Cambodia
Implementation of the Global Strategy in Cambodia
54.2% employed in agriculture
32.6% land area devoted to agriculture
36.7% share of agriculture in GDP
Challenges
Cambodia has a very large rural population - around 80 percent of its population lives in rural areas. Despite a steady decrease in the past two decades, the poverty rate in the country is also still high, and stood at around 27 percent in 2010. Cambodia's current plan for the strategic development of statistics expired in 2015. An agricultural census was carried out in the country in 2013. Cambodia needs to capitalize on the census by using the collected data to improve the country's agricultural statistics system. Further improving the broader concept and methodologies used in agricultural statistics is also recommended. Cambodia's responsible agencies for statistics collection and use - the National Statistics Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF) - should be encouraged to conduct additional agricultural surveys.
Current Work
Implementation of the Global Strategy in Cambodia started in July 2015. The Global Strategy in Asia Pacific is partnering with the National Institute of Statistics and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on producing a Strategic Plan for Agricultural and Rural Statistics (SPARS) for the country. Implementation is in its early stages, and meetings have been held with all key stakeholders.
Achievements
Consultations with stakeholders have led to the drafting of two reports - an In-depth Country Assessment (IdCA) and a roadmap for SPARS. A country proposal paper resulting from the IdCA is due to be completed in 2016. These three reports will form the foundation of Cambodia country activities.