Is Organic Agriculture a Viable Strategy in Contexts of Rapid Agrarian Transition? Evidence from Cambodia

Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com

Is organic agriculture a viable strategy in contexts of rapid agrarian transition? Evidence from Cambodia

Alice Beban Cornell University

Submitted July 1, 2013 / Revised August 21, 2013, and November 15, 2013 / Accepted November 18, 2013 / Published online February 24, 2014

Citation: Beban, A. (2014). Is organic agriculture a viable strategy in contexts of rapid agrarian transition? Evidence from Cambodia. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 4(2), 131–147. http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2014.042.004

Abstract returns, for the non-economic aspects, the broader This paper draws on evidence from a field study of socio-political contexts of uneven agrarian three organic agriculture development projects in transition, and the ideology and practices of Cambodia to look critically at the pursuit of development agencies have a large bearing on the organic agriculture as a rural development strategy poverty reduction potential of organic farming. in a context of rapid agrarian transition. I find that organic agriculture is a successful strategy for some Keywords households to improve the viability of land-based agrarian transition, Cambodia, Global South, livelihoods as part of broader livelihood strategies, international development, livelihoods, organic particularly within projects most closely aligned agriculture with an agroecological understanding valuing diversity and farmer knowledge. However, there Introduction are inherent contradictions in prescribing northern, Cambodia, like many countries in the Global South, market driven notions of farming success into the is undergoing a rapid agrarian transition as very different cultural and ecological settings of the processes of rural and urban change make farming- Global South, and certification requirements, based livelihoods less viable and off-farm options resource constraints and labor requirements can more accessible. A resurgent literature on processes exclude some farmers. I argue that analysis of of agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia seeks organic-farming as a rural development strategy to understand these changes, drawing on classic needs to understand not just the direct economic questions on the fate of the peasantry in capitalism (Kautsky, 1899; Lenin, 1956) while recognizing the Alice Beban, Cornell University, Department of Development complexity of livelihood diversification, state and Sociology, Ithaca, New York 14853 USA. Mailing address: 707 civil society roles, and new international and urban Hasbrouck Apartments, Ithaca, New York 14850 USA; interests in land (for a review see Akram-Lodhi and +1-607-793-0023; [email protected] Kay, 2010a and 2010b). Rural land-based liveli-

Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 131 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com hoods in Southeast Asia are increasingly perceived range of organic initiatives in Cambodia reflects the as more risky than urban migration and wage work, ideologies of the development agencies and their and wealth may not map so neatly onto land understandings of how the agrarian question in ownership as in the past (Rigg, 2006; 2012). In this Cambodia is best resolved, and these initiatives uncertain context, a key question in rural develop- shape (and are shaped by) farmers’ access to ment is whether pathways out of agriculture may resources and ability to benefit from organic farm- therefore constitute the best form of poverty ing. Overall, my analysis shows that participation in reduction for the rural poor (Li, 2009; Rigg, 2006; organic farming development projects is a success- Thavat, 2011; World Bank, Public Information ful strategy for some households, but it is not a Center, 2006). panacea for rural poverty in Cambodia. Direct In this paper I provide one perspective on this economic benefits are uncertain; non-economic question by considering the promotion of organic benefits, broader contexts of uneven agrarian agriculture as a development strategy for small- transition, and development agency approaches holders in Cambodia. This inquiry is inspired by a have a large bearing on the poverty reduction growing collection of research — including pleas in potential of organics. I structure this paper in two the popular press for shoppers to “stop obsessing broad sections: I outline the literature on organic about your arugula…[It] is no recipe for saving the agriculture in the Global South and explain world’s millions” (Paarlberg, 2010, para. 1) — that Cambodia’s agrarian transition; I then use my raises the question of whether organic agriculture empirical research to draw out four themes that may entrench poverty rather than increasing well- can broaden the debate on the potential for being if it requires more labor with uncertain organics in the Global South. income benefits (Barham & Callenes, 2011; Paarlberg, 2010; Taotawin, 2010; Thavat, 2011). Organic Agriculture: Poverty Alleviation This argument suggests that rural people may be or Poverty Trap? better off selling their land and moving to urban Organic agriculture development projects in the areas for wage work, or pursuing modern labor- Global South have proliferated since the late 1990s, saving agriculture and freeing up labor for wage and a growing body of research globally supports labor and other rural nonfarm employment oppor- the notion that organic agriculture can enhance tunities (Rigg, 2006; Thavat, 2011). I seek to smallholder households’ food security, whether or deepen this debate, using research on three organic not they sell any of their harvest (Araya & Edwards, agriculture development projects in Cambodia to 2004; Badgley et al., 2007; Parrott, Olesen, & make two related arguments: First, the broader, Høgh-Jensen, 2006). Farmers’ incomes may usually implicit, frame of this debate is the larger increase through premium prices (Scialabba & structural context of agrarian transition, and Hattam, 2002) and/or increased productivity explicit research attention needs to move beyond (International Assessment of Agricultural Knowl- the economics of the farm unit to the uneven, edge, Science and Technology for Development contingent agrarian transitions in which farmers [IAASTD], 2008; Pretty et al., 2006), and organics make constrained choices involving multiple rural- may improve producer health, “cool” the planet, urban livelihoods. Second, there is a need to move produce food more efficiently than large farms, away from concepts of “organic” as morally and diversify growing systems (IAASTD, 2008). superior or overtly negative, to appreciate the Although critical research on alternative food heterogeneity of organic agriculture development networks in the Global South has focused largely initiatives and the diversity of outcomes for on fair trade (Bacon, 2005) and most critical different groups. Organic agriculture in Cambodia, theorizing of organics is developed from North as in much of the Global South, is promoted American and European experiences (Allen & primarily as a rural development strategy for Kovach, 2000; Guthman, 2004), an expanding poverty reduction through nongovernmental research agenda examines smallholder organic organizations (NGOs) and donor agencies. The agriculture in the Global South. Research in Latin

132 Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com

America shows that expectations of organic price (2011) and other studies successfully draw atten- premiums benefiting farmers may be problematic, tion to economic processes beyond farm-gate price as price premiums from organic and fair trade premiums, including possible increases in labor certification are small, and migration remittances requirements (including intensification of gendered and yield increases (for farmers in programs with a unpaid family labor), and the recognition of oppor- technical training component) may have a greater tunity costs whereby going organic may limit effect on household income (Barham & Callenes, household ability to devote labor to migration or 2011; Ruben & Fort, 2012). Beuchelt and Zeller’s other income-earning opportunities. Barham and (2011) survey of organic, fair trade, and conven- Callenes (2011) also look beyond the farm gate in tional coffee producers in Nicaragua found that their study of the importance of organic coffee premium farm-gate prices for organic coffee did production in the broader livelihood activities of not translate into higher profit, due to increased Nicaraguan smallholders, and find that while labor costs. Organic producers were poorer relative organic production has increased, this is a much to conventional producers throughout the 10-year smaller percentage of household income than study period. The organic producers had smaller migration remittances from the United States. This farm sizes and larger family sizes, and the authors underlines the importance of understanding the suggest that the higher labor requirements may household farm as just one aspect of rural people’s limit the impacts on poverty alleviation. A central daily life, a perspective well articulated in the tension in certified organic farming is the simul- sustainable livelihoods approach that recognizes taneous delinking from market-based chemical rural people’s diverse occupations, and the inputs in favor of knowledge-intensive techniques, increased fluidity of rural/urban livelihoods and the deeper integration into distant markets, (Scoones, 2009). which may increase farmer vulnerability to global Attention to rural livelihoods in agrarian transi- price fluctuations. This long-term perspective tion needs to be combined with critical develop- illuminates the possibility of “premium squeeze” as ment theory, which recognizes the central role of the entry of new farmers into an expanding the development organization in promoting organics market can lower farm-gate prices for organics. Organic agriculture has been promoted producers, similar to the processes of “convention- and financed in Global South contexts such as alization” identified in North American and Cambodia through development agencies and European organic sectors (Guthman, 2004). In NGOs as a development intervention, in contrast Cambodia, Thavat (2011) finds that for “de facto” to its spread in the Global North largely through organic farmers (i.e., “traditional” farmers who do farmer-to-farmer adoption with market incentives not use agricultural chemicals and gain organic and some government support (Vandergeest, 2011). certification on the basis of their existing farming Organic sectors in the Global South are still part of system), labor requirements increased while price the broader global food system, and geared largely premiums were minimal, and the increased labor toward supplying food for niche-market consumers requirements could potentially keep households in the Global North and Southern urban elites, but from accessing off-farm opportunities. Thavat historical contexts of colonialism and ongoing concludes that organic agriculture development inequality in trade and global power relations are projects amongst de facto farmers “seems an central to the experience in the South (Friedberg & absurd way to go about promoting “development” Goldstein, 2011). Gaps between farmer needs and — paying paltry premiums to marginally increase desires and the mandates of development agencies, the viability of precarious livelihoods” (p. 296). I as well as divergent understandings of the value of build on Thavat’s (2011) work in Cambodia by farming as a livelihood, can shape the experiences looking not only at de facto organic farmers but of farmers in organic projects (Friedberg & Gold- rather at a diversity of approaches and farming stein, 2011;Li, 2007). The development sector is systems, which shows that organics can both particularly influential in Cambodia, as the donor promote and impede poverty reduction. Thavat agencies and NGOs that proliferated in the post-

Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 133 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com conflict period have moved into many areas of “transition” here to imply a tautology of movement rural development, and donor agency and NGO through prescribed stages from an imagined start- attitudes toward agrarian transition — what are the ing point of a homogenous farming community problems and changes in rural Cambodia, and what (Bernstein, 1996), for rural Cambodians have long does a viable agriculture sector and broader rural survived through multiple livelihood strategies, and livelihoods look like? — shape the projects they plantation agriculture has roots in colonial rubber design. In Cambodia, these projects range from plantations. Shifting state policies alternately interventions which focus on farmers’ limited promoting smallholder land dispossession and global market opportunities, and therefore periods of land reform mean movements away promote export-focused organic rice as a niche from the land and movements back to peasant product for the European and American markets, agriculture both occur. However, the development to interventions which focus on ill health and debt of factor markets for land, capital and labor in the as barriers to well-being, and therefore promote postwar period of neoliberal restructuring, the state reduced chemical use and training in alternative support for large-scale agribusiness, and rapid methods of soil enrichment to reduce input increases in population, landlessness, and labor dependence. Given that agrarian transformations migration (table 1) signal a radically new landscape and the ways these are understood by development for rural Cambodians to negotiate. agencies and farmers have a large impact on farmer Some key features of Cambodia’s current experiences of organic agriculture, I now sketch agrarian transformation reflected in table 1 include: out the national and global shifts that are trans- forming rural life in Cambodia. • Demographic pressure and fragmentation of farms, with rapid population increase Background: Changing Rural Livelihoods contributing to shrinking land holdings, in Cambodia particularly in populous areas around the A quarter century ago, Terence Byres (1986) Tonle Sap lake and coastal zones; argued that even the “classic” cases of agrarian • Urbanization such that the proportion of transition to capitalism in Europe were diverse, and people working in agriculture and agricul- the resurgent literature on processes of agrarian ture’s share of GDP has significantly transition in Southeast Asia shows that agrarian decreased, even as the total population in transformations are not natural, linear, or inevitable; agriculture has increased due to population rather, they are compelled by specific, complex growth; forces (Hall, Hirsch, Li, 2011; Hart, Turton, & • Land grabbing and concentration of land White, 1989; Rigg, 2012). I do not use the term ownership, including the expansion of

Table 1. Cambodia Total Population, Agricultural Population, Landlessness, and Remittances

1980 (unless stated) 2005 (unless stated) Total population (millions) a 6.8 13.9 Agricultural population (millions) a 5.1 9.4 Agricultural population (% total population) a 76 68 Agriculture (% GDP) b 47 (1993) 33 Land granted to agribusiness concessions (Ha) c 2,400 (1995) 2,106,345 (2013) Landlessness (% total population) d 14 (1997) 28 (2009) International migration remittances to Cambodia (USD 12 (1996) 325 (2008) million) e

Notes: a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Statistics [FAOSTAT] (2013); b World Bank (2013); c Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights [LICADHO] (n.d.); d National Institute of Statistics [NIS] (1997; 2010a); e Kimsun (2011)

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large-scale agribusiness leases called The spatial diversity and social unevenness of “economic land concessions” (ELCs) for these processes of transition has implications for corporate agriculture and ongoing market- the viability of organic farming as a poverty reduc- based land accumulation, which contributes tion strategy. Farmers in areas accessible to urban to increased concentration of land holdings labor markets may experience labor shortages and and growing landlessness (Löhr, 2011; limited access to land, and farmers in areas with National Institute of Statistics [NIS], 2010b). economic land concessions may be reluctant to Land concessions that benefit rural areas by take up organics if they feel their tenure is insecure, increasing wage labor opportunities, even if and development agencies and NGOs may avoid they simultaneously limit land access for contested areas (and indeed, largely fail to address smallholders, although many of the conces- the broader political “land question”) given the sions are used for speculation purposes and potential for them to lose the favor of the ruling current research suggests employment is party if they are too vocal over politically sensitive limited (Üllenberg, 2009); issues. • Legacies of conflict, including colonialism, civil war, forced collectivization, genocide, Research Methodology and the violence that continued until the This research is based on qualitative semistructured late 1990s (Chandler, 2008; Heder, 1995), research with members of organic farming devel- which leave their mark in widespread rural opment initiatives in Cambodia run by three dif- poverty, low use of both chemical fertilizers ferent organizations: the German Organization for and traditional soil-enhancing techniques, Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in Kampong Thom and environmental degradation, due to Province; the Community Cooperative for Rural resource accumulation by powerful military Development (CCRD) in Pursat Province; and the and political elite; Cambodian Center for Study and Development in • A neoliberal capitalist agenda that since the Agriculture (CEDAC) NGO in Takeo and Prey 1990s has been promoted by international Veng provinces. I held semistructured interviews aid agencies and the ruling elite (Springer, of between one and four hours with 57 farmers, 2009a; 2009b) and contributes to urban- ran seven farmer focus groups, and held interviews focused growth, rising land markets, and with development agency staff and local govern- inequality (Üllenberg, 2009); ment extension personnel. I held interviews in • Migrant remittances as an increasingly im- farmers’ homes and asked about people’s experi- portant income source; this may be invested ences in the organic programs and their broader in agriculture, but households in areas with livelihood activities. In most cases I concluded established migration routes may prioritize interviews with a walk around participants’ rice migration and lack household labor for fields. During focus groups, I adapted Mayers and farming; Vermeulen’s (2005) model of power mapping, • The feminization and aging of the farm whereby farmers constructed spider diagrams of population is increasing as more young ranked issues and actors that impacted their people migrate, and women-headed and organics group, to understand the challenges elderly households become more common; farmers faced. I used these qualitative methods in and order to understand farmers’ own perceptions of • Farming’s perception as “risky,” due in their experiences with organic farming and how large part to severe flooding and droughts these meshed with their broader aspirations and that farmers perceive to be worsening, as multiple livelihoods. I did not include a compara- well as commodity and land price fluctu- tive group of conventional farmers. The study ations and exploitation by powerful therefore is not intended to be representative of interests. organic farmers beyond these groups; rather I use thematic analysis to bring out commonalities and

Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 135 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com diversity within farmer experiences. The case study certified systems, and noncertified systems). The communities were chosen in order to cover three establishment of the Cambodia Organic Agricul- main criteria: a wide geographical area with diverse ture Association (COrAA) in 2006 lent legitimacy farming conditions and infrastructure; a variety of to the sector within some areas of the government. development organizations supporting the initiatives; and a variety of quality-control approaches Organic Agriculture Development Programs (including export and domestic certified and non- in Cambodia: Three Case Studies certified systems) and trading approaches (include- Cambodian rice production is seen by development ing export, urban, local trade, and subsistence). The institutions and some parts of the government as a interviews were conducted in Khmer, either by me prime prospect for organic agriculture, and the or with the aid of my research assistant (a univer- organics sector is heavily donor-driven (COrAA, sity student in agricultural economics). Local staff 2011). Donors point to the combination of fertile of the organic initiatives helped with contacting land and the plentiful water supply from the Tonle potential research participants but were not present Sap, and the fact that although synthetic chemicals during interviews. My position as a white foreign are becoming more widespread in rice production, woman conducting research with members of many farmers still farm without using chemicals development projects presented ethical challenges, (Feuer, 2007). Donors see organics as potentially including the potential for people to see me as reducing poverty in a challenging context where aligned with the organization and to answer ques- farmers generally achieve much lower yields than tions strategically in the hope of gaining access to neighboring countries (in part due to underinvest- agency resources, as well as my need to maintain ment in agriculture and lack of irrigation and good relations with the organizations while also infrastructural development, high electricity costs, exploring the views of farmers beyond the “model” and limited access to and control over land) and farmers that the organizations usually took me to often face high debt and vulnerability to weather meet. I attempted to overcome these constraints by and market events. Rice production is a priority emphasizing (both to farmers and organizations) sector for Cambodia; production increased at 7.4 that I was an independent researcher and the percent annually from 2000 to 2010 (Food and results would be kept confidential. Where possible, Agriculture Organization of the United Nations all members of a village organic group were inter- [FAO], 2013). The Cambodian government has a viewed, either one-on-one or as part of a focus contradictory stance toward organic production: group. In order to understand how social stratifi- On one hand, the government supports the cation related to people’s experiences of organic development of organic smallholder production for agriculture, I attempted to include an equal number self-consumption and export to become the “green of female and male farmers and farmers of various farm” of Asia, and is part of the new ASEAN wealth levels. regional organic guidelines currently under discus- This research was undertaken in 2007, with sion1; but since the food crisis in 2008, attention follow-up interviews with development agency has shifted to boosting conventional exports and staff in 2012. The gap of several years since the gaining revenue through large scale land conces- initial research allows me to incorporate sectoral sions (COrAA, 2011). The COrAA (2011) esti- changes since the study; also, the year 2007 is mates that the organic sector is small but growing, particularly instructive for a discussion of organics with around 8,500 farmers cultivating rice in Cambodia as this period was concurrently one of organically as part of organic producer groups, and a shift away from agriculture-based livelihoods and a rapid growth in organic agriculture development 1 programs. I identified more than 30 NGOs and The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Standard for Organic Agriculture (ASOA) is due to be development agencies promoting some kind of finalized in 2014. It is designed to cover all agricultural organic agriculture or sustainable agriculture pro- croperatives. See http://unfss.files.wordpress.com/2013/ gram in 2007 (including both domestic and export 04/organic_unfss.pdf

136 Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com more than 110,000 farmers implementing some capacity of local government and local NGOs, organic techniques. Before discussing the specific focusing on building horizontal networks benefits and limitations of organic agriculture in (organizing farmers in groups) and vertical this context, I first outline each of the three case networks (linking farmers to wholesalers, retailers, studies. I do not suggest that any one of these cases and consumers) (Schmerler, 2006). constitutes a model success story; rather I present all three cases in order to show the heterogeneity Community Cooperative for Rural Development within organic agriculture projects and the central (CCRD) role of the development organization in structuring CCRD is a Cambodian NGO involved in the potential for the projects to either reduce or postconflict reconstruction in Pursat province, entrench poverty. which moved into organic rice (with funding from Oxfam Quebec) to increase farmer incomes German Federal Development Agency (GTZ) through the sale of certified organic rice to North Rural Development Program America and Europe. The NGO originally The German federal development agency (GTZ, promoted organic rice as a way to increase incomes now GIZ) was the major player developing the through price premiums to the farmers they were export organic rice market at the time of research already working with, who were mainly through its Rural Development Program (RDP), conventional farmers. CCRD provided rice seed on with projects involving 700 farmers in two credit, and farmers were promised premiums of 5 provinces (Kampong Thom and Kampot). The percent for the first year of organic conversion, GTZ initiative aimed to create an organic supply and up to 20 percent for fully converted organic chain for organic rice farmers producing for the systems. However, at the time of my research, export market. The first farmers in Kampong CCRD had ceased promoting organic rice Thom became export-certified in 2006. However, cultivation to most of these farmers, as the farmers GTZ did not manage to establish regular exports had experienced difficulties converting their during the project time frame (five years) and the farming systems to fully organic (in line with project was eventually discontinued. The inability European Union and U.S. requirements). to export was seen by one project staff member I The CCRD director told me that “after trying interviewed to be due primarily to corruption to convert farmers who used chemicals and finding within the rice supply chain in Cambodia, a lack of it too hard to convert most, we decided to focus private-sector actors willing to be involved, poor on families who were not using chemicals — infrastructure, and farmers not honoring contracts. farmers near the mountains where chemicals had During the project time frame, most of the organic not reached, because they are already organic.” rice produced was marketed through local channels CCRD found new farmers who were farming and through a brand (“Saravan”) that was sold at traditional systems (i.e., they were not using syn- markets in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh and gained thetic chemicals) in remote districts of the province, farmers a 10-percent premium price above local and at the time of the research approximately 200 prices for conventional rice. farmers were involved. These farmers were ostensi- The GTZ strategy was to create a private- bly provided with minimal training in composting, sector value chain for organic rice, which would although more than half the farmers I spoke with connect farmers to high-value niche markets in the told me they had not received any training. The Global North. This strategy was framed as poverty NGO director considered “traditional” systems to reduction through trade, with “a more diversified be synonymous with “organic” rice systems despite and market-oriented form of agricultural small- the fact that many farmers who had resettled in the scale production together with the development of area postconflict told me that much knowledge of the agro-industry as the best way out of poverty for soil-enhancement techniques had been lost in the Cambodia” (Schmerler, 2006, p. 1). GTZ aimed to more than 20 years of conflict, or that they did not develop a functioning private sector and build the have time, energy or livestock resources to produce

Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 137 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com and gather manure or use other means to enhance stationed in different regions and organizing fertility. The farmers I spoke with who were no techniques and marketing activities with specific longer involved with the project were bitter, and farmer members (although the overall organiza- one farmer told me that she had adapted her farm- tional vision is communicated in a top-down ing system with the expectation of receiving a 20 approach, which is well critiqued by Feuer (2009)). percent premium for her farm’s rice, but now the This strategy means that growing techniques and organization had pulled out and the fragrant variety marketing activities can be tailored for specific she had planted in half her fields was not one her areas depending on farmer needs and ecological family or others at the local market were interested conditions. For example, in one village in Prey in eating. Veng Province, the CEDAC organic group com- posed of 10 women had successfully organized a Cambodian Center for Study and Development stall at the local wet market, where they took turns in Agriculture (CEDAC) transporting their produce (by bicycle) and selling The Cambodian NGO CEDAC, funded by the on behalf of the group and were able to attract German Development Service (DED), Oxfam regular price premiums for produce at the local Great Britain, and others, runs the largest organic level. Since 2009, CEDAC has begun exporting agriculture project in Cambodia. The head of rice from a producer group in Takeo (made up of CEDAC, Dr. Koma, reports that the organization approximately 250 households) to the U.S. through began in 1997 and now works with over 3,600 Lotus Foods. families in 434 organic-rice producers groups. Farmers interested in organic production receive Broadening the Debate over the Viability of Organics ongoing training through extension agents and peer In this section, I discuss the case studies presented trainers (i.e., farmers further along the organic in relation to the debate over whether organics and conversion process who are paid for their time), other agroecological approaches may benefit small- including organic techniques (such as use of holder farmers, or may instead entrench poverty by leguminous cover crops, integrated vegetable limiting other options for off-farm livelihoods or gardens, compost and Effective Micro-Organism high-input agriculture. I suggest that several production), System of Rice Intensification (SRI),2 implicit assumptions underlie much of the research savings groups, and livestock and vegetable pro- informing this debate, including the prioritization duction. CEDAC developed its own certification of short-term economics (particularly farm-gate using Internal Control System (ICS) inspection and prices) in the analysis, and the tendency to assume instituted a diverse set of marketing activities for farmers are a homogenous category of rational the surplus rice and other produce households economic actors who may freely move to non- produced, including forming producer coopera- agricultural pursuits or into high-input agriculture. I tives to exchange vegetables from home gardens, structure the discussion by drawing out four assisting farmers in opening stalls selling organic themes from my case studies that show how the produce at local wet markets,3 and developing a debate can be broadened through greater attention brand, “Natural Agri-Products” (NAP), which is to people’s diverse (and often non-economic) sold through CEDAC-owned shops in Phnom reasons for pursuing various livelihood options, Penh and Siem Reap. CEDAC has a fairly decen- and to the wider economic, social, and political tralized strategy that involves field officers contexts that structure people’s choices.

1. Going beyond “homo economicus” to 2 System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a collection of understand why people choose to farm techniques for enhancing rice productivity, under conditions organically. of little or no chemical fertilizers. See http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/ 3 Wet markets are a collection of stalls selling fresh meat and A focus on enlarging urban and off-farm produce (differentiated from dry markets which sell durable opportunities for rural people assumes that people goods like cloth and electronics). want to leave rural areas and that — like the “homo

138 Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com economicus” rational, self-interested actor who can make ends meet, they would choose to keep their freely choose between livelihood options — there family together in the village. When I asked are plentiful opportunities into which people move. farmers what was most important in their idea of a This assumption is challenged by the growing “good life,” the majority of people (regardless of movements of people around the world who are gender, wealth, or land ownership (whether renting mobilizing against the conventional food system or owning their plot)) spoke of their desire for self- and defending their rights to a peasant life sufficiency in terms of growing enough rice to feed (McMichael, 2008; 2010); the increasing number of their family.5 Growing “enough rice” meant more protests in Cambodia over land grabs in recent than just providing food; people talked about the years are testament to this (Schneider, A. E., 2010). ability to obtain health care, give their children an Certainly, some rural people — particularly young education and a big wedding ceremony, maintain people — dream of city life and leaving the livestock, enable them to remain in the countryside, physical, isolated work of farming, and I do not save as a kind of insurance policy in times of need, suggest a romantic vision that all rural people have and provide offerings for the Wat (temple). There a primordial attachment to the land. However, were interesting contradictions between people’s research from Cambodia shows that in many cases, desire to stay on the land and the desire for their people leave land-based livelihoods because they children to be educated and gain a position in the feel there is no other choice, rather than from a city. Migration remittances from family members desire to leave (FitzGerald & Sovannarith, 2007; working in the city or in Thailand or Vietnam were Schneider, H., 2011). The organic farmers in my a key aspect of many of the farmer’s livelihoods study expressed a desire to maintain their farm and and these were sometimes seen as allowing families a fear that indebtedness and sickness would cause to stay on their land. While some interviewees them to sell their land.4 I asked research partici- (particularly the teenage daughters of farmers in pants how they balanced farm and off-farm liveli- areas close to Phnom Penh) spoke of their desire hoods and why they continued to farm rather than to move to the city, others were concerned that city leaving the area as some of their neighbors did. life was a trap, for “people think there are jobs in Despite talking about the hard life of a farmer, construction or factories, but they don’t find any many farmers said they did not want to go to the and end up living on the street or coming back city and wage labor would only be spent on buying here with nothing because they sold their land” rice for the family; for example, one farmer from (Pursat, female). Stories abounded in several Takeo expressed a sentiment I heard many times villages about relatives or neighbors who had gone during my research: “If we did not [farm] we’d all to the city and failed to find work or been sent have to work as laborers and we would spend the back with debts to pay, yet the redecorated houses, income on food anyway” (Takeo, male). Many motorbikes, and other status symbols of some farmers said that the land and rice itself had value families that received remittances were testament that was beyond a food source or economic to the economic benefits of migration for some. commodity. In one village in Takeo with proximity These contradictions reflect in part the limited off- to Phnom Penh’s labor market, where the majority farm job opportunities in many urban areas of of households said at least one family member Southeast Asia (Li, 2011), and growing under- lived away from the area for work opportunities, employment, 3D6 jobs, and urban slums. While many people articulated that if they could just unemployment is still relatively low in Cambodia (NIS, 2010b), this is changing as the population age 4 This is not to suggest that this research is representative of all rural people in Cambodia; this is a self-selecting group of farming households whose desire to maintain the viability of 5 Other common sentiments were a desire for good health, their farm is strong enough to engage in the organic project. control over their future, overcoming vulnerability, access to However, this research involved seven communities from land, control over how and what they grew, and freedom from various parts of the country, showing that the desire to dependence on others. maintain a land-based livelihood is significant. 6 Dirty, dangerous, and demeaning (Connell, 1993).

Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 139 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com structure7 and urban migration mean that 300,000 CEDAC extension officer enjoyed a close relation- young people each year are entering the labor force ship with local political leaders who supported the (NIS, 2010b). Access to urban employment is also group), and through meeting a local trader as a structured by people’s location; in Pursat Province group at one of the farmer’s houses. I found that farmers in a roadside village had a One farmer newly converting to organic in a much higher level of migration than farmers in noncertified CEDAC project in Takeo reported villages further away from the paved road. A fre- that her yield had decreased slightly and the prices quent lament among many farmers in my study was received for her rice had not changed, so her the lack of income-earning opportunities in the income was down from the previous year, but she village that might allow them to pursue own-farm noted, “when we include chemical expenses, we and local off-farm livelihoods. Agrarian concerns used to spend 300,000 riel, and now we use our were at the heart of many farmers’ conceptions of own compost and buy some dung for a cost of the “good life” in my research and were not 100,000r. So we are making 50,000r [US$12.50] expressed by participants as contradictions to their more now and I think our yields will increase.” desires for their children to have an education and This farmer was one of only three farmers in my a job in the city. Farmers expressed a desire to have study who said that yields had decreased (the other choices in planning their livelihoods rather than two were members of the CCRD initiative); most feeling they have no choice but to leave the land. farmers (45 of 57 farmers) observed the productivity of their farms had increased since organic 2. Going beyond farm-gate price to assess conversion. This is significant given that debate broader economic and non-economic impacts. over yield in organic agriculture rages on, with Analyzing farm-gate price alone in a context of recent review studies assessing the global potential uncertain organic price premiums can lead to a for organics to “feed the world” coming to conclusion that there is a negligible income benefit contradictory conclusions (Badgeley et al., 2007; from organics. In my study, however, many Seufert, Ramankutty & Foley, 2012). This study farmers reported increased household incomes was not a systematic comparison with conventional through either lessening dependence on external farmer plots, and favorable weather conditions in purchased inputs and/or increasing productivity in many areas in the season preceding the study rice fields. Farmers with certification or a regular meant rice yields generally improved nationally; organization-sourced market outlet did receive however, farmers with both conventional and price premiums of 10 percent (for CEDAC rice organic fields also reported that their organic fields and vegetables) and up to 20 percent (for fully were producing higher yields than their conven- certified rice in GTZ and CCRD initiatives). For tional fields.8 Large yield increases were experi- some farmers this price premium meant increased enced by CEDAC farmers converting from income of US$50–US$150 for the season (although traditional systems where no soil improvement note that these premiums were not realized long- techniques were previously used, to organic sys- term, as the following section explains). Most tems utilizing organic compost and SRI production noncertified farmers did not receive price premiums for their produce, although in two CEDAC 8 farmer groups, farmers were able to negotiate This should not be taken as a general causative finding, as this is not a statistical study and was based on a relatively small slightly higher prices (10 percent over market price) group of farmers through recall of yields. Several points at a group stall at the local wet market (not inci- should be kept in mind when discussing yield increases: where dentally, this was in a town where the local other alternative production methods, such as SRI, were introduced in conjunction with organic systems, yields may be higher; a number of farmers have increased and diversified 7 Cambodia experienced a post-conflict baby boom in the their production (for example, growing vegetables where 1980s that has produced a rapid population increase (from 8 before they grew only rice); and weather was favorable in some million in 1998 to 14 million in 2008 (NIS, 2010b), and an age areas over the 2005–06 growing season, and therefore yields structure weighed heavily toward young people. may be higher because of environmental factors.

140 Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com techniques. Some farmers converting from conven- food-secure since joining the organics initiatives.9 tional systems (where chemical inputs were previ- Farmers in the CEDAC projects (where integrated ously used) also reported experiencing yield home vegetable gardening and fish production in increases. The most common reasons farmers gave organic rice fields was promoted alongside organic for higher yields included (from those most often rice techniques) reported greater nutritional mentioned): the use of compost, more care taken diversity due to the ability to grow more vegetables in weeding, the use of SRI methods, raising the for eating and from selling premium-priced and/or banks around the rice field to retain organic larger amounts of farm produce, which allowed fertilizer, ploughing in crop remains, digging ponds, families to buy more protein-rich food. Although access to seed, and investing in other resources these farmers did not include non-rice production such as cattle. The CCRD project was the only site in their yield estimates, the multiple crops grown in where yields did not generally improve, and this and around rice fields were important sources of appeared to be due to the minimal changes in diversified diets and incomes. farming systems; as noted above, most farmers An additional non-economic benefit pointed were not using soil-enhancement techniques (as out by many farmers was greater community many said they had received no training), and many collaboration with other farmers in the organic of the poorest households did not own sufficient project. Farmers said relations with neighbors in livestock to produce manure, or lacked land or the organics group had improved as they attended labor due to increased migration for wage work. trainings and meetings together, and shared farmer Beyond economic aspects, decades of research innovations for new organic techniques and ideas on the multiple dimensions of poverty and well- for diversifying into vegetable production, being indicate that non-economic facets of poverty mushroom cultivation, and off-season cropping. are central, although these are often downplayed in Farmers also reported joining the organics groups research due to the difficulty in quantifying them for political and social status in their communities, and the tendency to see economics as overly including connections with urban and international determining (Sen, 1999). In this study, when I organizations, access to material resources such as asked people about the greatest benefit to them of discounted seeds, and free meals at training farming organically, the majority of farmers sessions. converting from conventional farming systems cited an improvement in health. Many farmers said 3. Going beyond the homogenous farmer to they experienced fewer incidences of dizziness, understand who benefits and who loses. stomach problems, diarrhea, vomiting, and The diversity of interests, resources, and power in headaches. Considering that many farmers in local communities is often underemphasized in Cambodia are reported to experience chemical research that examines farmers as a homogenous poisoning due to improper use of agrochemicals group (Scoones, 2009). In this study, while farmers (Environmental Justice Foundation [EJF], 2002), in a range of initiatives could potentially benefit this result perhaps is not surprising. Some believed through increased prices, yields, and non-economic this was due to relief from chemical poisoning, benefits, labor constraints and access to resources while others felt the health improvements were due had a large influence over who joined organic to a more nutritious, protein-rich diet. Some projects and who benefitted. Just over half (31 of farmers reported fewer hospital visits, which they 57) the farmers I interviewed perceived labor to said enabled them to save money, while others increase under organic systems, with labor-heavy reported more hospital visits as they now had the income to seek cures for chronic illness. All 9 farmers in the CEDAC and GTZ initiatives, and Twenty-three (of 57) farmers interviewed said they did not have enough rice previously and could now fully support their several in the CCRD initiative, said they were more families with enough rice for the entire year. Others had improved by a smaller degree; a minority had always been able to support their family.

Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 141 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com tasks cited as nursery preparation, weeding, and headed households in two CEDAC initiatives said compost preparation (agreeing with Scialabba & that the organic systems (in which they used SRI Hattam, 2002; International Fund for Agricultural planting methods) required less heavy work as Development [IFAD], 2003). All three NGO- young seedlings were lighter to pull and transplant, sponsored projects tended to exclude the poorest, and that this enabled them to cultivate even though most marginalized people in the community, as the men in the household were working in Phnom well as the wealthiest; the majority of farmers in all Penh. SRI methods are not synonymous with projects described themselves as “poor” or “mid- organic agriculture, but appear to work well in dle income” rather than “poorest.” At a basic level, organic and low-input systems in Cambodia in order to join the initiatives farmers required (although the benefits of SRI are widely debated in access to land and a certain security of tenure, and the broader literature ((Uphoff, 2004), and these sufficient labor (or ability to hire labor), which findings suggest that more research into the meant that households with little or no agricultural abilities for SRI methods to reduce labor land, and no available labor, could not benefit. I requirements in organic systems be pursued did not find that farmers in areas more accessible (Resurreccion, Sajor, & Sophea, 2008)). to Phnom Penh or other urban labor markets were less likely to join the organics initiatives due to 4. Understanding the roles of diverse labor shortages, but this was perhaps due to donor development actors. or NGO decisions to site projects in areas with less I selected these three case studies in part to disrupt urban migration. As one NGO extension agent an assumption that organic is equated with a told me, he was “not promoting the organic rice romanticized notion of traditional farming or a programs in this area [close to the National road to certain strategy of export-certified, long-distance Phnom Penh] anymore. People in this village are all trade. The farmers profiled here all considered going to the city to work, and the old people don’t themselves to be organic farmers, but their want to take it up.” In all study areas, I noted that marketing and certification strategies differed older farmers whose children had moved away to significantly, and this has implications for whether the city said that labor shortages for some jobs organics could be considered a benefit or a were acute. The projects did not tend to attract “poverty trap.” A common concern in the litera- upwardly mobile households where multiple adult ture is the potential for organic certification to household members had full-time off-farm income come with high costs for farmers, and to be sources, and some non-adopting households I inappropriate for local ecological and social spoke with said they did not have the on-farm contexts (Friedberg & Goldstein, 2011; Melo & labor necessary to be part of the organics initiatives, Wolf, 2007). In this study, more than half the nor the resources to hire labor. Many farmers, farmers in the export-certified groups said they felt however, noted no change in labor, or a reduction that certification was a benefit to them, due to in labor requirements under organic systems. This perceived increased trust and access to lucrative was particularly the case where SRI techniques markets. However, one central issue with certifi- were taught as part of the organic training (indeed, cation was financial cost; the annual payment for for many of the farmers in CEDAC’s Takeo an external inspector for the GTZ and CCRD project, they equated “SRI” with “organic,” as projects was estimated by different groups to be CEDAC encouraged all its organic farmers to use between US$500–US$2,000 per day for up to three SRI techniques). One focus group had a heated days of inspection (plus their travel costs from discussion about whether organic farming Germany). The development agencies were paying increased or decreased labor requirements. Some this cost at the time of research, but this left the said the SRI method of transplanting young farmers in a vulnerable position as they felt there seedlings was easier than traditional methods and was no way they could finance the certification argued that this offset the extra labor required for costs for the long term. As one GTZ employee compost and weeding in organic systems. Women- said, “in future if nobody steps in to take over

142 Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com certification costs then it’s over.” Many farmers ability of farmers with unsuitable land to join the said internal inspections (carried out in CEDAC projects. Indeed, two farmers said they could not villages practicing ICS certification) were more produce organic rice to sell to the association in the effective than external inspections, due to per- current season because the seed variety was not ceived higher levels of trust between internal suited to their land. Several farmers said that these inspectors and farmers, the ability to monitor the varieties were not what they or others in their local farm year-round, and more flexible certification area were accustomed to eating, and that they were requirements. The dangers of reliance on external not suitable for using in some staple dishes. Most funding were illustrated during the 2008 recession, farmers therefore grew the fragrant varieties as when CEDAC lost a key loan and was unable to cash crops but continued to grow traditional purchase much of the rice it had planned to varieties for household consumption and local (COrAA, 2011), and in the case of GTZ and markets. CCRD, farmers were unable to maintain their The case studies show that the ideology and certified status and networks when project funding objectives of the development agency have a large ended (COrAA 2011). bearing on farmer experiences. The tendency to One requirement for GTZ and CCRD export “depoliticization” that often describes develop- certification that was not included in CEDAC ment projects (Li, 2007) was observed in all three certification was the need to convert the entire projects, as the development organizations’ farm to an organic system. Many farmers were not tendency to focus on reporting and donor-driven in compliance with this requirement at the time of accountability limited the ability of development research, as they preferred to minimize risk by agents to work with marginalized groups and to converting only a part of their system, and off- acknowledge broader non-economic values. season crops such as cassava were more difficult to However, the CEDAC project is notable in this grow organically. Some farmers felt that a second regard because of the initial ideology guiding the requirement for the construction of “buffer zones” project’s design, which was rooted in notions of around organic rice fields in order to prevent farmer independence, health, and food security chemical pollution from other fields was difficult through household production, and allowed for a to comply with. In one of the GTZ project broader definition of success than simply fulfilling villagers, a farmer told me she had pulled out of export shipments. Whereas other projects focused the project as she was one of the poorest farmers from the beginning on developing organics as a in the village and her rice land was in a flood-prone niche market for the Global North, CEDAC’s area, where it was impossible to prevent water approach to first building household food security contamination from the neighboring conventional and local markets meant that farmers had access to fields. A further requirement to grow fragrant more diverse marketing strategies and were less varieties in certified systems in all three organiza- vulnerable to dependence on volatile long-chain tions also limited the ability for some farmers to markets. benefit. Development staff said fragrant varieties (including Phkar Roumdoul and Phkar Malis) were Suggestions for Further Research essential for entering niche markets, and some This study could only give a snapshot of farmers’ farmers felt that the availability of these quality experiences, and while I attempted to move away seeds was one of the biggest benefits of the from an economistic view of organic agriculture’s organics initiatives because they fetched higher benefits and costs, lack of time meant I was not prices at distant markets and with some local able to pursue long-term ethnographic research traders. However, these are medium-duration through several growing seasons. To help us varieties that are generally grown earlier in the wet understand how households manage multiple season; as they are not as tall as long-duration livelihood sources, I suggest that further research varieties, they are vulnerable to flooding in low- focus on long-term studies on various organic elevation fields (Vang, 2011), and this limited the farming approaches in Cambodia and their

Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 143 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com relationships with nonfarm livelihoods and broader in those projects were able to increase their food structural changes in rural areas. The ambiguous security and incomes through a variety of tech- results for labor requirements under organic niques and market channels, as well as diversify systems should be further examined, particularly their farming systems. the reasons why farmers experience increases or Do any of these benefits really matter, though, decreases in labor requirements and the gender if they only earn farmers US$50–US$100 extra per dimensions of labor burden. Research on tech- season, while sending a family member to Phnom nologies that may reduce labor burden (including Penh to work in garment factories could net SRI and cooperatively owned tractors and other US$50–US$100 per month? The evidence pre- implements) should be pursued to understand their sented here shows that while organic farming is a impacts on farmers with different resource levels. successful strategy for some households to My research was limited to social impacts, and improve the viability of land-based livelihoods, it is more work is needed on the ecological potential not a panacea for rural poverty in Cambodia by for organics to reduce long-term vulnerability to itself. I found it to be inaccessible to households weather events and economic crises in various with inadequate labor and land, and some farmers regions of the country. Finally, comparative said labor costs increased and certification research with farmers in areas with high labor compliance was difficult. The limitations of the mobility (e.g., roadside and border villages) and development project as a delivery mechanism and more remote areas will clarify the relationship the underlying structural inequalities that remain between uneven agrarian transitions and farmer unchallenged also limit organic agriculture’s experiences of organics. transformative potential. However, interviewees expressed uncertainty about other livelihood Conclusion: Pursuing Organic Agriculture options in some areas, and many of them desired Within a Re-Envisioning of Rural Spaces to continue farming while pursuing multiple in the Global South livelihood strategies. In addition, the non- Overall, my analysis shows that participation in economic benefits reported (such as better health, organic farming projects is a successful strategy for debt reduction, and stronger community ties) some households, but it is not a panacea for rural suggests that any answer to whether organic poverty in Cambodia. Direct economic benefits are agriculture reduces or entrenches poverty is uncertain; non-economic benefits, broader con- complex. texts of uneven agrarian transition, and develop- If organic agriculture is pursued as part of a ment agency approaches have a large bearing on comprehensive rural-development strategy that the poverty-reduction potential of organics. No focuses on diverse elements such as land redistri- development project initiated and managed by bution, extension, health and education services, people external to a community — and funded by and rural employment opportunities, organics can agencies even further spatially and ideologically be a vital part of a set of livelihood choices for removed — is likely to be completely empowering rural people. Considering the likelihood of or sustainable for farmers. Indeed, as the three case continuing fluctuations and price increases in fuel studies presented here show, organic agriculture costs and chemical inputs, as well as in transpor- development projects have the potential to increase tation, the notion of promoting “modernized” dependence on external development agents and agriculture as the way to address farmer poverty exposure to volatile international markets. How- and food security is troubling from a long-term ever, these case studies also illustrate the potential perspective. Finally, considering that rural people for organic agriculture development projects to may not want to leave a farming livelihood, and that have positive outcomes for farmers. The CEDAC rice has value beyond as a foodstuff that can be projects in particular can be seen as most closely purchased, I suggest that the terms of the question aligned with an agro-ecological understanding that I posed in this paper need to be altered. We need values diversity and farmer knowledge, and farmers to move beyond asking whether organics is viable

144 Volume 4, Issue 2 / Winter 2013–2014 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com in a context of rapid transition out of agriculture. families in transition. World Development, 39(1), Instead, we need to ask how we can support rural 134–145. communities to be viable, vibrant places, with http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.08.005 ecologically sustainable food production at the Bernstein, H. (1996). Agrarian questions then and now. center of diverse local economies that provide a Journal of Peasant Studies, 24(1–2), 22–59. variety of land-based and off-farm livelihood http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03066159608438630 opportunities for people. Within this vision, Beuchelt, T. D., & Zeller, M. (2011). Profits and poverty: organic agriculture can play a significant role. Certification’s troubled link for Nicaragua’s organic and fairtrade coffee producers. Ecological Economics, Acknowledgements 70(7), 1316–1324. This research was supported by a Sasakawa Young http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.01.005 Leaders Fellowship from the Tokyo Foundation. Byres, T. J. (1986). The agrarian question, forms of capitalist agrarian transition and the state: An essay References with reference to Asia. Social Scientist, 14(11/12), Akram-Lodhi, A. H., & Kay, C. (2010a). Surveying the 3–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3517162 agrarian question (part 1): Unearthing foundations, Cambodia Organic Agriculture Association [CorAA]. exploring diversity. Journal of Peasant Studies, 37(1), (2011). Organic agriculture and food processing in 177–202. Cambodia: Status and potentials. Phnom Penh: Author. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03066150903498838 Retrieved from http://www.coraa.org/ Akram-Lodhi, A. H., & Kay, C. (2010b). Surveying the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of agrarian question (part 2): Current debates and Human Rights [LICADHO]. (n.d). The great beyond. Journal of Peasant Studies, 37(2), 255–284. Cambodian giveaway: Visualizing land concessions over time. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03066151003594906 Retrieved September 8, 2013, from http://www. Allen, P., & Kovach, M. (2000). The capitalist licadho-cambodia.org/concession_timelapse/ composition of organic: The potential of markets in Chandler, D. (2008). A history of Cambodia. Boulder, fulfilling the promise of organic agriculture. Colorado: Westview Press. Agriculture and Human Values, 17(3), 221–232. Connell, J. (1993). Kitanai, kitsui and kiken: The rise of labor http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1007640506965 migration to Japan. Sydney: Economic and Regional Araya, H., & Edwards, S. (2004). The Tigray experience: A Restructuring Unit, University of Sydney. success story in sustainable agriculture (Environment and Environmental Justice Foundation [EJF]. (2002). Death Development Series No. 4). Penang, Malaysia: in small doses: Cambodia’s pesticides problems and solutions. Third World Network. Retrieved from London: Author. Retrieved from http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/end/pdf/ http://ejfoundation.org/pesticides/death_in_small end04.pdf _doses Bacon, C. (2005). Confronting the coffee crisis: Can fair Feuer, H. (2007). Sustainable agricultural techniques and trade, organic, and specialty coffees reduce small- performance oriented empowerment: An actor network theory scale farmer vulnerability in northern Nicaragua? approach to CEDAC agricultural and empowerment World Development, 33(3), 497–511. programmes in Cambodia (unpublished report). Oxford: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.10.002 Oxford Department of International Development, Badgley, C., Moghtader, J., Quintero, E., Zakem, E., University of Oxford. Chappell, M. J., Avilés-Vázquez, K.,…Perfecto I. FitzGerald, I., & Sovannarith, S. (2007). Moving out of (2007). Organic agriculture and the global food poverty? Trends in community well-being and household supply. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 22(2), mobility in nine Cambodian villages. Phnom Penh: 86–108. Cambodia Development Resource Institute [CDRI]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1742170507001640 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Barham, B. L., & Callenes, M. (2011). Fair Nations [FAO]. (2013). FAO Statistical Yearbook Trade/organic coffee, rural livelihoods, and the 2013: World Food and Agriculture. Rome: Author. “agrarian question”: Southern Mexican coffee Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/ i3107e/i3107e00.htm

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