Food security
in Cambodia
What is food security?
Food security is reliable access to sufficient
quantities of affordable, nutritious food.
Look at this diagram to find out what proportion
of countries in the world have full food security.
What are the reasons why some countries
don’t have a secure food supply?
Lack of resources means not having good
seed and good equipment for growing food.
Low agricultural productivity means not
being able to grow much in the soil.
This might be caused by lack of water or lack
of fertilizers and pesticides or poor quality soil.
Climate change can mean that an area
experiences changes in temperature or changes
in rainfall patterns that affect food production.
Development and Partnership in Action (DPA)
is Caritas’ partner on the ground in Cambodia.
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand supports DPA
projects in Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri provinces.
Ratanakiri province experiences flooding every
year. After the flooding they have a drought.
To conserve water, DPA has taught
farmers how to use drip irrigation.
In this way, water is delivered to the root of
each plant, rather than watering the whole area.
They also use a technique called plastic mulching.
It prevents evaporation of moisture from the soil.
The plants can still breathe.
This is Klel Kret. He was given seedlings and
training in organic gardening by DPA.
He is very proud of
his organic fertilizers
made from chicken
and cow manure.
He also makes
organic pesticides
from plant and
animal material.
Klel Kret helps to feed his six children
and their families from his garden.
Mr Mao Soeun is a ‘model farmer’ who has
been trained by DPA to mentor other farmers.
Mrs Pen Kimsau is also a ‘model farmer’. Both she
and Mr Mao Soeun grow eggplant, cucumber, corn,
sugar cane, bok choy, beans, mango and citrus.
They are trialling organic techniques using
herbs, neem, bitter vine and tobacco as
alternative forms of pest control.
The idea is that bugs avoid these. So if they plant
them near their crops, the bugs won’t come near.
By using these
techniques it is
hoped that small
farmers in Cambodia
will increase the
quality and quantity
of their crops...
...and improve food security
for future generations.
Photo credits: Murray Shearer (Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand)