Development Programme and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)

Target group: 64 500 poor families in the Provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat and Siem Reap

Activities:

- Technology and productive resources to enable poor people to benefit from social and economic development

- Demonstrations and extension services to improve agricultural production and technology use

- Empowerment of local communities and beneficiaries to promote efficient and sustainable resource management

- Rural savings and credit services to improve access to financial services and diversify incomes

- Technical and management training to strengthen local institutions’ delivery of services to local people

Innovative features: Planning, development and implementation decentralized to the village, commune, district and province levels; regular participatory planning, monitoring and beneficiary-impact assessment, with “lessons learned” fed back to provincial and national policy-makers.

Project profiles

Community-Based Rural Development Project in Kampong Thom and Kampot

This project was designed on the basis of two projects supported by the Government of Germany through the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) that started up in 1995. The GTZ projects are now part of CBRDP.

In two of Cambodia’s provinces that are most vulnerable to food insecurity, the CBRDP project has set out — together with the beneficiaries — to establish sustainable sources of food and income in rural poor communities, using a particularly gender-sensitive approach.

Total project cost: USD 22.85 million

IFAD funding: USD 10 million on highly concessional terms, over a period of 40 years

Cofinanciers: Government of Germany through GTZ and the German Development Service, World Food Programme and AusAID

Target group: 77 400 poor families in the Provinces of Kampong Thom and
Kampot

Activities:

- Social mobilization and participatory development to improve poor people’s use of resources and access to services

- Farmer-based extension and demonstration programme to transfer better agriculture technologies

- Rehabilitation of small and medium irrigation and water-control schemes to improve water availability for crops

- Road communications and safe drinking water to improve the health, productivity and marketing opportunities of the local population

- Institutional support to local service providers to improve their services to local people

Innovative features: Promotion of gender awareness among communities; strengthening of grass-roots organizations and project staff; promotion of agreements within families to ensure women’s participation; participatory development and farmer training as extension workers; sustainable arrangements to enable the beneficiaries to assume full responsibility for the operation and maintenance of infrastructure investments.

Cambodians describe project activities

Agricultural technology

“CAR 5” rice for better food security and income
One of the main objectives of CBRDP and the Seila project is to improve the food and income security of Cambodia’s rural poor households and to help them adopt more productive and sustainable agricultural practices and technologies. Since rice is the main staple in Cambodia, both projects provide for: training, demonstrations, appropriate technology, labour and access to funds to encourage poor families to adopt better rice-production methods. Iech Thea, a Seila agricultural staff advisor in Pursat Province, has seen that people pick up new technologies in response to project activities, explaining: “After the demonstration results, we discovered that CAR 5 [rice] gives a higher yield compared with other varieties and that people prefer to plant this variety … according to the high test yields and the price on the market ….”

“I conducted a demonstration and CBRDP provided me with four separate rice varieties to compare …. I chose the CAR 5 variety because its stem is solid, it gives a high yield, the weight of the grain is good and the price on the market is high compared with the traditional variety. Right now, I produce rice for my family’s consumption only …. I hope to increase the yield year-by-year.”

Mrs Phlong Wam, 50 years old
Sia commune, Sia Kandall village

“There was a contract under which CBRDP would provide the basic seed, technical support and some fertilizer, and that the farmers would sell back part of their harvest to the organizations so that they could spread the seeds to other villages …. The normal variety we were using before … gave a harvest of 2-2.5 tons per hectare but with these new seeds we can reach as much as 5-5.5 tons …. I am very grateful to the organization for providing this support. It will improve the condition of our lives.”

Mr Sun Sarun, 44 years old
Leader of the seed producers’ association in Boeng village, Boeng Nimol commune

“I heard about these seeds with a higher yield so I decided to try them myself as an experiment to see if it was true or not. I tried them on part of my field, on 0.22 of my almost 2 ha …. The result is very positive …. Next year, I plan to increase the area of this new rice up to half of my land because the production is high and I also got a good price when I sold the seed.”

Mrs Kan Puey, 43 years old

Livestock technology

Most rural Cambodians own animals, raising them for food, income or draught purposes. The IFAD-supported Seila project and CBRDP seek to help poor families engage in livestock production activities and investments that give better and more sustainable results. Through beneficiary involvement, these initiatives aim at ensuring that the diffusion of improved livestock technologies is more thorough and lasting. For example, training and support is offered to hundreds of people from rural poor communities so that they can become village livestock assistants who can apply the basic veterinary and animal production skills they have learned and teach more effective livestock practices to others.

“My main job is to train farmers in technologies for raising animals, especially chickens and pigs. Some 1 100 families have undergone training through the CBRDP. I’ve covered four communities in this district, and within each commune there are four activities — pig demonstrations; field-day demonstration; sessions chicken- and pig-raising sessions for women; and a vaccination campaign … I’m very happy because after the training, when I do the follow-up, I have seen that people really adopt the new technology. So it is very satisfying.”

Ms Sen Sokdaly
CBRDP staff, animal production

“Only my husband attended the training provided by the CBRDP, but he has taught me about feeding and vaccinations. My future plans are to increase the number of chickens and pigs and to increase production so as to improve the quality of my family’s life.”

Mrs Phan Pu Theary, 41 years old

“Before the CBRDP, I had five hens. After I received trained and learned with the project, I had 98 chickens. I’ve sold 28 chickens and I have 15 hens for egg production. My total income from chicken sales is 168 000 Riels (USD 42) …. I’ve used the money for school fees for my children, clothes, additional food and supplementary feed for the chickens.”

Mr Vy Cham Lang, 43 years old

“I didn’t start off as a farmer. I learned to be a farmer but it was quite difficult. I took the opportunity with the CBRDP to learn new pig- and chicken-raising technologies. I am a native of this area, this village, but during the 1970s I moved to the border camp until 1992 when I came back …. When I heard from the television and the newspapers that we have peace treaties, I was very happy to return to my native village …. I was helped by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The repatriation process went very well …. Since then, I’ve received two kinds of inputs from CBRDP: cement, food and vaccines; and, the most important thing, training.”

Mr Sem Moeun, 40 years old
Chief, Rung village

“I wanted to raise fish to improve our family income because we didn’t have enough money. First, my husband and I dug a pond and we received some food-for-work for that. Then we put water into the pond and started to raise fish. I got in touch with CBRDP to get some fingerlings. I received a donation of 250 and I bought another 250, so I put 500 fingerlings into the pond …. I’m hoping to eat some and to sell some on the district market. As for us, we don’t have many problems. I am very happy with this fish pond.”

Mrs Hut Kontear, 22 years old

Cambodians describe project activities

Rural savings and loans

A two-baskets-of-paddy loan at half-a-basket interest

The Seila project and CBRDP aim to put the rural poor in a position whereby they are sure that any improvements in their food and income security will last even after the IFAD-supported projects have ended. One means for rural poor communities to secure sustainable self-reliance is a rural bank that is formed by the community and serves the community. The projects give the communities the boost they need to get their banks started.

In Roka Tmey village, Nget Riem is the president of the village development committee and the cashier of the rice bank. He recalls that when the community bank was formed, “The initial capital was given by a GTZ-supported project. Then, everyone who wanted to be a member could be a member …. Around 90% of the families became members of the rice bank. There was a village assembly to create the rice bank and a committee was elected. The villagers created warranty groups of about five families each – the families guarantee each other so it is easier for the loan and for the repayment.”

“Until now, at the village assembly we’ve agreed that if you borrow two baskets you have to repay them with interest of half a basket of paddy. The loan is also set out in a contract, one contract per group of five families. They put their fingerprints on the contract to approve the amount they have borrowed, the amount they agree to repay and the deadline. The rice bank was established three years ago and, up until now, everyone has repaid the full amount ….”

“The interest is used to increase capital and to pay the committee that organizes all this work. There are two other purposes. One is to have a social welfare fund – for very poor families or if a poor family needs a funeral, there is a donation from the interest of one, two or three baskets. Another purpose is to use it to pay the people in charge of repairs, the maintenance of the road. They receive a monthly salary, which is paid from the interest in rice.”

Nget Riem
Cashier of the rice bank
President of the village development committee
Roka Tmey village

Cambodians describe project activities

Water and roads

Water and roads are two key areas where the IFAD-supported projects help rural poor communities to improve both their infrastructure and their access to services and resources. Financing is provided for the construction of rural roads and water points. The projects also provide for people in rural poor areas to participate in development planning and to receive construction and maintenance training, education on resource management and help in organizing community groups such as production start-up groups and water users’ associations.

“[Many rural] people are cut off from central administration, with no infrastructure, no roads, no communications that link the rural zones to the city …. Rural roads provide access to schools, education, health centres, rural markets and even to towns, thereby narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor ….”

“Then you have water supply …only 26% of our rural people have access to safe drinking water … approximately 7 million Cambodian people do not have access to safe drinking water. Just outside Phnom Penh, our capital, you find people who use water from the pond, water from the river, water that’s not safe …. During the dry season, women walk long distances to get water …. Safe water will prevent people from getting sick … and from getting poor …. Because of unsafe water they get malaria, diarrhoea, dengue – all those diseases make people poor because they then have to pay for medical treatment and sell their property and so on.”

He Ly Thuch, Minister for Rural Development

“Our production start-up group has one water pump, which we bought in September through the Seila project. The group has appointed one person to manage the water pump, to assign times. The water pump use is 3 000 Riels (USD 0.75) per hour for water and 300 Riels (USD 0.07) for labour and maintenance and for group savings. The water pump is not enough for all the families, but it helps.”

Ms Meas Samoean, 40 years old
Production start-up group, 20 members (15 are women)

“I am doing a lot of coordination. Being a village chief is very difficult because you have to deal with multisectoral activities, with roadwork, with hygiene. You might look at the pedal pump here. I negotiated with the non-governmental organizations (a separate project) to have a water point here.”

Mr Sem Moeun
Chief, Rung village

“As I was encouraged by so many people, I accepted the nomination. I ran for election as committee representative for 4 000 villagers. One important thing is the road. We need the road to be improved. It will help in transportation for the village, for the people to go to the market and for the children to go to school …. After the road, we need a well. First the villagers have to collect local contributions – I hope the villagers will contribute – then we will make a request to the project.”

Ms Deng Sina, 19 years old
Committee Representative

Cambodians describe project activities

Health

In Cambodia, one out of every two children suffers from malnutrition. There is a 10.20% infant mortality rate, and up to 3.75% of all adults have HIV/AIDS – the highest rate in Asia. In rural areas, health problems are worsened by the fact that only half the inhabitants have access to healthcare.

“For children, the main problems are bronchitis and diarrhoea. For adults, the main problems are malaria in the remote areas. This district is well equipped to help those with malaria, so that’s why many people come here to be treated …. Approximately 75 people come per week …. In the dry season, a lot of people migrate to areas around the district town and they take the opportunity to come for a visit to the centre and ask for medicine and advice. In the rainy season they are based in their homes, far from this medical centre …. The road is not accessible and this is another reason why fewer people come than in the dry season ….”

“One of the centre’s problems is the size of the delivery room. Please take a look at the space – there are a lot of women giving birth and I am obliged to get them out after only one day. It’s too quick. There are still many categories of women who don’t believe in modern medicine. Those who do believe in it either come to this place, or they ask their friends or relatives to collect the nurse from the local health centre and bring her to their house because they know that here there is only limited space and only a one-day stay is possible.”

San Seng
Deputy Director of Health, Snam Preash Health Centre

“I am six months pregnant with our first child. I am planning to have this baby in the health centre. I have been once already for a check-up and I received some medicine. The staff told me to come once a month for a check-up, which I will do. The health centre has a health programme. I already know the price in advance. The consultation costs only 1 500 Riels (USD 0.38), including the medicines and treatment I need. I know that it is a fixed price, so I am not afraid to go there.”

Mrs Hut Kontear, 22 years old

Cambodians describe project activities

Education

Education in Cambodia is supported by GTZ alongside CBRDP.

“I’m doing my best to send all my children to school.” Like Mr Sem Moeun, virtually all Cambodians recognize the value of keeping their children in school. When school attendance is good it means not only better-educated Cambodians, but it also shows that schools are more accessible and that families aren’t struggling so hard that they are forced to trade-in their children’s education for additional help with family survival. Roughly half of all Cambodian children are under 15 years of age, and many of them – especially girls – must drop out of school early in order to help with household chores and farming. In extreme cases, girls are sold into prostitution.”

“At the school there are 693 pupils – 322 are girls – from 6 to 13 years old, 1st grade to 6th grade …. Most of the children live within 3 km of the school …. For the most part, children help their parents in agriculture when they leave. Nowadays, girls marry at 18 or 20 - a bit later than before.”

Ok Hay
Director, Snam Preash School

Cambodians describe project activities

Gender equity

Besides all the challenges that rural poor people have to contend with, women face extra difficulties. They tend to align their own interests with those of the family, doing housework in addition to the other work they do for the family’s food and income. Women comprise 52% of the labour force but normally work for lower wages than men. All the effort they put into supporting the family leaves women overburdened and unable to engage in activities – such as leadership or training – that would improve their capacity to produce and earn and, consequently, to support the family.

The Cambodian Government acknowledges the importance of women in the country’s development and is working to promote gender equity. Mr He Ly Thuch, Cambodia’s Minister for Rural Development, further explains why bettering the lives of poor families calls for helping poor women: “Here in Cambodia, during wartime, women suffered most. In peacetime women also suffer the most because they have to work to feed their family. After the war, many husbands had passed away – landmines, killed in the war – and the women came back as widows with children. All our families are victims of war so women become very important. Women are important to the country’s development as they head 43% of all households, and we know they face a lot of problems here in Cambodia.”

By supporting the CBRDP and government-initiated Seila project, IFAD strives to empower rural poor women, thereby improving families’ lives. The projects are designed to include women in production training, infrastructure maintenance and management and leadership, seeking to secure agreements between women and other family members that lighten women’s burdens so they can participate in project activities.

“People first means women first. Everywhere in our decentralized rural [governance] structures – called village development committees, or VDCs — you have 50%, 40% women. And those VDCs are key …. They are elected democratically and they represent the voice of the people in rural areas ….”

“Child trafficking, child prostitution, illegal sale of children – we need to empower women in Cambodia and we need more women in politics, more women in business, more women in civil society ….”

“I am optimistic …. We now understand more about gender issues, the roles of women and men in society. I think we are on the right track. And that means that … young and old and men and women are together building a peaceful and prosperous Cambodia.”

Mr He Ly Thuch
Minister for Rural Development