Lessening poverty among egg producer in rural areas

Cambodia, one of the agricultural-based and labour exporting countries, has been greatly affected by the spike of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in agro-value chain shortage and return of large numbers of migrant workers, specifically in the Tonle Sap region.  

Given this situation, People in Need, in partnership with Cambodian Institute Research and Rural Development (CIRD) is implementing the "RECOVER: Rural Employment for COVID-19 Economic Recovery" project ,funded by the European Union and the Czech Republic Development Agency (CzDA), which aims to respond to the impacts of COVID-19 on multiple rural groups along the Cambodian Tonle Sap Region. The project strongly focuses on promoting inclusive employment and income for affected groups through the improvement of the horticulture and poultry farming sectors.  

Within three years of the project, People in Need has supported 29 Agriculture Cooperative (formed 116 groups with a total of 2,900 members) and has worked actively in coordination with producer groups to ensure that they have better income/livelihood and improved poultry technical practices.  

Ms. Oeung Kanh is one of our producer group members who has had the opportunity to join the project and participate in technical training on poultry production, business plan formulation, market linkages, and access to affordable capital. 

However, during the outbreak of the pandemic, she experienced several issues, such as the difficulties of growing chili and having no market to sell, and her children became unemployed during this time. Moreover, she had debt and was unable to settle it during the pandemic. 

When Kanh joined the RECOVER project and played role as egg producer. She produces eggs by using Artificial Insemination (AI) which is promoted by the project. She started with 50 chickens for her parent’s stock. She went through technical training provided by the project, allowing her to learn more about disease management for chickens, keeping better track of financial records, nutrient feed production, and proper methods of feeding, amongst others. With these newly acquired knowledge, she can take care of her chickens better to help them grow faster and healthier. 

She has grown her number of chickens which helped her produce about 400 to 500 eggs, equal to 400.000 riel to 500.000 riel per month. Her earnings have increased as she began to follow more effective methods to ensure that her chickens are healthy. The monthly income Kanh now earns has most definitely helped her slowly tackle her financial issues, and most importantly ensure a stable livelihood for herself.

The RECOVER project is funded by the European Union in Cambodia and the Czech Republic Development Agency (CzDA). The content in this article is the sole responsibility of People in Need (PIN) and its project partners within the consortium and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and Czech Republic Development Agency.