Participatory technology transfer in Cambodia improves rice productivity and incomes

In her presentation during the session “Good practices in agricultural technology transfer through participatory and community-based approaches”, Ms. Chantheang Tong, Senior Program Officer, Cambodian Centre for Study and Development of Agriculture (CEDAC), shared the CEDAC experience in promoting the system of rice intensification (SRI) in Cambodia. Approximately 70 per cent of the country’s population depends mainly on agriculture for a livelihood and 60 per cent are rice farmers. A major constraint to improving rice productivity is that 80 per cent of rice farms are rain-fed. Moreover, the average rice farming household has 1.2 ha of land, although 48 per cent of farm households own less than 1 ha. The average rice yield of 3.3 tons per hectare is less than the potential.

The SRI programme began in Cambodia in 2000 with 28 farmers and over 100,000 farmers have adopted SRI with CEDAC support since then. SRI has become a national programme, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture. Farms using SRI techniques have improved yield by 60 per cent, while reducing expenses on fertilizer and seeds.

Following successful dissemination of the SRI technology, CEDAC has been supporting farmers in marketing organic rice to earn higher incomes. About 2,000 organic rice producers have adopted SRI and more than 200 farmers have obtained organic and fair trade certification for international export.

CEDAC worked with innovative farmers in setting up a demonstration SRI farm and organized farmer visits there to learn about SRI. Intensive training in SRI techniques is being provided to farmers. The programme is flexible and allows farmers to choose the measures that they can implement. Follow-up visits and additional training is also provided. Successful farmers are selected to train other farmers.

The technology transfer process involves changing the mindset of farmers by demonstrating the benefits of simple and incremental changes in farming techniques such as planting, irrigating and weeding. Farmer-to-farmer training has been an effective method for technology transfer. However, technology alone is not enough and market linkages should be developed to bring more benefits to farmers.

Ms. Tong described the CEDAC Strategic Plan, which includes making farmers self-reliant and market-oriented. CEDAC is also strengthening networking between local leaders and rural entrepreneurs to promote learning and empower rural communities.

Reporter: Maame Ayegben, TID, UNESCAP

Cambodian farmers‘ federation shares experience in  technology transfer

In a presentation to the Policy Dialogue, Mr. Yap Thoeurn of the Cambodian Farmers Association Federation of Agricultural Producers (CFAP Cambodia) shared his organization’s experience with technology transfer for promoting sustainable agriculture development. CFAP Cambodia has 19 farmer cooperatives and associations from 5 of Cambodia’s 24 provinces as members. 

Lack of access to information, extension services, irrigation, capital and online connectivity are challenges facing CFAP member farmers. To address this, the organization conducted training workshops on soil improvement, water and pest management as well as farmer field schools (FFS), and organized farmer contests. The farmers were also taken on field visits, encouraged to share knowledge and provided face-to-face extension advice. Mr. Thoeurn also shared the lessons learned from the CFAP initiatives and listed targets to be achieved by the organization by 2017.

Reporter: Simone Kathrin Kriesemer, Consultant, SATNET Asia

Second SATNET intraregional visit concludes in Cambodia

Annadya presentation

On the fourth and final day of the SATNET intraregional visit for smallholder value chain actors in Cambodia, participants gathered in Phnom Penh for a half-day wrap up session to review the outcomes of the visit. Representatives from two other projects supported by the European Union as part of its ‘Technology Transfer for Food Security in Asia’ programme also utilized this opportunity to present about their work as well as share the results and learning. The first was the ‘Annadya’ project being implemented by Université Libre de Bruxelles, CEDAC, and other partners to promote appropriate technologies for smallholders to increase food security among ethnic minorities in Cambodia and Lao PDR. Of particular interest to the participants was the discussion on cricket farming as a means of increasing food security, which was complemented with a small demo of the equipment and process involved. The second project was the Food Technology Project of the French Red Cross that is enabling access to secure water, secure food and nutrition to communities in two provinces in Cambodia and Lao PDR. 

During the session, the participants provided feedback to the organizers on the visit. A number of them conveyed that they were inspired by the technologies and impactful work they had seen, particularly in relation to organic farming, mobilization of rural saving groups, and creation of producer cooperatives for profitable marketing of agricultural products. They reaffirmed their intension to utilize and disseminate the learning upon returning to their home countries, and thanked the organizers for providing them a valuable opportunity. 

Participants with their certificates

The visit concluded with distribution of certificates of participation to the group by the Executive Director of CEDAC.    

SATNET intraregional visit participants visit progressive farmers and marketing facilities

Meeting with organic vegetable
producer group

On the third day of the SATNET intraregional visit for smallholder value chain actors in Cambodia, the participants visited a progressive lady farmer in Kampong Chnang province who started organic farming in 2007 due to ill health resulting from exposure to chemical pesticides and fertilizers. During an in-depth interaction with the visitors, she shared what kind of practices she applies on her farm, and how she has successfully established an organic vegetable producers group (comprising mostly of women). By switching to organic farming, with the produce sold to CEDAC’s Agri-Product Shops, she has been able to increase her income significantly and has achieved better health. She also shared her learning on how organic farmers can maximize the yield on their farms by utilizing liquid fertilizer made from cow urine, having a planting schedule, and selecting high quality seeds.

At CEDAC's marketing outlet

The participants also visited a warehouse and Nature Agri-Product Shop of CEDAC in Phnom Penh which markets organic produce supplied by farmers. This shop which runs on a cooperative model provides a very useful marketing channel to the farmers and helps them realize prices for their produce which are 20 – 30% higher than the usual market rates. Over recent times, the demand for organic produce sold through these shops has outstripped supply, giving a boost to organic farming.       

Participants of the intraregional visit in Cambodia gain knowledge from organic farmers and farmer cooperative members

Visit to progressive farmer, Takeo province

The second day of the SATNET Intraregional Visit for Smallholder Value Chain Actors in Cambodia comprised of visits from Phnom Penh to various farmer locations in the neighbouring Takeo province. At the first site visited, a progressive farmer is implementing organic farming and sustainable practices with support from CEDAC. The group saw integrated and multipurpose farming techniques including System of Rice Intensification (SRI), fruit and vegetable cultivation, aquaculture (which also enriches nutrients in water for irrigation) and poultry rearing. A number of innovative ways to cope with irrigation water scarcity in times of climate change and practising safe pest control were demonstrated. 

Demo of innovative and safe method for pest control

The group then visited a woman farmer who has recently won an award for obtaining high yield of rice (7.3 tons per hectare) and profit from practising SRI. She shared tips from her own experience for maximizing the yield such as rotation between rice and vegetable crops, ideal time for transplanting saplings, effective water management, and use of compost made from cow dung. The visitors also saw demonstration plots showing a comparison between the performance of SRI and conventional rice cultivation techniques.  

Visiting a rice mill cooperative

Apart from the above, during the day, the visitors were exposed to farmer savings groups supported by CEDAC which are playing an important role in promoting financial self-reliance in rural areas. A number of such groups have established farmer cooperatives which are bringing tangible benefits to their members such as establishing warehouses and rice milling units in order to corner a greater share of profits, enabling greater bargaining power vis-a-vis buyers to help realize better prices, and generally allowing farmers greater control over the value chain. The visitors enjoyed the opportunity for interaction with such stakeholders to learn from their experience. 

Successful kick-off to SATNET field visit in Cambodia

The second SATNET Intraregional Visit for Smallholder Value Chain Actors got underway in Cambodia on Tuesday, 5^th August 2014 in collaboration with the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC). There are 19 participants representing farmer organizations, extension workers, grassroots NGOs and government departments from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia and Myanmar taking part in the visit which focuses on crop production technologies, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and post-harvest and marketing. 
   

CEDAC President sharing learnings
from Centre's work

The first day was devoted to a meeting in which the participants were welcomed by the President of CEDAC and provided an overview of the SATNET project as well as the objectives of the visit in the morning session. Subsequently, they took turns to brief each other about the work they do in their own countries to promote sustainable agricultural practices, their priorities and constraints, and expectations from this visit.

Opening day of the Cambodia visit

In the afternoon, CEDAC staff presented about some of the key programmes of the Center. Among the leading NGOs in Cambodia, CEDAC has supported 160,000 families (8% of total farm households in the country) from over 72,000 villages. The participants learnt about the Centre’s initiatives in the areas of System of Rice Intensification (SRI), organization of organic rice and vegetable producers, establishment of self-reliant saving groups, and linking of farmers to markets which have given them greater ownership and control over the entire value chain. This discussion was very interactive with the participants asking for more information and sharing their own perspectives. Over the next couple of days, the participants will also see many of these programmes in action in farmer fields as part of the site visits.

The day ended with all participants joining for a pleasant river boat ride and city tour in Phnom Penh!