The Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development project will respond to the need for increased productivity of integrated farming systems and improved livelihoods of the resource poor households.

Despite the fact that Cambodia has achieved continued and significant growth since 2001, however, agricultural growth and more specifically growth in the agricultural sector has fluctuated. Communes with a surplus of paddy still have large pockets of people suffering from hunger. This is mainly due to low incomes, high energy prices, crops sold at low prices to repay debts and limited access to credit.

This project will improve the livelihoods of poor rural households in four provinces of the Tonle Sap basin by:

• increasing agricultural productivity
• improving rice yields
• improving access to markets
• improving capacity and access to rural financial services so that target groups in the project area will be able to access formal credit services
• diversifying income-generating activities to reduce small-farmers’ dependency on one crop
• creating on- and off-farm opportunities
• improving rural infrastructure such as maintaining/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 will be able to invest in technology and other supplies to intensify and diversify their on-farm and off-farm incomes.

In addition to reducing poverty, other expected benefits include:

• more effective governance at provincial, district, commune and village levels
• empowerment of farmers’ organizations and local communities
• increased awareness among those involved about gender issues.

Source: IFAD