The project area consists of the three provinces of Kratie, Preah Vihear and Ratanakiri in the northeast of Cambodia. There are 21 districts, 144 communes and 698 villages. With immigration and natural growth the population has grown rapidly in recent years and in 2004 the population was 0.55 million, or 4% of the national total. The population includes, indigenous ethnic minority groups, especially in Ratanakiri where 68% of the population is from these groups. An estimated 20% of households are female-headed. The project area is overwhelmingly rural (an urban population of 10%) and the land area represents 21% of the country with forest covering 88% of the area and agricultural land 3%. The population depends on traditional agricultural production, including shifting cultivation and forest resources for their livelihoods. (Project Target Province Maps is in appendix 1). Food insecurity in the project area is a major cause of poverty, with high rates of child malnutrition.
II. PROJECT GOAL, OBJECTIVES, AND OUTPUTS
The goal of the project is that the livelihoods of the rural poor in the targeted communes of the three provinces are improved. The project objective is that a sustainable impact on agricultural development is achieved in the targeted communes in the three provinces.
The expected outputs of the project are: (i) Farmers and communities adopt improved and sustainable farming and agricultural land management systems; (ii) Improved services delivered to the poor in a participatory and demand-driven manner; and (iii) Increased capacity for policy analysis and pro-poor policy formulation for the agricultural sector and for mainstreaming gender within the sector.
The Key File includes the project’s logical framework including verifiable indicators, means of verification and assumptions and risks at the goal, objective and output levels.
III. PROJECT COMPONENTS
The project will have two components: (i) Livelihoods Improvement; and (ii) Support for Decentralization and Deconcentration in Agriculture.
A. Livelihoods ImprovementIV. PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND EXECUTING AGENCIES
The project will focus on improving the food security of the poor and promoting agricultural diversification and market oriented agricultural development. The component will follow a self-help group approach with capacity building and support for the service providers.
The project will use the Agro-ecosystem Analysis approach as the basis for commune level planning for agricultural investment activities. There are two programs under this sub-component: livelihoods improvement groups and farming system improvement groups.
Complementary support programs that are applicable in both communities include: (i) support to commune level planning and monitoring; (ii) support for village extension workers, and village animal health workers, (iii) awareness raising in laws and regulations, (iv) gender mainstreaming; (v) support for marketing initiatives; (vi) integrated farming system demonstrations; (vii) private sector support; (viii) district fairs; (ix) establishment of Young Farmers Clubs, and (x) piloting of agro-processing enterprises.
B. Support for Decentralization and Deconcentration (D&D) in Agriculture
The component of Support for D&D in Agriculture has three sub-components: (i) Support for Provincial Agriculture Investment Program; (ii) Policy Analysis, (iii) Support for Gender Mainstreaming in Agriculture; and (iv) Learning Communities. The existing MAFF Project Support Unit will have the overall responsibility for the management, coordination and implementation of this component.
The project organization will involve the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Phnom Penh. In each of the three provinces, project implementation will involve: (i) at provincial level the provincial authorities and the Provincial Department of Agriculture and other line agencies, including the Provincial Departments of Women’s Affairs; (ii) at district level the district based staff of the provincial line agencies; (iii) in the communes the commune councils, their committees and administrations; and (iv) in the villages the self-help and user groups/associations and village-based organizations.
NGOs may be contracted to assist and train beneficiary user groups. National and provincial agencies and other projects will provide specialist technical and training support as required under contract.
For more information contact to Mr. Uy Sakun, Tel: 012 93 27 34, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text48935 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
