UTIA IN CAMBODIA

David Ader- Office of International Programs

US Government’s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative

• ~ 800 million people suffer from chronic hunger; often rooted in poverty

• Poor nutrition costs up to 8% of potential economic growth

• ¾ of poor live in rural areas; rely on agriculture for their livelihood

Feed the Future:

• Focus on specific topics to help reduce food insecurity and increase agricultural production

Child Health: Undernourishment ■ Focus on improving nutrition

■ First 1000 days after conception (baby and mother)

Improvements Made

Gender in Ag: Integration■ Women contribute heavily to Ag labor; unrecognized

■ Women’s access to land limited

■ Limited legal control over the land they farm (land tenure)

■ Evidence shows status of women improvement correlates with: – Increases in agricultural productivity– Reduction in poverty– Improvement to nutrition

Research and Capacity Building

■ Feed the Future Research Strategy (2012)

■ 50 experts were consulted during the strategy framing process

■ Presents a global research portfolio to create:– more productive crops– sustainably intensify agricultural production systems– ensure food security– enhance access to nutritionally improved diets

Feed the Future Innovation Labs

■ Innovation Labs draw on the expertise of top U.S. universities and developing country research institutions to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges in agriculture and food security.

■ 24 Labs, managed by US universities

Innovation Labs around the world

Feed the Future:Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab (SIIL)

■ USAID/Kansas State University- SIIL Management Entity

■ $50 million

■ The lab will focus on countries in West Africa, east and south Africa, and South Asia.

Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab (SIIL)Women in Agriculture Network Cambodia: Gender-and

Ecologically-Sensitive Agriculture■ Empower women in Cambodia

■ Improve participation in rice/horticulture value chains

■ Improve household nutrition/dietary diversity

■ Provide a scientifically rigorous and comprehensive understanding of the nexus of gender and SI

Women in Agriculture Network Cambodia: Gender-and Ecologically-Sensitive Agriculture

■ USAID/Kansas State University- SIIL Management Entity

■ Penn State University (Lead institution) - Plant Sciences, Gender in Agriculture

■ Royal University of Agriculture-Phnom Penh, Cambodia

■ Kasetsart University- Thailand

■ ECHO Asia

■ AVRDC- World Vegetable Center

■ University of Battambang

■ Conservation Agriculture Service Center (CASC)

Cambodia- ~15 Million People

Rice Basin of South East Asia

■ Feed the Future Zone of Influence is around TonLe Sap Lake

■ High rates of stunting

■ Malnourishment

■ High dependency on Agriculture

Agricultural Livelihoods■ Neak Sre- Rice People

■ Fewer options for depending on agriculture

Social Change: Out migration■ Development of the country has been slow

– recovering from the devastation of civil war

■ Over half of Cambodian’s are under the age of 25 and only 20 percent live in urban areas

■ People who have received high school education find it difficult to effectively use their skills and knowledge in agrarian environments.

■ Rural population is migrating to urban areas

Rural to Urban Migration■ three-quarters of both women and men migrants identified employment as one of

the main reasons why they migrated.

Stresses of Agriculture■ frequency of environmental distress

■ distance from markets

■ low profit typically attained through animal husbandry and agriculture

■ risk perceived to be involved in rice or crop intensification

■ village-based livelihood strategies as impossible or unwise

UTIA in Cambodia

■ Two visits in 2016 to gather data – Baseline quantitative household survey

■ Identify gender-sensitive SI technologies and practices in rice and horticulture value chains

■ Identify enabling conditions and social networks for women to fully participate in horticultural and rice-based food production

■ Build capacity in local agricultural institutions, NGOs, and international universities and research institutes, to scale up and out innovations in gender and ecologically sensitive SI.

Next Steps■ Analyze quantitative baseline data

■ Return to Cambodia-Dec/January– Qualitative data gathering: Interviews, Focus

groups, community activities– Trial SI technologies with demonstration sites– Work with farmers to trial various techniques

■ Adapt modules for educational programs

Questions?