The living standards of villagers in southeastern Cambodia have seen significant improvements thanks to a Chinese agricultural pilot program launched nearly a decade ago.
Around 1,000 families in the villages of Svay Ampear and Chheu Teal Phluoh, Kandal Province continue to benefit from the success of the China-Cambodia Poverty Reduction Project, implemented between 2017 and 2020.
Under the project, China built new homes, renovated existing ones, and provided clean water supplies, toilets, cattle sheds, and cows for the villagers.
Villagers also received training on how to grow vegetables, chilies, and tropical oyster mushrooms.
"Upon receiving this project, several families had creative ideas. Chinese experts taught them to grow in pots. But now they have started to expand it to grow in the ground, and they have started to plant other vegetables, such as winter melon, cucumber, and bitter melon, on a large scale. So their livelihood has improved," said Neang Chanra, a member of the Svay Ampear Commune Council.
Srung Ngim, a local mushroom farmer, said that China's project has changed her life, enabling her to support herself and her family.
"My life before was very difficult. At the time, I didn't have a home yet and I lived in a hut. After they introduced me to this project, my life changed and improved a lot. Before, I incurred debt for building a house, but now I'm able to pay them back after farming mushrooms. It's a lot better. These mushrooms will become my main business, but if there's anything else I can explore in business, I will also expand," she said.
Ngim has also taught other villagers how to grow oyster mushrooms, empowering them to establish their own farms.
"I plant mushrooms in three factories. These two factories have around 20,000 packages of mushrooms, and this one has around 7,000 packages of mushrooms. Also, I get to teach my neighbor and two sisters how to grow these mushrooms. Each of them plants about 7,000 packages of mushrooms in a factory now," she said.
Iea Sivorn, a waste picker and single mother with two children, lives in a home built through the project.
"My mother saw me struggling to live in a hut, and she asked China to build this house for me. Without this support, I don't have the capacity to build my own house because I cannot earn anything. When I lived in a hut, it was very difficult. It sank when it rained," she said.
Chinese agricultural program improves village livelihoods in southeastern Cambodia
