F-SIRD

Assignment Name: Food Security and Integrated Rural Development – F-SIRD

Country: Cambodia

Location within Country: 6 districts in Takeo and 1 district in Kampot

Professional Staff Provided by PDAO: three (3)

Donor: HEKS Swiss Interchurch Aid Organization

No. of Staff: twelve (12)

Address: house #23, street 574/331, Sangkat Boengkak II, Khan Tuol Kouk, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

No. of Staff-Months:

Duration of Assignment: 36 months

Start Date (Month/Year)

January 01, 2005

Completion Date

December 30, 2007

Approx. Value of Services: USD 271,285.00

Name of Associated Consultants: None

Narrative Description of Project:

Funded by HEKS Swiss Interchurch Aid, PDAO had continued the implementation of food security and integrated rural development programme (F-SIRD) started in July 2005 in 5 district of Takeo and 1 district of Kampot; however this program was implemented by HEKS since 1996.  All programme activities were handed-over from HEKS Swiss Interchurch Aid. Varieties of project activity were integrated for community development program; of which seven (7) main project components and sub-activities were in choice. The components were: Sustainable Agriculture (SA), Water System (WS), Micro-Credit and Income Generation for Women Empowerment (MC&IGWE), Rural Industry Enterprise (RIE), Health and Nutrition Resource Improvement Campaign (H&NRIC), Community Organizational Building and Empowerment (COB&E), and Disaster Preparedness (DP). The main objectives are to support the small families in the target communities increase nutrition and annual cash incomes, to develop practical skills and to improve technical service at rural communities, and to develop strong self help groups for their long term development by their own responsibilities.

Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture is one of the programs which intents to add more diversity of domestic trees which would give permanent fruits, soil-fertilization and good environment to the existing farm ecology for food sustainability and continuous income of the households for the whole year. The program can be implemented by increasing numbers of animals, poultry and fowl productions. Besides that, it adds also the frequency of nutritious secondary crop production for food and income in household level. To get this goal, we have conducted specific education and skill building directly to farmers as well as operation team by strengthening their understanding in food production and other capacities that are useful for building up extension programs specifically project called: Limited Area Maximum Production (LAMP).

LAMP is the “as diverse as possible, environment enhancing and economically viable system of food crops cultivation and income generation, year-round”. It usually consists of three intra-acting components. (1) Cultivation of permanent (fruit, nitrogen-fixing and other) trees. (2) Cultivation of secondary relay and/or mixed crops. (3) Integrated animal husbandry, i.e. livestock, poultry, fowl, swine, etc. Animal husbandry produces meat, eggs and organic fertilizer.

LAMP completes a two-fold function. (1) Households produce and keep adequate nutrition-specific, plus healthful source of food. (2) Extra income from surplus of fruits, vegetables, swine and poultry being raised and sold.

Water System

In this program, we have provided water hand pumps, drilling open wells, and water pedal pump to get sufficient fresh water source to ensure that fresh water is provided to all members and other supplementary uses of the water were available. The pumps were installed in the selected areas and dams, canal and water gates were supported to guarantee flood affected by the Mekong River as well as contributed for better irrigation system. The aims of provision of drilling water wells, water hand/pedal pump are to: (i) To have ready available water for domestic and kitchen use and for irrigation fruit trees and secondary crops planted in the home yard recipients farmers and group users which they are households (HH) with children under five years old, disadvantages groups, and other residential households, (ii) To increase availability and accessibility of supply of nutritious food for recipients farmers and group users especially HH with children under five years old, and (iii) To reduce illness incidence of recipients farmers and group users as well as HH with children under five years old. In assuring well project management, the water project committee was established, they were responsible for well maintains record of all financial matters (contribution fees), minutes of meeting, record of membership shall be establish/install and observe. The primary CBO councils will be in charge of project supervision. However, the group leader and group members are the primarily assign to this tasks.

PDAO has continues to strengthen the water project management committee in 56 villages in 19 communes in Takeo and Kampot province with total of 145 units of water hand pump, 136 units of water open wells, and 75 units of water pedal pump exist. However, within 2005 to 2007, PDAO has had provided a number of drilling water wells, water hand pump, and water pedal pump which it totally of 181 units of water hand pump, 140 units of water open wells, and 55 units of water pedal pump were installed within three years and presently functioning. Additionally, the repair and construction of canal and dam were also provided in Takeo province as food for work, total of two line of canal with 4500 meters length and one line of dam with 350 meters length.

Micro-credit and income generation for women empowerment

Micro-credit program was divided into two distinctive projects; rice seed credit bank project supplied seed during planting season which benefit as food and income while cash credit bank used for swine raising, basket making, bed making, fishing net making and loom weaving and other alternatively activities initiated by beneficiaries. At the end of each cycle, they will use for continuing reinvestment and providing more seed capital to households in order to increase income and create surplus for reinvestment. This component mainly contributing jobs creation for those jobless people in which it encourages them to working at home rather than migration to working across province, town, and/or to another countries where they might risky with human trafficking or elsewhere.

Women are mainly playing important role in these particular income generating activities which we believe on economic power relation in which women could access more power and voices through they have more work that could led them generated higher income in their family. Furthermore, women had more opportunity to participate in the social activities such as becoming a CBO’s member as well as CBO’s leader through practical skill and knowledge gained from the projects.

This current year, PDAO is joining operation of Micro-Credit project with two provincial associations called: Association for Peace and Progress of Farmers in Takeo and Kampot (APFF-TK and APFF-KP) where it initiates a capital with approximately of more than 500 million Cambodian Riel (CR) then therefore today it increases up to about more than 800 million CR through its own capital build up (CBU) within a period of 1999 until present. All these capital was currently operating with more than one thousand families where it includes individual and group loan

Rural Industry Enterprise

RIE project supports blacksmith makers to improve the quality of farm tools production in the four existing blacksmith shops in the two provinces, Takeo and Kampot

Health and Nutrition Resource Improvement Campaign

Our health program focused on health and nutrition education to households having children of age 5 and below. We conducted monthly awareness education on primary health care especially on kinds of food that provide energy and vitamins for growing up the body, treatment and prevention from common illness and surveillance of nutritional status of children of age under five and their mother. In addition, sanitation and hygiene, in that latrines construction is an example, are also included in this project.

In sustainable way for primary awareness at the community level, village health cooperators (VHC) were identified and selected, and trained through varieties of courses related to primary health care and others commons challenges disease and infectious epidemic such as HIV/IADS, bird flu, etc. VHC playing role in awareness and promoting of health and nutrition improvement through the community as a whole and mainly focus of mother and children aged below five year-olds. Different mechanism has been practice for awareness and promotion such as: specific training, monthly food feast, monthly meeting, house-to-house follow-up and small group discussion etc.

Community Organizational Building and Empowerment

The aim of this component is to strengthen local organizational structure and leadership and empower its members, mainly focus on community based organization (CBO) at both village and provincial level. Variety of supports through training and capacity building has been implemented in different steps such as: the process of CBO formation, CBO strengthening which included CBO management and leadership, and also sustainable program development and management as well.

Disaster Preparedness

In this project, we had continued to collect repayment of the previous year rice seed from respective community to serve for emergency assistance if flood or drought occurred during the operation year. Our activities are to coordinate directly and actively with government agencies and other humanity or charity organizations in responding or addressing emergency cases might occur.

Services Provided by PDAO:

In partnership with HEKS Swiss Interchurch Aid, PDAO worked as implementation organization. Our main duties includes (i) the development of annual project proposal, including the budget for project implementation and workplan based on the planned program, (ii) the preparation of implementation plan based approved proposal and ToR to ensure the project implementation, monitoring, and evaluation are in place, (iii) the design of appropriate training sessions and implementation of the training by field coaching and mentoring to CBOs, especially Self Help Group (SHG) at all level in the respective communities, and (iv) the development of quarterly reports, case study, success stories for HEKS Cambodia.