Agriculture accounts for about 30-40% of the Cambodian GDP-only 3% of exports but about 70% of employment. The Cambodian agricultural production environment is, in general, harsher than the fertile lowlands of other South-East Asian countries. Soils are generally poor, often becoming waterlogged during the wet season, and three-quarters of the agriculture is rainfed. The predominance of rice-based farming systems on infertile, poorly structured soils means that Cambodia has rather low agricultural productivity on the basis of both labour and land area.
Water management for dryland and irrigated cropping is a particular challenge, as the flatness of many prime rice cropping areas means that it is both difficult to both control flooding through drainage management and impound water for later use in irrigation. Many farmers are able to produce only a single crop per year. Combined with the problems of low productivity, volatile yields and strong seasonality, has contributed to poor market linkages, with lack of investment in plantations and in contract farming and other arrangements. Average rice yields are only just over 2 tonnes per ha (in comparison with a national average of 5 tonnes per ha for Vietnam). Cambodia's predominantly rainfed farming systems are also highly prone to the effects of seasonal climate variability and, in the long term, impacts of climate change. It is anticipated that Cambodia will be one of four partner countries involved in a new ACIAR climate change adaptation initiative designed for implementation during 2008-09.
The overwhelming driver for most Cambodian smallholder farmers is to secure their household food production (which essentially means rice security) to avoid annual hungry periods. Before diversification strategies can be investigated and implemented, such security is critical. To improve overall labour productivity, there have been slow but significant moves to mechanisation, with introduction of small-scale equipment and the use of direct seeding for rice. For this reason, the ACIAR research program has pursued the twin objectives of assisting with rice security (managing constraints and threats to rice production) and supporting research to foster agricultural diversification. There is significant year-to-year variation in production, highlighting the dependence of Cambodian farming on rainfed systems.
The suite of current, proposed and completed projects targets research to improve rice productivity by assessing land suitability for a second rice crop, and also to develop options for the production and marketing of non-rice crops. The latter includes production and marketing systems for other field crops such as maize and legumes in upland and lowland situations, and for production and marketing options for vegetables in areas with good access to markets. Cambodia's low population density, particularly in the uplands, should provide potential for increasing ruminant livestock production. However, challenges remain in the supply of low-cost animal feed and the maintenance of product quality. Smallholder livestock are important in the Cambodian agricultural economy, and ACIAR will support research to assist control of trans-boundary diseases and increases in animal production, particularly of ruminants.
ACIAR also provided additional funding for the sixth round of the Cambodian Agricultural Research Fund (CARF) project, commencing in 2008. CARF, established in 2002 with AusAID and ACIAR funding, provides Cambodian scientists with opportunities to identify research priorities and design demand-driven agricultural research projects, and then compete for agricultural research funds and lead the selected projects. Since 2002 CARF has funded over 50 projects involving the Cambodian Agricultural R&D Institute (CARDI), Ministries, universities and nongovernment organisations.
Over the last few years ACIAR has diversified its R&D provider base in Cambodia. CARDI is expected to continue as a key research provider in the rice-based farming systems area. However, in studies of horticulture, livestock, fisheries and economics, and in assessments of community impacts from research, additional partners will be important. Considerable progress has been made in developing the scientific expertise of a number of Australian-trained Cambodian researchers who are poised to contribute significantly to the development of Cambodian agriculture. ACIAR will also maintain an emphasis on short-course training in areas such as R&D priority-setting and management, enhancing research- extension linkages, scientific proposal and report writing in English, and experimental design and analysis. This also includes training and technical assistance with production of the Cambodian Journal of Agriculture.
Australia took a major role in assisting Cambodia on its path to democracy in the early 1990s and, in doing so, pledged to provide significant development assistance over the medium term. A new $45 m, 5-year AusAIDfunded Cambodia Agriculture Value Chain Program will commence in 2008, and ACIAR will endeavour to link several of its research projects to this program. Several other donor programs in Cambodia have an agricultural and rural development focus. A National Agriculture and Water Strategy was recently developed with donor input . Where possible, ACIAR will establish linkages with other donor programs.