Project report

Project Overview

CARE Australia’s Rural Poor Program works with the poorest and most vulnerable people in Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri and Koh Kong Provinces of Cambodia, particularly those who live in remote rural areas and socially excluded ethnic minorities.

Many villages in these provinces are in remote areas with poor infrastructure, inadequate clean water and sanitation facilities and limited access to schools and health services. Moreover, these communities have weak market linkages, receive lower prices for produce and face higher costs for transport and the purchase of household goods.

Rural Poor Program seeks to address problems that lead to a perpetuation of extreme poverty and food insecurity amongst the target groups through a range of strategies including…

• Training for local farmers
• Provision of water and sanitation services
• Provision of health programs
• Development of home gardens.

Major Achievements

•  Increased crop production in 25 villages in Ratanakiri.
•  Demonstration plots established and include wet and dry season home gardens, soy bean, cashew, peanut and rice crops.
•  Training in 25 villages around topics such as land preparation, seed selection, crop management, pest control, water management, weeding, harvesting, storage of the harvested crop and reduction of post- harvest losses.
• Training farmers in new technologies and techniques for cultivating high yielding cash crops, such as cashew.
• Increasing food security, particularly amongst the poorest households, by expanding and diversifying income and food sources.
• Water and sanitation systems completed for seven schools and two early childhood centres in Ratanakiri.
• Improved water and sanitation services provided in ten villages of Koh Kong.

Photo: CARE is assisting families to have clean water, grow food in home gardens, benefit from health programs and learn new farming skills”  ©Josh Estey/CARE

Success raising chickens

Tol Ry is a 21-year-old Khmer man, born in the lowlands of Cambodia, who migrated to the north east of the country in search of better work opportunities. He settled in Tus Village in Ratanakiri Province and is now married.

In 2012 he joined CARE’s chicken raising training program. He volunteered to set up a demonstration site at his house where other villagers could join in and learn too. In the training, Ry and others learned how to improve the selection of chicken varieties, construct a chicken house and put up secure fencing. He was particularly interested in learning about how to make quality chicken feed, which is now overseen by a Chicken Feed Production Group.

Since the training, Ry’s chicken-raising enterprise has produced some very good results. He has also diversified and started a vegetable garden, improved his rice production and is raising pigs. ‘For me this is only the first step,’ enthuses Ry. ‘I want to achieve even more.’