- ADB and IFAD, in partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia, established the #TSSD-AF project to support smallholder farmers by improving their rice crop yield and building their future resilience.
- The #TSSD-AF project addresses Cambodia's issues of low productivity, the pervasive use of low-quality rice seed, weak value chains, and the rice sector’s vulnerability to climate change.
- The #TSSD-AF project supports two agricultural stations in Siem Reap and Kampong Thom provinces of Cambodia to produce high-quality, registered rice seed through the use of foundation seed.
Cambodia – This small Southeast Asian country produces some of the region’s best fragrant rice and is on the cusp of dramatically increasing its output to the world market.
However, challenges remain, and poverty still impacts Cambodia’s rural population.
In response, ADB and IFAD, in partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia, established the Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development Project and its Additional Financing (TSSD-AF) to improve access to quality rice seed.
The project, implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in close collaboration with the National Committee for Subnational Democratic Development Secretariat, supports 270 communes in the Tonle Sap basin.
The project addresses issues of low productivity, the pervasive use of low-quality rice seed, weak value chains, and the rice sector’s vulnerability to climate change.
The project increases household income through agricultural diversification and by sharing information through on-farm demonstrations and technical training.
The project supports two agricultural stations to produce high-quality, registered rice seed through the use of foundation seed.
The result has seen a dramatic increase in the production and use of quality certified rice seed.
Market Improvement Groups (MIGs) that use quality rice seed have helped farming communities access new markets.
The TSSD-AF project is supporting smallholder farmers by improving their rice crop yield and building their future resilience.
Transcript
Jyotsana Varma, Country Director, Cambodia Resident Mission, ADB:
What this project does is to help farmers put them in touch with the research institutes that produce high-quality, climate-resistant seeds, with high productivity and they are able to grow them in their farms here and sell them to farmers in the regions so there is a productivity cascade if you will.
Frew Behabtu, Country Director – Cambodia, Asia and the Pacific Division, IFAD:
Climate change is having a major impact on small-scale farmers’ economic activities, and this will get worse without initiatives like business-based, climate change adaptive production techniques encouraged by this project. Farmers are already reporting higher productivity and diversification as a result of these techniques.’
Men Ra, MIG Trainer, Kampong Thom:
I do trainings for the Market Improvement Groups, such as field demonstrations, proper use of fertilizers, and soil preparation. Because the weather is changing, we also need to use resilient varieties of rice seeds that require less water because some areas do not receive enough rain. Economic analysis shows that it is profitable. The first advantage is that we use fewer seeds and less water because there is more space between the rice plants, and we can easily weed our fields. This also reduces the demand for labor.
Ros Limhy, Agriculture Extension and Marketing Specialist, MAFF:
Our Tonle Sap project supports and strengthens rice seed production to distribute good-quality seeds to our farmers in target provinces and across the country. This initiative has supported two agricultural stations. They are Balang Agricultural Station in Kampong Thom and Teuk Veul Station in Siem Reap. Furthermore, we have offered technical training to 37 seed producer groups within the target area.
Preung Potin, MIG Member/Farmer, Kampong Thom:
The MIG assists us in negotiating contracts with large dealers to purchase rice from all the farmers here at a higher price. We’re able to charge a higher price because we’re not selling to a middleman or trader.
