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| Volume 11, Issue 1 | Interchange | April 2001 |
[The following are the final reports of panels held at the 9th Conference of the Forum on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam held in Phnom Penh in January 1999] Food Security and Growth: modernizing agriculture and overcoming poverty while maintaining the integrity and viability of rural communities |
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Moderator: John Ambler, Social Science Research Council
HE May Sam Oeun, Secretary of State,
A large number of Cambodians lack access to a secure food supply, due to poverty, insecurity, transportation & market shortcomings. National security problems also contribute to vulnerability. The new policies and ministry are charged with expanding farm employment opportunities and various agricultural development programs. Policies promote private sector investment, focussing on activities to increase productivity, as well as providing seed fertilizer and pest management programs. HE Ly Thuch, Secretary of State,
1) What we know about poverty in Cambodia: Between 1993 and 1997, most cities and rural areas saw small declines in the poverty rate, 90% of the population is rural, and poverty is a substantial problem - more than three fourths of the poor live in agricultural households. 2) Policies and Initiatives for Poverty Alleviation: Elements of the Poverty Reduction Strategy articulated in the First Socio-Economic Development Plan include: assessment of socio-economic indicators, development of socio-economic indicators and information to identify the poor and their needs, creation of policies and instruments with which to assist the poor, selection and review of mechanism by the project and program, development of indicators to monitor and evaluate the effect of programs, and creation of organizational structures that promote strategic thinking about poverty alleviation in all sectors. |
The immediate task is to meet the needs of all Cambodians and safeguard the rights of the rural population to participate in plans affecting their future. To tackle seriously the rural problems we have to plan with the people, for the people. One challenge is expanding the country's own capacity to design and implement possible solutions, such as emergency assistance, small scale water supply, access roads, building rural capacity and infrastructure in general, and capacity for planning, implementing and maintaining effective programs. People also need to be educated about their rights and responsibilities to work with rural authorities in a newly decentralized system. Structure of the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development includes on the provincial level: provincial development committees, village development committees, and district level committees. Food security and poverty eradication depend on an effective government that ensures that political, economic and social policies are based on broad consensus in society and the voice of the poor is heard in decision making over allocation of national resources. Tienne Vannasuk, Deputy Director, Food Security in the context of Laos is not absolutely different from other countries. A plan takes into consideration the role of commercialized production and trade, and implies a combination of domestic production and export generated income to buy the food that cannot be produced in Laos. Policies toward food security for the agricultural and forestry sector include: 1) Year 2000 target of self-sufficiency in rice production, the agricultural sector should produce enough food for the country. 2) Creation of more productive and permanent farming system, promotion of economic activities. In the north, more than 150,000 households practice slash and burn programs, people produce livestock instead of rice. 3) Maintanence of a balance between environmental protection and economic development is critical. Concerns include: land in Laos for crops is 3 million hectares, one million cultivated. |
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