People in Cambodia Investing in rural
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©IFAD/Joanne Levitan
Investing in rural
people in Cambodia
Rural poverty in Cambodia
Although Cambodia is rich in natural resources, decades of war and
internal conflict during the last century have left it one of the world’s
poorest countries. The legacy of strife includes social and economic
scars. Millions of landmines were planted throughout the countryside,
where they remain still hidden and unexploded.
But the Cambodia of the twenty-first century is also significantly different from
the Cambodia of the past. For one thing, the vast majority of the population was
born after the Khmer Rouge period. The last 20 years have seen impressive changes
in the cities and countryside. Agriculture is a key element of Cambodia’s future
development, and the country is attracting investors.
Cambodia’s poor people number almost 4.8 million, and 80 per cent of them live
in rural areas. Most rural poor depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, but at
least 20 per cent of them are landless. Small-scale farmers practise agriculture at
the subsistence level, using traditional methods. Despite efforts by the Government
to increase productivity and develop public-private partnerships, achievements
remain low.
Rice is by far the predominant crop, covering over 80 per cent of the total cultivated
land. It represents approximately 68 per cent of daily caloric intake and accounts
for as much as 30 per cent of household expenditures. Rural people are constantly
looking for work or other income-generating activities, which are mainly temporary
and poorly paid, and migration to other countries is important.
Landlessness is one of the causes of a strong trend of internal migration. People
move from the more densely populated provinces in the south and west to the more
sparsely populated provinces in the north-east, which include some of the country’s
poorest districts.
The country’s poor people include subsistence farmers, members of poor fishing
communities, landless people and rural youth, as well as internally displaced persons
and mine victims. Tribal peoples and women are generally the most disadvantaged.
Women, in particular, do not have equal access to education, paid employment, and
land ownership and other property rights. For many women, reproductive health
services are inadequate or non-existent.
Poverty rates are highest in upland areas. The poorest people live in the districts close
to the borders and are isolated, living in remote villages far from basic social services
and facilities. Many have to travel more than 5 kilometres to reach a health clinic or
the nearest road. Poverty is less severe in the districts around Tonle Sap Lake and those
in the Mekong River basin in the south.
The pressures of a fast-growing population contribute to poverty. Because of a lack
of education and skills training, people have inadequate employment opportunities
and low capabilities. They are insecure, excluded and vulnerable, and have a limited
access to natural resources. Poor health, lack of education, poor infrastructure and low
productivity lead to deeper poverty. The cycle of poverty, ill health and high health care
expenditure cripples poor Cambodian families economically.
©IFAD/Joanne Levitan
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Programmes and projects: 7
Total cost: US$201.4 million
Total financing from IFAD:
US$99.2 million
Directly benefiting:
1,145,300 households
©IFAD/Joanne Levitan
Eradicating rural poverty in Cambodia
The Government’s Rectangular Strategy – Phase III for Growth, Employment, Equity
and Efficiency is the key objective of the Fifth Legislature of the National Assembly
(2013-2018). Cambodia aims to reach the status of an upper middle-income country
by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050. To achieve this, the Government is
formulating the Cambodia Vision 2030 and the National Industrial Development
Policy that will guide the country’s transformation in terms of quantitative and
qualitative aspects to narrow down the rural and urban disparity gap.
The Government’s priorities include:
• D eveloping human resources to ensure competitiveness in an increasingly open
regional labour market
• Continuing investment in transport infrastructure and improving trade facilitation
• Developing and increasing value-added agriculture
• Strengthening governance and capacity of public institutions to improve the
efficiency of public service delivery and investment climate.
IFAD’s strategy in Cambodia
Since 1996, IFAD has invested US$99.2 million in seven projects in Cambodia, Programmes and projects: 7
which have mobilized overall investments for a total of US$201.4 million, benefiting Total cost: US$201.4 million
1,145,300 households. IFAD loans support rural and agricultural development and Total financing from IFAD:
US$99.2 million
improvement of the livestock subsector. Reducing rural poverty by improving rural
Directly benefiting: 1,145,300 households
livelihoods is the objective of IFAD’s efforts to empower Cambodia’s poor people to
raise their incomes and standards of living.
The IFAD country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP), which covers the
period from 2013 to 2018, supports the Government’s poverty reduction initiatives.
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Through the COSOP, IFAD strives to be a lead agency in piloting innovation and
demonstrating techniques and methodologies to support the livelihoods of the
rural poor.
The IFAD country programme has three strategic objectives:
• E nable poor smallholders to take advantage of market opportunities
• Increase resilience to climate change and other shocks in poor rural households
and communities
• Improve poor households’ access to strengthened rural services.
The current COSOP represents a change of emphasis from IFAD’s previous work in
Cambodia. It advocates making transitions:
• F rom emphasizing a livelihoods approach to a clearer focus on expanding poor
farmers’ access to market opportunities
• From promoting decentralization of public services to a broader concept of
pro-poor rural service delivery that targets not only government agencies but also
civil society and the private sector
• Towards a more explicit focus on the resilience of poor rural households.
To ensure that the focus on resilience explicitly factors in climate change, IFAD’s
Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) has allocated a
US$15 million grant for risk management and resilience-building activities.
IFAD-funded activities in Cambodia target the provinces with the highest rates of
poverty and, within those provinces, the poorest people and communities.
The poorest groups include:
• P oor rural households with access to only small areas of land and no other
productive assets who are likely to be food insecure and in debt, with little if any
access to off-farm employment opportunities
• Landless rural people who are willing to learn skills for livestock raising, off-farm
income-generating activities or wage employment
• Women and households headed by women with a large number of dependents
• Other poor rural households such as those in indigenous ethnic
minority communities.
The participatory approach towards community development is at the core of
IFAD-financed initiatives in the country. It builds the capacity of grass-roots
institutions and fosters direct ownership of investment programmes by the people
who benefit from them.
IFAD works in partnership with the Government and with multilateral and bilateral
agencies and international NGOs in Cambodia. In agreement with the Government,
future assistance will target areas where poverty rates are high and where there are
opportunities to improve agricultural productivity and develop strategic partnerships
with other agencies. In this perspective, future support will be directed at areas where
no major externally financed development programmes are ongoing. Potential target
areas include the country’s more remote border provinces.
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Ongoing operations
Project for Agricultural Development and Economic
Empowerment (PADEE)
This project, approved through a loan and Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF) Total cost: US$43.2 million
grant, is improving the livelihoods of poor rural people in the target communes in Approved IFAD loan: US$17.5 million
Kampot, Kandal, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Takeo provinces. Approved DSF grant: US$17.5 million
Cofinancing: Food and Agricultural
The development objective of the project is to diversify the sources of income of
Organization of the United Nations
rural households living in poverty in the selected provinces. In particular, the (US$0.3 million); International
project improves: Development Enterprises (US$0.4 million);
Netherlands Development Organisation/
• a gricultural productivity SNV (US$0.7 million)
• access to financial services, technology and markets. Duration: 2012-2018
Directly benefiting: 90,000 households
In addition, the project is creating other rural business development opportunities in
the target areas.
Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development
Project (TSSD)
The project is improving the livelihoods of poor rural households in four provinces of Total cost: US$55.3 million
the Tonle Sap basin by: Approved IFAD loan: US$6.7 million
• increasing agricultural productivity Approved DSF grant: US$6.7 million
• improving rice yields and access to markets Cofinancing: Asian Development Bank
(US$30.7 million); Finnish International
• expanding capacity and access to rural financial services so that target groups in the Development Agency (US$5.7 million)
project area can obtain formal credit services Duration: 2010-2017
• diversifying income-generating activities to reduce small farmers’ dependency on Directly benefiting: 630,000 households
one crop
• creating on- and off-farm opportunities
• improving rural infrastructure such as maintaining and repairing up to
2,500 hectares of irrigation and drainage and introducing better storage facilities
and rice dryers
• piloting rural information communication technology for access to technology
and markets.
Through commune block grants and project services, farmers are able to invest
in technology and other supplies to intensify and diversify their on- and
off-farm incomes.
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In addition to reducing poverty, other benefits include:
• m ore effective governance at provincial, district, commune and village levels
• empowerment of farmers’ organizations and local communities
• increased awareness of gender issues among those involved.
Rural Livelihoods Improvement Project in Kratie, Preah Vihear
and Ratanakiri (RULIP)
This rural development project works to improve the livelihoods of poor people in Total cost: US$13.7 million
84 communes in three provinces by helping them to: Approved DSF grant: US$9.5 million
Cofinancing: United Nations Development
• g ain access to agricultural technology
Programme (US$1.2 million)
• diversify their on-farm income opportunities
Duration: 2007-2014
• form linkages with markets led by the private sector
Directly benefiting: 22,600 households
• build the capacity of commune councils and village-based organizations.
The target group includes poor people who have little land, people who are landless,
indigenous peoples and ethnic groups, and households headed by women, particularly
those with young children and/or many dependents.
The project specifically targets poorer villages where there is a potential for increased
income generation and better natural resource management, and communities
composed of ethnic minorities. Commune councils help identify the poorest villages,
and local extension workers and village elders assist in targeting the poorest groups
within the community.
Poor people participate directly in planning and implementing project activities
to ensure that they reflect local priorities and aspirations for social and economic
development. Activities include a focus on:
• c apacity-building
• skills training
• technology transfer
• improving food security, agricultural productivity and natural resource management
• income generation through on- and off-farm activities
• developing market-oriented production.
The project is also enhancing the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries to formulate pro-poor policies and poverty reduction programmes.
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©IFAD/Joanne Levitan
Completed operations
Rural Poverty Reduction Project in Prey Agricultural Development Support Project
Veng and Svay Rieng to Seila
Total cost: US$19.6 million Total cost: US$11.5 million
Approved IFAD loan: US$15.5 million Approved IFAD loan: US$8.6 million
Cofinancing: World Food Programme (WFP) (US$2.4 million) Cofinancing: AusAID (US$1.8 million)
Duration: 2004-2011 Duration: 2000-2006
Directly benefiting: 120,600 households Directly benefiting: 64,500 households
Community-Based Rural Development Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project
Project in Kampong Thom and Kampot Total cost: US$35.1 million
Total cost: US$22.9 million Approved IFAD loan: US$4.7 million
Approved IFAD loan: US$10.0 million Cofinancing: World Bank: IDA (US$27.0 million)
Cofinancing: Australian Agency for International Development Duration: 1997-2005
(AusAID) (US$0.6 million); Germany (US$7.9 million); Directly benefiting: 168,000 households
WFP (US$1.3 million)
Duration: 2001-2009
Directly benefiting: 49,600 households
7IFAD in Asia and the Pacific Building a
IFAD’s investments in Asia and the Pacific comprise its largest regional poverty-free
portfolio. As of the end of 2013, IFAD was providing more than world
US$1.765 billion in financing for 60 ongoing programmes and projects in
IFAD invests in rural people,
18 of the region’s 30 countries. IFAD also provides regional and country-
empowering them to reduce
specific grants across the region. With cofinancing by development partners
poverty, increase food security,
and funds from governments and other domestic sources, all of these
improve nutrition and strengthen
operations represent a total investment of more than US$3 billion.
resilience. Since 1978, we have
Ongoing initiatives supported by IFAD in the region focus on:
provided over US$16 billion in
• Connecting rural producers to markets and creating jobs grants and low-interest loans to
• Invigorating and transforming rural communities projects that have reached more
than 430 million people. IFAD is
• Strengthening the capacities of women and young people
an international financial
• E
xpanding the use of climate-smart technologies and sustainable
institution and a specialized United
resource management practices
Nations agency based in Rome –
• Partnering with the private sector to drive rural growth. the UN’s food and agriculture hub.
More than half of resources allocated to grant-funded programmes in
Asia and the Pacific support research on innovative technologies, while
about a third support training and capacity-building in rural communities.
Other grant-funded activities involve advocacy, policy dialogue and
knowledge sharing.
Contacts:
Benoit Thierry
Country Programme Manager
IFAD
Via Paolo di Dono, 44
00142 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06 54592234
Fax: + 39 06 54593234
E-mail: b.thierry@ifad.org
Mr Meng Sakphouseth
Country Presence Officer
Ministry of Agriculture
Forestry and Fisheries
#200, Preah Norodom Blvd.
855 Phom Penh, Cambodia
Mobile: +855 129 28093
E-mail: m.sakphouseth@ifad.org
For further information on rural poverty in
Cambodia, visit the Rural Poverty Portal
http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org
International Fund for Agricultural Development
Via Paolo di Dono, 44 - 00142 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06 54591 - Fax: +39 06 5043463
E-mail: ifad@ifad.org
www.ifad.org
www.ruralpovertyportal.org
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