SRP - Agriculture Policy

March 17, 2011

Introduction

Agriculture serves as the foundation to build on the well-being of our citizens, therefore it is critical
that the national government create and implement a Comprehensive Agriculture Strategy. Parts of
the problem lies in the misconception that farmers are “peasants” and have a low status in our
society. In developed countries farmers are well educated, use the latest technology including
computer real time for crop values, raise important export dollars for their country and are valued for
their contribution. In MONTH, 2010, the SRP conducted a series of public hearings across sixteen
provinces to determine the main issues facing our farmers. The Strategy that the SRP proposes will
address each of the following points:

Issues and solutions

(1) Land

Traditional farmers do not have enough land to cultivate their crops or are not economically viable
due to a number of factors including:
 Increase in landlessness due to a) increases in family size ; being forced to sell land to pay for
medical bills or other basic necessities; land grabbing by large domestic and foreign
companies with undue access to decision makers
 No relationship with the land i.e. bad farming practices i.e. over cultivation or poor use of
fertilisers can destroy the environment and reduce fertility of the soil. This is partly due to the
fact that if a farmer is reluctant to develop a long term connection with the land due to fear
that the land will be forcibly taken from him. There is no incentive for him to develop the
land with a positive long term vision.
Solutions:
 Audit all farms over 100 hectares and land concessions given to the companies to ensure that
they abide by Cambodian law and actually doing farming on the land. If not, the land should
be confiscated and returned to the State where it can then be distributed to villagers and
landless farmers.
 All contracts currently under negotiation with large-scale farming will be reviewed to ensure
compatibility with proper development goals.
 To return all disputed land caused by land concession back to farmers.
 Land titles must be given to all famers so that farmers will be protected from land-grabbing.
 Provide incentives to farmers to stay and develop the land.
 Develop best farming practices that will not degrade the environment and be in the long term
sustainable and profitable.

(2) High production costs

The prices of fertilizers, insecticides and fuel are relatively greater in Cambodia than neighbouring
nations (in some cases described as to three times more), resulting in decreased production and less
profit.

Farmers complained that they spent more money to produce their crops such as rice because they
have to factor in costs such as seedling, ploughing, fuel, fertilizer, insecticide, labour, transport etc.
Some farmers noted that the fertilizer they bought was three time more expensive than neighbouring
countries and was not good quality. In addition, some products do not have instructions in Khmer,
such as insecticides, so the farmers can not use them safely resulting in their crops being ruined and
also causing serious health issues to themselves and their communities as well as potential
environmental problems.

Solutions:

 Law to create a Farmer’s Cooperative which will be managed through an institution

developed by the Government with the specific portfolio on developing the rural sector.

 Create regulation to assist farmers through the Farmer Cooperative and their communities
and ensure that the cost of production is regulated or where necessary farmers are
appropriately subsidised to reduce hardship on the famers.
  Access to new technologies including for example the rice Intensification method, to help
farmers reduce spending on seeds and fertilizer as well as the produce more viable crops.
 Law on Pesticides and Fertilisers to manage poisons with the emphasis on their potential
impacts on health and the environmental. These should be in accordance with international
standards
 Ecological sustainable development should be developed in conjunction with best farming
practices to ensure that the land is managed for future generations.

(3) Technical assistance

Many farmers have exhausted their soil because they do not rotate crops and do not know how to
properly use insecticides or fertilizers. Traditional farming methods are still practiced by most of the
farmers interviewed with little knowledge on alternative crops and methods. Poor education and
illiteracy of farmers therefore they have little access to new technologies or knowledge of how to
undertake ‘best’ farming.

Solutions:
 The younger generation from the villages who are literate and have had some education
should be encouraged to go on the land and be provided with technical training on agriculture
and incentives to undertake this training. They will be able to then work with their parents to
improve production and become a new generation of educated farmers that Cambodia
desperately needs.
 New and proved systems such as the rice Intensification method should be taught to all rice
farmers as it will help farmers to reduce spending on seeds and fertilizer and produce
economically viable crops.
 Government must increase the budget for agriculture so that there will be more agriculture
experts to help farmers by providing technical and market knowledge.
 Government can better use broadcast media such as TV or Radio to help educate farmers
about various agricultural techniques or new developments.

(4) Market access & information

Farmers often sell beneath market pricing because they need immediate cash flow. They do not
know the prevailing market price due to their distance from the point of sale. Intermediaries often
take advantage of these disparities to undercut farmers on the price of their produce creating a
situation of poverty and despair for farmers and their communities.
The poor access to information about market prices which also makes them poor competitors and
also very vulnerable to not achieving a fair price for their produce or knowing what crops to cultivate
to give good returns.

Solutions:
 Establish a local agriculture office in every commune. This would serve as a centre for
various uses by local farmers. It could serve to aggregate data on market prices via cell
phone networks and post the up-to-date prices at the office. The offices could also help
organise education for farmers on topics such as crop rotation, fertilization and insecticides.
The office could also support women-focused training, and training for young people who are
out of school and unemployed. These young people could then share techniques with parents
and neighbours to improve production and adopt more efficient farming options.

(5) Lack of irrigation

The challenges for increasing irrigated farming remain the main issue for Cambodia since only 4.2
percent of all farmers are able to undertake two harvests per year. Even though the government and
donors have in the last few years spent lot money to develop new irrigation schemes, little attention
and money has been provided to maintain and operate the schemes to the point that most of them are
not in full use or fallen into have fallen into disrepair. A study conducted by CEDAC in 2008
showed that in the 13 main rice-growing provinces, only 7 per cent of the irrigation schemes were
fully functional and connected to farm fields year-round, while 34 percent were partially functional
with the rest non functional. There are more than 2500 irrigation schemes in existence but most of
them are out of order and there is a lack of infrastructure to connect water to the irrigation canals that
service the fields.

Solutions:
 Local government in provinces need to help manage irrigation schemes in a responsible and
accountable manner particularly if the monies come from International donors.
 Locate funds to help both communities and local officials in managing and maintaining the
existed irrigation schemes and to build infrastructure to connect farm fields to irrigation
canals and also to construct more smaller scale schemes
  Enable farm communities to be better engaged and trained on how to develop and maintain
the small channels that connect irrigation schemes to their fields.

(6) High cost of credit

Loans are necessary to run a farm, but the cost of borrowing is exorbitant. In a best scenario, farmers
owe 30% interest and have to put up their land as collateral. Because most farmers do not have
formal land titles, they turn to intermediaries who charge as much as 100% interest, resulting
regularly in land confiscation.

Solutions:
 Organise farmer cooperatives at the local level. When individual farmers join forces and
act as a larger group, they can bargain for cheaper tools and fertilizers, cheaper loans and
improved access of their crops to the marketplace
 Land title must be given to all farmers so that they can use it to deposit in the bank for low
interest rate loans.
 Government to create a regulation in controlling the interest rate in private landing and to
have a micro credit scheme to provide low interest rates to farmers through farmer
cooperatives or communities.

(7) Gender disparity

Women receive less income from the same or greater quantity of work and output. In the agriculture
sector, labourers are predominantly women and children who get paid less than US$ 1 a day.

In addition, many small farmers are comprised of single women who still have to manage the hard
manual labour men would traditionally provide such as plowing the land and caring for live stock.
Consequently these women have to bear additional costs to pay for land preparation etc. and most of
them struggle to keep the land as they fall easily into debt because of these difficult circumstances.

Solutions:
 Promote policies of gender equality, social safety nets, assistance to organisations
supporting women, and child care programs so that women can have increased flexibility to
manage their land.
  The law on minimum wage should be created so that the abuse of labour work with too little
payment can be prevented and equal pay for women can be guaranteed.
 Organise special cooperatives to support Rural Women specifically and cater for their unique
situations.

Conclusion:
The SRP believes that Cambodia needs to develop a Comprehensive Agriculture Strategy. The
primary goal would be to increase the competitiveness of Cambodian farmers particularly at the
market level and boost the country’s economy. The most effective and sustainable way for farmers
to provide for their long term well-being is to produce and sell higher quality products at lower cost.
Of course, Cambodian farmers have also other considerations that must be addressed including a
high rate of illiteracy, poor protection to their land and little opportunity to improve their situation.
Specific solutions have been proposed above but there needs to strong actions at a number of levels –
institutional, legislative, local and educational – for Cambodian farmers to be able to finally function
as valued and important contributors to Cambodian society.