WB Announce Additional US$13 Million Support

By Soy Sophea

On August 4, the World Bank (WB) has announced to invest US$13 million to improve the food security in the Kingdom. The money will be put to use by increasing productivity and by making it possible for farmers to access new marketing opportunities.

According to the WB’s press statement the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance and the WB came to an agreement about using the new donation to provide food security for the poorest and most vulnerable parts of the population. The Smallholder Agriculture and Social Protection Development Policy Operation will support the efforts of the Cambodian government to minimize the effects of the increase in global food prices and the economic crisis.

Annette Dixon, World Bank Country Director commented, “Even though Cambodia is a rice exporter, the poor are highly vulnerable to high food prices and it was not clear that smallholder farmers had the needed support for them to take advantage of higher prices to produce more. We hope that this operation will reinforce the excellent work of other programs from Government, NGOs and donors supporting agriculture and social protection in Cambodia. It will also help the poor to improve their agricultural production and access to market, and to protect the most vulnerable group through better policies.”

In particular, the program sets out to ensure better oversight and regulation of agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and seeds to improve food productivity at a small farm level. It will also accelerate the registration of farmers’ groups so that individual farmers can better access credit and marketing opportunities for their crops. At the same time, the program will improve the country’s social protection systems to reach the country’s neediest people.

Since 1993 the WB has provided assistance to Cambodia for a total amount of US$916 million, including the US$13 million announced last Tuesday. US$246 million of the total was provided in the form of grants, the remaining US$670 million was donated in the form of credits.

The US$13 million is made up of an US$8 million grant from the Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP) and a US$5 million credit from IDA, the World Bank’s fund for low income countries. The GFRP, to which the Australian Government was a signifi cant contributor, is managed by the World Bank and provides financial and technical support to countries affected by the global food crisis.

The Australian Government, through AusAID, is contributing AUD$ 2.8 million for analytical and capacity building support and the design and evaluation of pilot activities to support the program. Margaret Adamson, Australian Ambassador to Cambodia stated, “We support the Cambodian Government’s focus on strengthening services for farmers - to increase productivity and also to combat poverty. The supply of better seeds and fertilizer and ensuring social safety net help reaches the poorest of the poor.”