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Roads to Development.Pdf ROADS TO DEVELOPMENT Insights from Sre Ambel District, Southwest Cambodia MEAS NEE AND WAYNE McCALLUM © American Friends Service Committee – Cambodia Program. For permission to reproduce this document, please contact [email protected]. Edited by Roo Griffi ths Published by American Friends Service Committee – Cambodia Program. Layout and printing by Graphic Roots Design. ISBN 9-789996-352508 This publication was made possible through the generous support of Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst e.V. (EED) and ICCOenKerkinActie (ICCO). EED is a development organization of the Protestant Churches in Germany. ICCO is the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation, based in the Netherlands. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors only. Photographs in the publication were taken by Wayne McCallum, unless otherwise noted. ROADS TO DEVELOPMENT Insights from Sre Ambel District, Southwest Cambodia MEAS NEE AND WAYNE McCALLUM Contents ACRONYMS ...................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................. iii INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1 APPROACH ...................................................................... 2 INTRODUCING DEVELOPMENT ...................................................... 5 DEVELOPMENT IN CAMBODIA ....................................................... 9 The Angkorean Empire and pre-European development .............................. 9 Colonialism and development in Cambodia ......................................... 10 Emerging development paradigms and Cambodia ................................... 11 Contemporary development in Cambodia: Themes .................................. 13 KHMER NOTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT.................................................. 21 Khmer perceptions of development ............................................... 21 Key practices in Khmer notions of development ..................................... 21 INTRODUCING SRE AMBEL ......................................................... 25 Landscape and settlements ..................................................... 25 A human history .............................................................. 28 A development history ......................................................... 31 Development in Sre Ambel: Trends and patterns .................................... 35 ROADS TO DEVELOPMENT IN SRE AMBEL ............................................. 37 The economic growth road ...................................................... 37 The human rights road ......................................................... 43 The local livelihoods road ....................................................... 49 The community development road ............................................... 54 The environmental conservation road ............................................. 62 The community-based natural resource management road ........................... 65 The Buddhism and development road ............................................. 72 SEARCHING FOR A ROAD FORWARD: REVISITING DEVELOPMENT IN SRE AMBEL ............. 75 Refl ections on development in Sre Ambel .......................................... 75 Khmer notions of development revisited ........................................... 81 CHALLENGES AHEAD .............................................................. 85 Political space for social engagement ............................................. 85 Democratization and patronage .................................................. 86 Participation from within vs. imposed participation .................................. 86 Critical thinking in development work ............................................. 87 Community building vs. project building ........................................... 87 Where next? ................................................................. 88 REINVIGORATING DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS FROM SRE AMBEL ........................... 89 REFERENCES ..................................................................... 93 Road to Development I Acronyms ADB Asian Development Bank ADHOC Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association AFSC American Friends Service Committee CBNRM Community-based Natural Resource Management CBO Community-based Organization DFID UK Department for International Development EED Church Development Service (Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst) FACT Fisheries Action Coalition Team GDP Gross Domestic Product ICCO Interchurch Organisation for Development Co-operation ISLP Integrated Sustainable Livelihoods Program IMF International Monetary Fund MoU Memorandum of Understanding NGO Non-Governmental Organization NTFP Non-Timber Forest Products UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNTAC UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia US United States II Road to Development Acknowledgments lthough it is our names on the cover, the contents of this book refl ect the contribution of many. A full list of acknowledgements would take pages, and in the space supplied we can highlight only Aa few; for those missed we apologize. Among those we would like to recognize here, foremost are the staff of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), starting with Russell Peterson, who commissioned this work, and Patricia Deboer for her contributions. Mr Oung Tivea and the wider staff of the AFSC’s Integrated Sustainable Livelihoods Program in Sre Ambel provided both logistical help and insight as we traveled down our own road of discovery. Many other authorities and agencies made contributions to this work in terms of their time and support, including staff from different Sre Ambel-based non-governmental organizations, including CARE, Khmer Ahimsa, the Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT), the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and Prum Vihear Thor. We were also assisted by commune council members from Sre Ambel district and provincial and district government offi cials from the Ministries of Environment; Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and Land Management. We also wish to give our grateful thanks to the community leaders from the various community-based organizations that we contacted and spoke to. In the end, however, this book is built on the experiences of the villagers, the people, of Sre Ambel. We wish to offer them our sincerest thanks and the hope that the time they gave to us will be repaid through the measure and consideration of this work. To others not mentioned here, but who gave their time for discussion and interviews, we thank you. The authors also have family and friends who, at times, have been placed on the sideline as we have sought to complete our research, as we have spent time away and tried to put our ideas into words and images. We are both eternally grateful for your patience. Thank you, also, to Roo Griffi ths, who has displayed tolerance and patience in her role of maintaining a standard of shape and form for our words and ideas. Penultimately, without the support of the Interchurch Organisation for Development Co-operation (ICCO) and Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED), who provided fi nancial support for this work, it would never have evolved beyond a “good idea”. Finally, it is our belief that any research undertaking, this book included, leaves an imprint on those people and things touched by it, from informants to the Earth itself, through the resources it has supplied. This raises a challenge for us and others who come to read and think about the ideas contained herein. The challenge, we contend, is to draw on this book’s ideas and to consider how they can be used to sustain the lives and contribute to the resilience of those who are not in a position to speak for themselves. For the authors, this challenge is the greatest acknowledgment of all. Meas Nee and Wayne McCallum Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Little River (New Zealand) August 2009 Road to Development III IV Road to Development Introduction Young children, Krang Chek village, Sre Ambel district (2005). “Development.” The word conjures up images of countries, places and people moving from primitiveness, poverty and disadvantage to modernity, wealth and fulfi llment. Underpinning this is the assumption that development is “good”, something to be encouraged and aspired to. But go beneath the surface and explore the meaning and global experience of development and things become hazier, with any number of questions coming to mind. What, for example, should be the goals, processes and results of development? How should the costs and benefi ts of development be distributed? How can we measure development? What constitutes “good” development? Across the globe, people have struggled to answer these questions, at the same time as changing political, socioeconomic and environmental circumstances have conspired to generate a myriad of challenges to existing development doctrines and programs. Emerging out of years of civil strife, Cambodia appears, on the surface at least, to be on the road to recovery. Institutions, infrastructure and new businesses are springing up across the country, transforming the lives of the citizens. However, Cambodia faces issues over the extent and form of its current development patterns. Experiences such as those in Sre Ambel district, the case study focus of this book, indicate that elements of contemporary development are leading to some unexpected and undesirable effects, which threaten the wellbeing and future of local communities
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