Agriculture & Agro-Processing

CAPRED aims to foster a more sustainable and prosperous agricultural sector in Cambodia by empowering small-scale producers, enhancing market competitiveness, and improving the livelihoods of farming households.

Our work in agriculture and agro-processing focuses on 6 priority crops: rice, cashew, banana, mango, cassava and vegetables. These cover more than 90% of Cambodia’s total cropping area and are dominated by small-scale growers. They offer enormous potential in increased sales and productivity; export growth; import substitution; and gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) benefits.

We adopt an integrated value chain or market system approach for each crop from market (upstream) to production (downstream). Each market is made up of a series of transactions governed by supply and demand.

We examine market needs and work backwards to improve and strengthen the supply chain.

MARKET SYSTEM APPROACH

Strengthening upstream and downstream sectors

In our model, the upstream sector covers processing, compliance, labelling and/or packaging, marketing and distribution before products go to market. This sector contributes to skilled employment, technical expertise and quality standards. Strengthening this sector can increase value addition, competitiveness and market access that in turn contributes to employment, economic growth, production and crop diversification.

The downstream sector covers primary agricultural production activities. These include research and development of better farming techniques or machinery, climate- or pest-resilient seeds, sustainable practices, improved irrigation systems, farming and harvesting crops, and enhanced post-harvest handling and storage facilities. Strengthening the downstream sector has a positive ripple effect on the entire supply chain.

For Cambodia, the key challenge is to grow its value addition sector rather than sell raw produce to Thailand and Vietnam who then benefit from processing it themselves. Value addition requires a significant improvement in processing efficiency, affordable processing equipment, and use of wastage, ensuring that farming households receive better prices for their products and can rely on stable market access.

Latest resources

See our latest resources from across the CAPRED program.

CAPRED in Policy Support

Within a fast-moving international trade environment, Cambodia’s aspirations for growth, along with global shifts and trends, require a focus on constructive economic policies.

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CAPRED in Climate Resilience

CAPRED seeks to develop climate-resilient business models and create a better enabling environment for green investments.

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We are working together to strengthen climate resilience, build a clean energy sector, and attract climate finance to meet Cambodia’s climate neutral target by 2050. Australia is proud to be an official partner for the upcoming Cambodia Climate Change Summit 2024, one of the country’s largest platforms to engage on emerging climate challenges and opportunities. Join us at the summit, taking place 24-25 October 2024 at the Independence Hotel in Sihanoukville. Watch the video to learn more!