Agricultural education and livelihood in rural Cambodia

Main article: Agricultural education and livelihood in rural Cambodia

Agricultural education and livelihood in rural Cambodia are interlinked because agriculture plays a prominent role in the everyday livelihoods of more than 56 per cent of the total working-age population, promoting agriculture and agro-industry has been seen as the best strategic response to macroeconomic crises, to improve food security and rural livelihoods and reduce poverty.

Cambodia Promotes Rice Export

To show government's support and encouragement, Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Yim Chhay Ly late last week led a delegation to see thousand tons of well processed Cambodian rice produced by 40,000-farmer-family association ready to export to international markets, thanks to the collaboration with Angkor Agriculture Rong Roeung Company, said AKP on 24 January 2011.

H.E. Deputy Prime Minister appreciated the approach that the Angkor Agriculture Rong Roeung Company is applying with 40,000 farmer families in four provinces – Kandal, Kampong Speu, Kampot and Takeo and the company's high-tech facilities to produce 30 tons of husked rice per hour.

Focusing on organic rice production, the company partners with its target farmers. Under the partnership, those farmers receive quality rice seeds and farming technical support. With the said assistance, the partnered farmers are able to produce between 2 to 3 tons of rice per one hectare of their land.

The company is committed to buy all rice yield produced by those farmers with the price of 1.600 riel [roughly US$0.40] per kilogram. For 2011, the company expects to buy from 60 to 70 thousand tons of rice from its partner farmers.

Seeing the sustainability of the company's approach, the Rural Development Bank provides US$5 million loan to the company to ensure its smooth operation, which H.E. Yim Chhay Ly considered as an effective attribution to Cambodia's economic growth as well as to poverty reduction.