Sustainable lives for 375 women in rural Cambodia

In the last three months, the CRDT project team in Mondulkiri Province has continued to complete the activities to support farm businesses in Andong Kraleung village. Seven meetings were conducted with the 6 farmers who raise chickens and grow vegetables in order to find out their progress and challenges in the activities. As a result, 4 out of the six families could be able to produce and sell the surplus while 2 others were able to produce for their own consumption at this stage due to lack of labor while they had to start planting rice and cassava, a popular cash crop in the village since June.

The main achievement of the project over the last three month was the success in opening a Community Shop. The community shop was built and operated in mid-August. Now our 6 farmers and other farmers in the village could bring their products to sell in this shop. They shared with each other small space in the shop and sell different products such as vegetables, chicken, porridge, meat ball, fried banana chip and groceries. Three villagers volunteered to be the shop committees and help facilitate the operation.

Channry, 27, from an indigenous Bunong tribe in Andong Kraleung village has joint as a shop committee member. She said “I am very happy for starting my first business in this shop where I brought my vegetables and chickens to sell to other villagers and travelers. My family’s members are now very busy with our shared responsibilities to produce things to sell. In the beggining, I was so worried but now my business is going very well. In September alone I earned about 250 USD, of which 20% is the net profit. My next plan is to increase our farming activities so that I will earn more. I am not worried about where to sell the products anymore. The shop is close to my house and it is very convenient and open to everyone who have the products to sell.”

The community in Andong Kraleung would like to express deep thanks to the project donors especially Christina and Will for supporting them to have additional occupations, income and improvement in the village. Your next donation is needed to expand the shop space and support some villagers who lack start-up capital to start their businesses too. Thank you.

Links:

• The Cambodian Rural Development Team
• CRDT Facebook Page

In the last quarter, CRDT’s project on globalgiving has focused on completing additional activities of farm businesses (vegetable growing and chicken raising) thanks to a wedding donation from Christina and Will. These activities have been implemented by the CRDT livelihood project team in Mondulkiri Province.

In early May, six families from Andong Kraloeung village who were willing to run their farming business to supply to the Gibbon Watching Ecotourism Project were selected. In June, the project team provided four training courses to the six families and other villagers who were interested in learning the techniques. Four courses on (1) Techniques for chicken raising, (2) Techniques for vegetable growing, (3) Making master feed for chicken, (4) Making ecological compost and pesticide to a total of 39 villagers.

“I am very happy with the support on improving my farming activities. The presence of tourists has made my village more crowded and some of us are able to generate income from this tourism activities. I myself can sell my vegetables and chickens and earn some money with which I will be no longer worried about family’s expenses and the study of my two kids. My next plan is to prepare my home-garden to be a model in the village.” said Mr. Ly Sitha, head of one of the six selected families.

So far, 3 out of the six families have produced their surplus vegetables of approximately 20 kgs/month including water grass, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, long bean, eggplant, gourds, and pumpkin top and sold them in the village at an average price of USD 1.25/kg. Four families have produced a surplus chicken of around 12 kgs/month and sold at a price of USD 6.25/kg. All of the products were sold not only to the Ecotourism project but also to households in the village. The other families are going to harvest their products in the next few months.

The income generated by the Gibbon Watching project plays a significant role in improving the local economy and in the conservation of Gibbons in the Seima Protected Forest. A tourist pays USD 200 per day for their package tour and the this payment was redistributed to villagers who provided services as tour guides, housekeepers and cooks and the rest was used to support village patrolling activities and ceremonies. In the two months of May and June, 51 international tourists visited the sites and each year the number of tourists is increasing since 2012.

For the next quarter, the project team will continue to follow up and coach the six families on the techniques they have learnt. At the same time, the project team will work with the local authority and villagers in Andong Kraloeung to open a community shop where everyone in the village can bring their agricultural products to sell to one another and to travelers. Stay tuned!

The idea of the community shop needs “Collection &Sale Committee” to be formed to run it. This needs monetary support. Could you help us to raise USD 2,048 to fulfil this activity? Here is the link to our donation domain https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/sustainable-lives-for-375-women-in-rural-cambodia/

 Thank you in advance for your support.

Links:

• A study about Gibbons in Seima Protected Forest
• About Cambodian Rural Development Team