via CAAI
Thursday, 03 March 2011 15:02 Thik Kaliyann
Farmers in Siem Reap province are receiving training in sustainable agricultural methods as part of a five year, US$2.9 million project aimed at protecting environmentally vulnerable areas from the effects of climate change.
The project developed by United Kingdom-based child development organisation Plan International, in cooperation with the Cambodia Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture, has received $2.4 million in funding from the European Union and will provide services to 7,084 small-scale farmers in four districts of Siem Reap province.
Plan International Project Coordinator Mey Mony Setha said on Tuesday that the project will help eradicate poverty and hunger in dry land areas, while enhancing resilience against climate change and drought.
“Plan and CEDAC, through funding support by EU, are setting up training in four districts in Siem Reap to reduce poverty and to try to encourage small-scale farmers to combat climate change.”
The project which started in January 2011, with a launching workshop held on February 22, will run to December 2015, Mey Mony Setha said.
Senior CEDAC program officer Yi Kimthan said workshops conducted with farmers as part of the project will also cover areas such as agro-forestry, crop diversification and rainwater harvesting.
“We’re trying to teach them new technical methods of planting crops and rice, and how to price their products for market.”
Yi Kimthan said the project will include the construction of demonstration plots of farmland where residents outside the target area can observe the methods in practice.
Yi Kimthan says he believes “one hundred percent” that the project will succeed in reducing poverty and hunger in Siem Reap.
“We expect that poor Cambodian farmers, in particular those affected by climate change, will learn improved adaptation and mitigation measures to minimize the potential harm it may cause to their agriculture activities and their daily livelihood.”
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