Growing Hope in Cambodia
If you give a man a fish, he is hungry again in an hour. If you teach him to catch a fish, you do him a good turn.
Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie
Sustainable Training
The same goes for farming. If you give a family a bag of beans, they will have food for a meal, but if you teach them to grow beans, they will have beans to eat, and beans to sell, and beans to grow more beans. This is one way World Hope International Cambodia is creating sustainability in Bunong communities.
In Cambodia, families are experiencing hope through the Livelihood Training Program. Farming is not an easy task. Finding the right crops that produce during the three seasons in Cambodia is helping farmers thrive.
Shallots
In early 2024, the World Hope Livelihood Team began working with 7 farmers who learned to grow and connect with markets to export shallots. The first shipment (3000kg of shallots) left Cambodia in early April. This is the first-time shallots have been grown in Mondulkiri and the first time they have been exported from Cambodia.
Farming shallots brought a 43% net income increase to one family in Cambodia.
Success Story
Mr. Tearo and his wife Srey Na have two children. Their livelihood relies heavily on the income from their farm. Their annual net income is $2500 – about $7 a day. Before working with WHI’s Livelihood Team, Mr. Tearo and Srey Na had no training or support. They joined a training event because they were interested in learning about this new crop. After four months, their first harvest of shallots resulted in a $1081.25 net income. This was a great achievement for their family!
Cow Peas
Bunong farmers have been trialing cow peas as a cover crop in Mondulkiri and they are pleased with the results. Traditional farming in this community causes degradation of soil fertility, particularly with crops like cassava. Farmers do not fertilize the soil to support crop production, and it is unlikely they would be willing to spend money on fertilizer.
The introduction of cow pea as a crop is multifaceted in purpose. This crop returns nitrogen to the soil, is not eaten by wildlife, and farmers can harvest the beans to sell. It is also possible to grow and harvest two crop cycles in the rainy season: the first planting in June and the second in August. Farmers use seeds from the first harvest to plant the second. The real benefit for farmers is that none of their other commercial crops are harvested during the rainy season.
Spice Crops
Ginger, galangal, turmeric, chili, and lemongrass are the 5 spices that 25 farming families are learning to grow. None of these crops attract gibbons or other wildlife, protecting the farmers’ investments and the animals. These families are working in partnership to grow and sell the raw spices to a company that produces products including a special spice paste and ginger & turmeric tea which are then sold at retail outlets in Phnom Penh.
