Poverty and Food Security Monitoring in Cambodia Linking Programmes and Poor People’S Interests to Policies
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HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN Landwirtschaftlich-Gärtnerische Fakultät Schriftenreihe des Seminars für Ländliche Entwicklung Poverty and Food Security Monitoring in Cambodia Linking Programmes and Poor People’s Interests to Policies SLE Team Lioba Weingärtner (Team leader) Markus Fiebiger Kristin Höltge Anke Schulmeister Martin Strele Jacqueline Were SLE Study on behalf of: Hessische Str. 1-2 FAO Livelihood Support Programme, D-10099 Berlin Sub-programme on Participation, Policy and Local Governance and Tel. +49-30-2093 6900 Fax+49-30-2093 6904 GTZ Rural Development Programme Email: [email protected] Kampot/Kampong Thom, Cambodia http://www.berlinerseminar.de Berlin, December 2005 SLE CENTRE FOR ADVANCED TRAINING IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT Impressum Publication Series by Centre for Advanced Training in Rural Development Editors SLE – Seminar für Ländliche Entwicklung (Centre for Advanced Training in Rural Develop- ment) Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Hessische Str. 1-2, D-10099 Berlin, Germany E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.berlinerseminar.de Managing Editor Karin Fiege, Seminar für Ländliche Entwicklung Printers Präsentation Plus Landsberger Straße 363, D-12623 Berlin, Germany Distributors Seminar für Ländliche Entwicklung Hessische Str. 1-2, D-10099 Berlin, Germany [email protected] 1st edition 2005 300 Copyright 2005 by SLE – Seminar für Ländliche Entwicklung (Centre for Advanced Training in Rural Development) ISSN 1433-4585 ISBN 3-936602-20-4 Cover photo Offering Food at Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Anke Schulmeister FOREWORD I Foreword The Centre for Advanced Training in Rural Development (Seminar für Ländliche Entwicklung, SLE) at the Humboldt University in Berlin has been training young professionals in the field of German and international development cooperation for more than forty years. Three-month consulting projects conducted on behalf of German and interna- tional cooperation organisations are an integral part of this one-year postgradu- ate course. In multidisciplinary teams, young professionals carry out studies on innovative future-oriented topics, and act as consultants in the field. During their field stay, special value is placed on working closely with diverse local actors and involving them in the work of the young professionals’ team. The outputs of this „applied research” are designed to make an immediate contribution to the solving of development problems in rural areas. Throughout the years, SLE has carried out over a hundred consulting projects in more than sixty countries. The results of these projects have regularly been pub- lished in this series. In 2005, SLE teams completed studies in Peru, Guatemala, Cambodia and Ni- ger. The focus of all consulting projects was on results orientation and poverty reduction. The present study was commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Livelihood Support Programme, Sub-programme on Participation, Policy and Local Governance (PPLG) and the GTZ Rural Devel- opment Programme (RDP) Kampot/Kampong Thom, Cambodia. Prof. Dr. Uwe Nagel Carola Jacobi-Sambou Dean Director Faculty of Agricultural and SLE – Centre for Advanced Horticultural Sciences Training in Rural Development Humboldt University Berlin ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III Acknowledgements The present consultancy project has tremendously benefited from the support of a great number of people directly involved in the different phases of the study. Without their support, the work would not have been possible. Our deep gratitude first and foremost goes to the women and men in the eight study villages (plus in one pre-test village) in Kampot Province who spent their valuable time with us discussing and explaining their living conditions and the influences programme interventions have on their situation. Their availability dur- ing a very critical time of the year (transplanting period of rice), their friendliness and their patience were the key factors to the success of the field work. The study team also owes many thanks to the representatives of the commis- sioning parties, Mr. Günther Feiler and Ms. Dagmar Kunze, Agricultural Policy Support Officer and Food Security Officer M&E of FAO Headquarters Rome, and Ms. Angelika Fleddermann and Mr. Georg Deichert, Team Leader and Advisor for Agriculture, Natural Resource Management and M&E of the GTZ Rural De- velopment Programme (RDP) Cambodia. In Cambodia, the study team also re- ceived enormous support from His Excellency Nouv Kanun, Secretary General of the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Mr. Kimoto Tsu- kasa, the FAO Representative, Mr. Sao Sopheap, the Assistant FAO Represen- tative (Programmes), and Mr. Peter Kaufmann, Team Leader of the Food Secu- rity and Nutrition Policy Support Project (the co-operating partner in this study). The openness, flexibility and constructive support as well as the material and fi- nancial assistance of these study partners throughout the process is very much appreciated. During the preparation phase in Berlin and later in Cambodia, Mr. Kean Sophea, Team Leader of the National Programme for Food Security and Poverty Reduc- tion, and Mr. Srun Darith, Director of Planning & International Cooperation of the Council for Agriculture and Rural Development, spent many working sessions and a lot of their free time with the SLE team. This contributed a lot to the under- standing of the country context and the success of the preparation and imple- mentation of this study. It also opened many doors in Cambodia. During the field phase in Phnom Penh and Kampot, the study team was supported by a team of Cambodian assistants. Mr. Oum Kosal, Senior Research Assistant and Team Leader, and five Research Assistants, Ms. Phann Dalis, Ms. Dav Sokunthea, Mr. Yin Dina, Mr. Sin Ratha and Mr. Nov Samnang. They helped with facilitation of IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS group discussions, key informant interviews, data collection, data analysis, trans- lation and intensive discussions in the team. This collaboration built the essential bridge between the cultures and languages involved in this research study. The common work with our Cambodian partners and the relationships built are an unforgettable experience and an additional asset for the SLE team. The study team members are also very grateful to the numerous resource per- sons of government institutions as well as international and national organisa- tions whom they met in Germany and Cambodia who supported them with valu- able insights into the subject matter and the country context. The discussions with them enhanced the data collection and analysis. Their critical questions helped to sharpen the presentation of the study results. The national and international staff of the two study programmes/projects and of the collaborating partner at national and provincial level, i.e., the National Pro- gramme for Food Security and Poverty Reduction (FSPR), the Community Based Rural Development Project (CBRDP) and the Food Security and Nutrition Policy Support Project (FSNPSP), were very important partners and sources of informa- tion at field level. The team expresses its sincere gratitude for the time they spent in this collaboration. Important support in providing information and reflecting on preliminary results was given by the National Focal Points of the PFSM study in the Ministry of Agri- culture, Forestry and Fisheries, in the Ministry of Rural Development, in the Council for Agriculture and Rural Development and in the Ministry of Planning. The team thanks them for the enriching discussions. The study team received crucial administrative and logistical support – provided in a very professional and friendly manner – from the staff of the FAO Country Office, the RDP Offices in Phnom Penh and in Kampot, and the GTZ Country Office in Phnom Penh. The team owes them sincere thanks. Special thanks also go to the two FAO drivers who accompanied the study team during the entire stay in Cambodia. The team also thanks Mr. Christian Berg, who backstopped the study team dur- ing the consultancy project. His advice was very helpful. Finally, many thanks go to Ms. Helen Boeckh for her thorough proofreading of the English text. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY V Executive Summary Background and Objectives of the Study In the context of the Cambodian Millennium Development Goals (CMDGs), a large number of international partners support the Royal Government of Cambo- dia in addressing poverty and food insecurity in the country – problems which affect about one third of the Cambodian population. Various projects and pro- grammes are now being implemented on national, provincial, district, commune and village level. Among others, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is supporting the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fish- eries (MAFF) in implementing the National Programme for Food Security and Poverty Reduction (FSPR) in Cambodia. The German Federal Ministry for Eco- nomic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) is supporting the implementation of the Rural Development Programme (RDP) in Kampot and Kampong Thom Prov- inces. RDP is an integral part of the Community Based Rural Development Pro- ject (CBRDP), funded through a loan from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD). This project is implemented by the Ministry of Rural Devel- opment (MRD). Together with major national stakeholders, the FAO Livelihood Support Pro- gramme, Sub-programme on Participation,