We Desire to Work Hard for Our Well-being

Traditionally, farming families have made their community proud with their determination and innovation in integrating modern methods with age-old farming practices.

Phet, 43, a farmer in a rural settlement of northern Kulen District, Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia, lives with his wife and their three daughters. 

Like all parents, Phet and His wife wanted to provide for their children and ensure they had opportunities to succeed. They have tried to increase their capacity in many ways so that they can guarantee their children’s wellbeing.

Phet is a member of the Leok Kampos Kasekor Agriculture Cooperative (AC) which is located in Kulen Chhoeung commune at Kulen district, Preah Vihear province. The AC was officially registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 2014 with five business activities, 235 members, and $54,096 US dollars in capital.

Phet is an active member in the AC and is recognized to be a successful organic rice farmer. Before He joined this AC, He and his wife had used traditional farming methods. They did not know how to grow in order obtain both quality and a large quantity of rice. As a result, their farming was mostly subsistence; they grew enough to provide for themselves but were unable to grow an excess. Sometimes, they were unable to feed their children because their income was too small. With this tiny profit, their money was stretched between money for their children’s schooling materials, clothes, food, etc. The family had to work very hard to send their children to go school.

Through the AC, Phet and his family have been able to gain experience and start to practice utilizing modern rice growing methods. Though the experiment was not without setbacks, they have not given up. The Provincial Department of Agriculture has trained Phet and his family on new ideas and technologies for rice growing, supported by World Vision’s Cambodia Sustainable Business Development Project. In 2016 their commitment was rewarded with a huge rice harvest. 

Before participating in the AC, my family never benefitted from our organic rice production as we did not know how to grow it well.

Phet’s family has now been with the Agriculture Cooperative since 2013. In 2015, the CSBD project’s implementation has been started, supported by Australia government (DFAT) and the ThankYou group. The project aims to improve the livelihood of AC members through focusing on three main objectives: First, to ensure the ACs achieve competency in governance and leadership with transparency and prosperity. Second, to build the ACs into sustainable and profitable businesses. Third, to support the ACs by creating multi-stakeholder collaboration, which in turns strengthens and improves business performance and functionality of the ACs through the Provincial Department of Agriculture in Preah Vihear.

Today, Phet and his family are able to get 15-20 tonnes of organic rice through modern methods. The income from the organic rice can support his family’s livelihood. They can send their children to school and ensure that their children thrive. “Before participating in the AC, my family never benefitted from our organic rice production as we did not know how to grow it well. But now, after joining with the AC, we have learned how to produce amazing results from hard work” Phet says. “We are really happy to see the results from our hard work.” 

Beside working on his rice farm, Phet manages time to help his wife with the house work. He raises animals including pigs, cows and buffalos. “We dream for our children to be educated. We're proud to have stuck up for our future and our family” the parents say.

World Vision’s vision for Cambodia is to significantly influence the future of this nation for good. In a country that is struggling to break free from a troubled past and the legacy of hopelessness amongst those most affected, we see exciting evidence that the Cambodian youth are becoming a catalyst for change towards a brighter future.

Supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), World Vision’s Cambodia Sustainable Business Development (CSBD) project aims to empower farmers to improve their livelihoods by strengthening their skills to improve productivity and effectively operate in agricultural markets. 

By engaging Agricultural Cooperatives called ACs, the CSBD project promotes a pro-poor market systems approach to agriculture to help farmers increase their income and productivity. Working closely with the AC Steering Committees and AC Members, the project aims to encourage farmers to grow crops in market demand, increase farmers’ technical skills to increase crop yields, Connect farmers with market actors, including private sector buyers, Promote collective buying & selling to increase bargaining power; and Improve financial literacy and savings capacity.

The project also aims to improve the AC Steering Committees capacity to engage in business activities, which can support their members, like the production of animal feed or rice and corn milling services.

Through CSBD project, the business activities of Agriculture Cooperatives translate into earned income for 24,453 members, enabling them to afford education and healthcare which benefit over 35,174 children in year 2017. Further, the project has facilitated 38 ACs to have contract farming arrangement and link their products with ten companies since 2014.