10 January 2023
Food systems Agroecology Cooperation and development policies and mechanisms Cambodia

From Siem Reap Province to the Hauts-de-Seine area in France, ten years of cooperation in favour of agroecology

Actualité

In Cambodia, agriculture provides employment and livelihoods for half of the labour force. Yet, food insecurity and malnutrition persist in the country. In Siem Reap, in the north-west, family farms are struggling to satisfy growing demand for natural, healthy food, and are faced with competition  from imported products.

Since 2010, the Hauts-de-Seine Departmental Council and Siem Reap Province in Cambodia have been working together to reduce food insecurity and improve the most vulnerable people’s living conditions. Two French NGOs, GRET and Agrisud, are contributing to this cooperation by conducting activities aimed at supporting sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture, and short marketing chains valorising local products and access to sufficient quantities of varied, healthy food for the population of Siem Reap, even in periods of crisis (health, climate, economic, etc.).

In concrete terms, GRET trains small family farms in agroecological techniques to produce vegetables, rice and chickens. The objective is to intensify and diversify production while reducing the use of external chemical inputs. GRET’s teams also raise populations’ awareness on best food practices. They support structuring of short market chains and producers’ organisations, for example with the creation of three cooperatives. They also develop community-based services such as agricultural advice, savings and credit, and mechanisms for peer certification of the quality of agroecological produce. Recently, the programme began working with the local authorities on a pilot project to convert green waste from a market into vermicomposting. This project supports around 1,800 people per year in 54 villages.

The Apici programme is now at a turning point, and capitalisation on more than ten years of experience and upscaling are primordial. In order to strengthen links between stakeholders in the two territories and progress towards this goal, a delegation from the Siem Reap provincial authorities visited parties involved in agroecology in France. To mark their visit, an exhibition was organised in the Parc des Chanteraines last autumn, highlighting the programme’s activities. A delegation from the Hauts-de-Seine Departmental Council travelled to Siem Reap in November 2022 to further consolidate the partnership.

Henry de Cazotte, chairperson of GRET, accompanied the Hauts-de-Seine delegation during this visit. “It is time to upscale the Apici project. If the Departmental Council’s support can be envisaged until 2028 (date of the next municipal elections), as of now we must change the project perspective with a view to making its achievements sustainable within a broader framework in Siem Reap Province  in particular. To do this, local institutions need support to identify a Cambodian steering committee, bringing together the various departments concerned: agriculture, commerce, environment, tourism and employment”.

During their visit to Siem Reap, Georges Siffredi, chairperson of the Hauts-de-Seine Departmental Council, and Marie-Laure Godin, vice-chairperson in charge of international affairs, observed the impacts of funding for cooperation in the Province . The vice-governor of the province also joined the delegation, and spoke about the importance of this programme and the many opportunities ahead within a larger-scale, consolidated partnership. 

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