A new project to enhance the climate change resilience of smallholder farmers kicks off in Cambodia
A new project aimed at enhancing the climate change resilience of smallholder farmers and local communities by increasing their access to growing premium market segments was launched in Cambodia on 27 October 2023.
The initiative, the Public-Social-Private Partnerships for Ecologically-Sound Agriculture and Resilient Livelihood in Northern Tonle Sap Basin (PEARL) project, targets benefits for about 3 percent of Cambodia’s population, reaching out directly to 450 000 and indirectly to 1 000 000 farmers and other local value-chain actors in the Northern Tonle Sap Basin.
The Northern Tonle Sap Basin is home to one of most important agricultural systems for the Southeast Asia region and Cambodia, where farmers produce mainly cashew, mango, rice, and vegetables. The area is also severely threatened by climate change disruption. Temperatures have increased by 0.8C° since 1950. In addition, rainfall is becoming less frequent and the rainy seasons, more turbulent. As a result, the region is facing a dual threat of flooding and drought putting a total of 1.45 million people at risk either directly or indirectly.
“The aim of the project is to protect the most vulnerable people from the impacts of climate change in the face of global crises and to secure the climate resilient and sustainable development of the agriculture sector. The project will promote the dissemination of climate-resilient practices and technologies which will support the building of local capacities to manage rural livelihoods profitably and sustainably,” said His Excellency Ken Sereyrotha, Director General of the General Directorate of Environmental Knowledge and Information of the Ministry of Environment.
He added that the PEARL project is fully aligned with the strategic programmes and plans of the Royal Government of Cambodia, and in particular, the priorities set out in the Nationally Determined Contribution and the National Adaptation Plan which target improvement in the adaptive capacity and build resilience of rural populations.
“The added value of this project is that it will scale up and increase the uptake of climate-resilient practices and technologies by vulnerable smallholder farmers and community-based organizations. The PEARL project will complement efforts made by other development partners in the Northern Tonle Sap Basin to build the resilience of livelihoods by both improving access to premium markets and promoting climate-proofing investments in line with the agricultural sectoral policies and plans,” said His Excellency Dr Yang Saing Koma, Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Chair of the Project Steering Committee for PEARL.
“PEARL itself is the result of the successful partnership between government institutions and development and resource partners, under the auspices of the Royal Government of Cambodia. As for its overarching global vision, the project aims to transition from business-as-usual food production and shift towards climate-resilient agribusiness models in line with Cambodia’s international commitments,” said Rebekah Bell, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representative in Cambodia. “I expect that today’s discussions will initiate and renew partnerships and the commitment to mainstream both resilience and sustainable livelihoods for current and future rural generations of farmers,” she added.
A key objective of the inception workshop was to ensure common understanding of the overall project goals and objectives, expected outcomes and outputs, main activities and implementation arrangements among stakeholders and to gain input to shape implementation plans as the project kicks off. The workshop further served to familiarize stakeholders of the requirements of the Green Climate Fund, which is providing funding of USD 36.2 million for project implementation covering a six-year period, from April 2023 to April 2029.
PEARL is being executed by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries of the Royal Government of Cambodia with FAO as the accredited and co-executing entity. It will be implemented in the four provinces of Oddar Meanchey, Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, and Siem Reap.