Friday, 2 May 2008

Cambodian farmers urged to seize opportunity

New Sabah Times
2nd May, 2008

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday appealed to the country’s farmers to start growing rice and other crops, saying most of the population would benefit from the global food crisis. “The food crisis in the world, instead, offers an opportunity for Cambodian farmers although citizens complain about the soaring price of rice,” Hun Sen said during a ceremony some 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Phnom Penh.

“But in return, some 80 percent (of the population) who are farmers benefit from this. Now the opportunity for our Cambodian farmers has arrived,” he said. Hun Sen said rain had fallen over most of the country and appealed to farmers to rush to grow a variety of food crops, including rice. “Now the rainy season has started,” he said. “Now the world has a big crisis, so please, our farmers start growing the crops, including rice, corn and beans. All the crops have a market now,” the premier said.

Hun Sen banned rice exports in late March in a bid to halt soaring prices for the staple food. The price of the most commonly purchased grade of rice has hit 90 US cents a kilogramme (2.2 pounds), up from 50-60 cents two months ago, deepening the poverty of the one-third of the population living on less than 50 cents a day.

Hun Sen said on Wednesday, however, that the government was considering exporting rice to find markets for Cambodian farmers and to “fulfil our international obligation in helping other countries… to reduce the difficulty in the world”.

“Cambodia is a small country, but it can help hundreds of thousands of families if we can export the rice,” Hun Sen said. “We cannot survive alone,” he said, urging governments to find ways to ensure “the world has food security”. Officials have said that Cambodia has enough rice with more than two million tonnes stockpiled. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday urged countries to drop export restrictions and said the immediate priority must be to “feed the hungry” as he ordered a task force to tackle the global crisis.

World grain prices have rocketed, a trend blamed variously on higher energy and fertiliser costs, greater global demand, droughts, the loss of farmland to biofuel plantations, industry and cities, and price speculation.

Soaring rice prices have forced the UN World Food Programme to indefinitely suspend a programme supplying free breakfasts to 450,000 poor Cambodian schoolchildren.

Better quality rice now sells for more than 700 dollars per tonne in Cambodia compared with 300-400 dollars last year, according to sellers. Cambodia, where more than 30 percent of the population of 14 million lives in poverty, is one of 12 “hunger hot spot” countries, according to the 2006 Global Hunger Index of the International Food Policy Research Institute. – AFP

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