Cambodia

This report assesses the impact of
participation in farmer organizations (FOs) on food security
of rural households in Cambodia. The study is particularly
set out to following: (1) examine FOs’ roles and operation
and challenges for improving household’s food security; (2)
analyze household’s characteristics that determine
participation in FOs; (3) assess the impact of FOs on food
security and livelihood of the rural poor; and (4) provide
specific recommendations for changes in relevant legal acts
and regulatory frameworks associated with FOs. The study
concentrates on three types of FOs based on their
predominance in Cambodia. Farmer groups (FG) are informal
gatherings with 10-30 members. Farmer associations (FA) have
more than 30 members and can either be informal or formal if
registered at the Ministry of Interior. Agricultural
cooperatives (AC) are business oriented, registered at the
provincial department of agriculture (PDA) and comprise
generally more than 30 members. This report is structured as
follows: section one gives introduction. Section two reviews
international as well as Cambodia’s experiences in farmer
organizations to promote rural livelihoods and agricultural
development. Section three details the research methodology
employed in this impact assessment. Section four presents
the detailed empirical findings. Section five concludes the
report with a summary of the policy implications and recommendations.